Student Selected to Attend Madison Avenue Conference

The day-long event, held at New York City's Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in October, brought together more than 600 students from undergraduate institutions all over the United States. Newman, who is majoring in public relations/organizational communication with a concentration in public relations and advertising, was among 15 students invited to travel to New York City a day ahead of the conference to tour one of the nation's leading digital marketing firms and meet with agency executives.

"It was a truly gratifying learning experience," Newman said. "The agency staff treated us like future colleagues, not like students.

"I was honored to be chosen," said Newman.

At the conference, Newman listened as keynote speaker Laurie Coots, chief marketing officer for ad agency TBWA/ Worldwide, shared tips with graduating seniors about breaking into the advertising industry. Newman also sat in on several specialized workshops, including "How to Land Your First Job in Advertising," led by Toni Thompson, director of recruitment for ad agency McCann Erickson in New York. Students were also treated to a screening of winning commercials from among this year's Cannes advertising awards festival.

"I had a lot of fun at the AWNY Conference," declared Newman. "It was awesome. Just hearing stories from people in the industry and getting to know what agencies are looking for. I now feel so much more confident that advertising is the field I want to go into."