I was in Chicago the other day and started thinking about different trips to Chicago over the years. Where I was traveling from back then was where my job was based… from Boston….from Philadelphia…from New Jersey and now Dallas. It’s been several bends in the road in terms of my professional career, but a very straight path when it comes to my involvement in market research associations.
My professional life wouldn’t be as full and my career not as successful without the experiences I’ve had as an active member of this great industry. Volunteering has given me hands on opportunities in many marketing functions, and I’ve learned from all of them. But more than the tasks and responsibilities it’s the people I’ve met and worked with that have meant so much to me…and so that day in Chicago I started to day dream and all of a sudden I found myself back to 1993 or 1994 and thinking about the AMA. Names and faces started to appear. A big smile appeared on my face as I thought about who was either President, President-Elect or Past President back than. Names like Michelle Elster, Toby Bloomberg, Joan Treistman, Ed Sugar, Bill Madway, Bob Graham, Karen Myers, Jim Dawson and Ken Roberts went thru my mind. I remember the discussions we had during the than called “G” chapter meetings which were the top 10 largest chapters, what we had accomplished and frankly how much fun we had. I remember the Dennis Jurgensen discussions like they were yesterday.
Maybe as I get older I get a little bit more sentimental – but wow those were some of the best times!
Since those years I have had many twists and turns in my career, currently living in Southlake, Texas and President & CEO of M/A/R/C Research. What have you be doing?
Please let us know so the group is updated.
AMA Presidents Class of 1993-1994 was all class
Thanks for the great memories past and future!
Toby says:
Merrill –
Was it really 1993-94? Hard to believe it was over 10 yrs ago when we were at the ball park in Chicago together.
Welcome to the blogoshere! I hope you have as much fun and gain as much as I have over the past 2+ years I’ve been in the space. Which brings me to what I’m doing .. social media consulting. Still based in Atlanta.
Michelle Elster says:
Merrill:
Your trip down memory lane made me stop and think. When I first volunteered, I could never have guessed how valuable my AMA experiences would be.
All of the hard work has paid off over and over again. Thank you, AMA — for my friends and for some amazing opportunities.
If any of you are ever in Chicago, you know where to find me.
312-482-8500 ext. 15
melster@rabin-research.com
Joan Treistman says:
And all of these years later I am working for Merrill Dubrow at M/A/R/C, having the time of my life. Yes indeed there’s nothing like the experience of an industry association volunteer as an opportunity to get to know your colleagues in many lights and to see their true spirit. And in this case it was a great blending of happy spirits. I am sure the rest of the classy presidents continue to volunteer in the industry and in their personal lives. I think someone once said, “the volunteer may not stay on the same committees, but committees always stay with the volunteer”. Whew! I’m glad I never said that. See you all soon I hope.
Ed Sugar says:
Merrill -
Excellent piece. All the folks I met in that 2 year period, 1993-1994, have remained great friends and business associates. It was a special time in my life that impacted me in every aspect of my professional career and I will always cherish it. I hope that AMA, MRA, CASRO and the other professional organizations are still able to bring like professionals together.
If anyone is in Los Angeles, please give me a shout, 800-313-1582, eds@on-linecom.com
Bob Graham says:
One of the stories that has stayed with me over the years is Ed Sugar’s tale of the the client in the gentlemen’s club. A friend of Ed’s took a client to a gentlemen’s club. A young lady came over to their table to do a dance and the client looked at her and said “Didn’t you work for [insert name of well-know market research consultancy here]?”. The young lady said “Yes, but I have a boyfriend in London and I want to see him and I can make more money doing this.”. Ed used it to demonstate the temporality of the market research world. A doctor at 26 will still be a doctor at 55. A lawyer at 26 will still be a lawyer. But a market researcher? How long will they be able to stay in the research game? That was about 13 years ago, and the semi-amazing thing is we all have managed to stay in this crazy business. Many of us have changed jobs (more than once) in the interim; some of us have gone from the vendor side to the client side and back again; and only one of us was truly born into it (Hello, Michelle)-but here we are 13 years later, still collecting opinions and putting our fingers on the pulse of America. I think I speak for the entire group when I say I stay here because I love it and to quote Pike Bishop (William Holden) in my favorite movie of all time (The Wild Bunch) “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”