So what’s coming up next? Our next MarketingMasters luncheon is Thursday, April 8, and this is going to be a really special program for us. We’ve never done this before. This will be a nationally televised and streamed panel session from Chicago to other BMA chapters around the country on social media and b-to-b marketing. Essentially we are going to bring in top experts who are going to discuss how to use social media to do more effective b-to-b marketing. Of course, this includes tools like LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.

 

The normal registration process applies and it’s the same cost as it always is. The program is going to be a little longer, though, 75 to 90 minutes, so our luncheon will start 30 minutes early at 11:30 a.m. So make sure when you register you keep that in mind. We’re still trying to end it at the usual time of 1:30 p.m. We’re also going to build in as much Q&A time with the on-site and online audiences as possible.

 

This program will feature a moderator and a four-person panel. The moderator is Gord Hotchkiss, who is the CEO of Enquiro, a globally known expert in business buyer behavior online. We’ve got some really fantastic panelists as well: Steve Patrizi, who is a vice president at LinkedIn; Paul Gillin, who is an expert on doing b-to-b marketing on Twitter; Justin Levy, author of a new book on doing business marketing on Facebook; and Mark McMaster, who is a YouTube expert from Google. Your next BMAIL will have more details, so look for it and be sure to sign up early. It’s sure to be a sellout crowd.

 

Coming up Wednesday, April 21, we have our next Breakfast Roundtable and we’re excited to partner with another fantastic Chicago association, CIMA, the Chicago Interactive Marketing Association. And like all of our breakfasts, the event will take place at IIT Stuart School of Business. So thank you to Bloomberg BusinessWeek for sponsoring the Breakfast Roundtable series, and you can get more details on that topic as well on our Web site.

 

The Tower Awards are coming up. Thanks to everyone who entered and best of luck. The judging begins soon here in March and the work will be looked at by an impressive list of corporate judges from organizations like the American Red Cross, Bank of America, Buck Consultants, Cisco Systems, Freeman, Rockwell Automation, T. Rowe Price and more. The awards gala and ceremony are going to be held May 12 at Hotel Sax, which is a new venue for us. So find out all the details at www.towerawards.org.

 

The BMA National Conference is coming to Chicago, as you’ve heard hopefully by now, June 2-4 at the Swissotel. We are thrilled and honored to announce at this time that the title sponsor is Bloomberg BusinessWeek. And in addition we’d like to thank our other sponsors: LinkedIn, Bizo, Google, GlobalSpec, Business.com, IBM, GyroHSR and many more. We still have exhibits available, so get in touch with Marla Schrager, our executive director, about getting in front of this elite group of 700-plus marketers. And, by the way, if you want to be one of those marketers, you better register because it’s open at www.marketing.org.

 

Preparations for our 2010 fund raiser, media auction and gala—the Windy City Biz Bash—are well under way. And that will take place Thursday, June 3, the second night of the annual conference, at The Murphy. So thank you to Gerard Design for taking on the creative again this year. As we are looking for sponsors, program advertisers and auction item donations to make this year’s event a success, please check in and connect with Marla. Remember, this is one annual event that raises money to support BMA Chicago operations, programming, internships and events, so everybody benefits by participating.

 

So thanks again in general for your support. And if you aren’t a member yet, you can join at any time at www.marketing.org. And you can also join our LinkedIn group, Business Marketing Association of Chicago, and follow us on Twitter @BMAChicago.

 

 

  

Suzanne Martin, President, BMA/Chicago