Eric Gregg
AMA President Elect

I found professionals representing years of experience in every facet of the marketing field, and most importantly, I found that all of these benefits accrued through one key decision I made; to get involved. 

President Elect's Message

As my renewal packet arrived from the American Marketing Association’s corporate headquarters this past week, I found myself reflecting on the aspects of my membership that have been most valuable.  It was interesting to run this mental inventory against what I had expected to create value for me prior to rejoining the organization 4 years ago.  Similar to my March Madness bracket picks at the office, it appears my predictions were off with AMA as well.

When I first joined, I purchased the membership as part of my initial investment in my company, a startup at the time.  I lavishly signed up for a few of the journals, convinced I would need them for the truly cerebral science of marketing research.  I also signed up for a little “light” reading with Marketing Management and Marketing Research, though I was certain the majority of the value would come from the peer-reviewed journals.  To be honest, I largely signed up for an AMA membership because as a new startup without the gray hair of experience, I felt I needed every credibility bump in my favor.  The fact I received access to local events and members was seemingly of little value, as my clients were largely on the east coast.

Four years later, I have managed to prove myself wrong in nearly every capacity.  While I still peruse the journals for the occasional article, I have found the AMA national website marketingpower.com, and the practitioner journals to be a wealth of information to help with both the marketing and growth of my business.  Most notably, however, has been the value I have received on a local level.  As I became involved on the board, I found contacts in my field that, instead of being closed off and competitive, were open and collaborative.  I found professionals representing years of experience in every facet of the marketing field, and most importantly, I found that all of these benefits accrued through one key decision I made; to get involved. 

While the individual components of the AMA membership that are most valuable will likely be different for each person, I challenge you to keep an open mind and take the first step.  Get involved, stay involved and allow the organization to impact your career and your life.  If you would like to become more involved locally, please contact me at egregg@iloyalty.net, and I will help point you in the right direction.

Eric Gregg
President Elect

Sponsored by:

April Professional Development Workshop| Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Cut the clutter and get to the point!

Featuring: Melissa Jaacks Client Director,
Avenue A | Razorfish

Time and Location
Registration and happy hour: 5:30 p.m.
Program: 6:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Pizza and drinks are included
The Portland Ecotrust Building
721 NW Ninth Ave.
Portland, OR 97209

The “How To”:
A marketer’s work day often revolves around your email inbox. You spend a good part of the day sending requests to team members and vendors or responding to requests from clients and internal management. A simple email request can turn in to a flurry of activity in your inbox, and by the end of the month hundreds of email messages have piled up. If you find yourself sending more than two emails to get the response you need, or spend more than 10 seconds looking for an important email message this workshop is for you. Join Microsoft and client services veteran, Melissa Jaacks to learn how to cut the clutter out of your inbox and how to get the email response you want the first time. The focus of this workshop will be on Microsoft Outlook, though similar techniques can be applied to Entourage for Mac.

You'll learn:

• The three most important items to include with every email message
  
• Techniques to easily customize your email program so the only messages in your inbox are those that require action

This is a hands-on workshop-participants are encouraged to bring their laptops.

Pricing:
Member: Early Bird (Before 3/30/07) $25
Member - Regular Rate: $30
NonMember: Early Bird (Before 3/30/07) $35
NonMember - Regular Rate: $45
Students - $15

Learn More & Register

About the speaker:
Jim Pernas is regional vice president, Northwest Region, Subaru of America, Inc. Mr. Pernas is responsible for all sales, market development and fixed operations activities including dealer franchising, vehicle sales and marketing for the 85 Subaru Dealers in Northern California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and Alaska.
Mr. Pernas joined Subaru in 1987 as a management associate at the Cherry Hill, N.J. corporate headquarters and was promoted through the organization, after holding numerous district sales, distribution, and marketing management positions at the Subaru Mid-America Region in Chicago. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. with a bachelor’s degree in economics and business administration.

April Luncheon | Tuesday, April10, 2007

Niche Marketing: How Subaru Breaks Through the Clutter

Featuring: Jim Pernas, Regional Vice President, Subaru of America, Inc.

Time and Location
11:30 a.m.- 1:00 p.m.
The Benson Hotel
309 SE Broadway Portland, OR 97205

Topic:
The marketing and advertising tactics of automotive companies are some of the noisiest, most clamorous of any industry. Often times it’s actually difficult for customers to weed through these brand communications in an effort to find the vehicle they desire.

As a niche marketer of all-wheel drive vehicles, Subaru has learned to not only stand out in the crowd, but to create credible and authentic relationships with its customers that lead to some of the highest customer loyalty rates in the business. In your life – not in your face – is how some describe the Subaru niche marketing strategy.

Join Subaru regional vice president Jim Pernas as he discusses Subaru’s marketing philosophy and explores how the use of market segmentation based on lifestyle preferences has led to the successful proliferation of this name brand.

Pricing:
Member: Early Bird (Before 4/6/07) $25
Member - Regular Rate: $30
NonMember: Early Bird (Before 4/6/07) $35
NonMember - Regular Rate: $45
Students - $15

Learn More & Register

Thank You to New and Renewing Members

We would like to welcome the following new members who joined and the current members who renewed their membership to AMA Oregon since the last newsletter was published.

