Marketing Special Interest Groups (SIG 2.0)

SIGs are only open to active AMA Chicago members. That’s right, these peer-to-peer communities are yet another benefit of membership.

If you are not an active member, join or renew now for $169. You’ll gain free access to SIGs and every monthly event from AMA Chicago ($300+ value), plus professional tools and templates, and many other perks.

There are 850+ marketers in AMA Chicago, and every one of us could have vastly different job descriptions and responsibilities. SIGs are the place where you find your peers — the people who share your passions, challenges and interests.

SIGs are your chance to network with your marketing peers — without ever having to find a parking spot. Through monthly virtual meetings and Slack, you’ll get help from and give help to people in your subset of marketing as often as you’d like.

Schedule: Second Tuesday of the month at noon (CT)

Calling all creatives in culture organizations, performing arts, and entertainment! With Chicagoland as our backdrop with world-class cultural and entertainment scenes that have deep roots in Chicago’s history, we share experiences, campaign success stories, and latest sources of inspiration with each other. Marketing and creatives in performing arts, botanical gardens, and other attractions in both the for-and non-profit sectors are encouraged to join this community! Membership in AMA Chicago is NOT required for this SIG at this time.

Leader: Grant Apgar and Chris Cloud 

Schedule: Third Thursday of the month, 12-12:45 p.m. CT.

We come having read an agreed-upon book, then discuss learnings. We’ve had featured guests and even authors join the conversation. This SIG is particularly beneficial for people who came to marketing in a roundabout way and need to get fundamentals and strategy all at once! 

Leader: Kevin Davis and Beverly Moore

Schedule: First Thursdays of the month at noon

The heart and soul of every company, product, and service is its brand, but building a brand that connects with the right consumer is a marketer’s biggest challenge. This group will discuss the many facets of a brand such as brand strategy, brand development, memorable brand activations, the ROI of investing in a brand, humanizing your brand and trends in branding. Be ready to expand your mindset around brand and network with other Chicago area brand geek marketers!

Leaders:  Steven Silverman and Lisa Kaplan

Related blogs: Winning the Name Game: How to Pick the Best Name for Your Brand | Our Jewish Synagogue is a Brand and Why You Should Care

Schedule: Fourth Thursdays of the month at noon

Welcome to the world of Direct Response Marketing! This SIG focuses on marketing or advertising efforts designed to generate a trackable and measurable response. Topics will include:

• Direct mail and related engagement technologies
• Omni-channel integration strategies, including email, call center, and direct digital
• CRM and Data Management incorporating data segmentation, attribution modeling, and loyalty programs
• Creative development, copy, and graphic design with response generation focus

Whether you are new to direct response marketing or a seasoned veteran, we welcome all who are willing to share and to learn something new!

Leaders: Blair Migonis and Greg Ward

Schedule: Second Monday of the month at noon

Building a marketing department from the ground-up is no easy task, particularly if you’re doing it alone. Join us to hear how other like-minded (and understaffed, and under-budgeted) marketers are prioritizing their work, optimizing their time, and building successful programs.

At our first meeting, we’ll talk about the top marketing tools that increase our effectiveness as marketers and help us save time – and money. We’re looking forward to hearing from you about your favorite software, apps and tools!

Leaders: Lidia Varesco Racoma and Elfrida Gabriel

Schedule: Third Tuesday of the month at Noon

Whether you’re new or experienced in nonprofits, this community offers a chance to share your challenges and successes with other not-for-profit marketers. Topics will include how to get the most for your limited marketing dollars, sharing best practices and finding other NPO partners.

Leaders: Rodney Young, Jr. and Paul Stark

Schedule: First Wednesday of the month at Noon

This community focuses on the research and insights that drive marketing forward in Chicago and nationwide. Come prepared to discuss tools, strategies and ideas.

Leader: Joe Hopper and Kathy Doyle

Schedule: Second Wednesday of the month from 12-12:45 p.m. CT

At its core, the purpose of search engine optimization (SEO) is to increase your website’s visibility in the organic search results of major search engines. In this SIG, we’ll focus on 3 key areas:

1. On-page SEO – Any content on your web pages including blogs, product copy, web copy etc.
2. Off-page SEO – Anything which happens away from your website that helps with your SEO strategy such as backlinks.
3. Technical SEO – Anything technical undertaken to improve search rankings such as site indexing to help bot crawling.

Leaders: Mark Bealin and Steve Krull

There are more Special Interest Groups to come in Chicago! Let us know what you’re interested to be a part of by completing our short survey.

Special Interest Group chairs are volunteer topic experts who lead monthly meetings, identify other experts, moderate Slack channels and keep the community going strong. Each SIG may have one or more chairs, depending on preference and volume of community members.

If you’d like to chair a SIG, email executive director Bonnie Massa to start a new SIG community.