Spring 2023 USD AMA Event Recap

msykes70
Feb 19, 2023
7 min read

Updated: May 4, 2023

Did you miss an event this spring? Here is a quick recap of all of our AMA events from this semester!

May 4th: Demystifying a Career in... Entertainment Marketing

The tenth and last event of the semester was a look into what a career into entertainment marketing looks like. The speakers, Adrianna Puente, Emily Patterson, Eric Correll, and Nahir Baez each talked about their current positions, their company, why they love their job, and how they got into this form of marketing. Some of the main takeaways were...

A big part of this type of marketing is meeting new people and getting outside opinions
Entertainment marketing=experience marketing; you are selling an experience more than just a product
Entertainment marketers have to try to get customers to choose them over other entertainment companies, they have to focus on pushing why they are special and you can't miss the experience they offer
Advice: find what kind of entertainment marketing is going to keep you engaged in life- video games, movies, tourism, sports, etc.
In this marketing, you are creating a drive to purchase an experience; a promise
Start with the product, know the tone, and then it takes marketing collaboration, and consistency
Mentorship is incredibly important- you don't know what you don't know at the beginning of your career; they can give you candid feedback

April 27th: Marketers on the Move- Raindrop Agency

The ninth event of the semester was a deep dive into what it looks like to work as a marketer in the real world. Students traveled to the Raindrop Agency offices which is a company that does content creation and makes advertisement videos to promote brands. Students got to learn more about the company while standing on their stomping grounds- truly a unique and memorable experience! Here are some of the awesome things that students learned about while at Raindrop Agency...

Raindrop values three pillars: Partner generously, make it better, and own your future

All employees work on projects together- this is what Raindrop is all about!
At Raindrop, employees constantly evolve to use new technologies; TikTok, a new management tool called Clickup, and AI are all utilized in the company. They have to keep up with the trends in this industry
Raindrop does full campaign strategies for their clients, and because of this, there is a wide range of jobs at the agency
People at Raindrop believe as a student, the best thing you can do is ask questions in order to find out what you want to do as a career/job
They also said to be interested, talk to a lot of people (reach out), subscribe to newsletters to educate yourself, be active on LinkedIn, get as many internships as you can, and be perseverant

April 20th: Demystifying a Career in... Public Relations

The eighth event of the semester was a look into what a career in Public Relations looks like. The speakers, Denise Scatena, Emily Patterson, and Hiram Soto each talked about how they got into PR, their current companies, why they love this style of marketing, and more! Some of the key takeaways from the event were are...

PR does good things, creates mutually beneficial relationships, and earns third-party credit
PR compliments other marketing disciplines by earning placements, relying on reputation and connections, strategic timing, and storytelling
As a PR founding partner, the role includes there is client strategy, business development, and sales, marketing, and promotion
PR is so many things: events press conferences, email marketing, social media, research, copywriting, media training, media platforms, influencer relations, etc.
PR is using various forms of media to get information out to the public
Joining groups/attending events and doing informational interviews are great ways to learn more about PR!
One of the speakers started as a journalist and got into PR to continue his interest in storytelling
Public relations shape how we talk about things and create value for those listening

April 13th: Short-Form Content Masterclass Workshop

The seventh event of the semester was a workshop! The speaker was Brandon Fortino and he spoke about how to master short-form content. Here are some of the key takeaways from the event:

flyer of video content masterclass event

Posting consistently DOES matter
Posting time does NOT matter for social media!
Consider the value that the audience is getting from your video
Keep your content fun and entertaining! Do not take things too seriously or they will not be well received
You need to build the viewer's trust in one minute: include a main focus, tell them what to do, how to overcome objectives and call to action
80% of the effort goes to the hook (you have 3 seconds to grab attention); 20% goes to the content/visuals
Video length should be from 10-59 seconds, and have something new every 3 seconds (captions/colors/sound effects)
Repurposing content is key! Take a long video and chop it up to use as short-form content

March 30th: Marketing Faculty Panel

The sixth event of the semester was the marketing faculty panel! The panel consisted of Prof. Andrea Flynn, Prof Maya Sykes, Prof Maria Kniazeva, and Prof. Alexander Kull! These are all professors who teach marketing classes at USD. At the panel, they spoke about their respective classes: what they are, the kind of work to expect in them, how to succeed, what they love about their classes, and more! Here are some of the event's highlights!

photo of the event flyer- speakers headshots included

Prof. Andrea Flynn teaches Marketing Research and Marketing Strategy! Her classes are group project-heavy, which was a common theme throughout the panel. She utilizes a simulation in her marketing strategy class that is extremely realistic. She believes having an open mind and asking questions will help students in her classes!

