By Martin Garcia
A community that is open for every student on campus and offers the opportunity for valuable experience and networking. Nationally ranked in the top 20 out of 323 active collegiate chapters internationally, the American Marketing Association at LBSU is making their presence known. Created as an organization that focuses on connecting students and alumni with opportunities in the marketing world, AMA offers the chance to gain valuable work experience. The core values of AMA are Diversity, Opportunity, and Collaboration.
Having students gain experience in the real world is the primary focus of AMA, whether it is through networking, or actual hands on work. One benefit to being part of AMA is getting to hear from public speakers that come from major companies like Netflix, Hulu, HBO, and GoodRx.
“We’re trying to get more guest speakers from industries we’ve never touched on like the tech industry,” said Lizzy Martinez, AMA President, “more beauty more fashion, because for a long time we had the big companies like Amazon, Nike, and we’re really trying to diversify, because there’s so many other companies that do such amazing things.”
For those looking for hands-on experience, AMA has Agency 241, a student-led marketing agency specializing in digital and social media marketing. At Agency 241, AMA members focus on providing marketing and public relation services for small businesses within the community. The services provided include social-media, blogging, digital marketing, and whatever the client may need that involves marketing or public relations. Agency 241 is a way to apply what students have learned in the classrooms into the workforce. It is a great way for students to expand their leadership and professional skills.
AMA prides themselves on their diversity. It is not solely marketing and public relations students that are part of the AMA community.
“It’s open to anyone on campus, we have found that many students are minoring in marketing or PR,” said Martinez.“ We have members that just want to get more involved with California State Long Beach, and many of them are transfer students who are just looking for that community.”
Philanthropy is something that AMA takes part in as well. “We give back to different nonprofits like food banks, and we participate in beach cleanups,” said Martinez.
AMA meets every Monday at 5 p.m. via ZOOM meeting ID 861 5596 6286 A typical meeting with AMA includes announcements for upcoming events, and then the guest speaker for the day will begin speaking at around 5:15 p.m. Members are given the opportunity to ask the speaker questions at the end of the meeting. There are currently 130 registered members. A student can become a member of AMA by registering at the beginning of every semester.
More information on the American Marketing Association can be found on their website, https://www.amalongbeach.org/ or through email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
