UMaine Business School Team Named National Competition Semifinalist
Contact: Omar Khan, 581- 1949; George Manlove, 581-3756
Local students on successful business marketing team
(Students listed in this news release are from Farmingdale, Farmington, Lebanon, Orrington, Rockland, Wells and Winslow, Maine, and Ankara, Turkey.)
ORONO — The UMaine student chapter of the American Marketing Association has been named one of eight semifinalist teams in one of the nation’s most prestigious college business presentation competitions.
In their second year entering the national McGraw-Hill Higher Education Case Competition, and just three years after the revitalization of the UMaine AMA chapter, members of the case analysis and competition team were among 16 finalists or semifinalists selected in December to receive honors at the AMA international conference April 3 in New Orleans.
The case competition involved students from more than 60 of the country’s top business schools analyzing a hypothetical business marketing dilemma and proposing marketing strategies. The case under consideration was to develop a marketing plan for a book publisher trying to market its products and services on the Internet.
The Maine Business School students proposed a realistic model that included “some very creative avenues,” says Omar Khan, an assistant professor of marketing and chapter advisor. “They actually had this idea for an application that heightened the interactivity among the students, the professors and the book publisher.”
Team members are: Morgan Bickford of Lebanon, Maine, chair of the case competition team, and Bethany Brown of Farmington; Heather Conary of Orrington, Joshua Lagasse of Wells; Bethany Mealey of Farmingdale; Emin Okutan of Ankara, Turkey; Julie Salvato of Winslow and Amy Shepard of Rockland.
“The feedback has been very positive,” Khan says. “The faculty and administration are very proud of them. It’s only their second year in the case competition and they’ve already made semifinalist. Things will only get better.”
Competition organizers — which include business school faculty members from around the country — said they had the largest number of case submissions ever this year.
In New Orleans, the eight semifinalist teams will receive award plaques. The eight finalists will be narrowed in a follow-up contest to one winner. Khan says that, in addition to the case competition finals in April, teams will be judged in other competitive areas. The UMaine chapter also is a contender in these other areas.
At the same national conference two years ago, the UMaine AMA chapter received an Outstanding Community Service award and a Best Revitalized Chapter award, recognizing the resurgence of the group as a whole and the services it provides to the surrounding communities in the Orono area. More than 140 chapters competed for awards that year, and this year an even larger number of chapters are expected to compete at the nationals.
Case competition finalists this year included teams from Loyola University-New Orleans, Southern Connecticut State University, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, Texas State University-San Marcos, University of Nevada-Las Vegas, University of Pennsylvania (Wharton), University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and Western Michigan University.
In addition to UMaine, semi-finalists included Harding University, Kent State University, Northwood University, Rhode Island College, Salve Regina University, University of Cincinnati and the University of Utah.
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