Enter your website for the smackdown (But don’t forget to register, too!)

You asked for it and we heard you. Mark your calendar for NAMA’s eSIG Website Smackdown at eSpaces and its new facility in Cool Springs.

Our panel of experts represents several perspectives: website design, development, management and user experience. Our panelists will include Laurie Kalmanson, Request Marketing, Inc.; Laura Creekmore, Creek Content; Ryan Dunlap, digital creative at redpepper and Elin Mulron, Digital Nashville, moderator. You can submit your website for a Smackdown review by our panel. (Click here). It’s a great way to network and see how your website stands up to critical review.

Hors d’oeuvres, beer, wine and soda will be served.

Allison Watson

On February 2nd, Allison Watson, the Corporate Vice President of Marketing and Operations for Microsoft in the U.S., will discuss the new world of marketing–how digitally immersive, customer-centric, analytically driven marketing is changing the way Microsoft delights its customers and how the digital revolution is sweeping through the marketing field.  Central to this talk is the notion that in order for today’s CMO to succeed, they must successfully bridge the gap that has traditionally existed between IT and marketing.  Our speaker will impart her lessons learned on ways to:

• Better reach your customer and make their experience more magical,
• Determine what customers need using cutting-edge analytics,
• Convert marketing into a revenue generator,
• Run a truly social organization, and
• How to work effectively with IT to make this all happen.

As corporate vice president of the US Marketing & Operations Group, Watson leads marketing and strategic business development for Microsoft’s largest geographic market. Prior to assuming her current role in 2010, Watson spent eight years as head of the Worldwide Partner Group. A recipient of many accolades–Business Week named Watson as one of the top people to watch to gauge the economic recovery.

Be sure to tell your friends as they won’t want to miss this rare event. We recommend registering early as we expect a sold-out crowd.

Hilton Garden Inn, 1715 Broadway, Networking begins at 11:00

Robert Richman

Marketing isn’t just to your external audiences, but also to your company’s employees. How do you help create a culture that keeps employees engaged and customers coming back? Join NAMA on Thursday, March 1^st for a lunch filled with networking and knowledge from Robert Richman, Product Manager of Zappos Insights, the Zappos family company dedicated to helping businesses with their cultures. This presentation will not only interest marketing professionals, but also HR managers as Richman will describe how Zappos builds a culture that consistently is ranked one of the best places to work in the U.S. As part of Zappos, Richman’s group Zappos Insights helps 1000 people every month to discover how a workplace can help people grow, inspire amazing service and ultimately, drive revenue.

Richman started Zappos Insights while working at the parent company, building the model from a proof-of-concept web site, to a robust business. Previous to joining Zappos, Robert developed digital marketing strategies for brands including Tony Robbins, Sony, Billboard and best-selling business authors. Robert co-founded the Affinity Lab, a collaborative workspace for entrepreneurs that continues to graduate more than 150 businesses in Washington, DC.

  A bonus! All attendees receive 20% off at Zappos.com.

Join us Thursday, March 1st at the Hilton Garden Inn, 1715 Broadway, 37203

Members and non-members invited.

Networking starts at 11:00

Since I couldn’t narrow my focus, the name was particularly difficult for me. I didn’t have anything in particular that I wanted to say…so it wasn’t easy to come up with a name that said nothing yet sounded amazing.

In fact, I actually named the firm one day while I was over at Centresource, one of Nashville’s great web design and development shops. Now-CEO Evan Owens was introducing me to someone and he said, “What’s the name of your company again?” And thus, of desperation, Creekmore Consulting was born!

Well, whether I knew it or not, we did have a great specialization, and we quickly built a nice portfolio of content strategy and information architecture work. I hired some employees, and we’d talk from time to time about the name of the company. “Creekmore Consulting” could be an accounting firm…or almost anything else. We did consult, but all our consultations focused on content strategy specifically. So it seemed silly to keep such a generic name.

Then the crazy-making began. We came up with name…after name…after name…after name. We really liked several, but every time we came up with one we liked, we discovered the URL was not available.

A couple of words on URLs:

• Even though we’re in 2012, we still believe that you need to own the URL that is your company name. Yes, it’s hard to find a URL that is available, but it really makes a difference. The more stuff you have to append to your name, the harder it is for people to remember.
• And all of you out there sitting on URLs and not using them? A pox on you! We had several great names and the URLs were taken, but not in use. Just maddening. Of course, you can always try to buy an unused URL, but you don’t have any way to know in advance if the person who owns it is crazy or not. While we came up with some good names, we never hit on one that we felt we’d just die without, so we kept searching.

