Most Promising Minority Students Program 2005

Feb 9, 2005

The New York Athletic Club, NYC

With today’s diverse cultures, each being unique in its own way, it’s no wonder that an organization that not only approves of, but literally embraces multi-cultural inclusion in the work force can produce remarkable results

with regard to the advancement of corporate industry. The Most Promising Minority Students Program, each year, selects from a pool of hundreds of student applicants—from colleges and universities throughout the nation—that are nominated by one or more faculty officials at their institution.

The Most Promising Minority Students (MPMS) program is providing the highest level of qualified minority candidates in its history to corporations that are looking for the best talents available in the advertising/marketing industry. The 2005 MPMS has clearly shown itself to be a viable choice with regard to hiring across cultural boundaries—offering the largest and most comprehensive selection of premium advertising and marketing talent anywhere enrolled in undergraduate programs. The 40 graduating minority advertising seniors for the year 2005 represent a 60% increase over last year’s 25 students. More than 4/5 of leaders within the advertising industry are in support of the opinion that it is extremely important to maintain a multicultural presence among the industry’s talents. For almost a decade, the Most Promising program has acted as matchmaker between recruiters in the industry and a cumulative 247 (the largest number anywhere) candidates from minority populations—candidates demonstrating excellence.

As quoted by the AAF’s academic network’s President and CEO, Wally Snyder, “The AAF’s academic network is providing record numbers of outstanding young graduating advertising students to the industry. We are really pleased to present this year’s outstanding minority candidates to the eager recruiters who we know will be in attendance.”

This three-day comprehensive event consisted of a program orientation and rehearsal that was hosted by MTV Networks, where students were each given the opportunity to rehearse the interview process, better preparing them for the “real thing.” Following the rehearsal was a professional development seminar that was hosted by the Interpublic Group—a lecture on how candidates within the advertising industry can strategize to better present themselves to recruiters. There was even an etiquette based seminar entitled “What they don’t teach you in college” that was hosted by Brad Karsh of the Job Bound employment service, which was literally packed with many tips for students to start their careers. At the end of the first day, Valassis hosted a reception at which those faculty members who were responsible for providing advertising industry recruiters with premium quality talent that was ultimately selected from each of the schools represented—the nominators—were recognized.

Liberty News Online Magazine had the privilege of providing coverage for the second day of this wonderful event, which began with another professional development seminar hosted by ESPN. There was a seminar entitled “Confessions of a Recruiting Director: The Inside Scoop on Getting a Job in Advertising,” that was hosted by Brad Karsh, from the JobBound employment service. Mr. Karsh spoke about a number of important things to consider when putting a resume together—things like listing one’s experience in importance order rather than reverse chronological order, making certain that there aren’t any typo’s on one’s resume, focusing on accomplishment rather than job description when one outlines their previous employment, and many more extremely valuable tips. After the seminars was a recruiters’ expo, where students had the opportunity to submit resumes to a number of different advertising industry recruiters, such as Neilson Media, McCann Errickson, Conde Nast, ABC, Leo Burnett (which Mr. Karsh had many years of experience at), and many more.) Many of the students came well prepared, with polished resumes and even business cards (many “working professionals” from other events Liberty News has been to often don’t come prepared with business cards—students can also valuable examples.)

After the expo, there was a generous luncheon, where each of the students selected for the 2005 program were given their awards. The luncheon started off with Mr. Jack Griffin, the AAF Chairman and President of Meredith Publishing Group, welcoming the audience, and proudly stating that the AAF is now in its ninth year of providing opportunity to those students who have deep desires to pursue extraordinary career opportunities within the advertising industry. After having the judges all stand for a round of applause, Mr. Griffin introduced the President and CEO of the American Advertising Federation, Mr. Wally Snyder, who portrayed the AAF as providing a unique way of welcoming a multi-cultural community of students exemplifying great leadership and bringing these talented young people to the industry’s eager recruiters. He spoke very emphatically on the “just do it” philosophy, stating that, while others talk about their “intentions” to provide services which draw multi-cultural involvement in the industry, “We simply do it.” Mr. Snyder also referred to the program representing a joint effort between students, the AAF, many faculty groups and sponsors to bring the best talent that colleges can offer in touch with the nation’s top advertising recruiters.

Mr. Snyder then introduced Ms. Jill Manee, the Vice President of the “Ad Age Group,” who first commented that she is always very excited about these celebrations. “It’s always great to see how these students will make their way into the industry. This is your day to bask in the glory.” Ms. Manee then proceeded to introduce the Manager of Specialty Sales for American Airlines, Mr. Charles Jones, a seventeen-year veteran with American Airlines. Mr. Jones, on behalf of American Airlines, gave congratulations to each of the students selected for 2005 on telling them they are “doing the right thing” because they were selected, and further encouraging them to “keep up the good works” and “we welcome the day when you will soar like an eagle.” Leila Fernandez, from Interpublic Group, spoke as well, advising all of the students to seize this opportunity to navigate their future.

The keynote speaker was Mitzi Short, the VP of Marketplace Initiative Development for the Pepsi-Cola Company. Ms. Short opened by saying that she was honored here, and congratulated all students for a “job well done.” She then presented the audience with an overview of the company and the brands represented. She informed us that Pepsico’s annual revenue is an estimated $127B, and the company has an estimated 123,000 employees. There are several brands that are in excess of 100 years old, with 16 of them individually responsible for an estimated $1B in annual revenues. She then continued by stating that in order to capture an increasingly larger consumer base, the company depends upon the input, opinions, and talents of a multi-cultural workforce. She went on to say that the people “are right here in this room.” and then continued with “now you can see why I’m so excited, because these people bring to the table multi-cultural talents, multi-cultural insight, multi-cultural innovation, and multi-cultural points of view.” In short, Ms. Short gave a great keynote address that really kicked up the excitement in the room.

The recruiters’ expo continued afterwards, and the day concluded with a professional development seminar that was sponsored by Leo Burnett and a “Financial Empowerment” seminar given by Alfred Edmond, Jr., Black Enterprise.

The event concluded on the third day, there were yet more lectures—everything from professional seminars, to seminars on managing one’s expectation’s upon graduation, to seminars directly involved with students immersing themselves in the industry.

This was a wonderful, comprehensive and meaningful event, one designed to matchmake the best (talent from today’s colleges) with the best (recruiters in the advertising industry.)

We at Liberty News Magazine would like to thank Ms. Mary Hilton, publicist for the American Advertising Federation for her kind invitation to come and cover a portion of this great event. Anyone interested in learning more about this great organization may visit their website at www.aaf.org.

The African American and Caribbean Section is headed by assistant editor Annette Johnson, and Liberty News Online Staff Writers contributing articles. It will cover articles about the African American and Caribbean communities throughout the U.S.A. For more information, feel free to email us at lncarib@hadofnyc.org. If you are interested in having us cover one of your events, feel free to notify us one week in advance, so we can add you to our master calendar, and have our Liberty News Staff come and write an article about your event. Feel free to email us at lnevents@hadofnyc.org, or telephone us at (718) 507-7616 between the hours of 8:00am and 8:00pm, and ask to speak to Annette or Steve