President's Blog

After all, there are billions of dollars sitting on the economic sidelines (stored up like provisions for a hard winter) awaiting buying decisions among timid and apprehensive buyers.  Marketers will play key roles in helping to understand what is needed—and when—for these people to make their purchasing decisions. And, once we know this, our CEOs and clients will turn to us and ask us to connect with clients, customers and consumers in ways that (I promise you) will represent a mix of well-known and new techniques. 

This is no time for dedicated professional marketers to be timid…or to be mesmerized by the dazzle of single-channel technologies and approaches.  

I take great pride in having been elected to lead PAMA this year.  I am committed to excellence in the profession and am committed to PAMA being considered the standard bearer for effective marketing.  PAMA is focused on superior strategies, practices and tactics for business-to-business and business-to-consumer sectors.       

I want to assure those of you who are committed to the craft of marketing that PAMA will serve you well with:

1. Innovative and diverse programs that engage and challenge you with new insights, techniques and strategies…specifically designed to enable you to work on the leading edge, with confidence. 
2. Convenient and lively networking events in which you can meet peers—not vendors—with whom you can develop collegial and useful relationships.
3. A range of support for marketers seeking to either attain, or maintain challenging and rewarding marketing positions in the PennJerDel region. 

Here’s how PAMA is working for you right now:

• The “Certificate in Marketing Excellence” program is a series of six strategic marketing strategy sessions produced in cooperation with Saint Joseph’s University’s Haub School of Business.  For information, click here.
•  PAMA negotiates generous discounts for you to important programs such as the Social Media Plus Summit.  Click Here to check out the event. For more information about obtaining the discount, email info@amaphilly.org.
• PAMA has created a robust series of programs for mid- to senior-level marketing executives involved in the Pharmaceutical, Life Science and Healthcare verticals.  Our next program, on Customer-Centric Relationship Marketing, is set for October 12.  For more information, click here.
•  The PAMA Passport is your ticket to a world of new opportunities for professional development, education and networking…and we’re continuing to distribute them to members at events scheduled through this season in the northern, western and eastern suburbs of the downtown area (where it debuted).  Check the PAMA web site regularly for updates on dates and locations.
• Your chapter has succeeded in hosting two AMA Boot Camps in the coming months on Marketing for Non-profit Organizations and Social Media Marketing.  AMA members from around the nation travel hundreds of miles to attend these highly-regarded learning opportunities, but PAMA members need not travel any further than to the northern suburbs of Philadelphia.

There’s a lot going on for you and it literally pays to stay in touch, considering the discounts, priceless connections and special programs geared to help you excel in your marketing career.  Membership is growing fast, but we’re still a chapter in which you can feel truly connected with only a small investment of your time.

Everything PAMA offers you is because people like you, who are committed to their craft, have take precious hours out of their week to contribute to the quality of the programs and services being offered to you.  Our volunteers include Vice Presidents of Fortune 100 corporations, as well as Marketing Managers in small businesses…and even solo consultants.  If you take the long view of your career—and realize the benefit of being well-connected to your local peers—then I encourage you to get in touch, express an interest and volunteer on a project that either gives you an opportunity to try something new, or, enables the chapter to benefit from your strengths and wisdom.

In the coming weeks I’ll update you all on other exciting developments, so please check the web site, our Facebook and LinkedIn pages, to keep current on how PAMA is working for you.  I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank Craig Barton, our Immediate Past-President, who led the chapter through the last two years and is primarily responsible for the success of the Marketing Certificate Program.  He put PAMA on an excellent path, on steady ground, and the current board is committed to taking the chapter to great heights, thanks in large part to his tenacious commitment to you and your success as a marketer.

Please feel free to contact me, or any board member, with your question, suggestion or offer to participate in PAMA’s growth.  I look forward to seeing you at an upcoming event!