American Marketing Association
Professional Chapters Council 2015-16
ABOUT THE PROFESSIONAL CHAPTERS COUNCIL
The Professional Chapters Council (PCC) is a group of 12 past presidents of local AMA chapters who serve the
organization nationally by mentoring chapter leaders and providing resources to empower member service at
the chapter level as well as serving as an advocate for the professional members to AMA Support Center
(AMASC) and the AMA Board of Directors. The following outlines the responsibilities of PCC members.
BENEFITS OF PARTICIPATION
Participation in the PCC delivers many benefits to Council members. Those include tangible benefits, such as
complimentary registrations for up to three national AMA events and paid travel to all PCC meetings and other
events where attendance is required as part of a Council member’s role. More importantly, however, members
have opportunities to grow and develop as professionals by gaining experience in public speaking, group
facilitation, individual mentoring, planning, leadership and much more. In addition, members regularly interact
with senior leaders of the AMA to influence the future of the world’s best-known and most respected marketing
organization. Most importantly, Council members create meaningful, lasting relationships with one another that
make the experience enriching professionally and personally.
COUNCIL MEMBER RESPONSIBILITIES
All
All PCC members are expected to fully engage in the Council by:
 Attending three in-person meetings on July 17-19, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois; October 16-18, 2015 in
Tucson, Arizona; and on April 27-May 1, 2015, in Chicago, Illinois (which includes participating on the
presenting team for Leadership Summit). The first day of each meeting starts at 3 PM.
 Participating in one three-hour conference call in January 2016, date/time TBD;
 Serving as the PCC rep for one AMA Regional Retreat that will take place in 2016 mid-January through
early-February, including securing presenters, coordinating with the host chapter and facilitating the
activities of the day;
 Providing content for the monthly Chapter Leaders Newsletter relevant to their area of responsibility;
 Monitoring content offered on Chapter Resources and recommending additions and changes;
 Ensuring all PCC activities remain within budget parameters as agreed upon with AMASC;
 Engaging in the AMA community and Chapter Leaders group on LinkedIn to stimulate sharing and ideas
among chapter leaders;
 Advising on AMA practices, policies and procedures regarding their ability to meet chapter leader needs;
 As needed, participating in AMA task forces to explore, test or develop new initiatives for chapters;
 As needed, recommending and managing national volunteers to support Council activities; and
1

As invited and agreed, taking on one or more “additional responsibilities” outlined below.
Membership Team Members
The PCC’s membership team supports chapter leaders to better enable them to serve members locally by:
 Mentoring professional chapters of the AMA, including engaging with the President and President-Elect
regularly, monitoring chapter health and becoming involved when chapters experience challenging
issues;
 Mentoring developing chapters in their quest to become AMA chapters;
 Hosting one or two conference calls on topics important to chapter leaders;
 Attending monthly Membership Team conference calls;
 Conducting post-judging dialogues with chapters questioning Chapter Excellence Awards results;
Estimated time commitment: 8-10 hours/month
Membership Team Chair
The Chair of the membership team fulfills all the responsibilities outlined above, plus:
 Coordinating and leading monthly membership team calls;
 Ensuring membership team members maintain regular contact with chapter leaders; and
 Identifying, pursuing and managing opportunities to engage national volunteers in chapter mentoring.
Estimated time commitment: Additional 2 hours/month
Regional Retreat Coordinator
This position will contribute to the Membership Team and the Programming Team, mentoring the eight Regional
Retreat host chapters and also coordinating the Regional Retreats throughout the country by:
 Recruiting/mentoring the host chapters for each retreat and setting the schedule of events;
 Creating the branding/theme for the retreats for the year;
 Developing a retreat agenda and presentation content;
 Arranging for PCC attendance at each retreat;
 Creating and distributing task lists, communication plans and retreat content to hosts and PCC;
 Confirming logistics with hosts, tracking registrations and working with membership to support;
 Working with the membership team to facilitate the Regional Retreat Scholarship Program;
 Evaluating attendance statistics and event survey results to share with the PCC; and
 Recommend improvements to the program and transitioning the role for the following year.
 Managing the Regional Retreat Grant process with the Membership Team and AMASC
Estimated time commitment: Same as Membership Team time commitment
Leadership Summit Co-Chairs
Leadership Summit co-chairs coordinate all aspects of the Leadership Summit event, including:
 Creating the branding/theme for Leadership Summit for the year;
 Securing and serving event sponsors;
 Defining and managing the program plan and event content;
 Creating website and brochure content;
 Recruiting and training the presenting team;
 Identifying additional national volunteers to assist with marketing and session facilitation;
2
 Developing the presenter script;
 Working with the membership team to promote event attendance;
 Managing research associated with the event;
 Recommending improvements to the process for future event chairs; and
 Working with future chairs to transition role.
