Vicksburg Association of
Marketing Professionals

Our luncheon speakers offer interesting and informative presentations on a variety of subjects relevant to marketing professionals.

2024 Luncheon Speakers

January 3rd: No meeting.

February 7th: Brelynn Beck, our Miss Vicksburg 2024.

March 13th: No meeting.

April 3rd: Alyssa Lick, Director of Marketing and Resource Development at United Way of West Central Mississippi updated us on their many activities.

May 1st: No speaker.

June 5th and July 3rd: No meetings.

August 7th: Christine Rials, the Vicksburg Warren Chamber of Commerce Corporate Programs Director. She shared insight on how she approaches businesses to join the chamber.

September 4th: No meeting.

October 2nd: No speaker.

November 6th: Discussion about the path forward for VAMP.

2023 Luncheon Speakers

January 4th: No meeting.

February 1st: Maddie Kay Snow, our newly crowned Miss Vicksburg Outstanding Teen.

March 1st: Mark Jones, owner of WVBG, presented voices from radio over the years, including Uncle Walt Grayson, Bill Tanner, Bob Pittman and so many more.

April 5th: Bertram and Carol Hayes-Davis told us about their business, Vicksburg Old Town Tours, and the great things happening with tourism in Vicksburg.

May 3rd: Dr. John Witcher and his wife, Brooke Witcher told us about his campaign as a Republican Candidate for Governor.

June 14th: Amanda Harris spoke about her new business, Salty Sisters Spa, the first Salt Therapy Spa in Vicksburg and only the second in the state.

July 5th: No meeting.

August 2nd: We discussed the future of VAMP and passed out forms for officer nominations. Jeff Riggs briefly spoke after the business meeting about his marketing approach to his election campaign for Warren County Sheriff.

September 6th: No meeting.

October 4th: Myra Logue talked about her experiences as a tour guide promoting Vicksburg, and about the Mississippi River riverboat industry. Election of officers was finalized.

November 1st: Larry Walker talked to us about what he does and how he could possibly help you or your business. Larry's full time job is at ERDC-WRX but you may know him from Skywalker Photography.

December 13th: Annual Christmas Party Gift Exchange featuring Secret (a.k.a. Dirty) Santa. Gifts should be around $25.

2022 Luncheon Speakers

January 5th: Donnie Cain. Donnie is a certified personal trainer who works at various gyms and does home online training. He presently serves on the Board for Lifting Lives Family Shelter.

February 2nd: Amanda Stauble, NP-C. Amanda owns Recovery Revolution IV & Beauty Hub. More information is available at  http://recoveryrevolution.info/. They offer IV Vitamin infusions and IM vitamin injections, as well as, neurotoxin and dermal fillers.

March 8th: Sheri Theriot Little, Business Development for Kindred Hospice. Hospice helped her when her father got sick; she has a special place in her heart for Hospice. She works to educate the community on the benefits and services of hospice.

April 6th: McMillan Crevitt. She is now in her 10th year at Southern Barber and Style located at 3910 Highway 61 South. McMillan has her own special brand of marketing. She talked to us about putting yourself first. 

May 4th: Ashley Gatian, the Sales and Marketing Manager for the Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau. Ashley told us about Vicksburg's success in recovering from covid and effectively spending the state and funding that was made available.

June 1st: Monika Rawal, Assistant Professor of Marketing at Millsaps College. Her interests are in the areas of branding, advertising, and social media marketing. Her work has appeared in numerous journals. As a teacher, she has delivered courses on Brand Management, Marketing Research, and Principles of Marketing at graduate and undergraduate levels.

July 6th: Racheal Hollowell, owner of Bella la Vita Photography at 1514 Cherry St, talked to us about how important it is to keep an updated professional headshot for your business website and business profiles. Trying to market anything with a selfie is not professional and will cost you business. Facebook page. Racheal's biography.

August 8th: Mary Kitchens, founder of Mississippi's Toughest Kids Foundation (MTK) and Camp Kamassa, updated us about construction of the all inclusive camp for sick & disabled children and challenged adults. The progress since her last visit in March, 2017 is amazing. With the help of the US military, CAMP KAMASSA is scheduled to open next year. (This was a special meeting with the Public Relations Association of Mississippi (PRAM) Vicksburg Chapter.)

