San Diego American Marketing Association Presents 11th Annual AMA Cause Conference

San Diego, CA, Feb. 26, 2009 — The San Diego Chapter of the American Marketing Association (SDAMA) is hosting the 11th Annual AMA Cause Conference on Wednesday, March 11, 2009, from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at the University of San Diego’s Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice. The conference is the West Coast’s largest business partnership conference for nonprofit and corporate leaders.

This year’s event will feature keynote speaker Will Marre, an award-winning writer, researcher and expert on leadership. A co-founder of The Covey Leadership Center, Marre received an Emmy Award for his PBS television special entitled “Reclaiming Your American Dream.” Marre’s keynote presentation includes excerpts from his latest book, “Save the World and Still Be Home for Dinner,” and also will discuss trends, market changes, new forces and new opportunities for both the nonprofit and business world in these uncertain economic and social times.

“Charities are designed to relieve acute human suffering,” said Marre. But the model is broken. They spend enormous amounts of time and resources to raise money, mostly through episodic events which are expensive diversions from their mission. Both nonprofit organizations and corporations mistakenly under-invest in cause marketing which I believe is the future of commerce. During the AMA Cause Conference, I’ll be examining cause marketing mishaps as well as model of success,” he said.

In addition, the event will feature for the second time, the popular “Fast Pitch” competition presented by the San Diego Business Journal. Results for last year’s winner, “Survivors of Torture,” will be shown and four other organizations will each give a three-minute presentation to request support for the upcoming year. Just like American Idol, the audience votes and the winner is announced at the end of the conference. The winner receives a graphics package worth $10,000 from the UCSD Extension Digital Arts Center.