This year was special. The Cleveland AMA celebrated its 80th anniversary as an organization. This marks a significant milestone for us. There are not very many professional organizations that can claim this kind of staying power. And, most people don’t realize that our chapter is actually older than the national AMA organization. Cleveland has always been well ahead of its time with marketing prowess; something we plan to continue for many years to come.

When we look back at this year, we realize how pivotal it has been for the Cleveland chapter. We won back-to-back membership campaigns, making us one of the fastest growing chapters in the country—something we are very proud of. As an added benefit to our members this year, we introduced new Special Interest Groups (SIGs) for content and digital marketing. SIGs are free for all AMA members.

This 80th year marked the culmination of our new 5-Star programming mantra (Hot Topic, Hot Speaker, Hot Venue, Hot Company and Hot Food), which was ushered in by last year’s board and one we continue to push this year. Our commitment to consistent and excellent programming is what has helped us become one of the top chapters in the country.

This upcoming year, we are starting a new collegiate relations initiative. Northeast Ohio has a multitude of top-tier universities, a unique asset for our area. And, we believe that by building strong relationships with our university-level AMA chapters, we will in turn build a strong chapter for years to come.

In terms of milestones, it’s really hard to top 80 years. But as we push forward into 2015, we are really going to try our best!

With Cleveland Pride,

Eric Barnett

President