PRESIDENT'S PLATFORM | MARCH 2022
Posted on Mar. 30, 2022 / President's Platform / Subscribe 0
Featured Author: Brian C. Ferry, Business Generation and Marketing Lead, East, Turner & Townsend
Exciting times are ahead for SMPS New York. In just a few days, our chapter will open the nomination period for those looking to join our Board of Directors for the 2022-23 Chapter year. Over the four weeks that follow, we will field nominations from members in good standing to join our decision-making body tasked with the privilege of:
- educating and enlightening AEC professionals throughout the Tri-State area,
- soliciting and supporting chapter sponsors – without whom our organization would be unable to host leading-edge professional development and market insight events,
- promoting the value of businesses that are marketing-led and data-driven,
- bridging the gap between corporate service departments, including marketing and communications, business development and sales, human resources, legal, accounting, and office administration, and
- mentoring, supporting, and promoting underrepresented groups in a more inclusive corporate culture.
Following the four-week nomination period, SMPS New York will open a slate of nominees for our month-long election process. This will culminate with an election certification and the official announcement of our 2022-23 Board of Directors at our Annual Meeting and Liberty Ball on June 9.
Notice how I referred to our election to, and service with, the Board of Directors as a privilege? That is what it truly is. For many AEC marketers, we didn’t go to college with our sights set on joining this industry. Marketing, advertising, and public relations majors are commonly encouraged to focus on products, not services (think sneaker, car, or appliance brands and the related study of demographics, geographies, and buyer profiles).
Many of us entered this field by coincidence; some as administrative professionals elevated into client-focused roles, others as writers and literature enthusiasts who saw the value of storytelling, and more as graphic designers who could package corporate information into an attractive, cohesive proposal. For nearly as many marketers who work in our industry, there are nearly as many stories about how we got here. Regardless of how, when, or why, we spend tireless hours at our firms promoting our brands and differentiating our services in a hotly contested, high-stakes design and construction marketplace.
In the pressure cooker that are our AEC and CRE industries, SMPS members volunteer their precious free time to invest in each other and our industry. In the New York Chapter, those volunteers comprise about 20% of our members. Volunteers do this to give back, broaden their professional networks, or hone new skills in a low-pressure setting before offering them as services to their companies. Some of those volunteers strive for more and pursue seats on the Board of Directors where they get the opportunity to represent their profession and their firms in a high-profile and highly-rewarding professional organization.
Service on the Board of Directors is an honor. It is one that I have had the good fortune of doing for the last six years and will do for a seventh when I become an immediate past president on September 1, 2022. But I’m not there yet. I have the added honor of leading our chapter through our annual Town Hall event next month. It comes at an inflection point for a chapter and an industry coming out of the most seismic shift ever seen in our service delivery model. What’s more, I will enjoy the distinction of leading our Board through the creation of a new five-year strategic plan. That plan will, undoubtedly, focus on more equitable behaviors and outcomes, providing greater benefit to members while asking for less of our volunteers, and elevating the role of MarCom and sales professionals as strategic business partners to our firms.
Join us in promoting our industry, our profession, and our service. Become a volunteer. Jump in with both feet and nominate yourself (or a hard-working colleague) for a seat on our Board. To see the hard work of our current board members, consider attending some of our upcoming events:
- Diversity in Action: Success Stories and Goals for Inclusive Partnerships (March 31) Be part of the change happening within our industry as you learn from an A-list virtual panel of professionals discussing the shifting focus on supplier diversity in both public and private projects.
- Swag You Should Care About (April 5) Join the New Jersey Affiliate committee at their monthly meeting where they will host a presentation on technology-focused and sustainable promotional materials that will elevate your company brand better than any ballpoint pen or printed handout ever could!
- Charting Your Career Through Diversity & Inclusion (April 14) Our chapter Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee will host this vital conversation on charting a career path as your authentic self, enlisting the support of internal advocates, and supporting these efforts made by your colleagues.
- SMPS New York: New Jersey Affiliate Spring Spirits and New Member Mixer (April 27) Over on the western side of the Hudson, our New Jersey Affiliate will host our first in-person spirits networking event since the chapter’s brief return to live events at December 2021’s holiday party. Ain’t no party like a New Jersey Affiliate party!
- SMPS New York Town Hall 2022 (April 28) (details coming soon!) Attend this free, IN-PERSON opportunity to meet the Board of Directors and participate in honest discussions about our priorities, event topic ideas, and efforts to educate and promote professional service marketers, communicators, and business developers in the years ahead.
I look forward to seeing you at these events!
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