Dear Colleagues,

The past year has been a very meaningful one for the European Marketing Academy and I trust that it had been the same for you both professionally and personally. Depending on which term you prefer, we can characterize this Calendar / Academic Year with the words transition or transformation. The second half of Academic Year is still ahead of us with plenty of potential activities.

In my previous letters I wrote about the change in presidency. Although I took over the presidency from Graham Hooley in May 2006 , he, as past president, is continuing to work hard with me on “revitalizing” the once so popular and informative Chronicle, published 3 times a year. In addition to the new electronic communication amongst EMAC members, the Chronicle will be a sort of “annual report”, a tangible, “hands-on” material for the EMAC community. The Steering Committee’s meeting on 9th of March 2007 will finalize the content and the form. We are excited about and looking forward to it!

The Executive Committee met in Brussels on 27th October 2006. In addition to the 19 members of the EC, also present were 5 key persons from the organizers of the coming year’s conference. First, Halldor Orn Engilbertsson the chairperson of EMAC 36th Conference in Reykjavik Iceland 2007 presented the recent activities and tasks. I am sure that most of you were busy in the first days of December, sending in your papers. Based on the most recent information, so far the organizers have received 900 papers. Good luck to all in the review process and hope to see you soon in Reykjavik. We were very lucky that the EC accepted Brighton, UK as the venue for the EMAC 37th Conference in 2008. A big thanks to Keith Perks, the chairperson of the 2008 conference and the University of Brighton for doing a wonderful job during the summer in preparing the conference proposal. The EMAC is keen to have as many candidates for the coming conferences as possible. Please let us know if the option of participating in the “adventure” of organizing a conference is one you wish to take advantage of. It is worthwhile. We listened with great empathy to the presentation of Jean Louis Nicolas from the Audencia Nantes School of Management, France as the candidate organizer for the EMAC 38th Conference in 2009.

The most challenging transition aspect of the year was the membership of EMAC. We now have 361 members for the year 2006. The national representatives prepared reports on the membership situation in their respected countries. We had a fruitful discussion about the advantages of EMAC membership and how it is perceived in different countries and have reached a number of conclusions regarding the tasks at hand for the near future. I hope you will soon see some of the results. One outcome was the setting up of a so-called “loyal member” category. Based on a weak - first - definition our loyal members are those who have been EMAC members continuously in 2005, 2006 and 2007. A little gift will be sent to all of them in the near future. So check your membership file to see if you should be expecting to get this surprise.

Many other issues were also raised during the EC meeting. Just to mention some of the most important topics: the teaching portal, the new editors of IJRM, doctoral students support, EIASM service contract, job market at the annual conference, elections, EU grant proposals, conferences and workshops, etc. These are all issues that are high on the agenda of EMAC management and require new solutions in the future. Even the term management of EMAC was discussed extensively and the manner in which we can use the synergy that the EIASM can offer to us as a marketing community.

Last but not least, let me inform you about the BIGMAC, the triennial
joint symposium of EMAC and ANZMAC (Australian & New Zealand Marketing Academy) held in parallel with the ANZMAC annual conference in Brisbane, 4-6 December 2006. I enjoyed my first ever ANZMAC conference, the academic and social program organized for the almost 400 participants by the Queensland University of Technology. Personally, I learned a great deal about our sister organization in the frame of a meeting with Rob Lawson the ANZMAC president and Rod Brodie the convener of ANZMAC Fellows and responsible for BIGMAC. Thanks to Kris Möller the EMAC organizer of the Research Symposium and the many EMAC members who also attended the program. The debate about the “new” service-dominant logic of marketing where we could challenge our views with Steve Vargo the coauthor of this seminal JM article was fascinating. I had a déjà vu feeling in Australia meeting the “kiwis” and the “aussies”, combining free lifestyle with academic rigor. This is what we Europeans admire and aspire for.

I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a successful Happy New Year.

József Berács
EMAC President

Dear Colleagues,

When the Romans agreed on new laws and regulations they always asked themselves „Cui prodest?” – who will benefit? It is said that Henry Mintzberg, one of the outstanding experts in international literature on strategy, always asked at board meetings: WHY? It is this same question that comes to my mind when I repeatedly have to face the fact that in 2006 EMAC still has only 357 official members (data obtained September, 2006), in spite of the fact that in 2005 our members numbered 827.

