Local expo to help small firms craft their messages

~ The keynote speaker will be Charles Drury, who will talk about going from being a farmer to the owner of one of the largest hotel chains in the Midwest.

More than a decade ago, the Tri-State Advertising and Marketing Professionals was organized in Cape Girardeau as a way for leaders in the media and advertising sectors to create networking opportunities and gain insight from those outside their own area of expertise.

But its founder says today it has blossomed into much more than that.

"It's become so much more than what I hoped," said club founder Dr. Judy Wiles, chairwoman of Southeast Missouri State's Department of Management and Marketing. "To see the dedication and enthusiasm and the level of commitment that the members have has been so rewarding."

Wiles was the driving force behind the club's formation in May 1992, when she first got the discussions started about the need for a local organization for those in the advertising and marketing field. Thirteen people attended the first meeting the following month in Drury Lodge; several suggested affiliating with a national organization.

By the October meeting, more than 80 people attended and the group began its mission in earnest.

Now, with hundreds of members, the group meets every month, with guest speakers ranging from high-powered national CBS executives to local people who share ideas and strategies about getting their marketing and advertising messages out to a famously fickle public.

Each year, they also hold the ADDY Awards, a celebration of the best advertising, promotional and marketing packages that are conceived and executed by the brightest message-builders in the business.

And later this month, the group is adding another item to its resume. On Nov. 17, the club is holding its first Small Business and Marketing Expo, which is geared to help small business owners sculpt their own messages and the best way to get it to the public. The event will be held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Drury Lodge.

"We say we're a service club, so we decided we needed to do something" to serve the community, said club president Dan Timpe, the promotion director of KFVS12.

For many small businesses, the only reason they fail, Timpe said, is that nobody knows anything about them. The expo will feature guest speakers and topics to educate those businesses, such as how to craft a marketable press release, making the news media work for you, common business mistakes and making money on the Web.

"In one day, we want to give them help in getting their name out there," Timpe said. "Getting their name out there is the biggest thing, and how to do it on a small-business budget."

The crown jewel of the expo is perhaps the keynote luncheon speaker. Charles Drury will give a talk about his history, going from a small farmer in the Bootheel, to a plasterer to the owner of one of the largest hotel chains in the Midwest.

"That story is fascinating," Timpe said. "A lot of people would love to hear him talk."

Drury will also be presented with the Triumph Award, Timpe said, a new award that will recognize advertising and marketing excellence.

Dr. Charles Wiles, a charter member of the club and a professor emeritus of marketing at Southeast, said Drury's story will be of great interest.

"If you want to know about how to grow a small business, how to fulfill your dream, how to get ahead, here's a man who's done that," Charles Wiles said.

Wiles said that Drury's family started in Kelso with a small family farm and with his brothers started a plastering company as a secondary income.

"They started with almost nothing," Wiles said. "It's a true local success story. It grew into one of the most successful hotel stories in America with well over 100 locations in 17 states."

Wiles said that Drury is well deserving of a marketing award because Drury has become a well-known brand far beyond the borders of Southeast Missouri.

"We could think of nobody, no brand, that was more well known outside the tri-state area than the Drury's hotel brand. It's one of the greatest success stories of our area."

Timpe said that the group hasn't decided whether to do an expo next year, but he imagines they will.

"I would be surprised if we didn't do it every year," he said. "Once we get the ball rolling, get the first one under our belt, I think there will be enough enthusiasm to do this every year."

Meanwhile, the group will still go about its other mission of helping each other. Tracey Glenn, past president of the group and public information manager for the city of Cape Girardeau, said it's an invaluable tool for those in advertising and marketing.

"It's important because, I might be thinking of trying something a counterpart of mine tried and failed miserably at," she said. "They might share that with me and suggest how it could have been done right. It's all about learning from each other's experiences."

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137

Note: The event starts at 8 a.m. with a check-in, with sessions all day. The all inclusive pass costs $45, which includes all programs, continental breakfast, the luncheon, the exhibits, 20 booths or so and door prizes. The expo seminars only tickets are $30 and the luncheon tickets are $25.

Reservations can be made mailed with checks to Tri-State AMP Expo, P.O. Box 541, Cape Girardeau, MO., 63702-0541.