When evaluating a non-profit organization, many times the emphasis is placed on the mission, achievements, or history.  And while this isn’t wrong, because those are crucial parts of any organization, sometimes one major aspect is over-looked.  The people, and in this case the volunteers, who see the mission, make the achievements and write the history are perhaps the most important part of any organization.  As we begin our 2008-2009 season, I’d like to start by thanking and congratulating some of the Pittsburgh AMA’s long-standing and most important volunteers:

• Steve Wayhart, our immediate past-president, did an outstanding job of “raising the programming bar” last year.  Not only was the first annual Marketer of the Year and Marketing Hall-of-Fame last December a tremendous success, his vision for the half-day summits helped the chapter once again prove its value as a marketing education resource.
• While Steve Wayhart is our immediate past president, Dave Oshlag, president from the 2006-2007 year, remains involved in the organization and advises us on many challenges our board faces.  We are grateful for his continued involvement.
• Rob Reuter, our Executive Vice President, has logged many years as a member of the board on various committees.  He uses his experience with various positions to help put together special projects, such as the Marketer of the Year event.
• Kim Butler has chaired the Programming Committee for several years now, working to make sure our events are setup and run flawlessly.  Her attention to detail and meticulous organization have helped make many of the chapter’s best events possible.
• The next generation is always important and that’s why we are lucky to have Joe DiFalco as the VP of Collegiate Relations.  He has implemented many great ways of involving our collegiate chapters, with more to come.
• Bruce Downing, who currently handles sponsorship, and has done an amazing job with the communications committee in the past, now helps keep our chapter profitable with essential corporate, event, and in-kind sponsorships.
• Mike Kaulakis, VP of Member Services, makes sure our chapter is always serving the members, and it shows.  Our membership base and satisfaction level have been on the increase since he joined the board.
• Fiscal responsibility is crucial to the chapter’s survival.  Ed Scherer serves as the Treasurer and keeps our chapter “in the black” year after year.
• Mat Simmons was elected as VP of Communications this spring and has had an extremely positive impact in just his first few months.  While not only coordinating our direct mail, email, and publicity, he is working with several new volunteers on his team to make sure our chapter is marketing itself efficiently and effectively.
• Julianne Trichtinger is the most recent addition to the team as Secretary.  She brings years of experience with non-profits, and we are more than lucky to have her on the board.  Her level of enthusiasm and professionalism will no doubt be an important asset in the future.

After over 60 years in the Pittsburgh area and currently over 300 members strong, the AMA continues to offer the best in marketing programming, networking, and career advancement.  If you missed our events last year, you missed great speakers that continue to get rave reviews from our members.  Here are just some of the events we have coming up in the next year that we hope you’ll join us for:

• Our Second Digital Marketing Summit
• AMA Berry Book Award Winner Vijay Mahajan
• The Second Annual Marketer of the Year and Hall of Fame Awards
• AMA Distinguished Educator Award Winner Dr. Gary Lilien from Penn State
• Our First Green Marketing Summit

These events would not be possible without support from our sponsors.  This year’s sponsors include corporate Gold Sponsors:  Heinz, Pipitone Group, and PPG.  Among our highly-valued in-kind sponsors are The Pittsburgh Business Times, ProSource, JA Interactive, Jireh Mobile, Hughey AV, The LeMont, and The Priory Hotel.  Also we have an exciting in-kind sponsorship in the works with Comcast.

If you would like to get involved with one of our committees, I encourage you to contact me or one of the committee chairs above.  I can assure you your time spent working with these people will not only benefit your career but you will have a great time as well!  The opportunity to work with some of the finest marketers in this area is not one to be missed.

I AM A MARKETER, and I hope to see you at an event soon!

Justin Mastrangelo, President 2008/2009
Pittsburgh American Marketing Association
justin@jainteractive.com - 888.932.0999