For our member spotlight, Jen McGovern, FSMPS, CPSM, sat down for a virtual chat with us to share what it means to be an SMPS Fellow. Jen is regional capture manager at VHB.
Could you please share what it means to you to become an SMPS Fellow? It is such an honor to be recognized as an SMPS Fellow! As someone who came into this industry later in their career, I often felt like I was behind where someone of my years of experience should be—I’ve been fortunate to benefit from advice, guidance, and support from more senior marketers. SMPS gave me opportunities to learn and grow; connected me with people passionate about this wonderful, unique industry; and provided many opportunities to transfer my learning to other marketers looking to learn and grow. As a Fellow, I’m glad to be able to give back to the organization that has given me so much!
How do you see this designation changing or elevating your professional role? I’m very lucky to work at VHB, where marketing is seen as a respected and valued service. Achieving this designation continues to build that perception of our marketing team as being at the forefront of this industry!
What would you like to accomplish as an SMPS Fellow as it relates to the Society or A/E/C industry? Believe it or not, I still have many, many more PowerPoints left in me! But seriously, I’m passionate about educating A/E/C marketers and elevating the field of A/E/C marketing, making sure we all have the training and tools we need to grow and improve in our roles and provide strategic support to our firms. This is especially critical as our firms explore AI—technical staff are already “joking” about how AI will take over marketing’s functions, especially in the proposals and communications spaces. We, as marketers, need to constantly raise the bar in terms of the value we offer our firms. I firmly believe that “a rising tide lifts all boats”—we all have to work together to continue to advance the recognition of marketing as a strategic, critically important business function in this industry.
How would you like to be a resource to SMPS members? I love talking about career growth, team operations, and anything A/E/C marketing—feel free to reach out to me at jmcgovern@vhb.com and let’s work together to solve your trickiest marketing challenges!
Any final thoughts? I’ve said it before and I’ll continue to say it: You’ll get out of SMPS, or any professional organization, what you put into it. Get involved! You’ll get tons of opportunities you might not get in your day-to-day job—from my SMPS involvement, I learned how to understand an organization’s finances, what it takes to launch a new website, and how to facilitate a long-term strategic planning session, all of which are handled by other departments at my firm. No matter how you engage in SMPS, you’ll learn more about the A/E/C industry and continue to expand your expertise!
