KINGSTON, R.I. — April 15, 2015 — Marketing students from the University of Rhode Island’s College of Business Administration had amazing experiences last month during the American Marketing Association’s 37th Annual International Collegiate Conference in New Orleans.

With the theme of “AMAze Yourself!,” the conference drew more than 1,400 marketing students and professionals for presentations from leading industry representatives, networking- career development opportunities, and marketing-related competitions.

The URI chapter received a commendable mention for its Vitamin Water Case Competition submission. The chapter was also recognized for exemplary collegiate chapter performance in three categories: membership, fundraising and communications. This honor was a first for the URI Chapter.

“Congratulations to the URI American Marketing Association for its entry in the AMA case competition, which was recognized as Commendable,” said marketing advisor and Business Professor David Mitchell. “It was a complex and involved business case and the club worked very hard on this project. We are thrilled that their efforts and work was recognized and stood out from the dozens of entries submitted.”

“This was a great experience, we all made good connections, and we gave a big shout out there to Dr. David Mitchell in appreciation of his ongoing support,” said senior Kayla Beltrandi from Enfield, Conn., who is a double major in marketing and writing and rhetoric and is also the URI AMA chapter president. “We brought back a great deal of information from the conference speakers and from the hands-on workshops.”

For one of the hands-on challenges at the conference, Beltrandi said each chapter had to create a booth with an activity to encourage participation.

“We made a booth with a New Orleans theme, invited students to spin a wheel for a chance to answer a trivia question and to take a photo at our Rhody – New Orleans booth,” said Beltrandi. “We then posted the images on our Facebook page and sent the student a link. This provided us with the opportunity to really increase our social media presence and connect with other marketing students from around the world. It was great fun and we were able to see the social media effects first-hand.”

In addition to Beltrandi, other members of URI’s chapter at the conference include: Alexander Dias from West Boylston, Mass.; Lauren Dobrynski from Newington, Conn.; Maggie Dunn from Skaneateles, N.Y.; David Elkas from Cumberland, R.I.; Marlena Fatum from Trumbull, Conn.; Ryan Graham from Worcester, Mass.; Christopher James from Bristol, R.I.; Micaela McPadden from Ridgewood, N.J.; Shelby Olivier from Exeter, R.I., who is vice president of membership; Justin Reid from Suffern, N.Y., who is chapter vice president; and Emily Thompson from Naples, N.Y.

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AMAZING MARKETING: Shown here from left to right are some team members, Marlena Fatum from Trumbull, Conn., Justin Reid from Suffern, N.Y., Emily Thompson from Naples, N.Y., Micaela McPadden from Ridgewood, N.J., Kayla Beltrandi from Enfield, Conn., Maggie Dunn from Skaneateles, N.Y., Shelby Olivier from Exeter, R.I., Lauren Dobrynski from Newington, Conn., Christoper James from Bristol, R.I., and David Elkas from Cumberland, R.I.