MMA

The Maine Marketing Association (MMA) was founded by Don Russell (now of BrandME Marketing), while with Ethos Marketing and Design, in 2001, and was originally called the Portland Marketing Association (PMA). Don felt strongly that area marketers deserved their own shared learning organization about marketing, similar to the Maine Public Relations Council (MPRC)(for PR professionals), and the Ad Club of Maine (for advertising folks). After all, let's face it, without marketing, there is no PR or advertising! A small group of devoted individuals acted as a steering committee, met regularly at Ethos Marketing, and began to shape many of the programming units and content topics that drive the organization today. After thorough vetting, the group decided to remain independent and not to align with any established, national marketing associations. Stefa Normantas, of Green Tree Event Consultants, was elected as the group's first President in 2002. In 2003, to better reflect its regional mission of support to interested marketers, PMA changed its name to Maine Marketing Association.

The goal of the organization remains strong: to provide ongoing marketing-related education and support to its members and to the region's business community. The organization’s Board presents about ten Lunch & Learn programs throughout the year offering attendees cutting-edge topics and how-to sessions, a locally-catered lunch, and superb networking. The Lunch & Learn programs include speakers talking about burgeoning marketing and advertising topics to date. Recent programming topics include search engine optimization, market research in social media, Twitter for business, podcasting, blogging, and cause marketing. The half day seminar held in May is the opportunity for multiple speakers to present to the group in a longer format while still incorporating networking and key take-away lessons in marketing and advertising.

The MMA also distributes a monthly e-newsletter highlighting upcoming programming, member news, job openings, and general Maine marketing news in the community. The MMA currently has over 150 active members with a database of over 1400 receiving our monthly newsletters.