Facing off against over 240 schools, the Ithaca College chapter of the American Marketing Association (AMA) brought home a top award at the Annual Intercollegiate Conference in March.
ICAMA won the award for excellence in chapter planning, membership and communication at the AMA’s annual gathering in New Orleans. The award put the chapter in the top 30 of 247 individual chapters.
“We’re just so proud of not only ourselves, but our chapter and our editorial board,” said Caroline Granger, co-president of ICAMA. “We’re humbled by winning this award.”
The AMA is a marketing organization that works to connect marketers and academics with the people and resources they need to be successful. The IC chapter provides professional development for students through leadership training and involvement in the field of marketing.
Chapters entering the competition had to submit their plans and annual reports to judges at the conference, and were judged on how they planned for the year and what they were able to accomplish.
“We did a lot of hard work and held some really great events and I think that was reflected in our win,” said Co-President Amanda Lee.
The membership aspect of the award reflects the chapter’s ability to retain an active membership. Granger explained that they used a point system to encourage member participation in the group’s activities. The member with the most points was invited to attend the conference with the chapter’s executive board.
ICAMA faculty advisor Scott Erickson, professor and chair of the Department of Marketing and Law, praised the chapter’s performance.
“ICAMA has established a tradition of excellence for a number of years, regularly earning awards at the International Collegiate Conference,” said Erickson. “But it's up to each year's leaders to execute at that level, and this year's co-presidents and executive board have been outstanding.”
ICAMA’s achievements are all the more impressive because they regularly compete against chapters from much larger schools, including Penn State, Florida State and the University of Pennsylvania.
“We are evaluated against schools with established classes for AMA competitions, consulting operations, and considerable funding opportunities, so we're very proud of what the students are able to accomplish,” said Erickson.
That sentiment was echoed by Lee.
“It’s exciting to know that we do very well in comparison to these large schools.”
For the students involved, competing at such a high level has helped prepare them for a career after IC.
“It solidifies my confidence in my leadership skills and my experience,” said Granger. “It’s given me the confidence to go out in the world and be part of a marketing team.”