AMA hosts largest virtual collegiate conference, wins awards in five competitions
October 13, 2020
If it’s possible to hit a virtual home run, the UW-Whitewater chapter of the American Marketing Association knocked one out of the park with its hosting of the 13th annual AMA Regional Conference on Oct. 9, 2020.
Hyland Hall and the College of Business and Economics at the university are familiar with hosting AMA conferences, which draw hundreds of students to UW-Whitewater every year to network with employers, attend cutting-edge presentations and participate in competitions. Leave it to Warhawks to make the transition to a virtual conference as seamless as it could be.
“Our American Marketing Chapter just completed a historic event,” said Jimmy Peltier, professor of marketing and an advisor to AMA since 1986. “We hosted the largest virtual AMA collegiate conference ever. This event has been in planning since July 1, and it has taken literally hundreds of hours to set up, run and complete post-conference tasks.”
Peltier posts impressive numbers from the conference: 64 universities participated, 833 students registered, 385 students competed, and 1,245 virtual career fair interactions took place.
Warhawk students dominated the competitions:
Sales Competition (75 competitors): Alec Arndt, Audrey Bouland and Dominika Szeliga tied for first place; Brandon Zoerner took second; and Mathieu DuPont, Sophia Isham and Jake Lewandowski placed third.
Perfect Pitch Competition (82 competitors): Audrey Bouland and Taylor Shaw tied for second; and Sophia Isham placed third.
Mock Interview Competition (60 competitors): Mathieu Dupont and Audrey Bouland tied for second; and Grant Enwright and Keagan Wardius tied for third.
Marketing Strategy Competition (19 teams): Lexi Ragano and Jessica Pluemer placed second; Samantha Rennie, Maddie Walsh and Emily Schmitt placed third.
Digital Marketing Competition (36 teams): Josh Anselmi and David Bethards earned first place.
“The success we have had this year in the face of COVID, and being all virtual, has been incredible,” said Peltier. “I am just filled with pride.”
Peltier credited marketing students Lexi Ragano with leading the effort to coordinate the virtual conference, assisted by fellow marketing majors Alec Arndt, Brianna Oelke and Brandon Zoerner. Arndt has a second major in information technology.
Also critical to running the event, according to Peltier, were faculty advisors Kenyatta Barber, assistant professor of marketing, Noelle Butski, lecturer of marketing, Pavan Chennamaneni, associate professor of marketing, Andrew Dahl, assistant professor of marketing, John DeGraff, lecturer of marketing, and Dan Herlache, lecturer of marketing.
Seventeen corporate sponsors helped produce the event, he said.