Keeping the conversation alive ... and growing

One of the great things about my role in Kellstadt Marketing Group is that I get to work with so many incredibly talented people in developing content to serve the broader marketing community at DePaul. I am amazed, almost on a daily basis, by the caliber of conversations and e-mails that cross my path. And in the last several months, I have realized that we are blessed with not only an incredibly bright and motivated board, but also a wealth of members looking to become more engaged.

Given KMG's resources, much of our responsibility as a group falls into two areas: programming—giving members the opportunity to come together—and dialogue—creating an environment where people feel comfortable sharing their opinions and pushing one another on their ideas.

The board seeks to offer innovative events and gatherings that expand on classroom experience and provide exposure to concepts that are just now being fully understood. Our upcoming partnership with Professor Rosario is one such example. The discipline of multicultural marketing is rather new in many organizations and companies have been slow to adapt their processes to fully benefit from the shifts seen in the U.S. demographic profile.

As an early proponent of multicultural education in marketing, Professor Rosario brings a wealth of insight into the classroom. It is our hope that this event will be the first of several steps in igniting this dialogue in the greater Kellstadt marketing community.

Which brings me to the second area of emphasis I mentioned above: dialogue. This is where our membership comes in and helps carry KMG to the next level. My hope is that the conversations initiated during programs transition to the next venue, be it at Exchequer following an event, on our LinkedIn discussion board or even in a Tweet of just 140 characters or less. The challenge we issue to our members is to help us keep the conversation going.

As marketers, we are fortunate to exist in a very social industry. Our jobs require us to foster connections between an offering and a community or strengthen the existing affinities between that offering and its community of users—the same task charged to KMG. My hope is that our members feel a sense of ownership in KMG and that this affiliation provides a jolt of intrigue when their smart phones buzz, knowing they have access to a group of smart, talented individuals willing to share their insight into an industry where, frankly, ideas are as good as the rigor with which they are challenged and refined.

Thanks go out to everyone who has shared their insight with me over the last several months. You have, above all, proved to me that we have the opportunity to be part of something in KMG that is much more than the sum of its parts, provided we take advantage of the opportunities for collaboration and dialogue that surround us.