The SMPS Foundation Awards the First Ron Garikes Scholarship

The first Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) Foundation Ron W. Garikes Scholarship is being awarded to Tracey Gould, a 14-year veteran of professional services marketing who is pursuing a Master of Integrated Marketing Communications from West Virginia University. Gould is Marketing Director for Baskervill, an international architecture, engineering, interior design and sustainable design firm in Richmond, VA., and has been a member of SMPS for two years, first with SMPS Arizona and now with the Virginia chapter. 

The scholarship fund was created by the Foundation in partnership with Karlsberger to honor Garikes’ meritorious service to SMPS.  Garikes spent most of his 27-year career working for Karlsberger, most recently leading the firm’s national Laboratory and Technology Group and as COO of their Birmingham, Alabama, office.  Karlsberger is a full service planning and design architectural firm headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, with office in Birmingham, New York, New York, and Ann Arbor Michigan. 

A Distinguished Life Member and a Fellow, Garikes has served SMPS in the roles of National President (1991–92), National Board Secretary, Southeast Regional Director, and Foundation Trustee. Garikes is a founding member of SMPS Alabama and was president of that chapter. A contributing author to the three editions of The Marketing Handbook for the Design and Construction Professional, Garikes is an accomplished industry author and presenter. This summer with Karlsberger colleague Karen Roch, CPSM, Garikes co-authored a Foundation white paper titled, “The Hidden Power of Client Testimonials: Creating a Competitive Advantage with Credible Third-Party Endorsements.” This paper was presented during SMPS’s 2008 National Conference.

Each year, the Foundation of the Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) will award one or more $2,000 scholarships to students studying marketing, public relations, and/or communications so they may attend Build Business, the SMPS National Conference. Participation in this marketing conference through the scholarship will provide students with an excellent opportunity to learn about professional services marketing in the architectural, engineering, and construction (A/E/C) industries.

The conference connects the scholarship winners with 1,000 of today’s leading marketing and business development professionals representing design and building companies. Over the course of three days, Build Business offers a powerful educational program featuring more than 30 breakout sessions on marketing best practices, three dynamic keynote presentations about business trends, and networking opportunities. Full conference details can be found at www.buildbusiness.org.

The Ron Garikes Student Scholarship is to be used for conference registration, travel, lodging, per diem expenses, and related incidentals for the winning students. Students applying for the scholarship must be enrolled full time at an accredited college or university, have at least a 3.0 grade point average, provide a letter of recommendation from an advisor or professor, and write an essay on one of the two topics outlined in the scholarship application. 

About the SMPS Foundation
The mission of the SMPS Foundation is to promote research and education that advances the body of knowledge of professional services marketing in the architectural, engineering, and construction industry.

About SMPS
The Society for Marketing Professional Services (www.smps.org) represents a dynamic network of 7,000 marketing and business development professionals from architectural, engineering, planning, interior design, construction, and specialty construction firms located throughout the United States and Canada. The Society and its chapters benefit from the support of 3,250 design and building firms, encompassing 80% of the Engineering News-Record Top 500 Design Firms and Top 400 Contractors. SMPS’s mission is to advocate for, educate, and connect leaders in the building industry.

For more information, please contact Michele Santiago, SMPS Foundation Marketing Manager, at 1.800.292.7677 ext. 245 or via e-mail.