UW-Whitewater’s AMA once again a finalist in collegiate case competition

For the third year in a row, the student chapter of the
American Marketing Association (AMA) at UW-Whtiewater has advanced to the Collegiate Case
Competition finals, a feat accomplished by one only one other school, the
British Columbia Institute of Technology. Five University of
Wisconsin-Whitewater students will compete in New Orleans March 29-31.

³I am very proud of our chapter. We are widely regarded as one of the
premier AMA Chapters in the country, due in part to the quality of our
students and their great work ethic,² Jimmy Peltier, Irvin L. Young
Professor of Entreneurship and AMA advisor, said.

The theme of the 2006-2007 AMA Collegiate Case Competition is ³Renew New
Orleans.² Student chapters were asked to address the question of how to
increase tourism to the New Orleans area, especially, though not limited, to
the 18-30-year old market. Teams developed a target marketing and
segmentation plan, as well as to focus on positioning for the city of New
Orleans. As part of this marketing plan, special attention was to be paid to
creative, promotional and media strategies to be used to attract tourists to
the city including: television, radio, direct mail, Internet and sales
promotions.

³Student chapters across the nation really responded. We had the most cases
ever submitted for the competition and the quality of these cases was the
best yet,² Peltier said.  ³For the UW-Whitewater chapter to have reached the
finals again is certainly a testament to our chapter and Carol Scovotti,
assistant professor of marketing and the case team leader,² Peltier said.

³Renew New Orleans² is based on the notion of ³service learning.² Service
learning has become a critical component of today¹s educational experience.
AMA has long encouraged its student chapters to identify service-learning
initiatives that have the potential to positively impact the well being of
others, while at the same time challenge their strategic and tactical
planning skills.

Five students, who are yet to be determined, along with Scovotti, will
represent UW-Whitewater in New Orleans. However, seniors Julie Pappas, Sean
O¹Brien, Jason Von Seth and Assistant Professor of Marketing Amanda Helm
were involved with the creation of the initial plan and getting the team to
this point.

³Without the students hard work and dedication to the project, we could not
be the success that we are today,² Scovotti said.