Click on the Events Page to register for the following events

Education Session - "Tips for Trade Show Success "

May 6, 2008
Engineer's Club, Baltimore, MD, 9am - 11:30am
Link to Register

Mentoring Lunch - "Website Design & PR "

Thursday, May 22, 2008, 12 - 1pm
Vitamin, 3237 Eastern Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21224
RSVP to Amanda Karfakis, (410) 732-6542

SMPS Awards Luncheon

Thursday, May 29, 2008
Link to Register

End of the Year Happy Hour

Thursday, June 5, 2008, 5 - 8pm
Shuckers of Fells Point, Baltimore, MD
Link to Register

Mentoring Lunch - "Debriefings " with year-end celebration

Thursday, June 19, 2008, 12 - 1pm
WBCM, 1501 S. Clinton Street, Suite 500, Baltimore, MD 21224
RSVP to Mindy Hinsley, (410) 512-4542

Dear Members and Colleagues;

The Chesapeake Chapter had a wonderful kickoff event this past September at the Woodhall Wine Cellars in Parkton, Maryland. For those of you who missed it, it was a great opportunity to network and receive a little education on the art of making wine. It is a passionate process that takes time, effort and understanding to make a wine that is both pleasing to the taste and marketable. It really is a science.

With that being said, I began to draw some comparisons to our profession of marketing professional services and that of wine making. They both require a systematic approach and include many variables in the process. It is our relationships with clients or potential clients that takes time to develop.

Harvesting the Grapes. Grapes come in many varieties, as do our target markets and prospective clients. We prospect (harvest) those clients that have a demand for our firm’s specific services. In this process we identify the target markets and clients that best match the services we provide. Whether it is healthcare, K-12, higher education or biotechnology, we pick the clients that are ripe with opportunity. Whatever the market, it is from those grapes that we wish to harvest our clientele.

Crushing, Pressing and Clarification. In the wine making process, various procedures and techniques are used to process the grapes based upon the grape variety. In the marketing of professional services, we use a multitude of techniques to develop our clients. This is accomplished through promotional activity such as direct marketing, advertising, website design, speaking engagements and direct sales calls through business developers. With this combination of efforts, we refine our process in the development of our clients. The level of success achieved is contingent upon this collaboration

Fermentation. This is the process of converting the grape’s natural sugars into alcohol. In marketing, I relate this to converting the prospect’s opportunity into a client project. As vintners add yeast to the natural juices of the grapes, marketers build relationships, submit proposals and provide presentations to win a project.

Aging and Bottling. It is this process that prepares the wine for market and keeps it preserved for years to come. I correlate this process to client maintenance. Providing the service that was promised up front, and not meeting, but exceeding the client’s expectations. And that is exactly what a great bottle of wine will give you. Take that bottle of wine from cellar storage, pop the cork and enjoy a wonderful experience with friends, family and food.

So the next time you open up a bottle, think about all the effort that went into growing, harvesting, and refining those grapes into a great glass of wine. We all know that if we put forth a similar effort, that great prospect will turn into a great client.

Enjoy, and have a safe and happy holiday season and please market, I mean drink responsibly.

Sincerely,

Todd M. Woerner
President, SMPS Chesapeake