When we ask members why they join AMA | Rochester, one of the most popular responses is NETWORKING.  Whether folks are in search of their next marketing  opportunity in their career or are scoping new clients for their business they see our programming events and networking sessions as a place to get connected.  These events are seen as an opportunity to reconnect with old colleagues and a way to build new business relationships.

The American Marketing Association (AMA) connects the Rochester area  marketers with 30,000 other marketing professionals in the nation through conferences, training events, virtual events, and AMAConnect.  AMAConnect is an online community where you can reach out to other marketers in your industry or in your marketing function with questions you are facing and get immediate feedback from the community.

In the Rochester chapter we currently have a Special Interest Group (SIG) for marketers working in Higher Education.  This group has met over the past year to discuss topics that they are facing in their industry including issues with enrollment pressures colleges are facing, how to brand their institutions and trends in the field.  We are in the planning stages for the formation of SIGs for Young Professionals and for marketers who have limited budgets or small staff typically seen in Small and Medium size businesses.  Keep an eye out for announcements for these groups.

One benefit that is most overlooked is the amount and wealth of information provided by the AMA through conferences, training events, publications, and webinars.  We have heard from marketers in the not for profit sector that the conferences put together by the AMA for this industry is of very high caliber.  If a member is not able to attend the AMA in person events there is plenty of other resources at the www.marketingpower.com website.  For instance, The Marketer’s Toolkit, is a collection of templates, interactive tools and how to guides to help the marketer with Branding, Lead Generation, Mobile Marketing and Social Media.

On the national website you will also find the Marketing Resource Library which covers the latest research, white papers and best practices.  There are also more than 100 on-demand discussions covering a range of marketing topics available through webcasts and podcasts.  There is an upcoming webinar on August 28^th on overcoming barriers to successful competitive intelligence programs.  The AMA also keeps its members on top of the latest trends through its publications and e-Newsletters.

The AMA forms partnerships with other organizations to make this information available to its members.  For instance, as part of membership it provides access to Aberdeen’s Research Vault, which is a market research firm and a Harte Hanks Company.  It also partnered with Copernicus Marketing , a marketing strategy firm, in a series of webinars addressing habits that marketers can employ for making decisions resulting in a more profitable business.

The AMA also provides a Career Management suite where positions are posted and advice can be obtained from AMA resources.  Employers can also post jobs.  The AMA provides its members the opportunity to Connect, resources to be Informed and the tools to Advance in their careers and businesses.

AMA | Rochester is raffling a one year membership.  A chance to win is $5, or you can purchase 5 tickets for $20.  Details are posted here:  http://on.fb.me/13MhSDv including where to purchase tickets and when the drawing will take place.  In addition to our website, we post details our upcoming events at https://www.facebook.com/AMARochester/events/.

Author:  Javier Bautista, VP of Membership for AMA|Rochester.  Reach Javier at BautistaJav@yahoo.com