Marketing Messenger Vol. 3
We hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving and that you all enjoyed our autumnal edition of Marketing Messenger! Welcome to the next volume of Marketing Messenger, winter version! In this volume of Marketing Messenger, we will be recapping our most recent Network Night event that was open to the entire marketing department. Featured in this newsletter will be Alana McCleese as our alumni spotlight and Anthea Brown as our student spotlight.
Network Night
Last Wednesday on November 15th, the WWU Marketing Program opened up Network Night to the entire Marketing department. The night began at Schweinhaus Biergarten right after the Student Marketing Association (SMA) meeting. All content creators of the Marketing Messenger team were in attendance of the Network Night and got to mingle with other teams and general marketing students.
Professors Dan Purdy and Mark Staton both made appearances at Schweinhaus Biergarten (Mark even brought one of his dogs). After a couple hours of networking, some attendees of Network Night kept the night going by heading over to Bellingham Bar & Grill.
Student Marketing Association
The latest SMA meeting had a guest speaker, Morgan Widden, who took the time to help students prepare for the Career Launch. It consisted of exercises for students to become more comfortable with talking to other professionals at networking events. She also briefly discussed what materials students should have to prepare for the Career Launch and overall helped everyone become more confident in communicating and socializing in important events like the Career Launch.
Upcoming Marketing Events
- Student Marketing Association: Every Wednesday at 6:30pm in Parks Hall 244 - SMA works to build a relationship with professionals through networking, and further the professional development of members through education and experience.
- Network Night: Every other Wednesday night at 7:30 pm - Come students, come alumni, come Dan Purdy, all are welcome to grow your LinkedIn connections at this relaxed and casual night out on the town. We hope to see you there!
- Career Launch: December 1st from 2:30pm to 5:30pm - This year’s event will be at Copacino Fujikado in Seattle, a 4x Ad Age Small Agency Award Winner. We will be joined at the agency by a variety of marketing professionals from various fields who will discuss a unique set of Career Launching topics.
- Holiday Mixer: December 1st at 5:30pm to 8:30pm - The career launch will be followed by the alumni holiday social at Pike Brewing Company, which presents a unique opportunity to use the skills learned at the Career Launch in a fun and festive networking environment. Learn more and sign up here!
Reflecting on 2023
First and foremost, I am grateful for our current batch of Marketing students. I imagine that many of you reading this have been students of mine in the past - I think you know I feel nothing but love and admiration for you all. But this cohort – they are just different. They collectively bring a passion and enthusiasm to their coursework that is truly contagious. Through them, I am falling in love with teaching all over again. And it’s not just what they bring to the classroom. They are showing up. SMA, office hours, special events – the students are engaging with everything we have to offer. And thanks especially to Dan’s IMC and Applied IMC classes, they are showing off. All that great content you see on the social channels? The podcasts, the blogs, this newsletter? That’s all them.
While still on the topic of students, some still struggle with the more quantitative work in my Marketing Analytics course. That is expected coming out of the pandemic. Most of them still completed a great deal of their preparatory work online, and while online learning can be effective in limited doses it simply does not offer the richness of in-person instruction – especially not at the level of classroom instruction offered at Western. So, I adjust my pacing and appreciate that they are fully there and engaged in what I have to offer. We get through the work and appreciate our time together, and maybe we throw a few boomerangs together when class time is over.
I am similarly grateful for the faculty I serve with. I want to thank Heather Christianson especially. She is a dedicated advocate for student success and a tireless champion for our department's mission, and she has a great way of tactfully nudging me back on track when I start to wander. Thanks to the efforts of all staff, our passion for inclusive excellence pervades everything we do. I truly believe that we offer a truly extraordinary education at Western, but nowhere better than in the Marketing program. It’s reassuring to know that our mission-driven excellence would not skip a beat even in times of trouble.
And finally, I am grateful for you, dear alumni, students, and friends. You are the fulfillment of our mission. You are the role-models. You are the ones that I point to when I say, this is what we do and this is what we’ve achieved. And when our community needs your support, you are there for mentoring, networking, speaking in class or in SMA, chipping in on Give Day. We truly could not do all this without you.
I hope that you are grateful to be part of this community as well. If you have a note of gratitude to share, please reach out. I’d love to hear it.
Wishing you the very best of the holiday season.
-Ed
Connect with Ed on Linkedin
Alumni Spotlight: Alana McCleese
Alana graduated in Spring 2023. Since graduating, Alana currently works two positions, one as the Art Director for Vespertine Boutique and the other as the Marketing Director for Clarity.
As an art director she manages the digital merchandising and UI for the ecommerce website, making a branded and functional experience for shoppers. While as a marketing director, she focuses on leading the core marketing strategy and efforts through newsletters, advertising campaigns and upkeep of the website.
Connect with Alana!
How do you believe WWU's marketing program helped shape your growth as a marketer? What was your most impactful class?
“It (IMC) was one of the only classes that I was able to use things that I learned in that class, outside of school in my job. Actually, I reference the Creative Brief that we learned about every day especially with some of the clients I have with my current jobs. And I also liked that it gave me real experience in the marketing field. When I was a manager in AIMC I actually worked with a real business to create ads. I had practiced managing a team. And I also presented to Spotify which was really cool networking experience. ”
What is one thing you wish you knew about as a marketer now that you’re in the industry, that you might not have learned about during your time as student?
“I ended up working with SEO in the ecommerce world, which when I took the Digital Marketing class here, the SEO focus was more on content creation and not products. It was before the boom of online shopping and ecommerce during COVID, which might have played a role in that as well. Ecommerce is a lot more popular now, so it would be something to keep in mind.”
Watch the full interview here!
Share your story!
Interested in being our next alumni spotlight or being a guest speaker for SMA? Express your interest by sending us an email at wwumktgdept@gmail.com. For SMA inquiries reach out to sma.wwu@gmail.com. We would love to hear from you!
Student Spotlight: Anthea Brown
Anthea is a third-year student with a senior standing status in the marketing program. In Anthea's free time, she like to crochet, bake, and do comedy improv on campus with the Dead Parrots Society. She is in the marketing major because she has always enjoyed math but did not necessarily want to be a math major. She then discovered that marketing was a good way to express her creative side while tapping into her passion for mathematics."
What class(es) have been important to you?
“I feel that taking Marketing 381 and 382 was a significant part of the program, to bring our cohort closer together through the number of group projects. We also got to work with a live client which was super rewarding.”
What are you currently enjoying in the marketing program?
“I have not finished the quarter yet but so far, I am enjoying Digital Marketing with Mark Staton. I feel that this class is valuable since there are chances to get certifications on common marketing tools as well as chances to see professionals through Mark's guest speakers."
Connect with Anthea on LinkedIn and be sure to read Anthea's Meet the Student Monday post on Instagram
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Loved This? Here's Some Things Like It
As mentioned in our previous newsletter, there are four more IMC teams actively working to produce more department content across various platforms. Check out the latest content made by our peer IMC groups!
"Marketing Unplugged" Podcast
"Stories of Inclusive Excellence" Webpage
"Mindful Marketing - MKTG 475" Blog Posts
"Marketing Messenger" Newsletter
"Open Door Shorts" TikTok
Connect With The Team!
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