Throughout my 25 years of work in the ad agency business, I’ve developed a strong network of fellow marketing professionals at other agencies and on the corporate-side. I’ve also come to realize that client-side marketing professionals don’t seem to have as strong of networks.

Here on the agency-side, we seem to keep in touch with many other agency people. When we need input on a challenge, we can pick up the phone and call someone who also works on the agency-side to ask for help. This happens frequently.

I’ve asked a few friends who are marketing execs, to name a few—say ten, and other local marketers who they feel they have a strong relationship with. Most of the time, they really don’t know many other than those they are currently working with or have recently.

But, having a strong network of people who work in your field is so important. When I was President of our local American Marketing Association a few years ago, we were brainstorming ways to better support the marketing community. One idea was to help corporate marketers build their network and learn from other marketers. We developed the AMA Marketers Roundtable—a small focus group-type discussion on a specific topic.

A few times a year, corporate marketers are invited to discuss a topic. The discussion is managed by an experienced focus group moderator, Lon Zimmerman. The conversation is recorded, and a white paper is published. We just hosted our 16^th roundtable where ten marketers from a variety of industries participated. The topic this year was “Social Media: As A Marketing Tool, Is It Living Up To Its Hype?” Besides learning more about social media, we try to make each roundtable an opportunity to network with other marketing professionals.

To see white papers from previous sessions, visit the Resource Page on the AMA St. Louis website.

Participating in the Roundtables can help marketers build their network, and I invite any corporate marketer to join us at the next Roundtable. If interested in being included on the invitation list, please contact me at [email protected] or 314-727-5850.

In a small way, a strong network helps to rebuild our economy. Sharing knowledge with other marketers will help produce better results for their companies, thus adding more sales—which leads to more employment and ultimately adding to our nation’s success. Seems like a simple formula to me.

Heartland Bank, a client of St. Louis Public Relations Agency Geile/Leon Marketing Communications, decided they wanted to do a little more than just contribute to the annual United Way Campaign on an individual basis.

So they decided that this year, each department would create an auction basket with donated items from clients, customers and themselves. Each basket would have its own theme. Once all the baskets were put together, employees would bid on each of the baskets (silent auction). The bidding began on October 5, and ended on October 7. There were eight baskets in all (one from each department) and the minimum bid was 50 bucks. Of course, some of the great baskets created stood out, like the Football one (pictured below) with Rams tickets, Mizzou gear and tailgating stuff.

Anyway, the highest bid went to the basket from the Heartland Bank Mortgage. These folks didn’t get a lot of donations, so they put together a basket with Cheez-Its, Dr. Pepper and Twizzlers! It drew $1350!

The entire auction added $4,000 to the bank’s contribution, and everyone had a great time doing it.

There is nothing like being on the other side of an interview to make you think about what you do for a living. As Vice President of Geile/Leon Marketing Communications, a St. Louis public relations agency, I train people how to do effective interviews. But when it is personal, I wonder what to say and how it will look in print!

I recently had a great experience with Town & Style writer Elle Denigan and photographer Charlie Barnes. Elle chose me to participate in the “What’s Your Routine” column. I will be featured in the October 26 column talking about my workout routine.

While I work out regularly, and always have, it still was a little nerve racking to be talking about myself to a reporter who was in fact asking me questions. Now many of you who know me will be asking if I followed my own advice when preparing for the interview, such as writing notes and key messages to deliver. Well, I can honestly tell you that I tried to!

I think I stammered a little when Elle asked me about my eating habits—what else could I say but that I am picky, with a capital “P!” She was very easy to talk to, but it was still an interview! Now I have a better sense of how my clients must feel when I put them in front of the media!

The Hiltons of Branson, which comprise the Branson Convention Center, Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel and nearby Hilton Promenade at Branson Landing Hotel, are the proud recipients of the first-ever “Blue Energy Award,” given by Hilton Hotels. The Hiltons of Branson are a client of Geile/Leon Public Relations, a St. Louis Public Relations agency.

The award ceremony was covered by Branson Tri-Lakes News, the local newspaper. Below is the article “Hilton presented the first Blue Energy Award to Hiltons of Branson for its positive impact on teams, business and the community.”

Hilton presented the first Blue Energy Award to Hiltons of Branson for its positive impact on teams, business and the community. “Blue Energy represents such an important part of our culture of hospitality,” said Bill Derbins, general manager of Hiltons of Branson. “Congratulations to all of the team members of our two hotels for going above and beyond to make our guests and the members of our community feel valued and respected.”

More than 500 submissions were received from Hilton hotels and resorts around the world. The Blue Energy Quarterly Award is based on two criteria, the Brand Scorecard and the Quarterly Update completed by each property.

The Blue Energy initiatives that set Hiltons of Branson apart this quarter included a number of events recognizing team members for their hard work, a clean-up effort of Branson Landing Boulevard, a food drive for survivors of the Joplin tornadoes and innovative ways to recycle, reduce and reuse.

The Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel, Hilton Promenade at Branson Landing and Branson Convention Center are in the heart of historic downtown Branson and adjacent to Branson Landing. The hotels’ ideal location is perfect for business and leisure guests.

One of the most recognized names in the industry, Hilton Hotels & Resorts stands as the stylish, forward-thinking global leader in hospitality. The flagship brand of Hilton Worldwide continues to build upon its legacy of innovation by developing products and services to meet the needs of tomorrow’s savvy global travelers while more than 144,000 team members shape experiences in which every guest feels cared for, valued and respected.

This week is the 8^th Annual Advertising Week in New York City, the world’s premier annual gathering of marketing and communication gurus and thought-leaders. This year’s conference is making the news, despite the crappy economy and economic outlook. On day one, there was a panel discussion that shed a very positive light on our industry and the outlook over the next couple of years.

Tim Jones, chief executive of ZenithOptimedia, part of Publicis Groupe, was quoted as saying, “While the aftershocks keep coming, worldwide advertising spending will grow this year compared with last year, next year compared with this year, and 2013 compared with 2012.”

Mr. Jones mentions the primary reason for growth next year comes from the “quadrennial effect” that our industry will experience —media reaping the benefit of selling commercial air time and ad space for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games and the 2012 elections in the United States. It’s the perfect storm for media spending to increase next year.

There were some caveats to Mr. Jones speech, like the somewhat anemic growth of the U.S. economy and the power of consumer sentiment. He warned, “If we’re not in a recession, we may talk ourselves back into one.”

I, for one, am not going to be part of the negative thinking. It’s time for optimism and confidence. Here’s to a resurgence of ad spending and consumer confidence in 2012!