September 7th: Sara Dionne, Election Commissioner, District 4, Warren County Election Commission. Sara talked about our election process, zoning, and voting options.

October 5th: Rachel Graham, from LOCALIQ (part of the USA Today Network). Rachel told us about the emergence of digital marketing compared to traditional/print marketing and gave us recommendations about effective digital marketing.

November 2: Ashley Dawson, property and events manager with Newbreak Management downtown, told us about the exciting things happening at The Roof at 1311 and other downtown venues.

December 7: Annual Christmas Party Gift Exchange featuring Secret (a.k.a. Dirty) Santa. Gifts should be around $25. 

2021 Luncheon Speakers

January 6th:  William L. Nettle, KellerWilliams Realty, spoke about how we can all make 2021 an amazing year!

February 10th: Clay Mansell, CEO  Mansell Media, gave us insight about covering the bases of social media marketing.

March 3rd: Natalie Smith of Lamar Advertising spoke about outdoor advertising, with over 100 boards in Vicksburg alone.

April 7th: Mr. Levin Holliman, the new general manager at Atwood Chevrolet, spoke of trends in auto marketing in our local area.

May 5th. Mr. Steve Patrick, VP Leasing & Property Management, Blue Ridge Capital, LLC spoke about the  Vicksburg Commons Shopping Center (formerly the Outlet Mall).

June 2nd: Catherine Hadaway, The Vicksburg Post’s publisher, spoke about the newspaper publishing environment and the Post’s commitment to Vicksburg.

July 7th: Dr. Martin Case, a licensed hearing-care practitioner with knowledge and experience to assess and treat hearing problems. He’s also a musician!

August 4th: Annette Kirklin, the Executive Director of the Vicksburg Convention Center spoke on “Possibility of Positivity.”

September 1st: No speaker. We networked and enjoyed a delicious lunch.

October 6th: Wendy Trevilion, the owner of Peoples Drug Store. Wendy is a great asset to our Vicksburg business community. Peoples Drug Store recently celebrated its 100th anniversary!

November 3rd: Joe Tarver with Tarver Insurance. Joe has been in the health insurance business for seven years. Joe answered questions about the complicated health care landscape.

Our December 1 meeting was our annual Christmas celebration featuring Secret (a.k.a. Dirty) Santa. As in past years, those present voted to donate the revenue from the lunch to a community organization. This year, the donation was made to the  Mississippi’s Toughest Kids Foundation.  Mary Kitchens spoke at our March 2017 meeting about the dream to construct  Camp Kamassa,  a special needs camp for Mississippi children and adults just outside of Crystal Springs.

2020 Luncheon Speakers

January 7:  Cindy McCarley with  Good Shepherd Community Center. We voted on nominating a slate of officers for 2020. The slate of VAMP officers will be presented at the February meeting for approval by the membership.

February 4:  Kelle Barfield, owner of Lorelei Books and our newly-elected District 5 Supervisor. We will also vote on the proposed slate of VAMP officers for 2020.

March 4: Leo Spencer Turnipseed, owner of  Outside the Box Business Servicesand  Vicksburg Bike Share. New VAMP Day and Place!! We are now eating/meeting at the Ameristar Heritage Buffet on Wednesdays. 

April 1 & May 6: Meetings cancelled due to COVID-19.

June 3: Jerry Baptiste. Jerry is an accomplished entrepreneur who has started multiple businesses through the years. He has also had more than 20 years of experience in web & graphic design, computer animation, special EFX, feature film coordination, and much more. We’re meeting at Goldie’s Trail Bar-B-Que!

July 8: Laura Beth Strickland, the Executive Director of the Vicksburg Convention & Visitors Bureau. She discussed the tourism task force she has been appointed to, and recovery efforts for our tourism industry after COVID19.  We’re meeting at Billie’s Italian Restaurant!

August 5: NaShawndra “Shawn” Jackson. Shawn is a member of the Warren County Board of Supervisors, and she is also the founder and operator of TrainSpree, a workforce development and consulting firm.  Her presentation focused on the metrics of marketing, both the numbers & leadership.

September 2: Alderman Michael Mayfield. He served on the Warren County Board of Supervisors as District 2 Supervisor for 10 years, prior to being elected as North Ward Alderman in 2005.  He continues to represent the citizens of the northern district of Vicksburg. 

October 7: This month we will discuss our businesses and what’s going on in Vicksburg.