In the end, our new name [Creek Content] happened by accident. Last year at South by Southwest, I decided we really should start tweeting. [An effort at which we're still only sporadically good.] So I created an account while eating lunch one day, and I named it CreekContent. I meant to name it CreekConsult, but I didn’t realize my mistake until I’d finished creating the account. And I thought, Hey! I’m on to something there! I discovered the URL was available and I bought it right there at the bar at P.F. Chang’s in Austin, on my phone.

We didn’t officially decide to rename the company until the summer, however. We spent a day with fabulous business consultant, David Baker, and one of the first things he said to us was, “Rename this company!” It pushed us over the edge.

We got the website rebranded, a new logo, new business cards, and off we went. Of course, the administrativia continued for months — renaming the bank account, filing the name change with the city, the state, our insurance company, the IRS….getting our ongoing clients to update our billing information. But it was absolutely worth it.

While no name can completely explain what a company does, our new name plants us in the right universe before we even start talking to a prospective client. It is easy to remember and spell, and — I still think this matters — it’s shorter than our old URL.

Bill Selph

I’ll share with you my history with flipbooks. I would imagine that they have been around since maybe the 40′s or 50′s. In those days, flipbooks would have been made on an offset press with each sheet collated by hand. Much more labor intensive than the variable data type printing we use today. As a matter of fact, it’s only been maybe the last 5 or 6 years that we could produce them in an efficient way.

I first saw a flipbook at Peter and Karen Cronin’s place. The Cronins have always had fun and unique ideas. Karen had some really old flipbooks that she had saved for years. One was of Elvis Presley. These books would surely have been assembled by hand.

“When Bill saw Karen’s flipbooks, his eyes lit up and you could almost see his printer’s brain kick into action,” Peter says. “He found a practical and affordable way to get them printed and into the hands of people everywhere. Bill’s “Me Having Fun” flipbooks are just amazing.”

That meeting started my obsession with flipbooks. Marshall & Bruce Company had the technology to produce these books, I just needed to figure out the front-end. Our partner from Xerox introduced me to a man who had been doing this for several years. He had already figured out the processing, so we struck a deal and started making flipbooks.

We can produce a single flipbook from a 10 or 15 second video for under $15.00. Ten years ago, that book would have cost $500.00 and you couldn’t shoot the video on a cell phone. I wonder what we will be doing on our cell phones 10 years from now?

NAMA Co-Chair of Membership and an Account Executive for Signal Inc.

Ann Howard

Q: Hi, Ann. What do you do?

I’m in charge of Nashville business development for Signal, a creative communications agency.

Q: Tell us a happy marketing story. Maybe how you got into marketing?

Once upon a time, I was a college intern at a law firm. I was tasked with selling sponsorships for a trade organization and was instructed to do so by phone. It was quickly clear that busy attorneys do not want to talk to interns selling sponsorships, so I designed a creative appeal and sat by the FAX machine sending it to everyone in the membership list. I surpassed the goal by a multiple, made my boss look awesome, and was thereafter hooked.

Q: Can you tell us about your past jobs?

I’ve been a Marketing Manager, Corporate Communications Manager, Researcher and a Business Counselor.

Q:  We’d love to know your favorite movie/album/TV show?

• Movie — The Triplets of Belleville
• Album–Elvis Costello – My Aim is True
• TV show –Boardwalk Empire

Q: What’s one of your favorite activities?

I read to kids through Love Helps.  It is the best volunteer gig ever.

Q:  What would people be surprised to know about you?

I performed in a musical once…in the chorus.

Q: How can people find you?

ann@signalinc.com, (910)512-3101, http://www.signalinc.com

Here’s Courtenay Rogers

NAMA Co-Chair of Programming and Marketing Coordinator for Bone McAllester Norton, PLLC

Courtenay Rogers

Q: Courtenay, give us a sense of what you do.

I assist 32 attorneys in their marketing efforts to promote their practices, along with maintaining brand awareness and overall marketing strategy for the whole law firm.

Q: What’s a best lesson learned about marketing?

