Written by: Christi Lotempio

In photo: John Burek, Christi Lotempio, Lindsey Turrell and Faye Conley

SUNY Genesee Community College invited to the 4th Annual American Marketing Association Collegiate Conference!  Held on February 24,2017 Professor Paisley, John Burek, Lindsey Turrell, Faith Conley and Christi LoTempio were in attendance at the conference held on February 24, 2017.  The conference is put together by Russ McDonald to provide a forum for students to have the experience of interaction and advice from professionals in successful, prestigious Businesses in the area, as well as some friendly competition between local marketing students.   

This year the competition was – “How would your team organize a marketing campaign to increase brand awareness of our company’s capabilities and services” Merlin Digital Printing Solutions sponsored the Student Marketing Campaign.  The group from St. John Fisher College won first prize, and a place with Merlin Digital Printing Solution on their marketing team as well as a cash prize.

The first speaker at the conference was Mrs. Lauren Dixon of Dixon Schwabl, a full-service marketing communications firm. This firm has been chosen as being one of the Greatest Places to work as one of the Best Small Workplaces in America. Mrs. Dixon spoke about the importance of culture in a company.   Her advice is to know your core values, Brand your name with these core values. The way a company can do this is by cultivating Trust, Honesty, by being Generous to your employees, getting your employees excited to come to work and to motivate your employees.  It is important to be genuine and mean what you say, and say what you mean. Listen to your employees and act on what they say, act on what they say within a set time frame to build the trust. She expressed that having employees that are proud to work for a company will make the company successful. When honesty and respect are woven into the daily lives of the employees and the environment of the company then it will show to your clients. Not only should your employees share the same core values as the company but the clients that the company provides services for should also have the same core values. Another word of advice for the interview process is to research the company that you will interview at, know the company, know how they are perceived and know your core values and who you are when you interview.   Make sure that your core beliefs line up with the company’s core beliefs. Mrs. Dixon was a great speaker and had a lot of knowledge to share with the students.

The second speaker was Mr. Tom Proietti the founder of the Communication/Journalism Program at St. John Fisher College, and a Professor Emeritus of Communication at Monroe Community College.  Mr. Proietti spoke about the importance of being your authentic self and knowing your position.  The book “Positioning: The Battle for the Mind” written by Al Reis, is an excellent book that he recommends all college students read.  There are three positions in life 1st– the number one, 2nd known as the challenger, and 3rd the company that tries to mirror the 1st position. It is important to know what position a company is in and what position that it wants to be in.  One of the three strategies will be used to get there: Operational Excellence, Technological Innovation or Customer Intimacy.   Knowing this information will allow the right decisions to be made.  Mr. Proietti states that the same information can be used in personal life, but most the most important thing for successful people is that they have an intimacy with themselves and know who you are, what you stand for and where you want to be.  This will allow you to find and work in a place that you love.

This Conference was an excellent opportunity for all of the students that attended.  There were networking opportunities and professionals to review resumes.  The experience allowed the exchange of business knowledge and allowed students to ask real life questions to professionals with experience.