There are many student-run clubs at Parkland College that the majority of the students do not know much about; The Prospectus being one of them. However, our college offers an array of clubs and groups that are meant to give students unique and beneficial experiences related to their chosen career path.
A good example of this is the Applied Media Promotions Club (AMP), which faculty advisor Kendra McClure explains as operating “like a PR/advertising firm.” McClure, who partially founded the club in 2014, explained that the group designs ways to help local nonprofits promote themselves to the community. AMP does this free of charge, but they are getting paid in something else: experience in the field.
Something like AMP is not very common for two-year schools, but very common for four-year schools. Parkland offering this club gives an advantage to members, as they get “the opportunity to gain hands-on experience early in their academic career,” according to McClure. Employers want experience that shows that an individual has been in marketing; AMP does exactly that.
AMP works with one non-profit per semester; with this semester’s being The Idea Store, located in Lincoln Square Mall, “is a welcoming place for artists, teachers, and other community members,” according to Annie McManus, a psychology professor at Parkland College.
As well as being a professor, McManus is the President of the Board at The Idea Store. She functioned as the connection between AMP and the store. Her duties as President of the Board include: “working in the store,” as well as “design[ing] and teach[ing] classes,” and “talk[ing] about the store at various community events.”
The Idea Store exclusively sells items that have been donated, keeping more materials from being thrown away, “64,000 pounds of items” in the last year, to be exact, according to McManus.
AMP reached out to the Idea Store, due to learning what they do as well as their values, according to McClure. “It was an opportunity to work with a student group from Parkland,” said McManus when asked about the decision to say yes to working with AMP. Additionally, McManus thought it might be a good decision for fresh eyes to look over their work and suggest changes when it comes to marketing.
Brianna Manuel, a student in the AMP group, explained that the first thing AMP did was ask The Idea Store what they wanted the future of their store to be and how they wanted AMP to help. Then, AMP made a list of possible changes and or goals for the store to use now and in the future.
Cameron Endsley, who is also a member of AMP, further explained that AMP also comes up with and provides future goals, so changes “can be taken farther than just the time that we’ve gotten to work with them.” Manuel says that their goals for The Idea Store were to get them more volunteers and customers, and to clearly state that the store’s goal is to help the community environmentally.
According to Alydiah Kim, another member of AMP, they have implemented things to reach that goal, some of which include “…creating social media content, spreading awareness for upcoming events like the Jewelry Jackpot, and designing volunteer recruitment posters.”
Working with AMP gives students real-world experience in the marketing/advertising career field. Not many community colleges can give that advantage, so if you want to gain experience and set yourself apart, join today by emailing Kendra McClure at kmcclure@parkland.edu or emailing amp@parkland.edu for more information.
