Hello SMPS Members!

Welcome to the August 2024 issue of the Marketer. This is the first issue for Danielle and me as Publisher and Editor – an evolving process. I ask for your grace as we work to build a thoughtful and effective approach that will take the Marketer to the next level. We are one hundred percent committed to ensuring the Marketer remains the forum for thought leadership for marketing and business development for the AED industries. Special shout out to Peter DeLoof and Victoria Iriarte at Readz, who made this issue happen! Their help in simplifying the navigation by putting the table of contents directly below the Magazine's hero image allows readers to see the issue at a glance and recognize the connections between the curated content. Thanks to our contributing writers, we have an engaging collection of articles this month, primarily arranged around the theme of influence. As Wally Hise points out in his article on mentoring business development professionals, "When you coach in the moment, your influence extends far beyond direct reports or immediate project teams." Dawn Waggenar's article discusses the influence that A/E/C marketers must have within their firms to propel marketing forward. We have an in-depth interview by Doug Parker that describes how AI influences the way we work, how we think, the questions we ask, and how we produce our work. It's worth the entire read. Finally, Janki De Palma provides a light-hearted but impactful look at how our thinking influences how we are perceived. She challenges us to consider our own individual value propositions. Her concept of pack mules and unicorns points to the irony that we work in an industry where a critical part of our roles as growth professionals is to position our firms for the value we provide to clients and not as commoditized services. We need to do the same for ourselves. Giving this issue heart, Kathryn Ness and Chuck Raymond, CPSM, write about the anatomy of a volunteer, and we have a touching story of two long-time SMPS members who connected on a deep level after knowing each other as colleagues for 30 years. Please reach out to marketer@smps.org with article ideas or questions. Your input is always welcomed as Danielle, myself, and the Editorial Committee strive to continually craft excellence to ensure the Marketer serves as a valuable resource for members as the leading platform for thought leadership in our industries.