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New Poole College Alumna is Making Time to Give Back

Lauren Henderson, who graduated from NC State Poole College in May 2013, expects to be spending some time back at her alma mater this fall, helping with an organization that was a big part of her life as a student – the college’s student chapter of the American Marketing Association.

Henderson, who received her bachelor’s degree in business administration with a marketing concentration, was active in the student AMA chapter, serving as president in her senior year.

“I decided to help the student chapter further when I attended the AMA International Collegiate Conference at the end of March,” Henderson said. She was one of about six student AMA members who attended the conference and brought back tips for success from other collegiate chapters.

Henderson and others who attended the conference began implementing those suggestions in the spring and have plans to do more in the fall. “I decided that I wanted to be there to help fulfill what I had started. I want to make NCSU AMA one of the most esteemed chapters in the southeast, so this is only the beginning of my efforts.”

She plans to help especially with the transition of club leaders and to assist the student chapter’s new faculty advisor. Her key goals are to help to improve chapter involvement and member retention and to serve as a liaison between the student chapter and the professional Triangle AMA chapter, which she plans to join soon.

“Being president of the NCSU AMA chapter was life changing,” Henderson said. “Planning Meet the Pros (the chapter’s bi-annual student-professional networking event) and the other meetings and events was definitely something I had never done (to that extent) before. I think it was great experience, and knowing how to properly plan for events like those is a really good skill to have,” she said.

Her experiences in the organization have helped her to develop “as a person and as a leader,” Henderson said. As president, she learned effective team and organizational leadership skills, an experience that led her “to realize that I want ultimately to be in a leadership position,” she said.

“I also cannot stress enough how much I learned from the AMA International Collegiate Conference. Not only was I able to (network) with over 1,300 other students but I met marketing professionals who have already made a huge impact in my life. The many events I attended at the conference influenced me in a way that I could not have ever imagined. I learned so much in those three days … I decided right then and there that I wanted to continue supporting my AMA chapter after graduation,” Henderson said. 

Her career goals are first to secure a position as a marketing specialist or marketing coordinator, to start her career, and then to attend graduate school for a master’s in marketing communications or marketing and advertising. Her current goal: to secure a leadership role in the spirits industry. That goal was influenced by a presentation given at the collegiate conference by the vice president of marketing for the gin line at Bacardi. 

Photo

Henderson is on the far right in this photo of NCSU AMA members who attended the national Collegiate AMA conference. Also in the photo are, from the left, Maggie Martin, Kristen Bathe, Jacob Brown, Logan Cole, Michael Johnson, Melissa Borto.

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