IRVINE, Calif. -- Business-to-business (B2B) marketers looking for new, effective ideas are encouraged to attend a presentation on Oct. 14 entitled, "Relationship Management: Feasible, Affordable, Essential" by Tim Rohde. The event is hosted by the Southern California chapter of the Business Marketing Association (SoCal BMA), the only non-profit marketing organization in the nation designed specifically to educate B2B professionals.

The October BMA event will be a frank discussion of the current state of Customer Relationship Management (CRM), taking an action-oriented look at the practical steps necessary to achieve a closed-loop marketing program. Rohde is relationship management coach for The Phelps Group, an integrated marketing communications company with offices in Santa Monica and Laguna Beach. His presentation will provide realistic ways to gain value from customer information and the latest data management tools now that the initial "hype" about CRM has settled. And he will demonstrate how to use CRM technology for generating feasible and affordable 21st century results.

Rohde has over 15 years of hands-on experience in customer-centric information technology and entrepreneurial leadership including practice management, business strategy, tactical planning and execution, enterprise administration, program and project management, structured systems analysis, and software design. He is a founding member of the board of directors of Cal State Fullerton's traditional and online eCRM certificate program.

Sustaining Sponsors for SoCal BMA include Business Wire for monthly news release distribution; DardenLentz for graphic design and marketing communications; ExactTarget for emarketing management; Kloster Audio Services for presentation A/V support; and The Phelps Group for Web site management.

Logistics

This dinner meeting will be held on Thurs., Oct. 14, 2004, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at The Pacific Club, 4110 MacArthur Boulevard, Newport Beach, CA 92660. Prices are $38 for BMA members, $48 for non-members and $30 for students through Mon., Oct. 11 - then $50, $60 and $35 respectively thereafter. Registration is through the SoCal BMA Web site at www.socalbma.org, or by e-mailing Dan Rime at drime@cdce.com.

About the BMA

The Business Marketing Association is the nation's only professional association dedicated to business-to-business marketers and marketing communicators. Members receive networking benefits, peer support, and the opportunity to participate in events attracting important industry speakers and attendees. The BMA national Web site is www.marketing.org. For more information on the SoCal chapter of the BMA, go to www.socalbma.org. Monthly dinner meetings and presentations are held on the second Thursday of each month.