Estimated time commitment: 15 hours/month
President-Elect
The President-Elect prepares the PCC for future success and assists in key areas of the Council, including:
 Recruiting new Council members to maintain a total of 12 members as three-year terms expire;
 Recruiting national volunteers to support Council activities;
 Administering the Volunteer of the Year program, including promoting it, securing judges, coordinating
the judging process and working with Summit co-chairs to coordinate recognition;
 Attending the Spring AMA Board Meeting with the PCC President;
 Planning the meeting schedule for the following chapter year;
 Establishing goals and defining initiatives to guide activities for the following chapter year; and
 Proposing budgetary considerations for the following chapter year to AMASC.
 Ensuring the National Volunteer Database is maintained and national volunteers are acknowledged and
recognized throughout the year;
Estimated time commitment: 5 hours/month
President
The President leads the Council toward success in the current chapter year by:
 Defining the strategy under which the PCC should operate for the year in alignment with broader AMA
goals and the needs of chapter leaders;
 Identifying additional Council activities that engage national volunteers;
 Preparing agendas for all PCC meetings and guiding the content of those meetings;
 Monitoring the PCC budget to ensure expenses are controlled and funds are spent for the utmost
benefit of chapter leaders;
 Working with PCC members throughout the year to empower them to achieve their goals;
 Presenting to the AMA Board of Directors in the Spring regarding the contributions of the PCC; and
 Participating in conference calls with leaders of other AMA Councils.
Estimated time commitment: 10 hours/ month
Past President
The Past President assists the President and President-Elect in their leadership roles, provides historical
perspective in the consideration of issues and initiatives and takes on projects as assigned by the President.
Estimated time commitment: 5 hours / month
The following are additional responsibilities of the PCC that are assigned to members of the Council at the
discretion of the Council President.
Chapter Excellence Awards (CEA) Chair (Traditionally handled by the President-Elect)
3
Administer the CEA program, including:
 Evaluating the prior year’s process to determine improvements;
 Reviewing updates to the CEA entry and judging form;
 Working with membership to promote participation throughout the year;
 Recruiting CEA judges;
 Working with AMASC to administer the program;
 Coordinating and participating in digital judging;
 Working with AMASC to notify chapters of results;
 Working with PCC Membership Team to conduct post-judging dialogues with chapters that have
questions about the results;
 Recommending enhancements to the process; and
 Working with the incoming CEA chair to transition the role.
Estimated time commitment: 10 – 20 hours prep + judging weekend + 10 – 20 hours follow-up
Chapter Resources support
The PCC continually seeks to update and improve the resources available to chapters through the Chapter
Resources site. To do so, some PCC members may be asked to solicit, review, rate or otherwise supplement
content on the site. In addition, the PCC often serves as a resource to evaluate or recommend tools AMASC
considers making available to all chapters (such as CVENT or chapter portals through AMA.org). In 2012-13, the
PCC began engaging national volunteers to assist with projects to update tools and samples on the Chapter
Resources and create guides on chapter SIGs and Awards Programs. A majority of these updates and guides
were completed in 2014-15. The PCC will look to promote these updated resources in 2015-16.
Board in the Box (BIB) Refresh
Every five years, the PCC should consider an update to the principles, practices and metrics of BIB to ensure it
remains accurate and relevant to changing chapter needs. In the 2011-12 chapter year, the PCC analyzed the
findings of BIB research conducted in 2011, determined how to revise BIB content and created a deliverable for
chapter leaders to communicate this information. The refreshed version of BIB was unveiled and presented to
chapter leaders attending Leadership Summit 2012. The PCC will continue to work to ensure that chapters have
access to and utilize this resource in 2015-16.
Leadership Skill Building
During 2010-11, the PCC developed and introduced Leadership Skill Building sessions to leaders attending
Leadership Summit. Starting in 2013-14, abbreviated versions of these sessions were recorded as webcasts for
convenient access by all chapter leaders. The PCC will continue to refine this popular offering by developing new
content offerings for 2015-16 and determining other potential ways to use it. In past years we have relied on
PCC members own personal strengths and passions for content.
Support AMA Board of Directors Initiatives
The PCC is occasionally asked by the Board of Directors of AMA to provide input to its initiatives or support them
in some way. 2013-14 chapter year Board initiatives included assisting as needed with the AMA membership
retention project. In 2014-15 the PCC was included early on in the conversation about the NEXT AMA initiative.
The One AMA initiative will be a primary focus in 2015-16.
4