NARMS Conference Chair for 2009 Announced

Jim Louder, Director – Broker Operations for Campbell Sales Company has been named the 14th Annual NARMS Spring Conference Chair scheduled for April 4-7, 2009 at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Don Koller, President of Lawrence Merchandising and Chair of NARMS International Board of Directors in making the appointment reflected on how far NARMS has evolved over the 13 years of existence as an association.

“Jim will be the first Manufacturer representative to Chair the Spring Conference and is just one more action taken by NARMS to build a total community of not only retail service companies but a membership that encompasses manufacturers, retailers and associate companies that see diverse value in an association that can attract all elements of the retail industry. We are proud of Jim’s involvement in NARMS and we look forward to his insights and leadership in making the 2009 Conference even more successful than its predecessors,” says Koller.

Kim Kiner, Vice President of Business Development for Crossmark has accepted the role as Vice Chair for the 2009 Conference and will become the Chair of the 2010 NARMS Spring Conference scheduled for April 17-20 at the Saddlebrook Resort in Wesley Chapel, Florida.

NARMS’ 501 member companies perform well over $3 billion in merchandising services, sales marketing, event marketing, demonstration and other retail services annually. The association promotes and establishes industry standards and provides critical industry research and educational information about the industry with member companies servicing such classes of trade as: grocery, drug, mass, department, home & building centers, computer and office supply, electronic, value retailers, specialty and convenience retailers. Additional NARMS information is available at www.narms.com.

For information on the 14th annual NARMS Conference, Annual Meeting and Expostion in Colorado Springs, CO April 4-7, 2009, visit the conference center.

Newly Elected Board for 2009 at NARMS

Action by the gathered membership at the NARMS International annual business meeting reveals the following:
 
Newly elected to the NARMS Board of Directors in two-year terms: 
 
Jim Hall, Riteway Sales & Marketing, Lakeland, FL
Steve Horowitz, Co-Sales Southern California, CA
Steve Donzelli, Chuck Latham Associates, Parker, CO
 
Re-elected to continue in a second, two-year board service were:
 
Don Koller, Lawrence Merchandising Services, Plymouth, MN
Tom Caddell, Alliance Marketing Group – Central, Westminster, CO
 
Also placed into service by board of director appointment to serve an unexpired term is Lance Anderson, CROSSMARK Sales and Marketing, Inc., Plano, TX
 
Elected to serve as officers in the coming year were:
 
Chair:  Don Koller, Lawrence Merchandising Services, Plymouth, MN
Vice Chair: Mary Jo Bastuba, Nintendo of America, Marietta, GA
Secretary: Ed Martin, The Ready Set Companies, Elk Grove Village, IL
Treasurer: Ethan Charas, Stratmar Retail Services, Port Chester, NY
 
Recognized for their retirement from board service were:
 
Don Cox, Co-Sales Company, Phoenix, AZ
Chip O’Hare, JO’H New England/Albany, Billerica, MA

Pics from Monday

Jobbank and Recruiter

Paulette Blaskey from the NARMS International Office, led a workshop today to show NARMS members how to more effectively use the JobBank and Recruiter. Blaskey began by showing the participants how to access the JobBank form to complete a listing, what each of the of the options do and how to complete to form for maximum response.

Blaskey then demonstrated ow to filter through a search on The Recruiter, a database of reps, post a job on The Recruiter.

SnapMonkey; Online communications

Rita Wilhelm started off the session by introducing herself and asking why the attendees came to NARMS. Among the reasons were to reach younger workers, to learn how to network and to learn how to better recruit.

Wilhelm then asked each to pair with someone they didn’t know and “network” with various questions such as your name, what you need, etc. After a bit of conversation, she brought the group back and asked the listener to spend a minute with feedback to solve their needs as a demonstration of the verisimilitude of in-person networking to computer-based networking.

Social media, according to Wilhelm, is a conversation. 175,000 new blogs are created every day. 50% of computer users have a Facebook account, lots more blog. People don’t trust ads, but they do trust recommendations from their friends. Stats show that there is an 80% chance that you will buy or use the product the next time they are given the opportunity.

MarketExperiments.com did a study recently did a study where they compared a Google AdWords campaign and an employee who blogged, worked the social networks, etc. and the blogging returned a 1427% return ROI.

Many of the participants had blogs but mostly for internal use to keep employees and managers in the loop.

Wilhelm encouraged the participants to heck out blogs that they are interested in and get to know the people who write, to join the conversation… but, stay on topic and contribute insight that move the conversation forward.

Wilhelm then talked about bulletin boards and how to effectively contribute to them. She suggested that each participant also set up a Google alerts on their name, company and anything in the industry they wish to track. She stressed it was important that you contribute to a conversation and NOT self-promote or sell. Through becoming part of the conversation, the audience will see you as an expert and seek you out.

Wilhelm also talked about the power of YouTube. Her son does a Lego video blog.

She also talked about Digg, del.icious.us, MySpace, Facebook and various other social networks. She demonstrated a couple of companies that had successful MySpace and Facebook campaigns. Among these successes were Disney and Target. What made them successful Wilhelm says, is that the campaigns were conversations, not “corporate-speak.” It was about the relationship selling the brand, not SALES selling product.

LinkedIN is another social network Wilhelm showcased, saying that most Fortune 500 executives have a LinkedIN account, with an average salary of $108,000. Another site is Squidoo, which sets up lens that allow you to be an expert in a field.

Wilhelm wrapped up with a campaign plan that included:
- Create a blog Blog weekly and comment on other blogs
- Create a Squidoo lens and add 3-5 articles on your business
- Social bookmark your home page
- Create a Facebook page and group
- Create and publicize 3-5 videos and social bookmark the videos.

Audio Text

Rita Wilhelm is the founder and CEO of SnapMonkey, a networking site builder. Referenced sites include: Slideshare, DogWalkBlog, FaceBook, MarketingExperiments.com, Volition.com, Google Alerts, LegoAdventures.com, Digg,
del.icio.us, MySpace.com, LinkedIN, Squidoo

Taking a Swing at it

Conference Pictures Take Two

The exhibit hall was hopping!

The exhibit hall opened at 1:00pm today.

Wii Pictures

Event Marketing Session #1- Food Marketing is About Three Things: Sampling, Sampling and Sampling

On Sunday, April 13th, Dr. Kenneth Herbst will lead the first Event Marketing Session’ “Food Marketing is About Three Things: Sampling, Sampling, and Sampling.

Dr. Kenneth Herbst is a leader in the food industry research and marketing methods.  Dr. Herbst will cover how sampling can make a positive impact in food industry promotions.  Various points include how sampling can effect future customer purchases, positive product expierances, and overal spending habits associated with food sampling.

This presentation will be dynamically lead and cover essential information needed for retailer’s to arm themselves when establishing product sampling procedures.  Dr. Herbst will also participate in a roundtable discussion on various marketing and promotion topics. 

Get the top research theories and numbers from attending Dr. Herbst amazing workshop.  The workshop will be held, Sunday April 13th, from 3:34 -5pm.

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