MARCH 2008

(March 16, 2008 - San Marcos, Texas) The 10^th annual National Collegiate Sales Competition, which tests the sales role play skills of college students, was held March 13-16, 2008 at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia. Fifty universities and 100 students participated in the three day event. The six Texas State students attending the competition were: Angela Bertero, Chris White, Rachel Gober, Kate Batenhorst, Meggie Dominguez and Marshall Fenton.

In a double elimination tournament, one corporate buyer interacted with each student seller in a 20-minute major sale, while corporate executives and professors served as the judges. Netsuite, an online business application that has CRM, ERP and web capabilities, was the product used in the interaction.

Angela Bertero and Chris White were the participants for the Texas State team. Ms. Bertero advanced to the quarter finals and received a plaque and a $300 gift certificate towards the purchase of a custom made suit from one of the participating sponsors.

In a separate "Sales Idol" competition, Ms. Meggie Dominguez and Ms. Rachel Gober led Texas State to a first and second place finish, leading the group of competitors. This competition tested the "on the spot" selling skills in a 90 second sale. Ms. Dominquez won a GPS tracking system for her first place finish.

Ms. Bertero, the quarter finalist, stated, "The NCSC has given us the opportunity to network with not only talented students and sales professionals, but also CEOs of some of the most successful businesses in America." Ms. Dominguez said, "The NCSC was such an amazing experience. Being able to network with wonderful companies opened doors to great career opportunities. I look forward to keeping these relationships strong to benefit other Texas State students." Chris White said, "Going to the NCSC gave us all a once in a lifetime opportunity to measure our skills against some of the best students in the country. We were lucky to participate." Rachel Gober, who accepted a position with Standard Register, said, "I am just thrilled about my upcoming career with this fine company." Marshall Fenton stated, "NCSC has no doubt been the catalyst to my professional career. I received a written offer during the competition."

The sponsoring companies included: Liberty Mutual, Standard Register, NetSuite, Johnson and Johnson, ADP, State Farm, First Data, Federated Insurance; Waste Management, AT&T, EMC, Hewlett Packard, UPS, and many more. The students returned with numerous job offers.

Author: Jayme Blaschke
Date: 2005-06-09

The Texas State University-San Marcos American Advertising Federation (AAF) team took first place overall at the AAF 2005 National Student Advertising Competition held June 5-6 in Nashville, Tenn.

The Texas State AAF team received $3,500 for the first-place finish, based on an ad campaign created for Yahoo! Inc. Texas State finished ahead of ahead of second-place University of Virginia, third-place Loyola University of New Orleans and fourth-place University of California at Berkeley.

"All the NSAC campaigns were terrific, but we thought the Texas State University-San Marcos campaign was the best combination of integrated marketing and viral marketing," said Murray Gaylord, vice president brand marketing, Yahoo! Inc. "It was a big idea that would break through the clutter."

Texas State won the competition with its targeted campaign from their agency "i5 Advertising." The campaign utilized a spokesperson, Dave, who through fun and humorous antics spoke directly to the teen market. The viral component of the campaign acted to generate buzz, incorporating funny video clips, "Dave Jams Out" concerts, online contests and targeted advertising were also part of the team's creative advertising solution.

The AAF team at Texas State is jointly supported by the College of Fine Arts and Communication and the McCoy College of Business Administration. It involves a wide range of students studying advertising, marketing, public relations and communication design. The AAF team was advised by Jody Gibson, Department of Mass Communication, and Mary Ann Stutts, Department of Marketing.

"This year's AAF client, Yahoo, with its 13-17 year old target market was a fun client to work on," Stutts said. "The research showed that teenagers today are very different than teenagers in years past, and the client challenged teams across the country to come up with innovative research, media, creative and promotions to reach teens, including viral marketing.

"This year's AAF team created a fun, innovative and slightly irreverent campaign that was just a little on the edge," she said. "The team was not afraid to take a risk with 'Dave,' the spokesperson they created. The judges loved Dave and the campaign."

The competition was judged on a hypothetical ad campaign for Yahoo! Inc., including a 20-minute presentation and a 32-page campaign book outlining strategy, market research and promotional activities. Fifteen district winners and one wild card participated in the national competition.

The Texas State AAF team has advanced to nationals 10 out the last 16 years and has placed in the top six at nationals all 10 times, winning first place in 1990; second place in 2001; third place in 1993, 1999, 2003 and 2004; fourth place in 1997; fifth in 2000; and sixth in 1992.

Pictured above: John Livingston, Matt Kuhles, alternate Abby Hagemeier, Ashley Brinkman, Jennifer Whitaker and Albert Nance.  Other team members include: Heather Young, Media Director; Lorayne Bond, Promotions/PR Director; Karie Gilliland, Janet Okoro, Mark Tidwell and Brian Weber, Promotions/PR; Cindy Grove and Mike Rohal, Creative; Lacey Edgar, Account Planning Director; Carolin Mendez, Yuri Han and Melissa Pursley, Account Planning; and Rebecca Barbour, Production.

