Nine members of SDSU’s Advertising Club and their advisor, advertising instructor Heather Solberg, traveled to New York City last week to attend Advertising Week for a chance to meet network with professionals, see brand activation displays, and learn about the latest trends in the advertising industry.
Advertising Week is a week-long event that attracts over 12,000 people interested in advertising and marketing. There are sessions ranging from technology in advertising to campaign creative work to advertising on social media platforms.
“I wanted to go on this trip because I had never been to New York before, and I thought it would be a wonderful experience,” said Emily Olson, member of the Ad Club. “We had also been working on funding for this trip for over a year and were all so passionate about going.”
The students in Ad club spent all last school year fundraising for this trip, so they didn’t have to pay very much out of pocket. Members held a t-shirt and sweatshirt sale, cleaned up after athletic events and worked as research assistants under Professor Roxanne Lucchesi.
The Ad Club was in NYC from Oct. 17 to Oct. 21 and made sure to explore the city’s finest attractions when they were not attending Ad Week.
On Tuesday, Oct. 17 they traveled most of the day, but upon arriving at NYC, they had a group dinner at Carmine’s Italian Restaurant in Times Square.
Wednesday, Oct. 18 was their first day attending Advertising Week, and members spent the day learning more about their major.
“Something that I brought back that helps me with my major is that we listened to many inspiring speakers,” said Brianna Loosbrock, current president of Ad club. “It made me want to figure out how to get in their positions and it starts with hard work in classes now and then further into entry level positions.”
Later that day, the group went on a city lights cruise on the Hudson River where the group got to see the skyline from the water at night as well as seeing the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge.
On Thursday, Oct. 19 the group went to Advertising Week for the second and last time, where many of them got to hear from more professionals in advertising and some even got inspired by them.
Olson said, “One person that I found to be the most interesting to listen to was Molly Sims. She is a model, actress, entrepreneur, Author, and mom. She started from the ground up and ended up creating her own world of skincare, books, and modeling all while learning that the world can sometimes be unfair, and it is important to see the good.”
Loosbrock shared, “A specific speaker that really inspired me was the Vice President of Marketing at Starbucks. I love the brand Starbucks, and to be able to hear about their marketing strategies for some major yearly campaigns like the Pumpkin Spice Latte or the red Christmas cups was really inspiring.”
Many of the members of the group were very satisfied with the information they got from listening to different professionals, and a lot of the professional advertisers not only shared helpful tips, but many shared their story and how they got to where they were.
Later that day, the group was able to watch a play on Broadway. Half of the group saw Moulin Rouge while the other half saw Aladdin.
“It was the best musical I had ever seen, and the lead actor was Casey Cott from Riverdale. The scenery was spectacular, and the dances were incredible.” Olson explained after she saw the Moulin Rouge musical.
Friday, Oct. 20 the group took this day as a tourist day. They started by visiting the American Museum of Natural History and then visited the 9/11 Memorial and Museum.
Saturday, Oct. 21 was the day the group left NYC and made their way back to Brookings.
“I would 100% do this again, and I really hope this inspires freshman and sophomores to join the club now and be able to go on a trip like this as well during their time at SDSU,” Loosbrock said “We found that not only the trip itself but with the whole fundraising and planning process we really gained a lot of members in the club and solidified friendships that will go beyond the club itself.”
