It’s Spooky Season…Want To Know What Scares Me?

Should we all fear missing out?

I don’t have a lot of great memories from past Halloweens.  It’s likely because I never got into the whole Halloween mood, even as a kid, I avoided most of the scary stuff.  It just wasn’t my thing.  My version of trick or treating was all treats – no tricks.

And now that I’ve matured, I still don’t get it.

But I do know what really does scare me.

Fear of missing out. FOMO.

My AI bot helped me with this definition of FOMO:

FOMO stands for “fear of missing out” and is an anxious feeling that you might be missing out on events, experiences, or information that could improve your life. It can also refer to the perception that others are having more fun or living a better life than you. 

FOMO can be caused by seeing people you know or follow on social media doing things you wish you were doing. Some signs of FOMO include:

• Constantly checking your phone for notifications
• Spending a lot of time on social media
• Prioritizing social media connections over real-life relationships

FOMO can be associated with a range of negative feelings and life experiences. It can also be a problematic attachment to social media.

To help overcome FOMO, you can try to be more present and remind yourself that you are enough. FOMO can also be used in marketing techniques to create persuasive advertising campaigns. These techniques often combine urgency, exclusivity, scarcity, and social validation.

And if you are not plugged in to the many opportunities we have available at the AAF—I fear that YOU might be missing out.  Opportunities to improve your personal and professional life and enhance your business and your community.

Here are a few AAF offerings that you do not want to miss out on:

Ad 2: Ad 2 is not just another networking group, it’s the key to launching a successful career in all advertising industry segments—agencies, media companies, clients, and suppliers.

A truly collaborative community of passionate, forward-thinking, and motivated professionals making a difference in their local communities and industry. As part of the American Advertising Federation, Ad 2 further fosters development for advertising professionals 32 and under through public service and education to promote and protect the well-being of advertising.

Ad 2 National manages an annual Public Service Campaign Competition and they are always looking for potential organizations and worthwhile causes to support. They also need judges and mentors for their members.

And if there’s no Ad 2 Club in your market…let’s start one!

AAF Chapter Leadership Resources: The AAF provides its Chapter leaders—Presidents and Governors—opportunities and resources to support their Chapter’s initiatives. The array of content has been specifically designed to help leaders to promote programming, increase membership, and provide a valuable leadership experience to the members. We have a dedicated set of Club Resources on our website which consistently grows with information you will find beneficial in leading your chapter.

There are local and regional leadership opportunities available at each chapter—reach out to find out more and get plugged in to these amazing growth development opportunities.

The American Advertising Awards is the advertising industry’s largest and most representative competition, attracting more than 25,000 entries beginning with the first tier of competition at the local level. The mission of the American Advertising Awards is to recognize and reward the creative spirit of excellence in the art of advertising.

Winners go from Local to District to National and this unique three-tiered judging system ensures that all work gets considered and has a path to National recognition.  This proven system also allows for local AAF Chapters to produce their own competitions which provides them with the freedom to host a special event in their market celebrating the best work from their market.  The event allows not only for celebration and recognition but also heightened networking at the local level.

Our biggest opportunity for growth and development for each AAF Member is our annual National Conference—ADMERICA. Held each June in a uniquely American city with a vibrant AAF community in place ADMERICA brings together our entire grass roots network for learning and leadership purposes (and a whole lot of fun too). Be sure and watch the awesome new ADMERICA 2024 recap video.  It does an amazing job of showing our full reach across our grass roots network. You can see the full video here.

ADMERICA is the Conference you do not want to miss.

The opportunities for engagement are endless…I invite you to get more involved to better yourself and your community.

Let’s don’t focus on the fears—let’s focus on the treats!

—Steve