If you’re a marketer, you should probably be joining some professional development organizations.  This helps get you networked, stay in touch with industry practices, and up to date on new trends.  Here’s the list of organizations I know about.  Did I miss any?

• Social Media Club |   http://www.socialmediaclub.org/ – My local branch in DC is pretty active: Shout to http://smcdc.wordpress.com.  They do many events around the DC area where digital marketing professionals can meet up to discuss best practices.  It feels a little less stuffy than the more developed associations but it depends on what you’re into.  I paid the membership fee immediately, because I could pay from PayPal!  You also get good discounts to events.  I’m not sure if I’m attending the online marketing summit, but it is one example of how joining the SMC could be a good thing.  http://www.onlinemarketingsummit.com/2010-washington-dc/
• American Marketing Association | http://www.marketingpower.com – I joined the AMA in 2006 and have been off and on with my membership.  They produce a quarterly journal that can be helpful.  They also have a great job board that is open to site visitors.
• Society of Digital Agencies | http://www.societyofdigitalagencies.org – I joined SoDA the earlier part of this year.  There was no membership fee, though I would have paid something for all the value I got.  They manage the site through a Ning network and did a awesome digital marketing outlook document.  Some people want to know that SoDA began as an Adobe venture but I don’t have a position on that.  It’s a great org that gives you access to great resources and allows you to contribute meaningfully. I cross post marketing blog posts on their site and check out the other contributors.

Sales.  See the title before you know the person, and they’re already insincere.  That’s why we cringe at the idea of visiting a car dealership or dreaded auto repair.  I don’t want to be sold to.  It makes me feel exploited and naive.

So- I get why organizations, particularly consumer tech companies, embrace religious terminology.  I have my concerns with the blending of consumer culture and religion but evangelist just doesn’t sound like sales man to me.  The word evangelist evokes images of genuine passion and zeal.  Avinash Kaushik, is an Analytics Evangelist for Google.  When I tell you he is on FIRE for web analytics, it is an understatement.

I walked into the Apple store recently and spoke at length with a “genius” (that’s what they call their sales associates) and the show began.  She raved about the Mac Book Pro.  She was a film student who used Premiere and said it worked like a dream.  She called over someone else that had this newer model, and experience with the software I would use and she went on and on about it.

The truth is that if I had $3,000 in discretionary funds that day, I’d own a Mac.

Stop selling and start converting.

Are you:

• A marketing professional?
• Curious about why Americans are such consumers?
• Curious about how the masses bought in to democracy?
• In PR or any related field, (like marketing or communications)?
• Just curious about what I’m talking about now?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you need to watch a documentary that I’m watching.  It’s called – Century of the Self.  It was a British documentary that focused on the “engineering of consent” and the influence of the masses.

The eye-opening film shows how powerful people found ways to influence and in most cases manipulate the American people.

“Bernays had manipulated the American people, but he had done so because he, like many others at the time, believed that the interest of business and the interest of America were indivisible… but Bernays was convinced that to explain this rationally to the American people was impossible because they were not rational.  Instead one had to touch on their inner fears and manipulate them in the interest of a higher truth.”

The origins of this influence came from studies Sigmund Freud did in psychotherapy.  There was a focus on how to work of Sigmund Freud, his nephew Edward Bernays, and his daughter Anna Freud.  You can find the clips on YouTube and I’m going to do more posts about the marketing focused parts.  Stay tuned!

madia

I had an interesting conversation this weekend with my cousin about education.  It was really a bit of a debate.  (This is where the people who really know me laugh, because I seem to enjoy debating…)  For brevity, I’ll just say that he argued for experience over formal education and little ms. mba argued the opposite.

The truth is that there are so many ways to learn – formal school programs, community college, trade schools, independent learning, mentors, work experience, and the list goes on and on.  Learning demands a kind of openness that defies ones ego.  I know quite a few popular quotes on education that say learning is also about unlearning things you thought were correct.  To learn, a person has to admit that they don’t know everything – and that openness gets harder and harder as we age because we need to believe that we know what we’re doing.

I have a bit of a learning routine now that I’d like to share with you, my friends, family, and oddly enough my colleagues who actually subscribe to my blog.  I’ve been watching my stats and… weird, but growing. 

• Take a class – I find certificate programs exciting.  I try to take at least one formal class every year.  Georgetown has some great programs for professionals.  I’m thinking about Project Management now…  Already did certificate in web design.  The structure forces accountability.  If you don’t learn anything in a class, it’s your own fault.
• Read smart mags – I have a subscription to The Economist and Harvard Business Review.  I make it a point to read through those every month.  Sometimes I fall short because though I love The Economist, the content can be kinda dense and difficult to get through quickly.  Since my HBR subscription is digital, I print those and keep them with me at work.  While I’m waiting for people to arrive at meetings, I can sneak a page in here and there – and lunch time too.
• Watch Podcasts - There are so many and you can not only learn but listen to things that inspire you to dig deeper into your craft, and even discover new passions.  I have all sorts of podcasts from language lessons to Ted.com which I believe is one of the most inspirational sites I’ve ever seen.
• Watch Documentaries - Though movies can be biased by the director/producer’s position, they can be very informative.  I watch documentaries on everything from birth to business.  (Not that I have any interest in birth…)
• Talk to Smart People - I think very carefully about the people in my circle.  I want them to be thoughtful, smart, and intellectually curious.  Surrounding yourself with thinkers is one of the smartest ways to get better, faster.  I’ve found my friends’ intellectual pursuits to be a source of motivation for me to keep sharpening the saw, and finding my way.

I may seem like I think I have all the answers, but the truth is though I don’t have all the answers, I am constantly  looking.

It used to be that if I didn’t have a notebook and a pen, I’d freak out.  Since I have a particularly bad memory, being able to write things down was always essential.  Aside from my memory issues, I also feared that in a moment of inspiration for a song or poem or short story – I’d be lost without a way to record it.  Yes, pen and paper were very important.  (I always dreaded writing in pencil even for math class.  It just seemed so temporary…)

So now, I’m all about my devices.  After all, when I have a moment of inspiration I write it in my Blackberry (BB) Notes.  If I have a song idea, I sing it into my voice recorder.  If I have a funny, short thought – I tweet it using my BB.  If I miss a friend, I’ll send them a “we need to get together” text message.  If I don’t have my phone, I can’t do any of that.

Oh and what about my music?  Wherever there is internet (work computer, or BB), Pandora can come through in a clutch with streaming radio stations filled with artists of my choice.  My music device of choice is Zune HD.  It’s not because of my Microsoft PC affinity, actually Zune just has a $15/month subscription that lets me download all the music I want.  iTunes doesn’t offer that.  (Sorry iFriends)  So as much as I like my iPod Touch, that is reserved for funky apps.  My Zune has music and podcasts.

My kindle has books (those that I haven’t found for cheaper on half.com), my digital camera has pictures that will never be developed, most likely downloaded for slideshows and fun screensavers, my digital voice recorder sits in a drawer – and on and on.

I have a lot of gadgets.  I love them all but I’d have to say that the BB and Zune HD are the ones that I roll with every day.  They are my modern day pen and pad.  It’s a convenient thought to have a device that does it all, but for some things like my kindle, the luxury is in having a dedicated device.  I can’t explain it.  It’s just where I am.