Meet Angie Habis, Programming Director for the 2019 Art of Marketing conference. Since mid-December, 2018 Angie has been busy developing the sessions we’ll all get a chance to enjoy at the big event April 5 at the Marriott Del Mar.
Getting Angie for the programming lead role feels like finding a winning lottery ticket on the sidewalk. She literally came to us out of nowhere, via a contact form. She had been to Art of Marketing in the past but I hadn’t met her and it turns out she has the perfect combination of skills and personal characteristics for the job. She’s thoughtful, creative, organized, diligent and driven. She’s done a super job lining up a fantastic group of speakers and topics that I know all our attendees will find richly educational and inspiring. We’re so lucky she’s part of the team, I can’t wait for her to enjoy the event she’s worked so hard to help create.
– Art of Marketing Chair Bill Winn
We asked Angie some open-ended questions so you could get to know her better. Read on!
WHAT IS YOUR VOLUNTEER ROLE WITH AMA SAN DIEGO?
I am the Programming Lead for Art of Marketing 2019.
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO VOLUNTEER?
At the end of every year, I take some time for myself over a glass of wine and write in my journal to reflect on the past year. I think about ways to challenge myself, what new things I want to explore, and ways to enrich either my personal life or career. As I have been in marketing in the biotechnology industry for close to twenty years, I found myself wanting to meet new people and learn from others outside of my vertical. Volunteering for the San Diego Chapter’s Art of Marketing was a great fit for me. I could utilize my expertise in marketing and leading teams to help the SD chapter with the conference, while expanding my network.
WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT THIS ROLE?
I love the programming lead role because of the diversity of skills you have to use in order to be effective. It’s fast paced and definitely keeps you on your toes which fits into my whole bias toward action mentality. Collaboration and networking is the heart of the programming role. I worked with the core team for AOM19 to brainstorm topics, and then worked with our chair to identify potential speakers, which included leveraging everybody’s network and even cold calling potential speakers. There is sort of an art to putting the whole program together, making sure you have the right balance of speaking formats (like panels vs. workshops) and that the talks fit into the theme. One of the best things about the role is interfacing with the speakers. It’s fun to discover what people are passionate about. I find it very inspiring!
WHAT ABOUT ART OF MARKETING ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO?
I am really looking forward to the full event. We have some great keynotes and breakout sessions planned. It’s going to be hard to chose which talk to attend for the breakout sessions. But I will bring you in on a little secret, shhhhh, that was what I was going for. I wanted to find great speakers for all sessions, so no matter what session you attend, everyone walks away with great actionable learnings. Networking is also something I am looking forward to and this year we have brought LOUDtables back. Everyone will get the chance to meet new people while discussing hot topics in marketing.
WHAT IS YOUR DAY JOB?
I am head of Brand, PR and Marketing Communications for Beckman Coulter. Beckman Coulter is a global clinical diagnostics company known for their laboratory tests and technologies in the fields of clinical chemistry, immunochemistry and hematology as well as automation which enables clinical labs to process blood samples in a more efficient way. Any time you may have had a blood test, there is a large chance that it was run by one of our analyzers. Beckman Coulter is headquartered in Brea, CA with offices in Carlsbad, CA and other locations throughout the U.S. and the world.
HOW DID YOU GET INTO MARKETING?
I definitely did not take a traditional route into marketing. I am a trained scientist, a molecular virologist to be exact. It was in my post-doctoral fellowship at the Centers for Disease Control where I was introduced to opportunities in the biotechnology industry. At the time, there was this hot new field called genomics and I had attended a series of talks from burgeoning biotech superstars in the San Francisco Bay Area. I met people during the seminars that had roles such as Application Scientists, Product Managers, and Market Development Managers and it opened my eyes into a whole new world for me. I was drawn in by the energy and passion of people who were taking cool, groundbreaking scientific ideas and bringing them to the marketplace with the goal of positively impacting the way we make health decisions and treat disease. I wanted to be part of that, and thus, I left academia upon completing my post-doc and began my marketing career. And from then on, it was on the job learning every day.
WHAT DO YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT MARKETING?
For me, marketing has a lot of similarities to science. We as marketers are always trying to ask big questions to find the right solution. It comes down to problem solving, and using both creative and critical thinking skills to do so. Marketers are always doing experiments to try to find the best way. I love this aspect about marketing and always encourage my team to do things differently, experiment and do pilots, and don’t be afraid to fail, but fail fast and try something else.
WHAT ELSE ARE YOU PASSIONATE ABOUT?
Outside of being passionate about hanging out with family and friends, I am a film nut. I don’t have a lot of free time these days, but I make sure to find time each week to watch at least one film at the movie theater. I also love rewatching movies over and over. I think I have seen Bohemian Rhapsody four times already – in the theater!
