Top 3 Reasons to Attend an AMA-STL Luncheon

Although I’m no longer a board member I am still a big fan of the local AMA (American Marketing Association) and their monthly luncheons. Last year I met some fantastic people and really enjoy seeing them at these events. So here is my non-board-member perspective on why you should also attend.

1. Excellent local speakers

St. Louis has some great talent doing innovative, successful work and the team this year has done a great job of securing the speakers. Most recently they featured Jeff McHugh from Clear Channel Media. This wasn’t a canned talk promoting a book or working the speaker circuit. He was a lively and entertaining speaker who went above and beyond on his preparation. He asked his on-air personalities to record funny, improvisational videos to queue up each section of his presentation. They were hilarious, made fun of Jeff and spoke directly to the AMA audience. But the meat of his content was really interesting on how they are keeping local radio relevant in the age of Pandora and iTunes.

2.Lively networking

This group doesn’t just come in find a seat and sit quietly until the meal begins. When you enter the room, you are typically greeted by several board members and when you survey the rest of the room you see many pods of three and four people chatting it up. People come early to take advantage of the networking. You will meet people from all areas of marketing from agency to client, market researchers, technology providers, social media, SEO etc. It’s a great mix.

3. Stellar food and service

This one seems silly but the food and service at Maggiano’s is ridiculous! It’s worth the money and so much better than many catered meals in a hotel ballroom. The Brentwood location makes it convenient for anyone in St. Louis.

So there you are. Members and non-members welcome so see you next time!

Why join the AMA?

Do you love or at least enjoy marketing? Do you read articles, blogs and books about marketing? Do you attend webinars and conferences about marketing? Do you enjoy networking with other marketers? Do you need new and fresh ideas to keep your marketing current? If any of this applies to you, you should join the American Marketing Association (AMA).

Monthly luncheons: The St. Louis Chapter of the AMA sponsors these. They offer current, relevant and interesting topics; speakers who can hold your attention; lively networking conversations and delicious lunch from Maggiano’s Little Italy. (Yesterday we heard from Richard Daniels and Seth Burgett of Yurbuds…the 9th most promising company as noted by Forbes Magazine.)

Free webinars: In the last two weeks, I attended a webinar on SEO and Social Media Marketing to Women. I frequently bring my lunch to work anyway, so I shut my door, log on, listen and learn.

Free virtual conferences: In June I attended the AMA Virtual Conference on Marketing Research. What a jackpot this was! Two of the sessions I attended (basically webinars) were completely relevant to a major initiative I am working on in my current position. These presentations were ‘live conference’ quality with well-established speakers.

I downloaded the slides from one presentation on global consumer trends and presented it to the team of executives working on our branding. This was the kind of secondary research you would pay more than the AMA membership fee, just for that one study.

After one session, we were invited to visit a virtual networking area. The first 60 visitors would receive a free copy of the speaker’s book. A $30 value, for free…more adding to the ROI of my AMA membership fee! (Once I finish the book, you will see me blog about it!)

Free content: At marketingpower.com, the official website of the American Marketing Association. White papers, best practices, newsletters, journals, magazines etc.

In just a few short months I feel like I have more than paid for the membership fee through these value-added items above. The new knowledge and content is making me more successful with my work and re-energizing my love of marketing.