Not the Usual Suspects
The Austin Chapter of the AMA represents the very best in marketing, public relations and advertising talent. With over 300 professionals, 100 students and an Executive Advisory Board of distinguished executives from the areas most respected companies, the Austin Chapter of the AMA is one of the premier professional associations in the state of Texas.
Our Vision is to "engage, educate and develop marketing professionals to directly and positively impact the Austin community." We fulfill this vision by providing our members:
- Monthly speakers luncheons
- Fun and relaxed networking events
- Skills workshops
- Local job listings
- Mentoring programs
- and our "High-Tech" Breakfast series.
By joining the Austin AMA, you enjoy numerous opportunities to cultivate and grow your career, your business, make new friends, connect with peers and prospects and learn about current and cutting-edge marketing strategies and trends.
Contact Austin AMA´s President, Stephanie Craft, for more information: president@austinama.org
AMA International HQ
Our International AMA Headquarters Website offers a variety of valuable resources for AMA members including Webcasts, articles, publications and more.
Board Member of the Month
The Board Member of the Month award is given to the board member(s) who went above and beyond in their role as a member of the Austin AMA board in the preceding month. Since all of our board members are offering their very valuable time on a volunteer effort it is important that their efforts are recognized and acknowledged.
Congratulations to the past winners!
- March 2008 = Andrea Stout, Director of the Scholarship Program Andrea Stout is new to the Austin AMA and to the Austin AMA Board. She is a recent graduate of Texas State University where she was very involved with the AMA. Andrea volunteers on the Collegiate Relations team as our Director of Scholarship Programs. She frequently visits the three local universities that have AMA Chapters: St. Edward´s, TSU, and UT-Austin. Andrea worked on our Scholarship Program efforts to encourage Collegiate AMA members to apply for free money (i.e. scholarship money!)! Andrea works in a marketing role for NetQoS.
- February 2008 = Dawn Evans, Director of Events Dawn Evans is new to the AMA and to the Austin AMA Board. Dawn´s background is technology - she is a project management machine! She makes sure that our professional events are organized and executed to our project plan. Dawn´s attention to detail helps the Austin AMA stand out from the crowd. Dawn searched far and wide to find champagne flutes (plastic, not glass!) so that we could toast the sunset on our November 2008 Networking Cruise event (co-hosted with the Austin PRSA). Dawn is such a team player that she attended our Networking Cruise event despite her dislike of boats...she turned a few shades of green but she stayed for the team and ensured another successful (and sold out!) networking event! Dawn works as a Project Manager for Austin Ribbon + Computer.
- January 2008 = Trish McCoy, Director of Email Communications Trish McCoy has served on past Austin AMA Boards. Trish is a busy lady as she has a husband, kids, and full-time position as an Online Product Manager for the Austin American Statesman. Despite her tight schedule, Trish organizes the electronic message for the Austin AMA and distributes the communications including our event email and newsletter. Trish lives south of Austin and yet she makes our Board meetings and monthly lunch events - she is a dedicated Board member that consistently delivers for the organizaton.
- December 2007 = Samantha Soper, Chapter Intern and Member of the Communication Team Samantha Soper is a full-time student at the University of Texas at Austin. She was serving as an intern for Sweet Leaf Tea when we recruited her to the Austin AMA Board! Upon completion of her Sweet Leaf Tea internship, Samantha joined our Communications team. Samantha is new to the AMA and the Austin AMA Board. She brings a great deal of excitement about technology and creativity to the table. We are very jazzed to have Samantha serve as the first intern for the Austin AMA (in over thirty years of our organization in Austin)! Samantha was recently hired as an intern for Butler Bros and will be on the market for a full-time job once she graduates from UT-Austin in December 2008!
- November 2007 = Terri Waggoner, Director of the Mentor Program Terri Waggoner has served on past Austin AMA Boards. She is currently serving as our Director of the Mentor Program. Terri´s enthusiasm for the effort to connect young marketing minds with more seasoned ones enabled her to engage over 20 busy marketing professionals to serve as mentors for AMA Collegiate members. Terri has been willing to step in and help whenever our Board needed her experience. She is a positive and passionate example for both AMA Professional members and AMA Collegiate members alike. Terri works in a marketing role for the City of Round Rock´s Parks and Recreation.
