ETSU’s American Marketing Association (AMA) chapter received an honorable mention on Feb. 9 for a case brief submitted to an international conference.
“We worked on this through the entire semester. We brainstorm, we do research and we just put our all into it,” said Ipinoluwa Akintola, vice president of recruitment for ETSU’s AMA chapter.
The awarded material was a case study, detailing marketing strategies for Major League Baseball. This week, ETSU’s chapter will attend the AMA International Collegiate Conference in Chicago, Illinois.
“We have a perfect pitch competition, sales competitions and we have a lot of students competing in those categories,” said Akintola. “There will also be networking opportunities. We’re going to see businesses and there are going to be career fairs.”
Outside of competition season, AMA students are still hard at work, using their skills to uplift regional small businesses.
“We help local businesses promote themselves in Johnson City, because a lot of times small business owners don’t have the capacity to take on 360-degree marketing organizations,” Akintola said. “So, what we do as students is we sit and we consult with local businesses and give them ideas on strategy.”
The organization also brings guest speakers and local networking opportunities to students as well.
“As much as we’re helping small businesses, we’re also building up ourselves,” said Akintola. “One thing I believe is very distinct about AMA is that last summer, every single person who wanted an internship got one, because of the connections we have throughout the community and because of the skills we had equipped people with.”
AMA is hosted within the College of Business and Technology, but is open to all students regardless of major.
“We’re open to anyone and everyone, and as long as you’re willing to learn, we’re going to help you with the skills to go out into the world and sell,” said Akintola. “Because one thing we’re noticing is, even if you do well in college, if you don’t know how to sell yourself, then it will be hard to get a job.”
AMA meets on Tuesdays at 3 p.m. in room 334 of Sam Wilson Hall. More information can be found on Instagram @etsu.ama.
