NC State AMA Takes Home Two Awards at National Conference
The NC State American Marketing Association team came home from the AMA International Collegiate Conference with two awards and insight to help members continue improving their local chapter.
The annual conference provides AMA student members the opportunity to learn about potential careers and cutting edge practices in marketing and sales from professionals in industry. “Our members who attended had a great time,” said Shelby Elit, Poole College junior majoring in business administration and vice president of communications for the NC State AMA chapter.
A dozen members of the NC State AMA student chapter attended and competed in competitions at the AMA International Collegiate Conference held in New Orleans, La.
Tom Byrnes, Poole College marketing lecturer and student chapter advisor, also attended, along with Jenkins MBA student Chase Cannon. Lauren Brommer, who has served as NC State chapter president this year, presented a session on professional development.
“As chapter president last year, Lauren led our chapter to win an award in 2016 for our professional development,” Elit said. “This year, she was invited to discuss the events that we host and give advice to other chapters for how to improve their own professional development programs. Twenty-five student chapters attended her session. I think we can all attest to the great job Lauren has done leading our chapter over the past two years.”
The keynote speaker at the opening event was Luke Wyckoff, the chief visionary officer at Social Media Energy, a company that expands social media efforts and increases their impact. His presentation provide a key take-away for NC State AMA chapter member Marisa Celedonia, who was attending the conference for the first time. “Luke told the conference participants that neither money nor status matter—that what really matters is time with family and friends and creating valuable relationships,” Elit said.
Breakout sessions at the conference provided students the opportunity to attend a range of workshops on topics like networking, storytelling and data analytics. The Saturday sessions focused on tips for improving AMA chapters in the coming year.
“As our future club president, Kaley Moffitt, a Poole College junior majoring in business management, was especially interested in these sessions,” Elit said. Based on what she learned at the conference sessions, Moffitt provided the following as her main focuses for the club in the coming year:
- Create lasting relationships with and among our chapter’s members through more social gatherings
- Encourage members to compete in regional and national AMA competitions
- Increase membership
- Reach out to new companies
- Implement SMART (Specific, Measurable, Agreed Upon, Realistic, Time-Based) goals for all events
While professional development was the goal of the weekend, participants also had some time be tourists. They stopped by Café DuMonde for a quick powdered sugar bath while eating the famous beignets and walked through the French Quarter filled with music, dancing, and artwork.
At the closing banquet, Byrnes was recognized as runner-up for faculty advisor of the year.
“Mr. Byrnes does so much for our chapter as a whole and our members on an individual level, and we are proud he was recognized by the National AMA,” Elit said.
The NC State chapter was also recognized with the Chapter Excellence award.
“Our chapter was judged as a whole on yearly performance, based on our annual report, covering six total categories,” Elit said, “and was honored to win the Chapter Excellence Award, covering Membership, Fundraising, and Communications. This is the second year in a row that our chapter has been recognized by the national AMA in three or more categories. We are grateful to be recognized as a chapter and overall had an unforgettable and professionally enriching weekend. The takeaways from the conference will help the executive team build an even better experience for chapter members next year. “
