Charleston AMA - Amercian Marketing Association

In today’s economy, most people are doing the OPPOSITE of what they should when it comes to their careers – are you?

DON’T stop coming to professional meetings, DON’T cancel your memberships and DON’T ignore free opportunities to further your professional development!

Yes, these take time out of your workday and money from your pocket, but they could be what saves your job, career or your life!

Look at Kara Neureuther – her story was in January’s Charleston AMA Newsletter. In September, she joined a committee and at one of her first meetings she found out about a job, had several AMA members volunteer to recommend her and two days later she landed the job! Sure, her AMA membership was $255, but now she’s got a job where she makes that in a day (or 2, I don’t know her salary!).

Now, more than ever, connections are essential to landing a job – there are dozens, even hundreds of qualified applicants for each position. Many positions are never even advertised, but filled through word-of-mouth or by recruitment through professional associations. Just last week, I was approached by someone who wanted me to recommend a few qualified people that he could ask to apply for a top-level marketing job. If I don’t know you, I can guarantee I didn’t recommend you for that job!

Missing out on professional development is also a HUGE mistake! Even if you have a great job now, the reality is – you might not in 6 months. Take advantage and broaden your skill set. Charleston AMA offers monthly luncheons as well as opportunities like free webinars and podcasts.

In fact, Harry Gold, CEO of Interactive Overdrive in Boston, asked me to invite Charleston AMA members and friends to a FREE webinar he is hosting.

He’ll talk about how successful social media marketing is about socializing, not just advertising! The presentation will include real case studies from top companies who use Blogs, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and YouTube to weave their content and messages into the web and make lasting connections with consumers.

Sign up now to attend on Thursday 1.29.09 at 2:00 or Wednesday 2.4.09 at 2:00. Sign up now! http://www.OverdriveInteractive.com/social-webinar

Think about joining the Charleston AMA and definitely attend the February 5 meeting. You can’t afford not to!

- Melissa Whetzel, Director of Membership/Past President, AMA