Ever want to know how to market Health Insurance? Well here is an excellent opportunity to learn from someone in the field on how to reach the Hispanic Market.

July 10, 2008
03:00 PM - 05:00 PM Arizona Time

Marketing ROI Techniques Training Series
Chicago - August 5-6
San Antonio - August 19-20
Boston - September 22-23

Click here to register

Recent improvements in marketing analytics and data accessibility make measurements more possible than ever before, yet no silver bullet approach exists to make this an easy task. With executives demanding increased accountability, corporate marketing managers must respond to win more of the untapped profit potential that lies just out of reach.

This two day course will take you through the basics as well as more advanced marketing ROI techniques. It is best suited to marketing managers, analysts, researchers, and executives in medium and large companies that have reasonable access to sales data and resources to dedicate to measurements. Through interactive presentation and exercises, participants will learn how to use measurements, analytics, and financial discipline to guide the development of more profitable strategies and tactical marketing campaigns.

Marketing managers, analysts, researchers and executives within medium to large companies with reasonable access to sales data and resources to dedicate to measurement will learn how to:

For more information visit www.marketingpower.com/tsmarketingroi or call 800.AMA.1150

Well, here is a test. tell me if you experience the same thing. I have my CV (Resume) on the job boards like jobing, careerbuilder, and Monster; I have a Linkedin account; I have a talentzoo account and still the only jobs that are forwarded to me or employers who contact me are offering mortgage, insurance and other sales type positions, for which I have no interest.

Everyone has that DREAM JOB firmly implanted in their brain. The one that all of the self help  and motivational gurus tell you is the one that you would do for free if possible. They then suggest to find a way to do THAT job and you will have happiness yada yada yada…

Well, my dream job is to be in show business, whether playing my guitar, singing, or acting. I have always been comfortable performing in front of a camera or crowds. Hollywood actually did call me, but it was a wrong number. Nonetheless, as we grow older and our dreams get sidetracked by life choices and reality, our dream Job  is substituted by what will pay the bills or support the family and you do what ever it takes to keep a roof over your head and make sure the kids have what they need until that elusive dream job becomes a distant memory as we sit in our cubicle waiting for Morphius to give us the blue pill so we can wake from our slumber. Even if you made all of the “correct” choices; you went to college, you earned an MBA, you have community service and leadership and management experience; you put in the 60 hour work weeks, yet that executive position still eludes you.

All I have to say is “Life isn’t Fair” Get over it!

It doesn’t have to be like this! Stop focussing on that singular aspect of your life. We are not defined by our career or the perceptions of others. Warning! Cliche ahead - Happiness is not a destination but a journey- and it comes and goes, and does not have to be tied to a specific career or event.

So What if you hate your job! Most of us do. We do these jobs anyway because we have responsibilities, and people count on us.

After reading several motivational and get rich books, the one thing they have in common is they never provide the road map or detailed information. So if you tie your happiness solely to material wealth, then write a motivational/get rich book. It will no doubt fly off the shelves like all of the other get rich books.

If, however, you are ready for a different answer then keep reading.

Find joy in other aspects of your life, whether in Church, volunteering, family, friends, hobbies, etc. Life is so much more than the career that we choose or the one that chose us.

So, until I land that great job that is within 15min drive from my home in Surprise AZ, where I am in a leadership position, sitting in a big office with a great view of the White Tank Mountains making big deals like Donald Trump and earning a six figure income, I can find joy in Church, volunteering, family, friends, hobbies, and growing confidence that Jesus is helping me every day.

We are all feeling the gas crunch as prices pass $4.00 a gallon and many employers aren’t excited about the idea of telecommuting for their employees yet. Well you won’t hear me complain about the evil “Big Oil” and their so called undeserved profits. What I will talk about is what are the auto manufacturers doing to provide us with viable alternative vehicles? The current crop of electric cars look like crap (Prius) and don’t save the consumer much in fuel costs or performance.

Along comes a little company called Tesla Motors with the first electric car that we can all collectively salivate over with a beautiful appearance and performance to match. They teamed up with Lotus to create the first electric sports car. So why have we not heard much about them or seen them on the road? Well the production model of the Tesla Roadster was just released in 2008 and of course the price tag is a hundred thousand American dollars. So that is the marketing dilemma. We have this dream machine yet the development costs are astronomical so they have to recoup that, and then partnering with Lotus means it won’t be an affordable car for many Americans yet at that price point the revolutionary car won’t make much of an impact in large volume sales or the environment.