New Members

Jenny Fitzhugh, New Seasons Market

Deborah Hayward-Rogers, Papa Murphy's Intl

Jessica  Legg, Henry V Events

Scarlet  McConahie  
   
Yusef Parker   

Dixon   Rauch, ViaTech Publishing Solutions

Rebekah Singh, Selectron Inc

John Stepleton, Research Data Design Inc

Nathan Wagner, Smart St LLC

James White, Intel Corporation

Hilary Winfield, Leupold & Stevens

Renewing Members

Matt Corbin, Pacific Coast Restaurants

Jill Crossley, West Linn Paper Company

Scott Davis    
  
Eric Freeman   

Vicky Grogg, Leatherman Tool Group Inc

Marcianna Hosier, Pioneer Pacific College

Richard Johnsen, George Fox University

Maria Larcher, Larcher Research Associates

Jennifer Lynch, Healthnotes

Mike Mahanay, Computer Technology Link Corp

Mike Mitchell, Market Strategies Inc

Shelly Mix, Aquent

Mindy  Nyberg, Dynic USA Corporation

Anthony Pulicella, One-Eighty Inc

Rachel  Trice, Portland Rose Festival Association

Maria Young, CBS Radio

Daniel Payne
Owner/Photographer,
Daniel Payne Photography

Volunteer of the Month
Daniel Payne

AMA volunteer since 2005, Daniel Payne is a key member of the AMA Web team. Daniel assists with web updates and special web projects.

Daniel finds value in his involvement in AMA Oregon through networking with many new and interesting people in the Portland area. He attends AMA programs and events to learn more about marketing products and services.

Daniel grew up in Minnesota. He has a degree in Electrical Engineering, has designed computer chips for Intel, marketed high-tech software at Mentor Graphics, bicycled the Seattle-To- Portland ride in 1980, learned Japanese, loves Classical music from the 18th century and earlier, enjoys playing sports, and plays too much backgammon on Yahoo.
When he's not volunteering for AMA, Daniel spends time with his lovely wife and six children in Tualatin. He is growing his portrait photography business. See Daniel's photography work at www.danieljpayne.com

Thank you Daniel for sharing your talents with AMA!

AMA Oregon Annual Conference
FWD07
Innovation, sustainability, creativity

Spend a day at Forward07, learning from leaders who are transforming the way business is done. These quiet revolutionaries are implementing changes – new products, business models and manufacturing processes – that are nothing short of revolutionary.  This year’s AMA conference will be full of examples and applications of innovation, sustainability, and creativity in today’s business world.

SAVE THE DATE: Friday May 25, 2007
Watch for more details

Marketing Moments

CROWD CLOUT: “Online grouping of citizens/consumers for a specific cause, be it political, civic or commercial, aimed at everything from bringing down politicians to forcing suppliers to fork over discounts.”
The power of groups, the clout that crowds can exercise to get what they want, is nothing new. What is new, however, is the dizzying ease with which likeminded, action-ready citizens and consumers can now go online and connect, group and ultimately exert influence on a global scale. Call it group power, call it CROWD CLOUT.

Click here to read the full article

Effective B2B Marketing Techniques That Capture Your Audience During the Day
Reaching and engaging an audience of business leaders and professionals with advertising messages is a lofty goal. When you think about it, these people are some of the most time pressed individuals on the planet. To make it even more challenging, there are not many advertising vehicles that can reach these business professionals during the work day when they make the majority of their purchasing decisions. Sure, there is time during the commute to and from work and the lunch hour, but those messages often get overlooked because of other distractions that are competing for attention.

Click here to read the full article

Announcements

Marketing Research Association Seminar | April 18 2007
12:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. | The Doubletree Lloyd Center
Luncheon and three sessions:

• Customer Satisfaction: Measuring to the Heart of the Matter
• Mixed Methods: Contextual Inquiry and Traditional Market Research
• Beyond Google: The Invisible Web
  

$40 for MRA, AMA, and PSRF members / $50 for non-members
Click here for more information.

eMarketing Forum at InnoTech 2007 | April 26 2007
AMA Oregon is sponsoring the luncheon keynote for this event.
Topic: "Trends and Outlook 2007 | Consumer 2.0"
Speaker: Murray Gaylord, previously vice president, brand marketing for Yahoo! Inc., was named vice president, marketing for NYTimes.com effective January 8, 2007. In his new role, Mr. Gaylord is a member of the NYTimes.com senior management team and oversees marketing, customer service, research and Web analytics.
AMA Members can register for the luncheon at a special rate, and attend the afternoon sessions free of charge. Click here to register.
11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. | Oregon Convention Center
Click here for details.

We value your opinion
The AMA strives to offer topical resources to help in your professional development and career advancement in today’s competitive environment. We want to make sure we are serving your interests and adding value to you. Tell us how the AMA has helped you and how we can improve. We would love to hear from you.

Let us hear about it!
Have a topic to share with fellow marketers? Submit an article or case study to be featured in our next newsletter.