Prof. Maya Sykes is going to teach a new course called Marketing Leadership Practicum in Fall 2023! This course will help develop the soft skills marketing leaders need to succeed. Since it is a brand-new course, there are still a lot of unknowns, but Maya believes that being curious and going beyond just the requirements will make students succeed.

Prof. Maria Kniazeva teaches Fashion Marketing and Global Marketing. Fashion Marketing is a somewhat new class and includes project work and discussion. Global Marketing fulfills the advanced writing requirement but focuses on deep thinking rather than numbers or writing. Students in this class will learn a lot about various cultures and how to effectively market different brands worldwide. She believes that if students are knowledge-driven rather than grade-driven, they will succeed.

Prof. Alexander Kull teaches Fundamentals of Marketing and Advertising & Promotion. His classes are very hands-on with simulations, case studies, and projects. One of his favorite projects is in his Advertising & Promotion class and involves students analyzing a commercial of choice. He believes to succeed in his class students need to come prepared!

March 16th: Meet the Marketers

The fifth event of the semester was our biggest one yet! Meet the marketers is AMA's largest event each semester. We bring in marketing professionals from different companies in the San Diego area. The companies represented this year were: Red Door, Hologic, San Diego AMA, Vuori, Illumina, Cobra Puma Golf, JacobTyler, Taylor&Pond, Power Digital, Nuvasive, Kanbar Digitial, Crowepr, and E & J Gallo Winery.

Read more about the specificities of this event in the blog titled "Meet the Marketers: Student Point of View" which is a separate blog dedicated to this event! It takes readers through the event in detail. Read it here.

March 14th: Meet the Marketers Prep Session

The fourth event of the semester was a prep session for our biggest event of the semester: Meet the Marketers! Maya Sykes took students through the event details, what to expect, and a Q/A session. Below are some key takeaways from the event!

MTM is an annual networking event that allows you to connect with a variety of in-house and agency marketing professionals from many different industries. This is the perfect opportunity to meet business professionals!
Attire: Business Causal, dressy casual, or “smart” casual. Clean clothes, no sweaters/graphics.
Before MTM: determine your goals, update your resume/LinkedIn, research the companies, and make a game plan, Develop and practice your introduction
Research: What is the industry, mission/vision, customers/competitors, where are they located, open positions, USD alumni? Refer to the Company Info Sheet.
Introduction to yourself: Name/major/year, experience, professional interests, opening questions. Try not to overshare, and try to practice it so it sounds natural.
Don't worry about being interesting to companies, just worry about being interested in the companies.
Follow up on LinkedIn within 24-48 hrs, use your computer, not the app on your phone because you won’t be able to leave a note.

February 28th: Demystifying a Career in... Partnership/Influencer Marketing

The third event of the semester was a look into what a career in Partnership/Influencer marketing looks like! The speakers, Hanna Kron, Mark Hewitt, Kylie Turner, and Jaclyn Moderna all spoke on their personal experience with Partnership/Influencer marketing. They each talked about how they got into their career, how they have progressed, and why they love it. All the speakers offered a unique perspective on this style of marketing- it was a great event! Here are some of the key takeaways from the event...

The difference between working for an agency vs. a specific brand: agencies are more demanding than working for a brand, but allow you to get exposed to much more variety of work.
A day in the life of these marketers includes contract negotiations, meetings with directors, influencer research and outreach, client calls, meetings with talent managers, etc.
Some tools that influencer marketers utilize a lot are: creatorIQ, grin, traackr, and dash hudson
Some big agencies for influencer marketing are: neon rose, kensingtongrey, WME, and CAA
Having social media experience helps you get your foot in the door for this type of marketing; whether that be managing your own platforms or platforms for a small company in your community
Setting goals is important to do for your personal and professional life

February 16th: A Career with... Rescue Agency

four speakers posing in front of projector screen

The second event of the semester was a visit from a company in San Diego called Rescue Agency. Rescue Agency helps government agencies and nonprofits create campaigns that drive health behavior change. The speakers, Khanh Tran, Andrew Ermlick, Michelle De La Rosa, and Marcela Delgado shared about their career, what their day-to-day looks like, and the tools you'll need for a career with Rescue Agency. Some of the key takeaways were...

They have a multi-million dollar statewide media campaign experience
California is their home with 3 offices located in Sacramento, L.A., and San Diego
They are pioneering behavior change marketing
Currently have 170 employees
Invest in commercial campaigns
The company focuses on community management, which is reinforcing the voice of the brand and engaging with the audience

February 9th: AMA x WIB Marketing Job/Internship Search Workshop

student in an event sitting at desks listening to speaker

The first event of the semester kicked off with a Women in Business x American Marketing Association collaboration! HR professional Amber Khoury spoke to students about the job application process and how it can be frustrating. She gave pointers on how to be successful and memorable. A few pointers she shared were...