A message from AMA SF President Eric Weidner

For more than 85 years, the American Marketing Association-San Francisco chapter has been dedicated to one main objective: we help professional marketers succeed.

I titled this post “Resilience and Success” because there’s uncertainty in the air going into 2024. Nobody knows what’s to come, but we do know that the marketing profession is changing, and changing fast. That’s where “resilience” comes in. And that’s why AMA SF is so important.

Resilience comes through your professional network. Need help or advice? Need a job? Need a cup of coffee or a good, stiff drink? Count on your network to offer a helping hand or a sympathetic ear.

AMA SF builds networking into everything we do so our members can meet other driven and accomplished marketers. Every event has time for networking, with plenty of additional, dedicated networking opportunities throughout the year. We’re here to help you foster a vibrant network among the Bay Area’s most talented and accomplished marketing professionals.

And if you really want to build a network of professional marketers, become a member and volunteer. All board members are volunteers (like me). Volunteers design our site and social media images, manage memberships, work with sponsors and partners, write our copy… well, you get the idea. We work together to make AMA SF something valuable that our members treasure, because we treasure the opportunities and connections AMA SF has brought to us and our careers. And we’re damn good at it — we’ve been an essential meeting place for San Francisco Bay Area marketers since 1938!

Resilience also comes through learning so you are aware of — and can prepare for — changes in marketing that affect your career. You learn so you stay intellectually challenged and relevant. And opportunities to learn are aplenty at AMA SF. Our next learning-centric event, Marketing Career Accelerator: Charting Your Future, is on Feb. 6th. Another, later this fall, will focus on what we’ve learned about AI in marketing after two years of ChatGPT.

AMA SF members get access to national American Marketing Association programming as well. From the national AMA organization, we have several timely and relevant webinars, including “Generative AI Strategy and Best Practices,” “The Year Ahead,” and “Plan And Create Content That Converts” — and that’s just the start. Some events are for members only or discounted for members, but the whole library is yours to explore when you join us.

Even with the challenges you may come across in 2024, building resilience now directly leads to success down the road. Success, as it relates to AMA SF, primarily means growing your career, building contacts for your business, and making money. But there’s another type of success that may be more important: emotional and, perhaps, spiritual success.

If you’re feeling discouraged, there’s one sure way to feel better: uplift someone else.

I know, I know; it sounds corny to talk about emotions and spirit as a professional organization. But a little kindness and generosity goes a long way, especially when it seems like everything around us is driven by profit.

Our team helps people in their careers, which means improving people’s self-worth, helping their families thrive, and ultimately supporting their ability to give back to their community.

To this aim, AMA SF is running the third year of its Externship Academy, which partners small local businesses with externs and advisors to help these businesses with their marketing and give invaluable experience to the externs.

Thankfully, we’re not alone in our goal to build resilience among the marketing community in the Bay Area. AMA SF partners with the Bay Area Advertising Relief Committee (BAARC), Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) – SF, and sfBIG for the Mentor Program. This program partners early-career marketers or people who want to enter marketing with experienced professionals. Through this program and the Externship Academy, I’ve personally seen newbies get their first job or increase their salary. I call that a success — and it takes a village to make it happen.

Whether you want to strengthen your resilience, grow your network, or volunteer, AMA SF is here to help professional marketers succeed. Or, to look at it another way, and to pretentiously paraphrase John Donne: no marketer is an island. We’re all in it together.

I hope you will join us. And, from the entire AMA SF volunteer team – we wish you a happy and prosperous 2024!