- October 2007 = Marissa Vogel, Director of the Career Center Marissa Vogel is relatively new to the area - she and her family moved to Austin in 2007. She has two small children, a husband, a demanding job...and yet she makes the time to serve as our Director of the Career Center. Marissa is new to the Austin AMA and to our Board. Marissa developed our marketing message for this endeavor which allows Austin AMA members to post their résumés to our website (for free!), companies to post job descriptions (for a fee that is less than other job sites), and provides a search engine to find marketing opportunities! She created marketing materials for our Career Center and worked with our Sponsor, Xtreme Xhibits, to create signage in the form of a banner. Marissa´s dedication to her volunteer role with the Austin AMA is inspiring - on the way to the airport (to travel for work), Marissa stopped by the Austin Convention Center (when we hosted Allen Olivo, VP of Global Brand Marketing for Yahoo! at InnoTech) to drop off Career Center MARCOM materials! Marissa is a talented marketing professional that tirelessly focuses on the marketing message! Marissa works as a Marketing Planning Manager with i3.
- September 2007 = Diana Wojsznis, Treasurer Diana Wojsznis officially served as our Chapter Treasurer from July 2007 through February 2008 - she is both new to the AMA and the Austin AMA Board. However, once she was elected Chapter Treasurer last March 2007, Diana stepped in to help out with everything from registering event attendees to balancing bank accounts! She has a significant amount of business experience - especially in the financial arena. We put her MBA as well as her seven registered brokerage licenses to work! Traditionally, marketing types are not strong in the financial arena so we were very lucky to have a sharp lady with a plethora of financial experience on our Board to develop standards to facilitate our financial reporting. A few examples of Diana´s efforts including her efforts to register our 501c3 non-profit organization as a sales-tax exempt entity, re-locate our bank account from a savings (earning less than 1% interest) to a money market (earning more than 4% interest), and renegotiating our credit card processing fees. Diana was transferred to Portland, Oregon, for a great opportunity - we miss her smile and her drive!
- August 2007 = Jan Hames and Tony Trantham, Co-Directors of the Talent Match Program Tony Trantham and Jan Hames are both new to the Austin AMA Board. Tony and Jan agreed to serve in Co-Director roles to ensure that we focused both on placing Austin AMA members with specific Austin AMA needs as well as directing member talent to local non-profit organizational needs. Tony and Jan have worked on an initiative to develop the Talent Match Program (formerly called ¨Volunteer Program¨) so that we can expand our reach beyond our organization to directly and positively impact the Austin community. Stay tuned for updates on the Austin AMA´s efforts to innovate the marketing message Family Eldercare - the organization selected to benefit from our members´ volunteer efforts! Tony works as a Financial Advisory for Asset Strategies Group and Jan works in a Business Development role for State Farm.
- July 2007 = Christi Smith, Co-VP of Membership Christi Smith is a key member of this Board - she is dedicated to the AMA and our efforts to engage the community in the marketing arena. Christi´s flexibility and attention to detail ensures the success of every endeavor she engages. We are lucky to have her on our Board as she brings a significant amount of passion and dedication to her volunteer role as Co-VP of Membership. Christi´s collaborative and humanistic approach to leadership serves as a great example for everyone. Christi works as an Account Coordinator for Kolar Advertising.
Chapter Leadership
Executive Board
President: Stephanie Craft
President-Elect: TBD
Secretary: Patricia Ezell
Treasurer: Diana Wojsznis
Vice President of Collegiate Relations: Amanda Koellhofer
Vice President of Communications: Kyle Woolsey
Co-Vice President of Membership: Tasya Mallam
Co-Vice President of Membership: Christi Smith
Vice President of Programs: Jaweed Metz
Immediate Past President: Stacy Armijo
Extended Board
President-Elect Committee
Director of Market Research: Barry Raskin
PCC Representative: Colin Hageney
Treasurer Committee
Assistant Treasurer / CPA Liaison: Michelle Vrudhula
Director of Sponsorships: Jennifer Mc Swain
Director of Career Center: Marissa Vogel
Programs Committee
Director of Events: Dawn Evans
Co-Director of Networking Activities: Jean Conover
Co-Director of Networking Activities: Lauran Driver
Membership Committee
Co-Director of Event Logistics: Diana Hyland
Co-Director of Talent: Jan Hames
Co-Director of Talent: Tony Trantham
Communications Committee
Director of Email Communications: Trish McCoy
Director of Graphic Design and Website: Dawn Harris
Co-Director of Copywriting: Joan Berler
Co-Director of Copywriting: Emily Stevens
Director of Direct Mail Team: Connie Johns
Director of Public Relations: Lara Kennedy
Collegiate Relations Committee
Director of Scholarships: Andrea Stout
Director of Mentor Programs: Terri Waggoner