It’s with sadness that I open my letter to you by acknowledging last week’s passing of Steve Jobs. As marketers, we’ve lost a genius. Steve had the ability to understand the market in such a way that he knew what people needed before they did. We could call Steve Jobs one of the top marketers in our time, and he is certainly deserving of that title. Perhaps more importantly, he leaves behind inspiration that we can literally change the world with clear goals, vision and perseverance.

It’s with sadness that I open my letter to you by acknowledging last week’s passing of Steve Jobs. As marketers, we’ve lost a genius. Steve had the ability to understand the market in such a way that he knew what people needed before they did. We could call Steve Jobs one of the top marketers in our time, and he is certainly deserving of that title. Perhaps more importantly, he leaves behind inspiration that we can literally change the world with clear goals, vision and perseverance.

Speaking of inspiration and vision, in just a few months, in January 2012, AMADC will be turning 80. We are the third largest chapter in the American Marketing Association (AMA), and we are the second oldest in the country. We’ve had a terrific start to our fiscal year and regarding the events (networking and “How To’s”) we’ve hosted. In this issue, you will learn of some great initiatives that our Chapter has accomplished in the last month. We held an entire day of programming during Advertising Week DC, we networked and ate chocolate fondue at the Melting Pot, we had two really well-attended “How To Series,” and kicked off our Chief Marketing Officer Roundtable event at Ris in DC. While I am really proud of what we have accomplished so far, I’m really looking forward to the upcoming months and celebrating our 80th Anniversary year. But, right now, I need your help. Part of the celebration in turning 80 is to kick off what we are loosely calling our 80th Anniversary Speaker Series. AMADC is in the process of identifying the top marketing geniuses of our time. While we have just lost one of them, we’d like to ask you who you think are the top marketers of our time. Who would you most like to meet if you had the chance? Please join the discussion and help us plan—Visit AMADC.org, our LinkedIn page, Twitter, or Facebook and let us know what you think. Thanks for being a member of our Chapter. And, I hope you can join us at our upcoming events. It’s always great to meet you in person. Regards, Mike