My Introduction/Keynote for THE Marketing Event, November 4, 2005, 8:45am

Welcome to THE Marketing Event!

I'm David Koren, the President of the SMPS New York Chapter for the 2005-2006 season.

On behalf of the SMPS Board, our Professional Development Committee, and everyone involved in this event, I want to thank you for being here and being a part of this event.

We've never attempted anything like this before. And it's fantastic that so many of you have come out and committed to spending the day with us. With your help, I know we can make this event a huge success—for our chapter, for this community of marketers, and I hope for each of you personally and professionally.

The fact that each of you is here demonstrates a commitment on your part to your career as a professional services marketer, and it also shows a commitment on your firm's part to your development as a professional.

Let me just say a few words about what this event is really about…

Marketing in our industry is a tough job… for a number of reasons… Deadlines, lack of structure, lack of an established career path, and in some cases a lack of appreciation or understanding of what you do from your principals.

But marketers and the marketing effort is vital to the success of our firms.

Though it can often seem like you work in a proposal or presentation factory, the role we play—or that we can potentially play—is far more valuable.

Marketing, at its core, is a critical strategic function of any business. Marketing is about identifying where you want to take your firm, and putting processes and messages in place to help you get there.

In my book, the Architect's Essentials of Marketing, I half-seriously compare marketing to the FORCE from Star Wars. It's an energy that binds your firm together and enables you to get where you want to go. Sure, marketing has to do with proposals and presentations, but it also has to do with every interaction anybody has with your firm or its people—from the way the receptionist answers the phone to the way a project manager conducts a meeting to the way your voice mail system works. It's all marketing.

There's a quote from marketing guru Harry Beckwith that I absolutely love: "Marketing is not a department. It is your business." 

Given this fact, isn't it ironic that, as marketers, many of you probably feel like you live under an avalanche of RFPs, that you work too many hours, that you'll never get promoted within your firm, that your job and your life is just not what it should be.

The fact of the matter is that we all have it within our power to change the way we are perceived within our firms, and to change the way our firms think about marketing.

But if we don't take ourselves seriously, we can't expect the leaders of our firms to take us seriously.

We are vital to the success of our firms. We provide value in ways that the leaders of our firms can't always see. We are communicators. We are collaborators. We are strategic thinkers. We do whatever it takes to get the job done, whatever it takes to help our firms bring in business.

So, what does this have to do with the event today?

We wanted to create an event that would bring the entire community of marketers in New York together. It's great that you're all here. The group of people in this room is the core of the marketing community in our industry in New York. And, by extension, some of the most important people in our industry in New York.

Today is about professional development. And professional development is about more than just learning. Today is about learning, but it's also about building community. The people in this room are your community. We are your network. We are your peers. We are the group who understands what you're up against, the challenges you face, your role in your firm.

Through embracing and connecting with this community, we all become better professionals, and we can all define our own career paths by understanding the roles that others play in their firms.

For me, that's what today is about. Building and growing our community of professional services marketers in New York, and providing everyone in this room with a greater sense of connection, and a greater understanding of your job, and what is possible for you in your career.

That said, I have to ask, how many of you are SMPS members. Put your hands up.

Why is this important? Because the SMPS is the professional organization for people who do what we do. It's our club. Without the SMPS, we are just individuals who happen to do marketing for architecture, engineering, or construction firms. With the SMPS, we are a community of marketers.

How many of you are not SMPS members? Put your hands up.

We want you to join. We want you to be part of our club. We promise that it'll be worth it. There are a number of representatives of the SMPS here today. Please talk to them about membership.

Ok, now… Let me see the hands of the SMPS members again. Good. Now, how many of you are members of a committee at the SMPS?

This is your club. This is your community. If you talk to the many committee members that are here, you'll find (I hope) that they'll tell you that you get out of it what you put into it, that the value of being a member of this professional organization, and this community, comes from participation. That if you're active, you meet people, you interact, you learn, you grow.

If you're not active, you get a bill each year, your firm pays it, and you're a "member." But what are you really getting out of membership?

If you're not on a committee, join one. We've got representatives here from every committee in the chapter—programs, professional development, communications, public relations, membership, special events, sponsorship.

Committees are the engine of the chapter. Committees drive the chapter and push us forward.

This is our organization, and it can be whatever we want it to be. Committees are where ideas come from, and committees carry out their ideas. Get involved, grow within the organization, and be part of where we're going as a community.