A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

Hello Austin AMA Members!

The Austin AMA Board continues to work towards the Chapter vision for the 2007 - 2008 term: to "engage, educate, and develop marketing professionals to directly and positively impact the Austin community." Our lunch events are great venues to expand your personal and professional networks - our average lunch event attendance is well over 90 people…so come early and come often! And bring a lot of business cards to share with other professionals.

Below is a snapshot of some of the recent accomplishments of the Austin AMA's leadership team:

Mark your calendars - we have a full programs agenda through the Board year! We continue to engage a diverse and talented group of thought leaders to present to the Austin AMA. Below is a preview of upcoming lunch event speakers:

The Austin AMA leadership team has been working to engage local thought leaders for our second Executive Advisory Board (EAB). The overall goal of the Austin AMA´s Executive Advisory Board is to raise awareness of the marketing arena with talented executives in the Austin area. Our EAB meets once per quarter for a facilitated discussion with their peers about a timely marketing-related topic. The last EAB event will conclude with a lunch event in November 2008 with a forum that is open to the Austin AMA lunch event attendees (similar to the November 2007 event). Once we have authorization to release the names and affiliations of our new EAB, we will do so. We are very excited to have the confirmed participation from another distinguished and accomplished group of leaders!

On behalf of the Austin Chapter of the AMA, I would like to extend sincere appreciation to last year's Executive Advisory Board for participating in an Austin AMA initiative. We learned a great deal from your experience as well as from your humor! Last year's Executive Advisory Board was comprised of extremely talented leaders including:

As a reminder, each Austin AMA member is welcome to attend our monthly Extended Board meetings - it is a great way to keep up with the Chapter operations. The monthly meetings last one hour and include updates by our elected Board Officers and appointed Directors. Please contact me if you want to attend - I will verify the date, time, and location of the meeting.

I look forward to seeing you at upcoming Austin AMA events! Please let us know about suggested improvements for the Austin AMA. The leadership team is focused on serving the Austin AMA membership!

Best regards,
Stephanie Craft
President, Austin Chapter
American Marketing Association
president@austinama.org

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!
April 2008: Emily Stevens, Director of Copywriting
March 2008: Andrea Stout, Director of the Scholarship Program
February 2008 = Dawn Evans, Director of Events
January 2008 = Trish McCoy, Director of Email Communications
December 2007 = Samantha Soper, Chapter Intern and Member of the Communication Team
November 2007 = Terri Waggoner, Director of the Mentor Program
October 2007 = Marissa Vogel, Director of the Career Center
September 2007 = Diana Wojsznis, Treasurer
August 2007 = Jan Hames and Tony Trantham, Co-Directors of the Talent Match Program
July 2007 = Christi Smith, Co-VP of Membership

HOW TO BECOME A BOARD MEMBER

There are many wonderful volunteers that make the Austin AMA a successful professional organization. In fact, the best way to get the most out of being an AMA member is to volunteer with one of 6 committees. These include Collegiate Relations, Membership, Communications, Programs, Treasurer, and President-Elect.

You may be thinking, "This is all good and well, but how do I start?". The answer is twofold. First, anyone desiring to volunteer can contact either Jan Hames or Tony Trantham, Co-Talent Directors, at: volunteers@austinama.org. Secondly, there is a form they will send out that describes the various opportunities and provides a way to more clearly understand where to direct someone. After receiving this information, either Jan or Tony will provide a personal introduction through email to the appropriate committee head. In this way, it's easy for someone to investigate the opportunities to volunteer and get connected to the right people.

MAXIMIZING THE USE OF ONLINE JOB BOARDS

Job searching today is not what it used to be. Back in the old days (i.e., before the Internet), people relied heavily on job postings in newspapers as their primary source for finding available positions. Thankfully, there is an alternative to the tedious task of flipping through oversized pages, scrutinizing small print, dealing with black ink smudges on our fingers, and licking stamps. Online job boards provide the same benefit, but allow us to do much more. While industry experts tout less than 25% of jobs are found through online job boards, there is still a great deal of value in utilizing them.

Online job boards provide the benefit of not only easily finding open positions and applying to them with a simple click of the mouse, but often have other available tools to assist in your job search such as resume and cover letter document management, automatic e-mail notifications of new job listings, market salary statistics, relocation information, etc.

But beyond these standard benefits, there are other ways to maximize its utility:

A successful job search campaign requires a multi-pronged approach using a variety of resources and networking tactics. Online job boards should be part of the mix, especially since they can offer value beyond viewing and applying to positions.

AMA ONLINE CAREER CENTER

Whether you're looking for a new job or looking to reach qualified candidates, the Austin AMA Online Career Center is for you. As the premier electronic recruitment resource for the marketing industry, recruiters can access the most qualified talent pool of marketing professionals and job seekers can locate opportunities that are just right for them.

To learn more, visit careers.austinama.org

MID-YEAR LEADERSHIP RETREAT - DFW

Austin AMA Chapter had a very strong presence at the 2007 Leadership conference .The seminar was held this past January in Dallas TX. This was a great opportunity to meet with peers and exchange ideas. One exciting discovery was to learn that several other chapters in the region look to Austin as an example of best practices regarding chapter operations. The Austin team was able to provide feedback in several areas (Online Registration, Budget, Chapter Meetings, and Chapter Documentation). In addition, we were fortunate to take away some valuable insights. Some include:

List of Attendees: Christi Smith -Co -VP of Membership, Jennifer McSwain -Co-Director of Sponsorship, Samantha Soper - Communications Intern, Emily Stevens- Co-Director of Copywriting, Daniel Valdez- Resigned President Elect, Michelle Vrudhula- Treasurer and Stephanie Craft-President

UPCOMING EVENTS

To register and for more information go to www.austinama.org/events.php.

AMA SPRING MEMBERSHIP DRIVE

Encourage your friends, family and co-workers to join Austin AMA by May 31 and they will receive a $30 discount off the membership price, plus their choice of a $20 prepaid MasterCard® or a $200 national conference discount voucher when they join on-line. Paper applications will automatically receive a $20 prepaid MasterCard®. This offer ends May 31, 2008, so let them know today to go to austinama.org

If you have questions, please email Tasya Mallam at membership@austinama.org.

AMA WELCOME BOX NEEDS YOUR GIFT ITEMS

Support the Austin-AMA Chapter and promote your business at the same time! We came up with a way to welcome new members to our local chapter while also giving you a way to introduce your business - it's the AMA Welcome Box, a homegrown program started here in Austin. We have already gone through most of our original supplies and need to refill our box with goodies. We prefer tangible items, such as notepads, office accessories, pens, water bottles, flashlights, mints, hats, etc. You are welcome to also send a brochure, gift card or promotional message with your item.

The following is a photo of what the box looks like and ideas for possible enclosures.

Let us know if you can help.
Contact: Diana Hyland dhyland@bellsintl.com or 454-9663.

MEMBER EMAIL ADDRESSES

If you have not received an invite to an upcoming AMA luncheon event, the emails may be going into your spam folder. Check the settings in your mail program to ensure that emails sent from austinama.org are not being blocked as spam or junk mail, or contact your software provider to check into the problem. You may also send an email to communications@austinama.org to make sure we have the correct address on file.