PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

By Gary Slack
President, BMA/Chicago

Our thanks to FedEx’s Steve Pacheco and BBDO’s Emma Armstrong for a great October luncheon program.

John Frank, editor of AMA’s Marketing News, attended and had this to say about Steve’s remarks in his blog. And be sure to read Don Talend’s write up on Steve’s remarks here.

Nov. 6 Luncheon with LinkedIn’s Patrick Crane

We’re expecting a sell-out crowd (400+) at our Nov. 6 luncheon program with LinkedIn’s Patrick Crane, so please register soon.

Patrick has been graciously engaging the 139 members of BMA Chicago’s LinkedIn Group, soliciting questions about LinkedIn to cover on Nov. 6. Check it out—and join the Group.

My thanks to BusinessWeek marketing editor Burt Helm for agreeing to introduce Patrick on Nov. 6 and moderate the Q&A session.

If you don’t have a LinkedIn profile, or would like help to improve it and maximize its discoverability, sign up for one of the free coaching sessions LinkedIn is offering on Nov. 6. Please register soon, though, as there is limited availability, and the 10-minute sessions will go fast.

If you can stay around after lunch, don’t miss the special 90-minute drill-down session, from 1:45-3:15 p.m., where LinkedIn’s Steve Patrizi will go into much more depth on how b-to-b marketers can use LinkedIn to collaborate and connect with other professionals, do contact discovery, recruit talent and even advertise.

Catch a RoundTable Soon!

If you haven’t yet attended one of our monthly Breakfast RoundTables yet, consider doing so. October’s RoundTable on writing value propositions drew this reaction from attendee Bill Moller: “George Stenitzer was a SMASH! Are all the meetings this good??!”

Unlike our MarketingMasters Luncheons, which are speaker-focused, our RoundTables are topic-focused and usually have more of an interactive feel and format. Attendance is growing, too, with a new high of 66 people present this past Wednesday at our RoundTable on emerging social media led by Edelman’s Steve Rubel.

In fact, Steve Rubel got some pretty great immediate feedback of his own, from new-member Jeff Carrigan, who told us, “The Edelman speaker was terrific, accommodations were comfortable and the professionals and students I encountered were warm.”

Important News on Event Registration!

BMA is converting this month to a new member database system, Computility, and we want you to be aware of one change.

Even if you have registered for past BMA events, the very next time you register, you will be asked to create an account. This step will enable us to better track what events you are attending and have attended.

Despite a little extra up-front work, here’s the benefit for you: You will no longer have to enter contact information each time you sign up for an event.

So far the system is working well, but please give us your feedback as you begin to use it.

Other News and Announcements

Congratulations to Tom Tarr, owner of TomTheWordsmith, who won our September New Member Contest and a set of Cubs-Brewers tickets.

Congrats also to Debra Brinkman, marketing manager at Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Services, for winning our September Referral Contest and a free Table for 10 at an upcoming MarketingMasters Luncheon of her choice.

And, congrats to Hewitt Associates, for winning our September Corporate Contest and a free Table for 10 at an upcoming MarketingMasters Luncheon of their choice for adding four new members to the BMA rolls.

Thanks to Reggie Riley, I wanted to pass on news that The Wall Street Journal, a longtime BMA sponsor, has just completed a massive market segmentation study that should be of interest to all b-to-b marketers. You can download a one-page preview of the study here.

If you are not already a member of BMA, please consider joining today. You can join or register for BMA programs through the BMA Web site.

BMA members get the exclusive ability to download the PowerPoint deck and/or an audiocast from our monthly luncheon seminars in the first BMAIL of the following month.

Other exclusive members-only benefits include:

• The BMA/Chicago Directory
• Publications and white papers from the national BMA
• Eligibility for professional Marketing Skills Certification
• Member rates for guests joining you at BMA events
• Free postings to BMA/Chicago CareerLink listings 

All the best,

Gary Slack
President, BMA/Chicago