Four 蓝莓视频 students recently visited New York City where they attended the American Advertising Federation鈥檚 student career conference, toured Google鈥檚 New York offices and visited with alumni.
The AAF鈥檚 Advertising Career Conference was hosted by Amazon in late November. During the two-day event students Tianhui 鈥淩osey鈥 Cao 鈥21 (Shanghai, China), Hannah Garofalo 鈥21 (Leetonia, Ohio), Abby Gonzales 鈥21 (Parkersburg, West Virginia) and Shawnte Watson 鈥21 (Marietta, Ohio) heard from professionals from several agencies, media and brands, including Amazon, YouTube, The Nielsen Company, TBWA, Ogilvy and more.
Students also attended a Recruiter Expo to network with professionals and get career advice.
鈥淭his gave students an outside of the classroom experience,鈥 said faculty advisor Lori Smith, who accompanied the group to New York. 鈥淭hey got to hear from industry professionals and network with students from across the country. It gives them a chance to confirm that this is a career they are interested in and gets them excited about their future.鈥
Watson, who is majoring in Management, said the conference exceeded her expectations.
鈥淚 was surprised that there were so many impactful speakers such as Jamie Lomas (Director of Global Emerging Account Sales in Amazon Advertising,) Doug Melville (Chief Diversity Officer of TBWA) and Vita Harris (Chief Strategy Officer of FCB,) along with several more,鈥 she said. 鈥淩ather than there being a textbook equation on 鈥榟ow to become successful,鈥 each of the speakers shared 鈥榯heir story鈥 and inspired us all to find 鈥榦ur story鈥 in order to set us apart in the professional world.
鈥淲e had several speakers talk to us about the importance of working on diverse teams to create powerful advertisements,鈥 she added. 鈥淏eing inclusive in our advertising is essential to making an impact. Advertising is the quickest way to make a change, so we must utilize that in a way that will lift us all up.鈥
Garofalo said she appreciated the number of time presenters spent with students. The junior marketing major said she took away a lot of good advice.
鈥淭he idea that you pay for what you do not know stuck with me the most,鈥 she said. 鈥淒oug Melville said this, and to stay up on all the news outlets and try to gain as much knowledge from as many people that you can, because the more you know the better.
鈥淭he other idea I brought back with me was to have a team of people from different backgrounds 鈥 because everyone is different, they have different beliefs and that can benefit your company or yourself when it comes to advertising.鈥
The tour of Google鈥檚 New York office was arranged by former AAF chapter member Tyler Baltzell 鈥15. While in the region, the students also connected with three other alumni, MCAA Board member Mike Joliat 鈥06, Patrick Quinn 鈥07 and KeXin 鈥淐oco鈥 Shao 鈥18.