President's 2008 Year-End Report!

It has been an exciting year for the AAF-Inland Empire. In the first quarter of the year we rebranded the club from the Inland Empire Ad Club to the American Advertising Federation - Inland Empire to better align the club with the national organization of the American Advertising Federation. A month or so later we redesigned the chapter website and launched it with the new branding.

In the summer we provided a week long professional training series in collaboration with the Art Institute of San Bernardino. Members took advantage of workshops in Flash, Affect Effects, CSS and Illustrator. In addition to the workshops, the training also featured two incredible speakers, Alexander Manu and April Greiman. This event was a huge success and was provided at no cost to AAF-IE members!

Throughout the year we held fantastic luncheons on topics of qualitative research, buying radio advertising, and search engine optimization. Since our membership is the entire Inland Empire - we held luncheons all over - Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Riverside and Corona.

Several events were sold out including the Adobe InDesign Training that featured Certified Technical Trainer and an Adobe Certified Expert Kelly McCathran. At this event we gave away a copy of Adobe Suite Design Premium - a $1,200 value.

Our September event was an absolute blast at The Yard House in Rancho Cucamonga. On the outside patio we munched on appetizers, sipped cocktails and exchanged business cards. It was a fun night for all.

We concluded the year with two evening events. In November we conducted our annual media auction at Dave and Busters in Ontario and raised several thousand dollars to support student scholarships and events for 2009. A special thanks to all those who donated media and purchased media - we could not do this without your support.

In December our annual holiday party "Mingle and Jingle" with the AMA-Inland Empire held at the Ciao Bella Ristorante in Riverside was fantastic. Attendees gave hundreds of dollars in food to the Inland Harvest food bank located in Redlands, California. In addition we had several raffles including books, bottles of wine, hotel stays, day spas, sporting event tickets and San Diego Zoo tickets! Everyone left happy and full as the food was delicious.

With all this discussion on events, it is important to remember that you don't have to be an AAF-IE member to attend one of our events. If you are a business in the Inland Empire and are looking for local talent and market expertise, come to a luncheon or event. We feature great speakers, informative topics and fantastic networking opportunities - all conveniently packaged in a monthly luncheon or an occasional evening event.

Most events have a small fee to off-set the cost of the venue, food and refreshments. Our luncheon fee ranges from $5-15 and includes the cost of the lunch and speakers travel expense. Where else can you get lunch, learn from a speaker about a topic to promote your business and network with others - all for less than $15?

Visit the events page where you can learn more about each event and registration. As a reminder if you looking for a new full time or freelance job, AAF-IE member companies might be looking for you... visit our job section.

Remember if you are a member of the AAF-IE and you have a job opening, email the information to our Communications Chair. Job postings are at no charge to AAF-IE members.

Finally, don't just wait until the next event to share your company news. Let the AAF-IE help get the word out on your company! Send us news on your new hires, new accounts, promotions, retirements, new capabilities, mergers, or just plain funny stories. Submit your information to: info@aaf-inlandempire.com. We will post the information in our news and articles section on the AAF-IE website. Thank you for a wonderful year. We look forward to seeing at our 2009 luncheons and events!

Andrew Wilkin
2008-2009 President AAF-IE