Spring/Summer 2018
Marine Marketers Launches New Website!
Check it out: MMA has recently updated and launched a new association website at  MarineMarketersofAmerica.org
 
The site features an overview of our key events and programs, plus now includes a new blog page! If you have content you would like considered for inclusion that is designed to provide continuing development and education for marine marketers, please submit a link or word doc to  marinemarketersofamerica@gmail.com

The new site also includes a visual display of all the 2017 Neptune Award winners , a membership application and directory including members, officers and board. Please check to confirm your information is correct and email us with any updates or corrections at  marinemarketersofamerica@gmail.com .
 
Thanks to all who were involved in this new site effort including Matthew Kuka, Wanda Kenton Smith, Sally Helme and Romina Bompani. Special thanks also to Courtney Chalmers and the folks at Boats One who previously designed and hosted our former site for several years. We appreciate the support!  
Welcome to Our New MMA Board Members!
Romina Bompani
RB Yacht Marketing
Abby Heimensen
MarineMax
Mary Strauss
Galati Yachts
At the recent Miami International Boat Show MMA meeting, three new board members were elected and announced to serve two-year terms.
 
New members include  Romina Bompani, owner, RB Yacht Marketing; Abby Heimensen, Director of Marketing, MarineMax, and Mary Strauss, Director of Marketing, Galati Yachts.
 
“We are thrilled to welcome our new board members and look forward to integrating them into our Marine Marketers of America initiatives,” said President Wanda Kenton Smith. “They each bring a great deal of marine and marketing experience to the table which will certainly contribute to our current and future marketing programs.”
National Safe Boating Week is Here!
May 19-25, 2018
Marketers should all get on the Safe Boating Bandwagon and share content about this important industry initiative!

From the Helm
By Wanda Kenton Smith, MMA President  

I wanted to take this opportunity to congratulate all of the 2017 Neptune Award Winners for their outstanding contributions! No doubt, this was our best year overall in terms of the volume and the quality of submissions. Several of the categories were hotly contested and the results speak to the broad level of superior work contributed by marketers in all segments of our business.   
 
I also wanted to thank our colleagues at Boating Writers International for their willingness to collaborate with us on joint programming at Miami. While we recognized our top marketers, BWI held their annual BWI Writing Awards Program. Having the best marketers and writers gathered together to celebrate outstanding achievements made for a truly memorable event.
 
I must take this opportunity to thank the MMA Board and our administrator Matt Kuka for all the hard work behind the scenes. Chief Judge Sally Helme, Judging Chair Kristin Frohnhoefer, event publicist Jim Rhodes and scores of others participated in the judging activity. It is our major effort of the year and it takes the entire village to make it happen. Thanks to everyone who contributed!
 
Having served as a judge myself for the past several years in categories where I wasn’t competing, I do have one recommendation to share. There is a detailed submission form that clearly specifies the judging criteria and applicants should be sure to provide all the requested information. There were a handful of really nice entries who scored poorly because their submissions were simply incomplete.

A very special thanks to Ron Ballanti for handling the photography of our winners during the event!
 
If you missed the boat and didn’t see the list of winning entries, please  click here  on our new website to see the top marketing work in our industry!
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Recent promotion? New job? Won an award? Launching a new initiative?