10 February 2016

Photo captions (from top to bottom): SMPS/LA Chapter members at The White Party; Fellows Forum Speaker Panel; Pankow's Christine Timbre & The PENTA Building Group's Tim Putnam

From February 10-12, 2016, ten SMPS Pacific Regional Chapters joined forces to host its annual conference comprised of three dynamic days of networking, learning and developing relationships with industry partners. The 2016 Heat Wave Conference Co-Chairs are Tom Neary (Los Angeles Chapter) and Andrea Story, CPSM (Alaska Chapter).

The Heat Wave kicked off Wednesday afternoon with the Fellows Forum, an established conference tradition. Bill Strong, FSMPS, moderated the panel of Fellows where they discussed topics such as content marketing, interview strategies, Go/No-Go processes, and what you can do differently to win an RFP. The panel illustrated the importance of nurturing a client relationship early one; one way of doing so is by presenting with a client at a conference.

Thursday and Friday provided three education tracks - Business Development, Marketing and Personal & Professional Development. Below are just a few highlights from the array of presenters and topics:

• "Flash Branding" by MilesHerndon.com provided case studies of successful flash branding projects. The session noted that "just because you take longer to make a decision, doesn't mean that it will be a better decision." Rebranding is about your whole story and how it connects with your audience and clients.
• "Ignite Your Spark to Flame" by Lisa Schauer stated that it is a two-year average before you get burnt out in A/E/C marketing. Lisa provided tips and tricks to achieve a work-life-community rhythm.
• "Hot Typography" by David Lecours provided insight on how attendees can raise the heat on their graphic design skills. He shared how to choose the right fonts, setting type to better create persuasive proposals, and slide design for sizzling presentation interviews.
• "Stop Putting Out Fires" by NAC Architecture started with Tonya Dooley, CPSM and Jenni Lachner, CPSM giving away marketing survival kits to attendees. The dynamic duo then proceeded to illustrate ways on how to make your marketing and business development team become your internal advocates. Each speaker shared their personal experiences and best practices for establishing effective marketing procedures and processes - all within an interactive and fun atmosphere.

Thursday evening culminated with an SMPS White Party where all attendees were invited to wear white outfits, in the spirit of being in the Palm Springs desert. Attendees socialized and mingled while listening to the musical spinning of DJ Richard Blade.

The conference ended on Friday afternoon with a Family Feud-style game show featuring Fellows vs. CPSMs. Contestants answered A/E/C related questions and provided an interactive forum with the audience.

About SMPS PRC
The SMPS Pacific Regional Conference is the place to invest your precious conference and seminar time and budget dollars. PRC is an annual regional event hosted by ten SMPS chapters including Alaska, Hawaii, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Orange County, Oregon, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle. Each year, over a dozen presenters and keynote speakers are assembled from throughout the nation, allowing attendees to learn best practices in A/E/C marketing and business development from some of the most experienced professionals. Moreover, the unique PRC conference atmosphere provides networking opportunities with fellow professionals within the Pacific Region that will help you build your business.

The 2017 SMPS PRC will take place in Anchorage, Alaska. For more information, go to: http://www.smps-prc.org/