Today’s AMA Collegiate Members Are Our Future Collaborators

Author: Suzanne Buzek

Several members of the AMA Cincinnati board had the pleasure of spending a Saturday on the University of Cincinnati’s Campus in the Lindner College of Business for the UC AMA’s Collegiate Conference.

Attracting nearly 50 fellow marketing majors and AMA collegiate members from 10 schools such as Wright State, West Virginia University, even as far as South Florida University(!), the Collegiate Conference was impressive and inspiring, from start to finish.

The UC AMA Executive Board were the hosts with with most, organizing and leading the entire event (shoutout to Piper Fries!) The conference consisted of morning and lunchtime keynote presentations, breakout sessions and student competitions, in which students could compete in Perfect Pitch in 90 seconds or Marketing Strategy for the chance to earn cash prizes.

Dennis Devlin, VP Programming – Executive Marketer, presented on how new and emerging consumers are changing marketing for the lunchtime keynote. Suzanne Buzek, AMA Cincinnati President, Claire Motz, VP YP/Collegiate Relations and Afton Palmer, VP Talent Management, led breakout sessions that provided advice and perspective to students about how to market themselves and what to consider in pursuing that First Big Job after graduating.

Especially exciting were the student competitions. Suzanne, Claire, Afton and AMA Cincinnati President-Elect Justine Daley participated as judges. The students were on their game and were hungry for feedback in real-time. After the winners were announced, students practically swarmed the judges to ask about how they could improve, especially if they were participating in similar competitions at AMA’s 2019 International Collegiate Conference.

All in all, it was an awesome day that we at AMA Cincinnati won’t soon forget. It’s also a reminder that our collegiate members and the marketing majors in our local colleges are our future colleagues and collaborators. It takes relatively little time and energy to be an external connection, a sounding board, or someone they can go to for perspective or advice as today’s college students try to shape their future.

Not only can marketers who have a few years under their belt in the industry do things like mentor, but we can also contribute financially. For those who don’t know, the American Marketing Association Foundation (AMAF) and the AMA Collegiate Chapters Council (CCC) fund two collegiate scholarships: the Diversity Leadership Scholarship and the Social Impact Scholarship:

• The Diversity Leadership Scholarship recognizes our diverse student membership population who have demonstrated AMAzing leadership as part of their chapter activities or in other venues.
• The Social Impact Scholarship is awarded to students who have excelled at making a positive impact in their local, regional or larger community.

Think about your own education experience and those important, fledgling years in which you were trying to launch and solidify your career. These scholarships through AMAF and CCC are critical in providing students the access to do the same. Check out past scholarship winners here, and try not to be excited about the up-and-coming talent in our industry.

The campaigns we see as consumers are created by marketers that tap into their own personal truths. These scholarships make a point of creating a place and demand for diverse backgrounds, voices, and experiences in our industry. The more perspectives that are represented on teams that create campaigns, the better, more inclusive, and best-in-class the marketing.

As mentioned above, today’s college students are our future colleagues. Especially with #GivingTuesday coming up on November 27, what better way to help create opportunity for aspiring marketers to succeed? You can donate to the scholarships here.

We also extend the offer to our AMA Cincinnati members to engage with our collegiate and YP counterparts at any time throughout the year. If you’re interested, please email Claire Motz to learn more.