In a perfect world though with fuel costs only going up, if the Tesla electric car is the answer then they would be smart to create something similar in appearance and performance at a lower price point in a marketing campaign to flood the market, much like Volkswagen did with the Beetle in the 60’s. Here are a few videos of the car.

I’m not sure it would work, I only bring it up because I want one and don’t see spending a hundred G’s on a car let alone anything over $20k.

Here’s an Idea!

A co-worker and I had a conversation the other day about music lessons for young children, as her son has played the violin for three years and hates it and wants to quit which is normal for a boy at 10 years old. He of course wants to be a Guitar Hero! Well then the subject got on to the Cello and how beautiful the sound was etc. Then another co-worker chimed in and told us about a cello metal band that plays Metalica songs all on the cello. Their name is Apocalyptica This is not Vivaldi by any strech of the imagination. They have several youtube videos and albums. I had no idea how huge these guys are.

Then I thought how the classical music teachers, and high school band directors are really missing tthe mark in getting young kids excited and passionate about the more classical instruments such as the cello or violin. If they taught students some stuff like this and showed that YES these instruments can be cool! You won’t need to wait an hour after school to leave with your cello or violin so no one will see you. I can’t say anything about the tuba. No amount of marketing can make that a cool instrument.

So anyway here is another video from what appears to be a High School Orchestra recital playing “The Final Countdown” by the ’80s band Europe. At least one High school band director has some level of cool. I bet there is a line to get into band class too.

I sincerely hope a music teacher is seeing this and gets an AH HA moment.

About Aquent: For more than 20 years, Aquent has led the way in transforming how companies find and utilize marketing and creative talent to execute their brand strategies. Aquent’s pioneering approach to staffing and services has helped thousands of companies - including two-thirds of the Fortune 500 and 90 of the Fortune 100 - build their internal marketing and communication capabilities. Last year, we placed over 11,000 Aquent talent at more than 3,000 companies. Aquent, online at www.aquent.com, is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

According to a recent DMA study, one out of three direct mail recipients prefers to respond online.

Guest Speaker - Joe Manos, Executive Vice-President, MindFire Inc. Will share his expertise in what are effective marketers doing? With the growth of the Web, many Internet applications have started to replace traditional print due to their immediacy, cost-effectiveness, and tracking abilities but many marketers are using variable data print and personalized URLs as complements, reinforcing one another’s strengths and creating a marketing combination more powerful than either medium used alone. By adding personalized URLs to direct mail pieces, one can track the respondent’s activity and continue to tailor the information based on his behavior. This information can also be used to further customize future print and Internet communications. This type of application is quickly gaining popularity among marketers.

Attendees will learn:

1. About new marketing dynamics in direct marketing
2. Why traditional marketing approaches don’t deliver the results we need
3. How ROI and results measurement is possible
4. About examples of cross-media and multi-channel campaigns in case studies

About Joe Manos

Joseph Manos, Executive Vice President of MindFireInc has 25 years of executive management experience leading companies providing integrated business solutions to the Graphic Arts community, as well as Corporate Enterprise Clients. He has spent his career building successful, growing companies including start-up, turn-around and the growth of struggling operations. For the last 7 years he has been responsible for the successful launch and growth of companies providing integrated solutions (ASP and stand alone apps) to the Graphic Arts industry.

Prior to joining MindFireInc, Mr. Manos was Senior Vice President of Printable Technologies, an industry-leading provider of web-based, integrated solutions to the graphic arts and printing industry. During his 4+ years at Printable he led the company into new markets and significant growth of the customer base and services.

At printChannel, a provider of B2B, web-based services to the graphic arts and printing industry, Manos launched and managed the sales organization resulting in unparalleled growth over an eighteen-month period. The company was later sold to PrintCafe. Prior to that, Manos spent 10 years with IKON Office Solutions, holding numerous executive posts, culminating his career as Marketplace President of one of their most profitable operations.

In his previous career positions, Manos held a number of senior management positions with leading industry technology companies. Joe has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from California State University, Sacramento and completed the AMA Executive Management Program.