Marketing isn’t a science. Sometimes you have to just try something, track it and see if it works.

Q: Can you tell us about your past jobs?

Surface Warfare Officer, the US Navy and then Co-Owner, Primarily Rye

Q:  What’s your favorite movie/album/TV show?

• Movie–Top Gun
• Album–Will Hoge
• TV show–Grey’s Anatomy

Q: What do you like to do when you’re not marketing?

Cooking, networking, wine tasting (drinking)

Q:  What would people be surprised to know about you?

I don’t make my bed.

Q: What’s your contact info?

crogers@bonelaw.com, (615)742-6889, http://www.bonelaw.com

Vaidas Lukosius

Meet Vaidas Lukosius

VP for Research for NAMA and Associate Professor of Marketing at Tennessee State University.  Vaidas teaches marketing to undergraduate and graduate students at TSU.

Q: Would you tell us some marketing words to live by?

“Irrational consumer behavior is reality.  Marketers, not economists, realized that long time ago.”

Q: Can you tell us about your past jobs?

“I’ve done marketing research for the city of Helsinki; for Microsoft in Russia; and in the Baltic States, Russia and Scandinavia.”

Q:  What’s your favorite band?

“Royworld — an alternative rock band”

Q: What’s your favorite thing to do when you’re not teaching and serving on NAMA’s board?

“Playing with my little girl”

Q:  What would people be surprised to know about you?

“I was a DJ.”

How can people find you?

vaidas@vaidas.net, (615)512-5106

Bob Duthie

Meet Bob Duthie

VP/Chair Database/Event Registration Management for NAMA and Founder for Duthie Learning.

Hi, Bob?  What do you do?

“I’m Founder, Chief Learning Officer and Business Development Director for an e-learning division, and Founder and developer of a publishing business for long distance boaters & RVers.”

Q: What are some lessons you’d like to share about marketing?

“Business-to-business marketing is all about networking and building relationships. Priority one is generating leads. As buyers turn to associates for referrals and the web for research, marketers need to focus on all possible referrals sources and use web tools effectively. Ads, brochures and cold calls no longer work.”

What are your past jobs/felonies/misdemeanors?

“I cruised our motor home 43,000 miles from Vancouver Island to Newfoundland, then Maine to Florida and California.
I’ve also cruised America’s Great Loop, which is circumnavigation of eastern North America.”

“I’ve been an entrepreneur developing multimedia, e-learning and marketing presentations.  Worked as VP Business Development for Northern Telecom (now extinct) and Director of R&D for GTE Automatic Electric (Canada) Ltd (also now extinct).”

What’s your favorite movie and TV show?

“Dr. Zhivago and the Office”

What’s your favorite activity?

“Traveling on the ground and water, not in the air”

What would people be surprised to know about you?

“I played the Angel Gabriel in our church pagent at age 10.”

Thanks.  How can people contact you?

bob@duthielearning.com, (615)298-7381

Michele Niec — President/Creative Director, Communication Elements, NAMA Healthcare SIG Chair

I had a client in Tampa who sold unique items for newborns.  The company was having a tough time competing with the big box retailer, but instead of spending marketing dollars on standard advertising, we took to the streets and built a partnership with a local auto dealer.

We would trick-out their family-style SUV with products like a car seat, stroller, sippy cups, diaper bag, etc.  My client provided nearly $3,000 in product to be displayed in the SUV, which was called the “NEW FAMILY ON THE GO” package.  The dealer added the price of the products to the price of  the car so if the new car owner wanted, everything could be financed together.  Because of a low marketing budget, we promoted the package with a field-marketing approach of posters and flyers directly to OB/GYN offices combined with e-mail marketing to the auto dealer’s database.

We also hosted parents-to-be open houses and educational classes at the auto dealer (they had a beautiful conference room) such as diaper changing and daddy boot camp.  In the end, my client found this to be very successful–resulting in a 38% sales increase against prior year and a 287% increase in email captures for their e-marketing database.

I suppose the moral of my story is sometimes you have to think outside of the pen and paper;  always step outside of the situation and look for partnerships that might seem odd at first, but can actually make perfect sense to the end user.  In this case, my client’s clients would need a new car because of their new addition.  While my client didn’t sell cars, we were able to build a partnership that not only increased product sales for my client, but approved the overall family image of our auto dealer partner.