AMA Collegiate Conference

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The Annual AMA Atlanta Collegiate conference took place last month. The conference was put on by the AMA Atlanta Collegiate conference committee, an all volunteer group of marketing professionals. The conference planning starts early in the year to make sure it’s always a success with the students.

This year the conference was held at the Fox Theater in Midtown. The Egyptian Ballroom was the main room, with a Career Fair outside the ballroom. There were many speakers this year that really inspired the students and gave them a lot to think about.

But I’m getting ahead of myself, the night before the conference there is always a networking event. This year it was held at Bazaar, located at the Fox. Students got to meet and talk to members of the Young Professional committee. This was followed by a Fashion show by Banana Republic. That showed students how to dress business casual, business and formal business. The models were members of the Collegiate committee that got to work the runway. It was something fun enjoyed by students and committee members both.

The next day the conference started early with breakfast being Krispie Kreme Doughnuts, and an opening by Brent Beatty and Ashley Lecky. They welcomed the students and kicked off the day.

The rest of the day is as follows:

  • Jim Smith, VP Marketing, Atlanta Falcons
  • Mr. Smith talked about the challenges in working in sports marketing. He also gave advice about how to get into sports marketing to the students. Lastly, he talked about all the hard work involved in working in sports.

Jerry S. Wilson, Chief Customer and Commercial officer, Coca-Cola Company

  • Mr. Wilson wrote a book called “Managing Brand You” The book goes into detail on how to manage your career and gave 7 steps for managing your career.

Jay Boden, SE Manager Retail, Google and Hetal Gordon Senior Account Executive YouTube

  • Both Mr. Bowden and Ms. Gordon talked about the history of YouTube and where the medium is heading in the future. There are many ways to use YouTube for marketing and the future is unlimited.

Patrick Scullin, Adman/Wordsmith, Ames Scullin O’Haire

  • Mr. Scullin gave a really great and down to earth talk on how to survive in business. He pulled from his vast experience, especially talking about being fired and how that played a role in his career development. Many of the students enjoyed his straight forward presentation.

David Rollo, SVP Director of Digital Media Strategy, 22 Squared

  • Mr. Rollo talked about digital media and how it’s currently being used in the world of marketing. He opened his talk with the “Did you know” video that goes into detail about the evolution of digital media. It was very informative and gave some great insight on digital media.

Panel – Inside Scoop How to Succeeding in Marketing Young Professionals Discussion Panel – By members of the Committee

  • This panel of 10 members of the committee gave the students a chance to ask questions to young professionals working in the industry and how they got their jobs. This also included career advice and insider information about the industry.

The Day ended with a closing by Ashley and Brent, followed by some great give always to the students. The next conference will start the planning process soon and will be as good, if not better then this conference. Stay tuned for more information about the conference.

Tim is the founder of Element33. A social media agency specializing in education, management and strategy for small businesses. He comes from a traditional marketing agency but has embraced all things digital. He considers himself a marketing nerd and believes that all marketing is tied together. This means no matter what silo you are in, social, email, seach, etc, changes in one will affect the other!

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