I can, to all appearances, give a professional response to the „why”. In 2006 we changed the membership fee payment structure at the annual conference. As of 2006, the conference fee paid in May covers the ensuing year’s (in this instance –2007) membership fee. The participants of the Athens conference this year (approximately 600 colleagues) are, thus, already EMAC members for 2007. From my vantage point, the future looks bright. At the same time, this does not in any way explain why we only have 357 registered EMAC members in 2006. The repetition of above referred to Latin saying serves the purpose of asking once again who will „benefit” if EMAC has 1000 members by the year 2008, a quite feasible number in view of the membership trends of the past few years. It is the answer to this and to similar questions that the EMAC Executive Committee will discuss at the October 2006 meeting. In keeping with the beliefs represented within the European Union, we shall find the answer by determining the benefits for the separate member countries.

In academic life, summer is the time of relaxation, research and writing. The summer of 2006 was a “hot” one for two reasons in no way related to the weather. First, Dublin, the planned venue of the 2008 conference declined the organization and the Steering Committee had to work feverishly to find a new location. I am happy to be able to inform you that the new location is Brighton (UK), where the University of Brighton will host the conference. The proposed venue is the Brighton Center, which is a frequent venue for the annual Labour and Conservative political party conferences. We hope to sign the contract soon.
The second “hot” event was the decision regarding the Editor-in-Chief of the IJRM. Hubert Gatignon, the Editor-in-Chief of IJRM has 6 successful years behind him. As you will read in detail in the Newspage, the Search Committee headed by Jan-Benedict Steenkamp availed. I congratulate the two new Editors-in-Chief, Donald Lehmann and Stephan Stremersch! I hope that in the coming three years the IJRM will develop its European character further in a way that its international recognition increases, as well. The journal’s present and future is in all our interest and its existence is one of the advantages of EMAC membership.

The start of the new academic year means the setting of new goals and the formulation of new tasks for us all. I trust that many of you are planning to attend the annual conference of ANZMAC (Australia-New Zealand Marketing Academy in Brisbane in December, 2006. A joint EMAC-ANZMAC day will be held in the frame of the conference, a continuation of the 2005 event in Milano.

Please do not forget to mark in your calendar already now the dates May 22-25, 2007 the dates of the 36th EMAC conference in Reykjavik. The deadline for the submission of abstracts – December 4th, 2006 – is fast nearing! Halldor Orn Engilbertson, chairperson of the organization committee and his colleagues are looking forward to receive your applications.

I will say goodbye for now with the title of our conference “Flexible Marketing in an Unpredictable World”. Together with you, I, too, am looking forward to learn about flexible marketing!

Best wishes,

József Berács
EMAC President

Dear Colleagues,

There is an old Latin saying: “Navigare necesse est.” I do not know how the saying is in Greek, in English, however, it might sound like this: “One must sail”, one must navigate or explore, in other words one must take on responsibilities, continue the work of his/her predecessors as well as go on to new tasks.

Ten years ago, in 1996, the 25th EMAC Conference was organized in Budapest. It was the first - and to date only - EMAC Conference to be organized in a former socialist country. We had record number of participants: 350. I hope many of you still remember not only the professional sessions themselves, but also the cultural events, the get-together parties and the capital of Hungary, Budapest, as a cosmopolitan city. I refer to this past event for two reasons.

First the Annual Conference is the most important “product” (service) of the European Marketing Academy. In the virtual world of today, this is a “tangible” event, where the marketing literature is “embodied” in physical entities (the authors), where you can meet many of your international colleagues, where you can get the best “state-of-the-art” overview on current and hot marketing topics. In short, the Annual Conference is an event you simply cannot miss out on!

Second, the EMAC members elected me to be the president in 2005. I am sure that this would not have happened without the 1996 Budapest Conference. In 1996, the most characteristic part of Hungary’s image was that of a former socialist country. Today that image is history. The new image of Hungary is one of a “newly” joined member state of the European Union, one of the ten emerging economies which became an EU member on May 1, 2004. Hungary is a country, which, together with 9 others, has once and for all joined the Western World. For me this creates a challenge, the challenge to achieve this same result in the field of academic marketing. Thank you for your trust in electing me to be the president. It will be a challenge but at the same time a pleasure to work with a fantastic team on behalf of EMAC. Let’s start!!!

