Networking to Inspire Social Creativity

As a board member of the Triad division of the American Advertising Federation (AAF), I have the opportunity to attend some truly fantastic conferences and networking events.  For those not familiar with the AAF, it is the oldest national advertising trade association bringing together professionals from traditional and online marketing agencies; corporations; media companies; non-profits and more.  

Besides providing excellent networking opportunities, the AAF is a place professionals can get together to brainstorm creative business solutions; promotes and protects advertising legalities through grassroots activities and government relations; educates its members on the latest technology, creativity and marketing trends; advocates diversity in advertising and also recognizes excellence in marketing on a local and national level.

What I love about the AAF is that it is a true community. There’s always a level of healthy competition between the different divisions and companies, but the real goals are to build relationships that will benefit not only the AAF member, but their companies and communities, and to inspire creative thinking.  I feel like all areas of the marketing and advertising industry have been “beat down” by the turn of economic events in the last few years.  Getting together with other AAF members really reminded me how much I love marketing – and how necessary fresh, innovative marketing is to all businesses.

The theme of this year’s annual conference was Social Uprising; focusing on social media campaign tactics and ideas.  Working at an online marketing company, I was both excited that my industry was getting some attention and curious as to what the speakers were going to talk about.  I’ll let you know about the latest industry trends from sources at the AAF next week.