Blog

We loved 2018.

It is a bold statement because we thought 2017 was pretty great and would be tough to beat. The team at AMA Baltimore worked hard all year to do some AMAzing things for our Chapter and enjoyed every minute in planning and organizing it. Here are a few ways 2018 was fun for our Chapter:

Engaging Events

We kicked our programming up a notch this year by booking engaging speakers with diverse topics. Stan Phelps spoke to us about weirdness, Joe Papa talked about data, and Maryland Auto Insurance filled us in on their award-winning rebranding. We were excited to hear from Hootsuite and ZeroFOX in July and loved visiting the Ravens Locker Room and the National Aquarium in November.

Our #AMAMingle networking series continued to be a success by bringing together marketing, advertising, and creative professionals from all levels and industries to make new connections and learn from each other at awesome locations. We had fun at Alex+Tom, Renegade, HZDG, Devaney & Associates, imre, and Fifteen4. It was great to meet new people and learn more about these local agencies.

Making Connections

AMA Baltimore has always strived to help marketers make connections and grow. Our Mentor Connections program was developed to create meaningful connections and experiences for both young professionals and seasoned marketers. Our 2018 mentor and mentee pairs had a great experience, and we’re looking forward to kicking off our third year of the program with our 2019 group.

Being a part of AMA Baltimore means being a part of a greater marketing community. We had the opportunity to connect with members of the AMADC chapter with our AMA One Chapter Alliance Meet in the Middle event in September. Nancie McDonnell Ruder spoke about her book, Jack and Jill Went Up the Hill: How Senior Marketers Scale the Heights Through Art and Science and both chapters were able to mix, mingle, and connect.

Growing Volunteer Community

We welcomed a few new Board members this year. Dana Hamer (VP of Professional Development), Jess Baynton (VP of Volunteer Engagement), Anne Rubin (VP of Collegiate Relations), Christian Bielski (Secretary), and Will Smallman (VP of Sponsorship) joined the team at AMA Baltimore, and we couldn’t be more excited. Our volunteer community continued to grow. More volunteers mean more opportunities to grow as a Chapter and engage with our members. We’re thankful to everyone that is part of our team as we wouldn’t be able to do these amazing things without them.

Original Content

Our AMA Baltimore Marketing and Communications volunteers are talented and dedicated members that have created fantastic original content. Posts about topics like AR/VR, video, and cybersecurity helped marketers stay on top of the latest trends and cyber threats. Our article on diversity and inclusion was developed to help marketers make a difference in the workplace. We also featured Board member posts, event recaps, and articles from our sponsors with topics curated for our audience.

We launched our refreshed newsletter this fall and are generating new content like our case studies to tell our members’ stories. We have much more to do in 2019, but we hope you enjoyed the content as much as we did.

MX Awards

Our Marketing Excellence Awards (MEAs) have been an AMA Baltimore staple for years. We celebrated our 33rd Annual MEAs this year and were honored to award Johns Hopkins Medicine International as the Overall Campaign of the Year winner. Chase Brexton Health Care won Runner-Up Campaign of the Year and Euler Hermes was our 2nd Runner-Up Campaign of the Year.

For 2019, we decided to reinvent the MEAs into the MX Awards. We’ll have more details later in the year, but make sure to save the date for this eventful evening. Our biggest celebration yet will be on May 16th, 2019 at the Baltimore Visitor Center.

Get Involved

If your New Year’s Resolution includes meeting marketing professionals, volunteering, or making a difference in your marketing community, then we encourage you to get involved with AMA Baltimore. You can do this by:

• Becoming a Volunteer. You can volunteer as much or as little as you’d like.
• Attend Events. Our next event will be on January 17th, 2019 at Price Modern. Pandora will address the latest listening trends, what consumers are craving from brands, and how one of the most impactful ways to connect is to be heard, rather than seen.
• Become a Sponsor. AMA Baltimore is looking for Chapter and event sponsorships. If you’re interested in learning more, please contact Will Smallman, our VP of Sponsorship.
• Join! Become a better marketer in 2019 and get involved in the Baltimore marketing community. If you’re interested or need more information, connect with our VP of Membership, Seth Geller, President, Joe Wagner, or any Board member/volunteer at our events. We’d love to meet you.

If you have any ideas on how to make our Chapter better, engage with us on social (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn) or reach out. Let’s make 2019 awesome.