For the first time in the chapter’s history, Cal Poly’s American Marketing Association (AMA) placed among the top 15 international chapters out of the 388 that attended the AMA Collegiate Conference.
In 2017, Cal Poly AMA placed No. 25; in 2018, the team placed in the top 20 chapters and this year, they took home a spot in the top 15, according to Vice President of Nationals and communication studies senior Krystal Lai.
The three-day International Collegiate Conference held April 11-13 included events that covered sales, marketing strategy, data analytics and more, according to Cal Poly’s AMA website.
Most teams take around 30 to 40 members, but every year, Cal Poly AMA sends 12 selected members to ensure efficiency, Vice President of Nationals for 2020 and business administration junior Aris Nunez said.
“As a team, we were very dynamic and it really led to our success; everybody worked really hard within their team as well as their individual competitions,” Nunez said.
The requirements for winning top chapter is a combination of how Cal Poly’s AMA team performed in the competitions held during the Collegiate Conference and how active the chapter is within the school year.
“We had a goal in mind at the beginning of the year to make it as a top 15 chapter, and it feels amazing to achieve this milestone,” Lai said.
The chapter is based off of six categories, which include chapter planning, professional development, community social impact, fundraising, membership and communication.
In addition to winning top 15 chapter, Cal Poly’s AMA won third for the Marketing Strategy Competition and Sabre competition, sales and perfect pitch competition.
Different individuals from the 12 that attended won each of these awards. Chapter members paired up and entered into different competitions, some of which took up to five weeks and 25 hours of prepping, according to Nunez.
The AMA Collegiate Conference is designed specifically for undergraduate students who want to learn more about marketing through industry professionals and networking.
“I’m very proud and I couldn’t have found a better way to end my career at Cal Poly AMA,” Lai said.