November 4: Meeting cancelled.

December 2: Our annual Christmas celebration featuring Dirty Santa. Bring a gift valued at $20 to participate.

2019 Luncheon Speakers

January 8: Pablo Diaz, President & CEO of The Vicksburg Warren County Partnership.  Mr. Diaz is going to recap the 2018 developments at the  Warren County Chamber of Commerce and  Port Commission, while giving us a sneak peek of plans for 2019.

Also, we will solicit nominations for the 2019 Officers and Board of Directors. The vote will be in February.

February 5: Sheriff Martin Pace

March 5: Kevin Roberts with  Fit Chef Catering

April 2: Patty Mekus, President,  Southern Heritage Air Foundation

May 7: Linda Fondren and Buddy Dees representing Friends of the Old Mississippi River Bridge

June 4:  Larry Walker with Skywalker Photography. Last year, Larry authored a series of #GunsDownVicksburg videos to raise awareness about firearm violence.

July 2: Sabrina Southerland with  MedCentris Wound Healing Institute of Vicksburg

August 6: Phillip Doiron from the  Vicksburg YMCA

September 3:  Sherry Holladay from  The Digital People in Monroe, Louisiana (Facebook page)

October 1:  Robert E. Rosenthall, Jr. from  MBR Media.  (Facebook page)

November 5:  Don Brown from  Warren Yazoo Behavioral Health  (Facebook page)

December 3, Christmas party: To celebrate the holiday season, we will play our traditional game of “Dirty Santa.”  To participate, bring a gift with a value of up to $25.

2018 Luncheon Speakers

January 9: Election of Officers

February 6: Johnny Reynolds from  Riverfest and  Vicksburg Main Street about new and exciting additions for this year’s Riverfest and developments in the Main Street District downtown.

March 6: Stacey Massey Mahoney,  Southern Cultural Heritage Foundation, will be sharing all the exciting events happening at the Cultural Center and will give us an update on their capital projects.

April 3:  Alderman Alex Monsour will give us an update on his ward and share his vision for the future of Vicksburg.

May 1: Shellie Rushing Tomlinson,  Belle of All Things Southern. Shellie is the fun-loving energetic storytelling host of ATS LIVE, a radio talk show that airs live every Monday evening on TALK 540 in Monroe, Louisiana.

June 5:  Marlon J. Ivy, Bureau Director of Visitor Services and the Welcome Centers for the State of Mississippi

July 10: Annette Kirklin, Executive Director, and Elyce Curry, Sales Manager,  Vicksburg Convention Center

August 7: Paige McKay, Associate Editor  Eat Drink Mississippi

September 11: Patty Mekus, President,  Southern Heritage Air Foundation

October 2: Elmira Ratliff, Ph.D., Dean–Hinds Community College, Vicksburg-Warren Campus. Hinds Community College is getting a new look! Learn about all the exciting new plans at the Hinds Vicksburg Campus and their incredible programs.

November 6: Colonel Bryan Green, past Commander of  US Army Engineer Research and Development Center in Vicksburg.  Colonel Green will give us an overview of ERDC and brief us on future developments as ERDC comes outside the gate!

December 4: Christmas party. To celebrate the holiday season, we will play our traditional game of “Dirty Santa.”  To participate, bring a gift with a value of up to $25. 

2017 Luncheon Speakers

January: Election of  Officers

February: Donna Osburn,  Software Plus, “Automated Cloud Backup for All Your Data - Business and Personal - and Why It is Critical”

March: Mary Kitchens,  “Mississippi's Toughest Kids Foundation.” Mary Kitchens shared so many wonderful stories and insightful information with us today!

April: Mary Lessley,  “Natchez Festival of Music”

May:  Meshea Crysup, “Blogging and Self-Publishing as PR/Marketing Tools (on Social Media but also beyond Social Media)”

June: Debbie Dolan, Supervisor,  Mississippi State - Warren County Welcome Center

July: No speaker; we enjoyed lunch together at the delicious Heritage Buffet and shared member announcements.

August: Linda Fondren,  Shape Up Sisters

September: Kami May, “How  United Way Markets the  True Color Run”

October:  Pablo Diaz, “Marketing Vicksburg and Warren County”

November:  Cindy McCarley, “Marketing the Penny Harvest and Chili For Children”

December: Christmas party