A trip to New Orleans for students in the American Marketing Association on campus resulted in the chapter winning several awards.
AMA is a nationwide organization that includes universities of all sizes. Oklahoma Christian University’s chapter recently returned from the national conference where they met with other students and discussed events and changes from the past year.
“This year, we were recognized for outstanding performance in fundraising and chapter planning,” Associate Professor of Business Kerianne Roper said. “These awards come from the business documents that we have to write every year. In the fall, we write out our plan for the year, we carry out those plans in the spring and then we write up our annual report just like an actual business would.”
AMA has been a club on campus for five years. The fundraiser that Oklahoma Christian ‘s chapter received the award for is the annual golf tournament that benefits the class on teaching children with disabilities. This was the fourth year that AMA has held the tournament.
“[The award] is a big deal when you think about how many schools there are,” Roper said. “There are about 150 schools that are in AMA, some of which are five times the size of our school and our chapter. When they look at how much we put in, they can see that we worked hard on it.”
The organization isn’t just for marketing majors, either. AMA welcomes any and all students.
“Our AMA chapter has students from every department,” senior graphic design major Keely Gibson said. “Just because it’s the American Marketing Association and it’s with the Business department, it hasn’t deterred people from coming in, including myself.”
AMA can also help students open up doors in the business world by teaching them how to conduct themselves in a business-like manner, as well as helping them establish contacts within the marketing world.
“I like being in AMA because it gives you a lot of avenues to look for jobs,” junior Alyssa Dickerson said. “To have those contacts in the market is really helpful, and it opens up a lot of doors. I’ve learned a lot about how to present myself in a professional way, how to act during interviews and how to market myself to employers.”
Roper designed the chapter around letting students achieve their dreams and goals, which can include anything from being in a professional organization to trying new things. For this reason, AMA can appeal to many different kinds of students in any major.
“AMA isn’t really geared towards just marketing majors,” Gibson said. “We all need to market ourselves and brand who we are as individuals to get our names out there.”
According to Gibson, because the conference is at the end of the year, they take everything they have done together as a chapter.
“Once we get there, we go to lectures,” Gibson said. “One time, we had someone from Google come and speak. Sometimes we have people who have written books about marketing.”
For Gibson, being in AMA is a change of pace from her usual place in the art department.
“I am so used to being in the design department and working with creative people,” Gibson said. “Working in the business department, it’s not always the same. It’s not in that creative mindset. And having to adapt to that and get into that way of thinking has helped me within the marketing and communication aspect … I know how to act and communicate in that situation.”
Oklahoma Christian’s AMA chapter has also had guest speakers come and talk to the members. A representative from the Thunder came and offered a student the chance to see the insides of their marketing department.
“Every fall, we bring in business professionals who are involved in marketing,” Roper said. “They talk to students about how they got to where they are today, as well as give an overview of what they do on a day-to-day basis, because in marketing, you never know if you’re doing the same thing every day. They also tell students how to get to where they are from where the students are at.”
Roper is also grateful for all of the help she’s been given with AMA.
“I want to say thank you to Dr. Phil Lewis and Jeff Simons,” Roper said. “From a leadership perspective, they’re extremely supportive in allowing our students to succeed.
Students interested in joining or learning more about AMA can contact Roper for more information.
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