First Time Board Member Tells All

I became acquainted with the Advertising Club of Buffalo nearly a decade ago. I was a student at Canisius College (where leaders are made) and my advisor, Dr. John Dahlberg, advised me to get involved.

As this post may indicate, I did get involved. Very involved. I started attending events and networking the old fashioned way. I found myself having a genuinely great time geeking out with other people who love to talk about clever headlines and make fun of lame fonts. I also found myself learning a lot and meeting really great people (the kind of people it never hurts to know in an industry like ours.)

The Ad Club has helped me to grow as a professional, land my job, grow some more, hire interns, help the interns to grow, find freelance gigs, and stay tremendously interested and involved in the Buffalo advertising community despite the fact that I work client side. What’s helped me grow the most however, is serving on the Board of Directors.

I’m writing this post with a purpose. Board nominations are due this week and I know that some of you may be on the fence about running. As someone who was in your position around this time last year, I can only offer you one piece of advice and it’s the same piece of advice that Dr. Dahlberg gave me so many years ago: get involved.

I knew that being on the board would be a resume booster – but I had no idea how much I would enjoy it. It’s a beautiful thing when your profession and your passion are one and the same  but to share that with a great group of motivated doers is another thing all together. And it’s nothing short of incredible.

As a club, we’re doing a lot of things right these days. Our events are selling out, we’re bringing world-class speakers to Buffalo, we’re offering practical education on topics people want to learn about, we’re reaching out to students, and our membership numbers are higher than ever before. That’s no coincidence. Our board is consciously driving this revival of sorts, and while I’m usually not one to brag I am confident that we collectively have much to be proud of.

The success is undoubtedly a result of great leadership, hard work, and personal accountability. That being said, if hard work and accountability aren’t really your thing you probably shouldn’t be looking to join our board.

As the co-chair for our AdLab series, I spent a lot of time planning and coordinating the monthly panel discussions. Sure, it takes time, a lot of emails, and some back-and-forth but it’s given me the opportunity to meet and correspond with Buffalo’s best and brightest. Along with all of the AdLabs, it’s expected that I attend the club’s happy hours and events – but I was already doing that anyway. There are board meetings once a month and committee meetings on occasion but I don’t dread them – I enjoy them.

A personal highlight was being asked to represent the club (and my company) by reviewing commercials on the morning show Winging It! the day after the Super Bowl.

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love talking about commercials.

I could go on and on about all of the reasons I’ve enjoyed being on the board this past year, but I’d rather have you find out for yourself.

So, if you’d like to be an instrumental part of something awesome and you want to help us make things happen, we’d love to have you join us.

You can check out the specific areas of need and submit your nomination (for yourself or any other qualified candidates who might be interested) through this Friday, and I hope you will.

If you have any specific questions about what’s involved, feel free to get in touch.