The Annual Conference in Athens was a great success. George Avlonitis, after the 1989 conference, hosted the EMAC community for the second time and did a wonderful job with his team. The glamorous event, as he had promised, was manifested not only in the Welcome Roof Garden Party, in the Greek Night, in the Gala Dinner, in the many special sessions recruiting talented academics from all over the world, but also in the friendly, supportive atmosphere that was present throughout the whole conference. I must mention Paulina Papastathopoulou whose’ energy and attention was a great asset to all participants. Thank you and your team again for this memorable organization. The year 2006 became a record year in more ways than one. The conference was attended by approximately 700 participants. There were 433 presentations in the frame of 113 sessions, and last but not least 63 poster presentations. In collaboration with the European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management (EIASM) we also organized the 19th Doctoral Colloquium for 39 doctoral students.

During the conference we had the Executive Committee meeting and the Annual Assembly for our members. The latter is the forum where you can hear the presidential annual report and the comments of some Steering Committee members. One can summarize that the EMAC is a growing, healthy organization. Graham Hooley did a wonderful job as president. During his term the number of members increased by 50 percent, some new initiatives (e.g. the Teaching Portal) became reality, the “back office” work, the management of EMAC became more professional. Thank you, Graham, for your efforts and for those active two years devoted to the EMAC community. As past president, your dedication and expertise will be counted upon in the future, as well.

There are a few new personal changes based on the recent elections. This time I will mention only one. Veronica Wong finished her term as vice president for conferences. She made a tremendous effort to find the venues for coming conferences even for the years of 2009 and 2010. Thank you, Veronica! Unfortunately, the 2008 conference venue, Dublin, was recently cancelled. The new vice president for conferences, Gabriele Troilo (congratulations to his position) has the immediate task of finding an alternative new venue for 2008. We hope that the new candidate venue will be finalized soon.

“Navigare necesse est.” This old wisdom is still very much relevant today. We will navigate, for we must go on….

Best wishes

József Berács
EMAC President

Spring is just around the corner - or so they tell us. In our part of Western Europe we seem to be experiencing the coldest period all winter just at present. Snow last week, however, did not prevent the EMAC Steering Group from meeting in Brussels to discuss a number of issues relating to membership and the services members receive.

High on the agenda was the new 'Teaching Portal'. This is the resource area available to members from the EMAC home page. The portal, designed and created by our colleague Manfred Krafft, is designed around easy to use menus by topic. It now links through to past conference proceedings (all from 2002 onwards at present) to give users an easy access to relevant papers and abstracts. Also on the site are links to more substantive articles, books and even some cartoons that might hep liven up lectures. Manfred and his team have done an excellent job getting the portal up and running - it is now up to members to use the site, add material they think will be of interest, and make suggestions for further development. I would like to urge all members to visit the site and take a look. Manfred is also looking for volunteers to help develop the site!

Also high on the agenda was our links with other associations. I attended a meeting of Presidents of EIASM academies earlier this month (this includes European Accounting Association, European Finance Association, European Academy of Management, European International Business Association and others) to look for ways in which we might collaborate more. This will include sharing software for the running of conferences, cross-posting of relevant news, and possibly also some discounts for members of more than one association. Our links with ANZMAC continue to develop, and we are looking forward to the third BIGMAC symposium in Brisbane in December (see elsewhere in this newsletter for details). At the Athens conference there will be a joint session with practitioners in ESOMAR, and we continue to develop links with EMC where they are mutually beneficial.

Very shortly you will receive voting requests for a number of vacancies on the Executive Committee. In addition to a number of country coordinators we have a vacancy for Vice President Conferences, as Veronica Wong completes her period in the role. I'd like to thank Veronica for all her hard work for EMAC over the last three years as VP Conferences - and before that as UK Coordinator. She has done an excellent job for EMAC and we now have conferences planned for the next few years in Athens (2006), Reykjavik (2007) and Dublin (2008). We are also in discussions over a French venue for 2009 and Copenhagen for 2010. Veronica has led the way in lining up these exciting opportunities.

The Athens conference will soon be here, and I know George Avlonitis and his team are working hard to ensure an excellent event. If you haven't booked yet I'd urge you to do so!

Best wishes

Graham Hooley
EMAC President