It's Not About Me

with their creative people because these publications are always looking for ways to make their publication stand out with their readership. I was a one- time author myself…my article made the cover of EDN Magazine on August 5, 1974. My six- page article “How to get the most out of high -powered rectifiers and SCR’s” made the cover for TWO reasons: 1) Spectacular photograph for the cover 2) Good general interest article of semiconductors. As my first and only article garnered the cover of their magazine, I promptly retired from writing magazine articles as my career could only go downhill from here! regular work assignments. I said that sounded good to me! I said the reason for that is that I can give them two things that you cannot: 1) I pay them $50 per page for every article they get published in a trade magazine (they already get your pay so my pay to them is simply a bonus for them (you need to remember that in the mid- 1970’s that $750 or $800 per month was a regul ar salary back then) 2) they get the “prestige” and “recognition” of being published in a national magazine which is again something that you cannot give them. Providing incentives to key employees to help promote your products and services can make good business sense! conferences. While most all major companies tend to participate in them in some form or fashion, I would suggest that some companies could use them more effectively as a tool to attract new business as well as to entertain and inform existing customers. Hospitality Suites can be much more than just a place to get a drink! I was fortunate enough to inherit a Westinghouse tradition in my job as Marketing Communications manager. Our suite became a regular meeting place for conference attendees and their wives after the daily sessions, to meet other couples going out to dinner or as a place to meet up after the dinner meal. We would usually feature a small band for background music, draft beer on tap and limited liquor. Each year we would handout complimentary glass beer mugs with a unique logo for that year. One year we even featured an induction heated electric air popcorn popper built using our semiconductors! It was a great place for our sales personnel to “meet and greet” customers. Lunch Seminars – people attending conferences and seminars have to eat; usually grabbing lunch on the run is not very appetizing and is rather expensive for what you get. This can be an excellent opportunity for your company to sponsor a luncheon affiliated with the conference or tradeshow (on-site if possible). You simply promote and event and have customers and prospects register to attend for free; they get a FREE lunch and you get 30 minutes of their undivided attention to promote your applications, products and services to them. A good deal for both parties! • Walt Disney World Experience – One of our annual industry conferences happened to be held at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fl. General Electric was one of our major competitors to Westinghouse Electric in the semiconductor business, but an industry conference is a great place to • Tradeshow/Conference Activities – Every industry tends to have annual tradeshows and When I was Marketing Communications Manager, the Application Engineering manager came up to me one day complaining that his engineers were spending more time on my marketing communications projects than they were on their

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