Never Too Early to Start Thinking Conference

With Spring almost in the rear view mirror and Summer fast approaching, it is time to start putting together the building blocks for the 2009 NARMS Spring Conference and Exhibition. The 14th annual event will be held on April 4-7 at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. Division committees are busy making travel plans for their annual summer meetings, new ideas and features are currently being discussed and sponsors are already getting on board.

There is very little rest for the NARMS staff, Board of Directors and Divisional Committees as they converge in the next month or two for their annual mid-calendar year planning sessions. At the very top of each agenda will be development of new and exciting educational and networking opportunities for those traveling to Colorado next April.

Several new ideas are making the rounds including the inclusion of a Member Services Expo, which would be a B-to-B meeting venue for members and potential customers. The Expo would be accompanied by some form of digital support on www.narms.com. The committees and the board will give this idea much consideration to see if it is feasible and viable for the organization.

Another idea being kicked about is the inclusion of a Virtual Trade Show in support of the committed 2009 Spring Conference Exhibitors. The exhibiting companies will be eligible to participate in a graphically-rich web page on www.narms.com. Each company will be able to offer a video, link to their website or a static graphic describing the services available. The Virtual Trade Show will run on the NARMS website from January through April and will only be offered to those who are also exhibiting in Colorado Springs. The thought here is that the more than 2 million views per month will entice exhibitors to commit to the show earlier in order to reap the benefits in the months leading up to the show.

And speaking of support, many members and others have already committed to a 2009 Spring Conference sponsorship. The following companies have already committed to being a sponsor and thus will have their names appear in the July edition of the NARMS TODAY and in the Spring Conference Sponsorship Brochure that will be distributed later this summer: Synergy Systems, NaturalInsight, Notable Impressions, Mosaic, Prism, Lawrence Merchandising, bds marketing, Nintendo, and Crossmark. If you are interested in joining this list, contact Dan Borschke right away so you can be included in the print pieces. You can choose to not be billed until January 2009 or be billed immediately.

With all this activity, you can see that the leadership at NARMS is always on the job for you. As always, your ideas and support are always welcome. Contact NARMS HQ or a member of your Divisional Committee with your thoughts and actively participate in the process.

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

2008 NARMS Conference Agenda

This year’s NARMs conferance in Williamsburg is packed with great sessions.  Take a look at this year’s agenda:

Saturday, April 12th

9 am - Registration Opens
1 - 5pm - NARMS Board of Directors Meeting
1 - 6pm - Manufactuere Share Group Meeting
6 - 8pm - MSO and PIC Division Meeting
6 - 8pm - Event Marketing Division Meeting
6 - 8pm - IFBA Division Meeting
8 - 10pm - Chairman’s Reception

Sunday, April 13th

7 - 10 am - NARMS Golf Outing presented by Synergy Systems, Inc
8 - 9:30am - Target Marketing
8 - 12pm - BONUS HR Workshop: Fight Employee Turnover and Boost Performance!
10:30 - 12pm - Doing Business with the Cvilian Agencies and the Department of Defense
1 - 6:30pm - Exhibits Open. Internet Cafe by Nintendo
2 - 3:30pm - Opening General Session - Creating the Ultimate Customer Experience
2 - 6pm - Legal Consult by appointment
3:35 - 5pm - Various Session of the following:
MSO Session #1: A Conversation with Retailing Thought Leaders
Event Marketing Session #1: Food Marketing is About Three Things: Sampling, Sampling, and Sampling
PIC Session #1 - When Bad Things Happen to Good Projects
General Interest Session - The Employee’s 1st 30 Days…Liers and Tyrants and Bores.
5 - 6pm - Opening Night Reception

Monday, April 14th
8 - 8:45am - Breakfast with the experts
8 - 8:45am - How Can a MSO Company Become Indispensable to a Manufacturer Company
8 - 6pm - Exhibits Open
9 - 10am - General Session- FISH! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale And Improve Results
10:45 -12pm - Various Sessions that include
MSO Sessions: #2 - Keynot Debriefing and Internalizing Session
MSO Sessions: #3 - 2008 Emerging Trends
Event Marketing Session #2 - Marketing Roundtable
PIC Session #2 - How Powerful Partnerships Can Energize Programs
1:30 - 4pm - Individual Meeting Rooms
1:30 - 4pm - Various Session that include
Operating Smarter with Technology
General Interest Session - Retail Realities and Trends
Marketing Your Company Consult by appointments
General Interest Session - The Dollars and Sense of On-Line Communities
4 - 6pm - Networking Reception
6 - 8pm - NARMS - Synergy Dinner

Tuesday, April 15th

8 - 8:45am - Breakfast with the Experts
8 - 12:30pm - Exhibits Open
9 - 10:45am - Retail/Manufacturer Panel General Session
11 - 12:30pm - Various session that include:
General Interest Session - Am I the Leader I Need to BE? Critical Leadership Qualities That Measure your Propensity to Lead
MSO Session #4 - A Customerr - Focused Approach: The So What Factor in Effective Sales Penetration
MSO Session #5 - Witness a Retail Phenomenon, Technology for Today and Tomorrow
Event Marketing Session #3 - Perils and Pearls - Industry Chatroom
PIC Session #3 - On Becomming a Road Warrior VS a Road Worrier
2 - 3:30pm - NARMS Annual Business Meeting & General Session - Word - of - Mouth Marketing Basic Training
3:45 - 5pm - Keynote Debriefing & Internalizing Session
3:45 - 5pm - General Interest Session - The Not So Pleasant Experience of Product Recall
3:45 - 5pm Accreditation Town Hall Meeting
6 - 7pm - Closing Night Reception
7 - 9pm - Colonial Tavern Dine Around

 

General Sessions

Welcome to the general sessions of the NARMS Conference.