Every year, over 380 student chapters of the American Marketing Association (AMA) work diligently to be on top. Each chapter helps members expand their network by connecting them to professionals, giving them marketing experience through their in-house agencies, and broadening their skills with participation on committees.
But what most AMA members don’t see is the laborious hours that go into creating the “AMA experience,” which is transcribed into each chapter’s annual report. Based on the annual draft and full report, a panel of judges reaches a consensus, and top chapters are selected.
As a new AMA at FIU director, I’ve been involved this year in helping prepare the final draft of our annual report. The report features our goals for the year and how they were met, detailing our accomplishments. Each year, we submit our report, hoping our international organization will recognize our members’ hard work and dedication. Last year, we were selected as a Top 5 chapter and we wanted to repeat!
We have some great news: at the AMA International Collegiate Conference, April 11-13, 2019, the AMA at FIU has been named a Top 5 chapter for the second year in a row, with the help of our executive board, members, and advisor Tim Birrittella.
With over 1,700 student attendees, the conference is packed with a variety of workshops, events, and competitions that students can learn from. I attended the digital media boot camp and, though it was only 4 hours, I learned more in one session than in one semester’s class.
The conference also offers competitions for members from marketing strategy to individual scholarships. We were excited to see that Noah Rostcheck, our director of professional development, was awarded the first-place scholarship in Community and Social Impact for her essay on Orphan2uni, an organization located in Bolivia which helps young female victims. Members of our chapter also received an honorable mention in the Marketplace Simulation Competition with group members Aaron Carbo, Joshua Burrion, Taylor Rogers and Noah Rostcheck.
Overall, the conference was an eye-opening experience, inspiring not only me but every AMA member. Having been in AMA for less than a year, I can now truly say that being part of AMA is AMAzing!
Karla Rosario is director of Digital Media for AMA at FIU and a student assistant at FIU Business’ Office of Marketing and Communication.
