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The Growth of IMAs

On May 14th I had the opportunity to give my “It’s Just Water” presentation at the South Florida Internet Marketing Association (SFIMA) Summit.  Taigh White, the current chair, and I have been friends for a couple years and I recollected our first discussions regarding our organizations.  At the time, LVIMA was around 200 members and we both shared ideas and observations at the time. 

Since then, I think it’s safe to say that both groups have grown 300+%.  We’ve both had to hand-pick a team of committee chairs to help out as it’s literally impossible to run the entire organization by oneself.  Austin, Dallas, Minneapolis, Boston, and San Francisco all have similar groups that we keep in close contact with and the organizations continue to pop up everywhere.  Yet I find it interesting that there are still key markets that don’t have an IMA for whatever reason.

If you find yourself in a city that needs an association to network with other digital professionals, start one.  The insights and thought-leading discussions that result are a tremendous beneft to everyone.  The SFIMA Summit I attended dismissed any notion that one side of the country was ahead of the other.  In fact, through my conversations with the attendees, I felt that their knowledge base equated to everyone I interact with on the west coast. 

The summit was a huge success and I applaud Taigh’s efforts in keeping the organization strong, fostering innovative conversation and learnings amongst SFIMA members.  It was a great visit!