As one of the most distinguished student organizations in the C.T. Bauer College of Business, the American Marketing Association is expanding its horizons and hosting a large charity event this semester.
In April, AMA will send five of its top students to attend AMA’s 36th Annual International Collegiate Conference in New Orleans, La. Challenged to raise money for this trip, AMA director of fundraising JaMarcus Craft-Hewitt, marketing senior, decided to add his own creative spin to the project. This plan involves a 5K run which will allow people to give back to their community as well as to education and will be held in November in MacGregor Park.
“We wanted to use our talents and marketing skills to actually market an event. We wanted to host something that would not only give back to us but also to the community,” Craft-Hewitt said.
The proceeds will be used to send the top five AMA members to the national convention as well as form donations to the nonprofit organization Charity: Water.
The students attending nationals will be able to compete and bring back awards to UH.
“Charity: Water helps bring clean, safe drinking water to developing nations,” said Vice President of AMA and finance and marketing senior Stephen Wilson.
AMA chose to donate to this charity in particular because it has little to no marketing budget.
“We are really growing, and we want everyone to come and join us. We want to make a difference on campus and (in) the community, and we want the student body to be a part of that,” Craft-Hewitt said.
Consisting of approximately 75 members and 15 officers, AMA holds general meetings throughout the semester with guest speakers who possess real-world marketing experience. These speakers host career panels, participate in workshops and networking events during the Annual International Collegiate Conferences and provide career and internship opportunities to AMA members.
“AMA-UH truly has the potential of becoming a huge organization — in fact, huge to where AMAUH will change the stereotype of marketing,” said AMA president and marketing senior Tiffany To.
“AMA is a national organization, and as our Houston chapter is one of the most popular chapters, AMA-UH potentially can be the solution to making the Houston chapter the most popular chapter.”