{"id":20900,"date":"2017-03-06T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-03-06T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smps.org\/president-message-march2017\/"},"modified":"2023-06-20T16:04:00","modified_gmt":"2023-06-20T16:04:00","slug":"president-message-march2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smps.org\/2017\/03\/06\/president-message-march2017\/","title":{"rendered":"And We’re Off!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The SMPS Derby encourages member involvement.
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The lifeblood of an organization such as SMPS is our members. Our members know the value of SMPS, as we have grown to just shy of 7,000 members. As we continue to develop more member value, new programs, and education, we need to focus on growing our chapters and our association.<\/p>\n

I know that everything I ever learned about marketing, I learned from SMPS. And I hear that same story from others when I visit our chapters across the country.<\/p>\n

As engaged members, we are influencers and should convey how much we love and value our organization to encourage member involvement and to get others to experience the benefits of SMPS.If your chapter has entered the SMPS Derby, thank you. The 2017 SMPS Derby surpassed last year\u2019s chapter participation, with 41 chapters partaking, all with the goal of developing a membership recruitment and retention strategy, achieving their growth goal, and winning the big prize. The Derby winners will be the chapters with the highest growth percentage in their category at the end of the contest period and the ones who achieved the growth goal set by SMPS headquarters.<\/p>\n

The SMPS Derby race categories include:<\/p>\n