Special Interest Groups - Morning Forums
By popular demand, SVAMA has created a way to keep you up-to-date. We’ve launched a program of special interest groups designed to provide additional opportunities to learn more about specific disciplines related to marketing—and to network with other professionals.
You are invited attend one or all of the interactive forums held monthly at a variety of convenient, popular breakfast spots throughout Silicon Valley. Each forum is managed by senior SVAMA marketers, include topical presentations and encourage sharing of ideas and experiences. The cost for SVAMA members is only $5 per forum meeting, plus your own breakfast tab.
Here are the Morning Forums you will see coming up regularly. (Be sure to check our online calendar for meeting times and topics.):
Web Strategy Morning Forum (first Thursday monthly)
Product Launch Morning Forum (second Thursday monthly)
Market Research Morning Forum (third Tuesday monthly)
Design Management Morning Forum (fourth Monday monthly)
Emerging Media Morning Forum (fourth Wednesday monthly)
Space is intentionally limited to foster the kind of lively discussion that makes them special -- so be sure to RSVP in advance so you’ll have a place at the table
THESE EVENTS OCCUR MONTHLY—The speakers may change, but day (i.e., second Thursdays). The location will remain constant for the majority to meetings; however occasionally a different location will be used for logistical reasons. Always check the website to confirm meeting locations.
Web Strategy Morning Forum
The web is an ever-evolving medium encompassing many disciplines. As such, principles and best practices must keep pace. This forum will cover topics ranging from search engine marketing (both pay per click and optimization), web analytics, design principles, end-to-end shop and buy experience, research methodologies and customer feedback to the role of the web in a multi-channel environment and more.
Manager Bio: Heidi Jackman is Director of Web at Intuit, accounting software makers of Quicken, TurboTax and QuickBooks. Jackman is one of the early pioneers of online software delivery and at Intuit, she established a unique and winning role in for the web in the channel ecosystem. With a background of independent consulting on usability and marketing in the internet, Jackman was previously VP of Product Management at Career Central, an online recruiting services company where Jackman launched 5 unique services in 18 months.
First Thursday of every month
7:30am - 9:00am
Intuit, 2535 Garcia Avenue, Mountain View, CA
Coffee and Bagels provided
Morning Forum Calendar
Product Launch Morning Forum
The most important moment in the entire lifetime of a product or service is the moment it's introduced to the marketplace. Done right, a launch can drive sales, support pricing decisions and profitability goals, enhance brand, strengthen the value proposition, boost positive awareness of a company, and more. This forum will explore what makes a launch great, and how to gain the maximum advantage. Topics that will be explored include: Launch project management; Positioning and Messaging; When Launches Go Wrong; The Launch Team; and the elements of rocket launches that can help us launch products and services.
Manager Bio: Since 1995, Davis Fields has provided marketing services to technology companies, specializing in positioning, messaging and outbound communications. Clients include HP, Symantec, Microsoft, Business Objects, Sun as well as numerous smaller companies and startups. Prior to launching his consulting practice, he served as VP Marketing for superserver Parallan Computer, and held marketing and management positions at Industrial Networking, Inc. and HP.
Second Thursday of every month
8:30am - 10:00am
Hobee’s, 800 Ahwanhee Avenue, Sunnyvale 94087; 408.524.3580 (101 and Mathilda, just south of the 101 interchange)
Morning Forum Calendar
Market Research Morning Forum
Market research is too often a little-understood discipline, yet can be powerful in shaping strategies for an organization’s success in brand and product development and in marketing products and services. This forum will appeal to the uninitiated and the more advanced alike, exploring topics such as: bridging the gap between market research findings and business strategy; inspiring innovation through empathy; using brain scan technology to look into what motivates people; conducting international cultural research what is and how to use ethnography, and more.
Manager Bio: Clynton Taylor was born in Sydney, Australia and has since lived in fourteen cities, in three countries, on three continents. Now an ethnographer living in the Bay Area, Clynton now works with Jump Associates of San Mateo. Prior to joining Jump, he founded Gestalt, a consulting firm that provided social research services, most notably to leading advertising agencies. Previously he worked with C|Net and WetFeet.com, conducting online research to develop relationship marketing programs and served as a brand strategist for Gymboree where he created and launched a program to market parenting classes directly to corporate HR departments.
Third Tuesday of every month
8:30am - 10:00am
Broadway Grill, 1400 Broadway Ave (private room upstairs), Burlingame, CA 94010; 650-343-9333; www.broadwaygrill.biz
Morning Forum Calendar
Emerging Media Morning Forum
Emerging Media was the hot topic of discussion for marketing professionals in 2007 --and is expected to continue strongly into 2008 and beyond. This Forum will explore the use and impact of blogging, RSS Feeds, pod-casting, video marketing, mobile marketing, Wikis and social networks. Also included will be discussions on who is using these new media, for what objectives, and for what types of offers – and examine whether one can yet report success yet or whether it is this too early in the evolution.
Manager Bio: Elyse Tager is Principal of Elymedia with 20 years as a marketing executive in direct response, coupled with 10 years in Internet marketing. Formerly VP of Marketing for Sybervision Systems, Director of Database Development and Circulation for Businessland, and Director of Circulation for Williams-Sonoma, Tager was initiated into the online world 10 years ago in business development for a high end Web site development company. She then transitioned to building a media brokering business specializing in what was then the very new world of email marketing, initiating on of the first email campaigns. Tager created Elymedia to provide services (beyond traditional media) to online media planning and buying for both B2B and B2C clients, and partners in search, radio and TV to provide the full range.
Fourth Wednesday of every month
8:30am - 10:00am
Scott's Seafood Restaurant and Grill
855 El Camino Real, Town and Country Shopping Center (Embarcadero and El Camino), Palo Alto, CA 94301
Morning Forum Calendar
Design Management Morning Forum
Too often the word “design” is used to mean just a visual approach. This kind of attitude limits possibilities not only for the designers involved, but also for those who can benefit from what Design has to offer. Design is a way of creating -- or making seminal changes -- in thinking, systems, organizations, functionality, products and possibilities for life, as well as expressing aesthetics. The intention of the Design Management Forum is to heighten our marketing community’s awareness of the importance of Design as an essential part of business strategy so that we can use it consciously to serve us more effectively and more efficiently. The Design Management Forum discussions will explore a broad spectrum of Design issues including strategy and process; creativity and innovation; brand; industrial design; interactive design; problem-solving through design; and special concerns of running a design business or hiring and managing designers.
Manager Bio: Nancy Coleman is a senior marketing consultant serving organizations of all types and sizes, and a business coach, supporting small business and individuals to achieve their goals. For almost two decades Nancy owned and managed The Ideas Group, a successful design and marketing strategy firm. Coleman’s client experiences include a diverse base, from high-tech to medical and consumer companies. Prior to her agency experience, Coleman held various sales and marketing positions for local and national organization. Coleman has actively served on the boards of numerous professional and nonprofit organizations, and was President of the Norcal Chapter of BMA, for which she first developed the successful breakfast roundtable concept which is the basis of the Morning Forum Program.
Fourth Monday of every month
8:30am - 10:00am
Scott's Seafood Restaurant and Grill, 855 El Camino Real, Town and Country Shopping Center (Embarcadero and El Camino), Palo Alto, CA 94301
Morning Forum Calendar
COST FOR MORNING FORUMS
SVAMA members Pay $5 plus your own breakfast tab.
All others: $15 plus your own breakfast tab.
Please bring cash or check if paying at the door.