In 2008, when I was president of PRSA-Madison and vice-president of Ad 2 Madison, I noticed that we had so many communications groups in town, yet we never got together. That notion is extra odd when you consider in the working world, most communications is integrated, meaning that people in PR, marketing, graphic design, etc., are working in tandem, not in silos.
Thus my idea to organize a joint holiday networking party came to be. That year we had PRSA, Ad 2, Design Madison and Madison MAGNET (a networking group for young professionals).
On Dec. 12, I get to be the MC of the latest edition, which features PRSA, Ad 2, AAF-Madison, AMA Madison, Design Madison, MCA-I Madison, AIGA, SMPS Wisconsin and IABC. If it weren’t for the fact that there are so many competing events the same night, we’d probably get more than the 200 people expected to show up.
I really enjoy getting to catch up with colleagues and meet potential new vendors, partners, clients and employees. Plus, it’s fun to see a group of professionals known for drinking and socializing have a great time.
One last thought: I’m crossing my fingers for good weather. We’ve had two years with snow/ice storms that kept the attendance down.