About MindFireInc
Founded in 1999, MindFireInc is a privately held company with offices in California and Asia-Pacific. Its flagship product, LookWho’sClicking, is a Web-based application suite that automates the creation, management and tracking of personalized URLs and VIP landing pages. The company delivers LookWho’sClicking through a network of solution partners, typically print service providers, agencies and consultants. See www.mindfireinc.com

Where:

Pulliam Room (Executive Board Room), 10^th Floor

The Arizona Republic, 200 E. Van Buren, Phoenix, AZ 85004

Complimentary Parking in the Employee Garage is included

When:

Thursday June 19^th, 3-5 pm

Register for this event and others at the AMA Website

DATE: May 15, 2008

TIME: 10amPT/ 11amMT/ 12pmCT/ 1pmET

PRESENTERS:
Steve Daigneault, Managing Director of Internet Communications, Amnesty International USA
Andrew Eisner, Vice President of Client Services, Interwoven
Marla Chupack, Moderator, American Marketing Association

COST: Complimentary

Click Here to Register NOW

How Amnesty International USA Doubled Response Rates with Simple Changes to its Landing Pages

Join us on this educational Webcast and learn how Amnesty International USA, a leading human rights organization, made subtle changes to its landing pages that produced dramatic increases in email marketing conversion rates and overall donations.

Learn how Amnesty International is leveraging innovative Website optimization strategies to:

• Easily test different combinations of content, offers, and layouts
• Deliver a more compelling landing page experience
• Increase email marketing campaign conversion rates
• Drive a more data-driven approach to Website design

A recording of this Webcast will be available if you can’t attend the above session. Please register and we’ll send you a link to the recording.

Spectrum Awards 2008
Event by: AMA Phoenix

May 21, 2008
07:00 PM - 10:00 PM Arizona Time
(Location: Phoenix Art Museum )

Main Location: Phoenix Art Museum
1625 N Central Ave
Phoenix, AZ 85004

RSVP By: May 20, 2008 10:00 PM Arizona Time

Title Sponsor

Don’t miss the MUST ATTEND EVENT OF THE YEAR for marketing and advertising professionals all over the Valley! The American Marketing Association Spectrum Awards is a veritable “Who’s Who” in the Phoenix marketing and advertising scene, and is the PREMIER OPPORTUNITY for you to meet people from the VERY BEST AGENCIES in the SouthWest and ARIZONA, network with your peers, socialize, and check out your competition! If you are in Marketing and Advertising, you need to be here.

Register today and enjoy an exciting evening with other key marketing and advertising professionals who are at the top of their game at the BEAUTIFUL PHOENIX ART MUSEUM in downtown Phoenix.

But hurry – seating is limited and thousands of industry professionals have been talking about the success of last year’s event.

If you are in the Search Engine Optimization/Marketing (SEO, SEM) profession and will be in the Phoenix Arizona Metro area on May 1st; you will not want to miss this event!

This is a unique opportunity to meet with a top search engine and see how things work behind the scenes.

Microsoft Search Marketing Trends and Tools
As a part of SEMPO AZ’s Quarterly Education Series, Kelly Thomas and Jorie Waterman from Microsoft’s adCenter in Seattle will be flying down to speak about the tools and technology being developed by Microsoft to help search engine marketers during all stages of their advertising campaigns. They will cover ways to use the unique research prototypes available on adLabs and the adCenter Add-in for Excel – all tools enabling advanced keyword research needed to hone campaigns in both paid and natural search. After walking through the data and tools available, Waterman and Thomas will discuss how they see search engine marketers utilizing this data across the lifecycle of a marketing campaign.

Attendees will learn and experience:
o What is available on adCenter, and a glimpse into the roadmap for the future
o A deep dive into Demo Targeting and Bid Boosting
o Research prototypes available for review on adLabs
o How the industry could use this data in their strategic planning and optimization processes

SEMPO AZ (sempoaz.org) is a working group of SEMPO (The Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organization). The purpose of this group is to provide education, awareness and a better understanding of search engine marketing. We support the mission of SEMPO (www.sempo.org) and aim to serve the marketing professionals engaged in search in the Arizona market.

The event will be held on Thursday, May 1 from 6:00-8:00 PM at airMarketing located at: 3419 East University Drive in Phoenix.

Admission will be $20 for SEMPO members and $30 for non-members.

To register for this event, please click on the link below:

http://www.register123.com/event/profile/form/index.cfm?PKformID=0×565574202a