One of my favorite things is personal newsletters, in which my favorite writers and creatives share the things they have been reading, watching and listening to, whether it’s in the realm of pop culture or their fields of expertise. Along these lines, I wanted to know what my fellow Marketing folks were interested in. Below is a list of recommendations from your AAMA marketing team – in case you needed a great read or listen for a flight home for the holidays!

Lori Benshoof, Senior Coordinator, Web Services

• I subscribe to Adobe’s magazine, Create, for inspiration in editing and creating images. Create is full of tips like ways design can help solve very human problems (usability!), how to use the latest design tools and where to get new “brushes” for Photoshop. I also love a site called Behance, where people share different projects they have worked on using Adobe products. I learned about Behance from doing a couple Photoshop web series classes to give me some creative tips for editing photos. Subscribe to Create here.
• Additionally, I recently read the following article about Google search results that I found very interesting. Read more about Google's increasingly hands-on approach to results and what it could mean for everyday users.

Angela Dickson, Marketing and Communications Director

• Of course, my mind is on all things branding these days with the unification of AAMA and IGMA to become FGIA. Our branding consultant recommended “The Brand Gap” by Marty Neumeier. It’s a wonderful resource for all marketers, with examples from real brands. A quick read, it’s great for a flight when the Wi-Fi isn’t working! Find it on Amazon or anywhere books are sold.
• As many in our industry can understand, we are building our brand with a limited budget. (We won’t have a commercial in the Super Bowl this year, unfortunately.) To make the most of our marketing dollars, our team focuses on specific targets to get to the folks who may be interested in what our association has to offer. This TEDtalk by Gaby Barrios explains why marketers are doing a disservice to their brand by focusing so much on gender, as one of those demographic targets. A study she helped to create found that in almost every instance, there was a greater link between buyers and influencers beyond gender.

Meryl Williams, Communications Coordinator

• I mentioned I love personal newsletters. Every Friday, I look forward to getting Austin Kleon’s newsletter about creativity in my inbox. Kleon has written several short, easy-to-flip-through graphic books about how to stay creative, generate ideas and make time for the work you want to make. Whether it’s writing or a more visual medium, Kleon is a great motivator and so are the items he links to in his newsletter. Sign up to get his Top 10 lists of creativity tools and articles each week. 
• I am listening to Jia Tolentino’s collection of essays, “Trick Mirror,” on audiobook. It is a fascinating look at the impact of internet culture and the “optimization” of millennials (especially women). I highly recommend it, especially for those interested in learning to work with folks in other demographics and generations!
  

What would you recommend reading, listening to or watching? Share your thoughts in the comments below!