I am pleased to introduce to you three new members of the MIMA Board of Directors. Katia Holmes joins the MIMA board as a Membership Director, and Betsey Kershaw and Christopher Pollard join the crew as Marketing Directors. I salute them with a big thank you! and wish them well in their leadership roles. For this introduction I asked each of them a few questions that will compliment their regular MIMA Board bios and provide a bit of an ice breaker and way to reach out and connect with them.

1. How long have you been a MIMA member and/or attending MIMA events?
2. What inspired you to seek a seat on the board?
3. Can you share any new ideas, approaches or goals that you have for building MIMA’s membership or marketing MIMA?
4. What social networks can other MIMA members connect with you on?
5. Do you have a website (your own or employer) you would like to share with folks?
6. mac or pc? care to comment on that? go ahead… have some fun with it….

Katia Holmes – Membership Director (joining forces with Ben Wallace)

1. Three years. My first MIMA event was August 2005. My second event was in 2008. The three year lapse was due to extensive travel and long hours. I am glad to be able to attend again.
2. I like what MIMA has to offer. I have enjoyed all of the events. I want to get the word out about how great the events are, the information and the education MIMA provides is wonderful for the Minneapolis community. Plus you guys serve great food and wine at the events!
3. Growing membership? Grow from within. During these crazy economic times it is going to be more difficult so it will be so much more important to show the benefits and value (i hate that word). There are a lot of companies, including agencies that want to educate their employees but can not send them to conferences because they are expensive. Well in their own back yard they have MIMA and for the same amount or less of a conference they can have multiple people join and learn.
4. I can be found on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter @katian I think that is it.
5. My employers website is ideapark.com
6. MAC! I have had too many blue screens of death to ever go back to a PC. PC’s are just such a pain. I love my MAC it is intuitive, where as a PC thinks in a box, and nothing good can come of that. Plus my first computer ever back in the 80’s was a MAC.

Betsey Kershaw – Marketing Director (joining forces with Christopher Pollard)

Christopher Pollard – Marketing Director (joining forces with Betsey Kershaw)

1. I’ve been attending events since 2004 and a member since 2005.
2. I want to give back to an organization that has given me so much.
3. MIMA has played a valuable role to help foster the development of an extremely talented interactive community. I believe Minnesota is a hotbed for strategic and tactical innovation and amazing creative work and thinking. I look forward to working with my fellow co-marketing directors to develop an integrated strategy to help spread the word about MIMA and its member’s good work.
4. Social profiles include:
   • Twitter: @chrispollard
   • LinkedIn
   • Plaxo
   • Facebook
5. Whoop Design: www.whoopdesign.com
6. My first computer was an Apple IIc. So, the answer would be Mac.

This deep thought from MIMA’s very own Tim Brunelle refers to the highly successful Ignite Minneapolis at Solera on April 22nd. With over 500 people in attendance to hear 23 five-minute presentations on topics from robots to mullets, it was surely a night to remember. Not to mention free beer and the who’s who of the Minneapolis advertising and creative community made a great mix for conversation and people watching.

As you know, MIMA loves to represent so not only were we a sponsor but two of our very own board members Michael Kraabel and Elizabeth Saloka threw caution to the wind and gave it their all for 120 seconds. We are all very proud here at MIMA so make sure to check them both out on Ignite’s YouTube channel.

Another Ignite sponsor, Catalyst Studios, has generously put together a video that highlights the night and leaves us wanting more (and yes there’s more). If you didn’t make it, not to worry because Ignite Minneapolis #2 is in June and it’s not too late to sign up to be a presenter – remember it’s only five minutes!

So, when is the next opportunity to go to a bar and learn something? Glad you asked because it’s just around the corner. Come join us along with MCAD for CATFOA’s “Living in a Post-Advertising World” featuring Michael Lebowitz at the Fineline on Monday, May 11th. Hope to see you there and hope you learn something!

Question submitted by Tricia Knigge from travelleaders.com…

Ten months ago my company went through the rebranding and name change process for one of our lines of business. The name we selected for our flagship travel franchise brand is Travel Leaders (www.travelleaders.com). Given that the name is very literal at the time of launch we felt a tagline further explaining our business was not necessary. Through the rebrand and naming process we developed strong positioning, messaging, a brand promise, imagery and logomark to represent the new brand. The tagline topic continues to be brought up by executives therefore I’ve been tasked with writing a recommendation about whether or not a tagline is necessary. Please let me know your opinion on having a tagline, is it necessary or not? If possible reference any articles, white papers, etc that you’ve read/written on the topic that may be useful.