Grand Valley American Marketing Association

Becoming an officer of the Grand Valley American Marketing Association is an opportunity to be a leader and gain skills that will develop you as a person and as a professional. The following people are candidates for the 2013-2014 Executive Board. Please join us on February 21st and cast your vote, may the best candidate win!

Amanda Jakabowski – President
Sophmore
Marketing Major

AMA is a huge part of my life, my freshman year I was a member and enjoyed every opportunity this wonderful organization had to offer. Soon I realized that I wanted to become more involved so I decided to run for an Executive Board position. The one that stood out to me was Vice President of Programming. There were so many great qualities to it and I knew that it was the job for me! Well, sure enough my intuition was spot on! I have had the pleasure and honor serving for this wonderful organization but my future doesn’t stop there…
With elections right around the corner I look to continue my future in AMA by running for President this 2013-2014 academic year as a junior at Grand Valley. The skills I will bring to this position are:

• Previous AMA Programming Experience
• Networking with local professionals to be Guest Speakers
• Planning firm tours
• Creative member gifts (Holiday booklets and awards)
• Networking with other student organizations (ex: IPO)
• Marketing Project (Walker Festival
• Member surveys
• Board Experience
• Working as a team
• Handling conflict when arises
• Stepping up when needed
• Being a committee member on the Walker Festival Board in my local community
• Detail
• Focus on events in the calendar and planning for future
• Listening
• Making sure member’s needs are being met.
• Creativity and passion
• Bringing new ideas and always being innovative

With these qualities I will ensure that members are getting the most of what AMA has to offer because after all each and every one of us joined this organization to further our professional careers. With that in mind, if elected I will continue to take my AMA experience to the next level and continue to build this organization to all of its AMAzing potential so our members can be the best marketing professionals possible.

Justin VanPortfliet – Executive Vice President
Junior
Marketing and Management Majors

I am a Junior with a double major in Marketing and Management. I have been apart of the AMA for 3 semesters now, and I am very committed to bettering this chapter and helping its members achieve excellence in whatever way I can.  I am very involved on campus, I am part of three organizations and I hold a job at 2020 in the office of student life. I am one of the executive board members for my Fraternity so I know what kind of commitment it takes to be one of the leaders in an organization. I also currently have a marketing internship with GHSP, an auto manufacturer providing parts for the big 3 automakers.

AMA is a very important organization to me, marketing is my passion and the AMA has helped me learn, grow and make connections in the marketing world. It is my goal to help its members to get as much out of the AMA as I have. I am running for Vice President and I believe that I have the skills necessary to fulfill the rolls of this position. I have been involved in fundraising and social events in my Fraternity and I am currently in charge of this on our executive board. I believe that this chapter can do great fundraising so that we can use our money to bring members to conferences or bring big speakers into Grand Valley. I also believe that we can throw great social events to help recruit new members to the AMA and continue to grow our chapter as well as help us grow stronger as members. I know I would be great for this position because of my experience, my leadership and my passion for the AMA. I want to help this chapter move to the next level and if elected I know that we can continue the growth of AMA at GVSU.

Brian Johnston – Vice President of Finance
Junior
Marketing and Finance Majors

Hi everyone! My name is Brian Johnston and I am running for the VP of Finance position. I am a junior here at Grand Valley double majoring in both marketing and finance. This is my second semester as a member of AMA. I am a regular attendee at both the meetings and a majority of the socials like Buffalo Wild Wings and Griffins Games. The reason I am running for this position is because I want to make a difference in this organization. I believe that my leadership skills, determination, hard work and financial knowledge will make me a great candidate for this position. As the VP of Finance I want to make sure that I do my part in order to ensure that our organizational activities we plan are properly funded so that we get the most out of every opportunity to give everyone the tools to be successful.

Rachel Valice – Vice President of Communications
Sophmore
Advertising Major, Studio Art Minor

I want to run for the board because I love this club and I love being part of a team. To use my artistic and social/PR skills to help the club grow and expand its horizons would be wonderful! Although I’m not a marketing or business major, marketing is something that greatly interests me; I enjoy learning the concepts and applying them to my graphics and designs. Currently I am a Graphic/Web Designer for GVSU Institutional Marketing.

Erika Rau – Vice President of Communications
Junior
International Business with an emphasis in Marketing, Spanish Minor

I want to fill this position because I am creative, detail-oriented, extremely organized and work well in teams. I have had experience with creating, editing and modifying web sites throughout my education. In high school I was required to make my own website using raw html code. As a freshman at Grand Valley, I worked on building yet another web site, but this time using Kompozer, web site creation software. In high school, I was part of the yearbook committee during which I was responsible for creating and editing several pages. Each project I have worked on has had a very demanding deadline but I have always managed to meet those goals in a timely manner and have presented exceptional work.

I am currently a member of the Grand Valley chapter of AMA and have been since December 2012. I have been attending meetings since January 2013 and both appreciate and value the amount of information I take away from each speaker, meeting and from talking with other members.

Sarah Hoppie – Vice President of Membership
Junior
Marketing Major

My name is Sarah Hoppie and I am a junior at Grand Valley with a marketing major. I joined AMA in the fall of 2012 and have gladly attended most meetings and socials. From the very first meeting, I was attracted to VP of Membership as I thrive off of being a positive, friendly face to others. I am running for VP of Membership in hopes of becoming that figure to all AMA members.

I have previously held the external social chair position in Sigma Kappa Sorority where I organized various events with outside organizations. With this position, I was in contact with over fifteen different organizations on campus and recruited members to attend events. I also executed our first annual Ultra Violet Gala, which was a large fundraising event for Alzheimer’s Association. I am also the current Vice President of the Ski and Snowboard Club. As Vice President, I am in charge of developing ideas and coordinating fundraisers, organizing accommodations for ski weekends and keeping all members up to date with various events such as races and socials.

With my past and current positions in other organizations, I believe I am more than qualified to take on VP of Membership. If given this position, my goals consist of the following:

• Be readily available to help members with any assistance
• Retain all possible members from the previous year
• Increase new membership numbers
  • For example: market AMA to classes, events and other organizations
• Encourage all members to be actively engaged in meetings, socials, fundraisers and other events
• Establish an easy and effective point system while enforcing it
• Convert all members to be financially up to date with chapter and national dues

I am thrilled to be given this opportunity to serve on the AMA E-board in my final year at Grand Valley. I look forward to having an AMAzing year and getting to know each of you individually. Have a Hoppie day!

SophieKlimkiewicz – Vice President of Programming
Freshman
Marketing Major

I would like to become a board member because I am not only very willing to get involved but I also like to share great ideas on how to help students build their resumes and acquire good experience(s). I would like to become VP of Programing because I have great ideas on speakers to bring into the program, and I feel that with my experience as a board member of Dean Undergraduate Student Advisory Board (DUSAB) that I can bring my connections with companies to AMA. I believe I can help students understand that the importance of coming to meetings is not only to learn something but will also bring them one step closer to achieving their futures careers.