To our AMA Houston members and marketing community,
As I now step into the President role for AMA Houston, I find myself thinking about my ten years as a member. I think about one of my favorite moments every month—walking into an AMA Houston luncheon and seeing the faces of some of my favorite people. Many of you I am now fortunate to consider good friends. I miss you. I miss seeing you in
person, hearing about your life, and sharing a laugh.
At the heart of it, you are my favorite thing about AMA. Yes, I always learn a lot at events and yes, I’ve made wonderful business connections that I couldn’t live without. But, above all, it’s the people. It’s our caring, diverse, smart, creative, and vibrant community that brings me back as a member every year.
As much as I would love to see us return to in-person events in the fall, we must be sure to stay safe! And I assure you, our board is dedicated to your safety.
So, as we begin to tiptoe out of our homes wondering about the future of work, school, and anything else that used to fill our days, I wanted to share our current thoughts about AMA Houston events in the near future.
The possibility of hosting in-person events will depend on the health and government guidelines in place at the time as well as the capacity of our venue partners to allow for social distancing and other important safeguards. The board, however, will continue to focus on securing top-caliber marketing thought leaders from across the country to provide virtual educational and networking events, should that be the direction we must continue in.
For the chapter’s own financial sustainability, we may not be able to offer the same low/no-cost options for virtual events as we enter our new fiscal year, but we are discussing how to ensure everyone can still access the educational content and networking opportunities desperately needed during this time. We can assure you the costs of our virtual content will never exceed the cost of our in-person events.
The COVID-19 situation is ever-changing, meaning we cannot predict what next week will look like—much less the fall. We do understand that in a few short months, some of you may still not feel comfortable in a large group setting and those concerns are a serious point of consideration too. While I am eager to see everyone again, please be assured that all of our discussions and decisions put the health and safety of our members, volunteers, and board first.
Please continue to check back here, follow AMA Houston on social media, and look for our emails to get the latest info.
If there is anything we can do to support you during this time, we are here for you.
Take care and hopefully see you soon,
Emily Rhodes