Sheila will talk about the dramatic impact that UTHSC makes in our community, as they are a “quiet partner” who plays a pivotal role in so many aspects of healthcare in Memphis.

Overview

Many Memphians simply do not realize that UTHSC has an economic impact of almost $2 billion on the Memphis economy every year, bringing in about $100 million in research grants and sponsored projects funding annually.  UTHSC is comprised of nearly 7,000 people including its students, faculty, and staff.

UT Health Sciences Center was awarded a Platinum MarCom Award for their Centennial Campaign, which served to raise awareness in the community about the significant impact that the organization makes.

From Quiet Partner to Centennial Splash will cover: 

– A Little Research Goes A Long Way
– Start Early & Work Inside Out
– Take Pride & Tell Your Stories

Speaker Bio

Sheila is a public relations, communications and marketing professional who joined the University of Tennessee Health Science Center as director of communications and marketing in May 2006. She began her career in New York City working for major money-center banks. Afterward she joined Ogilvy Adams & Rinehart, a leading international corporate and financial public relations agency, where her clients included Seagram, Playtex International and American Express.

Sheila was subsequently hired to direct communications and marketing for such major corporations as Prudential Securities, AT&T Capital and Scholastic. She relocated to Memphis and worked as a communications consultant for several years before accepting the position with UT Health Science Center.

Wednesday February 15, 2012

11:30-1:00

Racquet Club of Memphis

Price:
$0 for SMS members
$25 for non-members (pre-paid)
$30 at the door

We were fortunate enough to welcome Jane Applegate back to Memphis to speak about integrating on and offline marketing.  Jane was scheduled to keynote the 2011 Summit, but due to the hurricane that affected the coast last August, she was unable to get out of Vermont!

The video below gives a great summary of Jane’s talk, but there is one thing that was not shown in the video that we have to point out:  this was the first-ever SMS luncheon that was visited by Elvis!

A little background:  Jane has been to Memphis twice, and both times has attempted to visit Graceland, only to be turned away because the mansion is closed on Tuesdays during the winter for repairs.  The staff at Graceland were great and let her tour some of the other areas (car museum and airplanes), the King himself (a very young version, anyway) stopped in to pay Jane a personal visit and sing her a few songs. Check out the photos from Gary Balwin at Office Headshots:

Jane is an syndicated columnist and author, as well as a producer who is one of the leading experts on small business in the country. She had some great thoughts on making your marketing efforts seamless between online and offline.  She talked a great deal about all the new tools such as Twitter and Facebook, but advocated that some of the oldest methods are still the most effective – like picking up the phone and calling your customers and contacts to ask about opportunities.

Check out the video, sponsored by TVii Multimedia:

We could not have put this event together without help from our good friends at the Greater Memphis Chamber, Small Business Council.   A big thanks for Dotty Giusti and Angela Michaels for connecting us with Jane Applegate for the 2011 Summit, and for helping to get her back to Memphis for this great presentation.

A former syndicated columnist for the Los Angeles Times, she writes columns for Pitney Bowes, American Express’ OPEN Forum website, Bloomberg.com and Coxsbn.com.

An experienced film producer, Ms. Applegate’s most recent documentary, Much Ado in Mostar, about a theater program for Bosnia teenagers affected by war, has won five festival awards. Brief Reunion, a feature film, debuted at the Rhode Island International Film Festival and won the Audience Choice award at the Gotham Screen Film Festival in New York City in October, 2011.

Jane Applegate is one of the most popular keynote speakers in America

Topic: Seamless Marketing: Integrating your on and off line promotions.

This is an exclusive and interactive session with Jane Applegate.

Learn how to:

• Review and refresh all your marketing materials for 2012
• Scope out your competition to see what they are doing
• Survey customers to find out how they want to hear from you
• Integrate and track all your marketing and advertising efforts
• Save time and Money

Wednesday January 18, 2012
Racquet Club of Memphis
11:30 – 1:00

Price:

• $0 for SMS members

• $20 for 2011 Summit attendees

• $25 for Chamber Members

• $30 for Guests, $35 at the door

Register Online  Map and Directions

President during 2010 & 2011

James is a principal at Valeo Design & Marketing, an online marketing and web development company in Downtown Memphis.

He originally joined the board after speaking at an SMS luncheon in February of 2009.  The crowd gave James terrific scores on his presentation, and the board took notice of his knowledge of using social media tools like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.  As a result, a board position was created:  Director of Social Media.

James served in that role quite effectively, and as a result, the SMS now has a dynamic and effective social media presence on multiple networks that is used to publicize events and promote the organization.

During his two terms as President, he pushed the organization into new directions and helped facilitate some great progress:

• Spearheaded the most successful event ever hosted by the SMS:  the 2011 Sales & Marketing Summit. As a result of the summit, via SMS now has more operating capital than ever.
• Due to the financial success of the Summit, the SMS was able to award it’s scholarship for the first time in 2011, and has enough funds to cover the 2012 recipient as well.
• He negotiated sponsorship agreements with local organizations which has saved a great deal on A/V equipment
• Secured a video sponsor, and started putting videos on the website as well as filming sponsor videos to give better sponsor recognition
• Developed and launched a new website for the organization, which will save time and money
• Built social media following on Twitter, Facebook, and LInkedIn to more than 7,000 connections in the Memphis area.

