A Program Within the AMA Executive Marketer Community

The CMO Roundtable program enables members of the AMA Executive Marketer Community to participate in a deeper engagement — candid and confidential discussions with others who understand and share the unique challenges of leading effective marketing teams and initiatives, managing profitable marketing budgets, and developing successful marketing strategies and tactics.

The CMO Roundtable is made possible through a partnership between the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber and the Cincinnati Chapter of the American Marketing Association (AMA Cincinnati).

The CMO Roundtable program enables members of the AMA Executive Marketer Community to participate in a deeper engagement – candid and confidential discussions with others who understand and share the unique challenges of leading effective marketing teams and initiatives, managing profitable marketing budgets, and developing successful marketing strategies and tactics.

Program Overview

The CMO Roundtable is made possible through a partnership between the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber and the Cincinnati Chapter of the American Marketing Association (AMA Cincinnati). This program empowers marketing leaders to deliver greater results for their organizations through strategies and tactics that lead to better marketing practices. Roundtable participants collaborate in a safe and confidential forum where ideas can be freely expressed and respectfully challenged.

The CMO Roundtable enables marketing decision makers to dive deep into marketing challenges and opportunities, discuss them openly with an experienced group of marketing leaders, and gain exposure to content experts.

Program Benefits

CMO Roundtable participants benefit in many ways from their involvement. The program allows them to . . .

  • Grow in an intellectually stimulating environment and build their professional networks in the process
  • Gain diverse perspectives by interacting with engaged peers, creating actionable and visionary ideas and solutions
  • Discuss strategic marketing topics and issues at a CMO level with resourceful colleagues
  • Consider and evaluate various tactical approaches to best implement marketing strategies
  • Learn and share marketing best practices and next practices
  • Scope out potential marketing opportunities, and gain valuable input on how to best leverage them
  • Dive deeper into a myriad of marketing challenges and gain constructive feedback
  • Be exposed to marketing thought leaders through guest facilitators/speakers
  • Share new knowledge with their organization’s marketing staff and colleagues
  • Benefit from having professional facilitation of participant meetings
  • American Marketing Association membership is included in the program cost

You will be asked to also apply to the AMA Executive Marketer Community (at no additional cost) when you apply to the CMO Roundtable.

Meeting Format

The CMO Roundtable meets six times per year (every other month), typically at the offices of a group participant. The meetings last three hours. Below is an example of a typical meeting agenda:

  • Welcome and Program Business
  • Best Practice Sharing
  • Marketing Spotlight: One of the group participants shares a marketing initiative, challenge or opportunity with the group for input and feedback
  • Topic Highlight (sometimes includes a guest facilitator/speaker)
  • Brief Marketing Department Tour
  • Wrap-up

Receptions are also offered periodically, allowing current and prospective participants of the CMO Roundtable to meet and connect with one another over drinks and hors d’oeuvres.

Placement & Application Details

Requirements

  • Participants must have primary decision-making responsibility for their organization’s marketing function.
  • Participants must not sell to or solicit business from other program participants.
  • All participants must sign a confidentiality form to allow for candid conversations and sharing of information in a safe environment.
  • All participants must sign a one-year commitment form to assure continuity of participation in the program throughout the year (renewable annually if agreeable to both the participant and the program leadership).

Application Process and Trial

Participant Composition

  • As noted previously, applicants need to also apply to the broader AMA Executive Marketer Community. 
  • Program participants represent a variety of industries and typically represent mid-size and large organizations in terms of employee size, marketing team size, and marketing budget, but not in all cases.
  • Approved applicants will be placed in a group, considering factors that will create a good fit for both the new participant and the selected group. Competitors will not be placed in the same group to assure open dialogue.

The CMO Roundtable meets six times per year (every other month), typically at the offices of a group participant.

The meetings last three hours.

Membership in the CMO Roundtable costs $1,000.

Leadership:

Dennis Devlin

VP, Executive Marketer
AMA Cincinnati Board of Directors

Partners in the CMO Roundtable

“The program serves as a candid and confidential forum for both sharing with and learning from other marketing leaders about using best practices, leveraging opportunities and overcoming challenges. In a rapidly changing marketplace, the CMO Roundtable helps Cincinnati marketing leaders thrive, not just survive.”
Dennis Devlin, Chair of the CMO Roundtable

“Marketing is changing at a record pace and it is challenging to keep up with it all. Nothing is quite as powerful as face-to-face information sharing. The CMO Roundtable has been an incredibly valuable resource to me because it is a collaborative environment where we can share ideas and learn from one another. I have successfully applied knowledge gained from the CMO Roundtable meetings in several areas of my business.”
Tammy Nelson, CMO, SageSure Insurance Managers

“The CMO Roundtable has afforded me the experience to connect with other Cincinnati CMOs to share strategies, resources, and results that I can consider for my institution to help solve some of our marketing challenges and leverage some of our opportunities.”
Doug Ruschman, AVP for Marketing & Communications, Xavier University