Written by Autumn Frazier, Director of Events for MAC & AMA

Last Friday, our team got to the Great Hall of Paul College with Dunkin’ in our hands and a game plan. This was our club’s eighth year of coordinating and hosting the Marketing and Advertising Summit, a full day filled with competitions, learning, inspiration, and networking. Every year it’s held in the lobby of the business school at the University of New Hampshire, to engage the community and students about the current trends and career paths available within the realm of marketing.  

Over a few hours, the Great Hall and the auditorium were transformed into a venue, welcoming over 250 guests, ranging from key speakers, students, recruiters, and faculty. This year’s theme was inclusivity and our keynote speaker Meg Smith, opened up about how her personal experience led her down the path of being an entrepreneur. Her brand Love, Lexxi focuses on community building, being confident in your skin, and self-love, but also the importance of establishing a brand’s values, identity, and continuous learning by listening to your consumers. In her words, “Be a sponge.”

As marketers, inclusion plays an extremely large role in consumer preferences and it is a goal to make sure that audiences feel seen, heard, valued, and respected by the brands they are supporting. Following Meg’s captivating speech, a series of professional panels took place with different industry leaders sharing their insights and experiences, and throughout these conversations, there was a recurring theme of prioritizing human connection over data collection.  

However, for me, this was more than just an event; it was a way for me to collaborate with my fellow peers, engage alongside my mentors, and allowed me to help co-coordinate the event. The Marketing and Advertising Summit, known as MAC SMAC, allowed us students to get hands-on experience with all the logistics that go behind the scenes into curating and hosting a professional event. Event marketing and coordination is a passion of mine that I hope to make into a career. Especially in today’s digital age in-person events and connections are so rewarding and being able to be a part of a team that helps meet people on a personal level and leave a lasting impression is something I will cherish forever.