When: Friday, December 2

Time: 6:00-9:00p.m.

Where:  Just for Lunch, inside Chickasaw Oaks Village

Cost:  $10 for Members & guests of members*

     $15 for Non-members, or paid at the door*

      *plus one new, unwrapped teddy bear

Funky Art Auction

A silent auction of art objects created out of everything from furniture to the kitchen sink

Teddy Bear Drive

Bears will be donated to the Child Advocacy Group and Le Bonheur. All attendees are asked to bring 1 new, unwrapped bear to donate to these children for the holiday season.

Shots with Santa

5:30p.m. children can have their photos taken with Santa.  Later in the evening, adults can have a more a shot with Santa… from the bar!

Thanks to our Sponsors!

Mr. Edmundson’s discussed three business-related topics that are of critical importance to Sales and Marketing people:

1. The Sale
   Most companies do not have a quantifiable prospecting system.   The most successful salespeople are persistent and continually stay in touch with prospects to close the sale.  Mr. Edmundson mentioned that 4% of salespeople control 91% of revenue.  Perseverance, along with tracking and measuring, are key attributes of sales success.
2. Hiring
   82% of hirings are a mistake.  Why?  Gut instinct is used too often.  Instead, utilize a validated system to qualify and quantify the best candidate for the job.
3. Assessments
   Are sales forecasts being achieved?  Do your salespeople sell the features and benefit of your product or service?  Using assessments creates a scorecard that documents your results.

Check out the video, provided by TVii Multimedia:

To learn more about Northstar Business Research, visit http://www.northstarinstitute.com/

Bring a note pad – we guarantee you’ll need it for this meeting! Ken will take us through the most current research, findings and recommendations on 3 of the most important topics to us all.

1. Sales:
   What’s more important than price in sales?
   If prospects don’t buy your features and benefits, what do they want?
   You can sell anyone, anything in 18 months or less if you follow a simple formula. What’s the formula?
2. Hiring
   82% of the time when you hire, you make a mistake – why?
   Does your gut instinct really work when hiring?
3. Assessments
   Should I use assessments in hiring and evaluating my team?
   What kind of assessments should I consider?

Ken Edmundson is a multi-level business thinker. Founder and Chairman of Edmundson Northstar Business Research and Training Institute. Ken has served as chief executive of for several organizations including LEDIC Management Group, Vistage International, and Dunavant Development Corporation.

Wednesday November 16, 2011
Racquet Club of Memphis
11:30-1:00

Price:
SMS Members: $0.00
Non-Members: $25.00 online, $30.00 at the door

Registration Deadline is November 15th!

Kaitlin Brucker, a student at the University of Memphis, received the $1000 scholarship award, to be used on her undergraduate work.

Check out the video of Kaitlin saying thanks to the SMS member companies who contributed to the scholarship fund:

Video provided by TVii Multimedia

The SMS Scholarship program is paid for by our corporate sponsorships, of which 50% of those funds go into the scholarship fund!  To learn more, check out the Scholarship Page.

After a career that ranged from field sales to Vice President-Communications in corporate America, Shelley wrote the book and CD, Integrity-Based Communications Using truth to get what you really want.  She continues to teach the six principles that transform people and build high-trust relationships, with a fascination for integrating and aligning internal learning with external communications.

As a sales & marketing professional, mentor, or team leader, benefit from learning how to:

• Eliminate mixed messages
• Give and receive effective feedback
• Find diplomatic ways to make your point
• Clarify values and meaning to build high-trust relationships
• Use truth and humor to get what you really want.

Wednesday October 19, 2011
11:30am – 1:00pm
Racquet Club of Memphis

Pricing:
SMS Members: $0
Non-Members: $25 online, $30 at the door
Register Online Map & Directions

Mr. Robertson discussed “Selling the Second Ultimate Intangible”.  Early in his radio sales career, a colleague mentioned selling the importance of intangibles…the first and most important intangible is insurance and the second most important intangible being Radio Advertising.

As Mr. Robertson thought about intangibles, he began to realize that most things in life can be categorized as intangible.   He created a word called Tanginvisible, meaning that which is very tangible, yet invisible.  He then developed a list of Tanginvisibles to guide his sales and marketing career:

1. Experience = Exposure
2. Knowledge = Power
3. Imagination = Ideas
4. Personality = Character
5. Positioning = Status
6. Perseverance = Pursuit
7. Reputation = Perception
8. Relationships = Trust
9. Confidence = Assurance
10. Faith = Belief

In his list of Tanginvisibles, one analogy Mr. Robertson explained was #5…Positioning = Status.  He discussed coffee and water.  20 years ago, whoever thought you could market a premium coffee that sells for $5.00?  Who envisioned a market for bottled water?