AMA Minnesota Collegiate Chapter Update: Southwest Minnesota State University
Editor's Note: Each month, AMA Minnesota features a monthly blog post on the AMA collegiate chapters in Minnesota. Each month will give one chapter the opportunity to write content on an upcoming event they’re executing, a spotlight of their Executive Board, a regional or national conference their chapter attended, or an award that their chapter has won. We’re excited to see what the chapters have in store for the upcoming year!
SMSU Travels to AMA Regional Conference
Recently Southwest Minnesota State University’s AMA chapter had the opportunity to attend the Regional AMA Conference hosted by University of Wisconsin Whitewater on October 14th, 2016. The experience was absolutely one to remember; one that allowed our chapter to not only develop ourselves professionally and network with other professionals, but also to bond as a chapter. The trip started off on Thursday morning with an eight hour car ride that brought us to the bowling social. The social allowed our members to interact with other chapters and socialize with the other 400+ students participating in the conference. It also made us aware that we need to work on our bowling skills, well some of us!
Friday our chapter was up early preparing for the busy day. Some of us were also getting ready for competitions later that day, which included a perfect pitch competition sponsored by Northwestern Mutual and a sales competition sponsored by Federated Insurance. The morning started off with a complimentary breakfast, which fueled us up to attend the career fair which hosted about 30 employers. Resumes in hand, our members explored and networked our way through the employers’ booths. Many of us made lasting connections with these employers, and one of our members was even offered an interview!
The conference then kicked off with two impressive keynote speakers. The first was Joan Malcheski, the Director of Brand and Marketing for the Green Bay Packers. The second keynote speaker was Rachael Selley who is the Global e-Marketing Manager for Harley Davidson. After the speakers were finished, lunch was offered and then there were various breakout sessions that students could attend. Some of these included LinkedIn Optimization, Google AdWords 101, and a personal branding workshop. The conference ended with the awards ceremony and raffle drawings, with one of our members winning an external battery!
Our chapter enjoys participating in these conferences because it really allows us to interact with other chapters and talk about how different chapters operate. It also gives us a great opportunity to network with professionals in the industry and get relevant experience to provide to potential employers. In addition, it lets us have fun together as a chapter and to get to know each other a little bit better outside of campus. Because let’s face it, after eight hours in the car with someone, you really get to know them. Overall, these conferences are something our chapter always looks forward to attending, and we are excited for our next one!