MAY 2005

MCCOY COLLEGE OF BUSINESS DEAN WINS NATIONAL AWARD

AT STUDENTS IN FREE ENTERPRISE NATIONAL COMPETITION

 (Kansas City, Mo. – May 25^th, 2005) 

The Texas State University Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team placed in the top 20 teams in the United States for the ninth straight year, this year ranking as first runner-up in the semi-final round.  Four teams would be in fifth place overall in the competition, including Texas State University.   Over 180 SIFE teams from across the nation competed May 22^nd-24^th at the 2005 SIFE USA National Exposition after winning in their respective regional competitions.  Drury University won 1^st place in the audio-visual presentation, University of Arizona won 2^nd place, followed by Valdosta State and Flagler College.   

 One of the highlights of the competition was the recognition of Dr. Denise Smart, Dean of the McCoy College of Business, as the “Most Supportive Dean in America.” It was indeed a well-deserved honor and the Texas State University SIFE students and Sam Walton Fellow in Free Enterprise, Vicki West, were extremely pleased Dean Smart was selected.  Fortune 500 executives who sit on the SIFE national board of directors made the selection. 

 In the Individual Topic competition category, which measures the content of each university’s program, Texas State was the top winner again this year.    In 2004-2005, there were five competitions which describe the details of each team’s most important projects.  Texas State University was named a finalist earlier in the spring at the regional competition.     On Sunday, May 22^nd, the top three winners are announced, and Texas State was the only university to win both a first place and a second place award, and remained the top prize winner again this year.

1^st place – Polsky Personal Investing to Achieve Financial Independence

2^nd place – National Business Ethics Month

 Details of these competitions are available upon request.  Texas State is widely recognized for the depth and detail of its educational outreach projects.  They will be available on-line at www.sife.org in late June.

 In additional to competition, Texas State SIFE students had the opportunity to interview for jobs and internships from Fortune 500 companies, many receiving multiple offers.  The Texas State students have had a great deal of success at the national career fair and more than 35 former students are employed throughout the country as a result of their involvement with the organization. 

SIFE is a non-profit organization active on more than 1800 college and university campuses in 40 countries.  SIFE works in partnership with business and higher education to provide students the opportunity to make a difference and to develop leadership, teamwork and communication skills through learning, practicing and teaching the principles of free enterprise. 

For more information, contact:  Vicki West at 512-245-3224 or vw03@txstate.edu; President Adam Hughes at 512-665-2980 or stewhughes83@yahoo.com; President-elect Stefanie Garrott at 830-708-2214 or sg1074@txstate.edu. The Texas State University website is:  www.texasstatesife.org.  Michelle West, Director of Public & Media Relations at SIFE World Headquarters may be reached at 417-575-3517 or visit www.SIFE.org.

MARCH 2005

TEXAS STATE RECEIVES HONORS AT NATIONAL COLLEGIATE SALES COMPETITION

 Seventy-six students from thirty-eight universities around the country participated March 17-20, 2005 in an invitational tournament in Atlanta, Georgia to compete for awards in “role-play” corporate selling. There were two rounds of competition, the first for the sale of a product, ACT! 6 customer relationship management software, and the second for the sale of a service which was United Parcel Service (UPS).  

Students representing the competition for Texas State University were Tiffany Houston, Jake Walton, Jeremy Krenek and Tamara Dyess (pictured above).  Ms. Houston and Mr. Walton were the presenters. 

Individual scores for all seventy-six students were tallied at the end of the first round of the product category, and Tiffany Houston was in the top 10 students in the competition.  After the second round, both Jake Walton and Tiffany Houston combined their scores to place Texas State University in the top six teams in the United States.  Only the top 10 teams are given awards, along with the individual winners. 

The awards system is set up in the following manner:

            *3 awards for Best Product – Act!6 Software

            *3 awards for Best Service  - United Parcel Service (UPS)

            *10 awards for Best Team Performance selling both the product and the service, combining the scores of both students from each of the universities

            *3 overall awards in the Championship round – representing the top three students at the competition

The results for Texas State University students were very impressive.  Out of a field of seventy-six students and thirty eight universities, Texas State University placed in the top six teams in the United States. 

When asked about their impressions of the National Collegiate Sales Competition, Mr.  Walton said, “our continued success illustrates that Texas State University is beginning to change and grow, allowing us to participate very competitively with leading universities in professional selling.”  Mr. Krenek stated, “It was an excellent opportunity to meet with companies who do not normally recruit employees without formal sales experience.”  Ms. Dyess mentioned that NCSC was an experience of a lifetime enabling us to interview with prestigious companies worldwide.  It also gave us the chance to compete with top universities from around the nation.