How do you keep current as a marketer?
The dearth of professional development opportunities is a long-standing complaint among Maine marketers. Is the problem actually the lack of opportunities or are we simply unaware of what exists?
As the Back Lot Tour Coordinator for the Maine Marketing Association, it goes without saying that I love touring local businesses and having a Q&A session with the firm's marketing manager. [Our next Backlot Tour, entitled "Exploring E-Commerce," is at Cuddledown on October 3rd in Portland - - www.mainemarketingassociation.com]
What is your favorite way to keep up to date in the field of marketing? Please add to the list of opportunities that I've started below. Let us know if your recommendation is better suited for someone who wants to learn marketing basics or an experienced marketer who wants to keep current.
• Read voraciously (my favorite resource is the AMA's Marketing Management magazine)
• Enroll in your local university's marketing courses (either for-credit or not for credit)
• Subscribe to the electronic mailing list of one of Maine's marketing-related professional associations so hear about upcoming seminars. Local associations include
-- Maine Marketing Association - www.mainemarketingassociation.com
-- Ad Club of Maine - www.maineadclub.com
-- Maine Public Relations Council - www.maineprcouncil.org
-- Society for Marketing Professional Services (building industry focus) www.smpsmaine.org
• Participate in on-line seminars (also known as webinars and webcasts). The American Marketing Association offers both free and fee-based seminars: www.marketingpower.com/webcast-search.php
NOTE: "general business" organizations often have opportunities of interest to marketers:
• Maine Small Business Development Center - www.mainesbdc.org
• Maine Businesses for Social Responsibility - www.mebsr.org
• Maine International Trade Center - www.mitc.com
• USM Center for Entrepreneurship (offers a course called Fundamentals of Marketing) - www.usm.maine.edu/cesb/
What would you like to add?
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There are numerous sources for keeping abreast of best practices in marketing. Having worked outside of Maine as a brand manager for a fortune 50 firm.....I'm often looking for current resources locally. My job required the P&L for a billion dollar product which obviously required being on top of current thinking in the realm of marketing management. However, since then, for 10 years, I've run my own business.....art related, which is an alltogether different being. Depending upon your specific level of interest and your background, the following are excellent sources of information outside of the local region:
1. AMA (www.marketingpower.com)
2. Direct Marketing Association (http://www.the-dma.org/)
and of course, let's not forget our friends south of here......Boston has huge resources in the realm of marketing.
Just wish I had more time to use all of these resources...
Posted by
February 3, 2007 06:38 PM
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