January 2010 - Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2010.  We have a great program in place for the balance of the 2009-2010 program year, and I’d like to share that with you so you can plan your BMA engagements.

 

First up is our MarketingMasters Luncheon Seminar series, which just keeps getting better. Our “Flux” campaign is in full swing, and during the fall we had some great speakers share how they are grappling with the marketing challenges and opportunities of “the Great Recession.” Our speakers for the remainder of the program year will continue with this theme, and the lineup includes marketing leaders from such companies as Emerson, Motorola and Accenture.

 

These informative events, held the first Thursday of the month (except March) at The Standard Club, are also fantastic networking opportunities, and participants always walk away learning new things and making new contacts. If you want to hear comments from participants who attended our fall luncheons, check out some of my previous President’s Message videos on the BMA Chicago Web site.

 

Another monthly opportunity you shouldn’t miss out on is our Breakfast Roundtable series, which has been drawing sellout crowds thus far. Our fall four-part Social Media program was extremely successful, and I hope you will continue to come out for these events, which occur on the third Wednesday of the month at IIT’s Stuart School of Business. The topic for this month’s Roundtable on Jan. 20 is “Are Your Employees Engaging Your Customers?” Other topics for upcoming Roundtables include “Search Engine Optimization With Google,” “Doing More With Less” and “Measuring Marketing ROI: Have the Rules Changed?”

 

Just a reminder that BMA Chicago’s 2010 Tower Awards program opens for entries in mid-January. As in 2009, we will continue to use electronic entries for submissions and our all-corporate judging panel will preside. What’s new for the Towers this year is that winners will present their work and strategic process with their clients at a fall event focusing on “What Is Great Creative.” We are also exploring the idea of creating an e-book that would include entrants and winners. Stay tuned.

 

We would like to give a special thanks to Draftfcb for developing our creative this year. So start pulling together those entries and visit our Web site for more details under “Tower Awards.”

 

The 2010 BMA Annual Conference returns to Chicago June 2 to 4 at the Swissotel. Like last year’s event, we expect this one to sell out, so keep your eyes peeled for details soon. Sponsorships are also available, so reach out to us for further details on that.

 

BMA Chicago’s annual fundraiser, the Windy City Biz Bash, will take place on June 3, the second day of the conference. The media buys are among the best deals you’ll find at this fun event, so let us know where you are advertising—online or print—and we’ll go after it for you.

 

Most importantly, thank you for your continued support. And if you aren’t a member yet, you can go here to join. And remember to follow us on Twitter at @bmachicago and connect with us on LinkedIn.

 

You can also stay updated on the latest news about all BMA Chicago activities and events by subscribing to our BMAIL electronic newsletter. You can join, register for BMA programs and subscribe to the BMAIL through the BMA Web site.

 

Once again, I wish you a happy new year and I look forward to seeing you at our events throughout 2010!

 

Best regards,