Imagine having the opportunity to participate in 11 weeks of Marketing Seminar Series, where you can learn from so many different areas of marketing. Thanks to Wendy Greenwood, I had the pleasure to immerse myself in this experience. This seminar was informative and an amazing opportunity to open my mind to all aspects of digital marketing.
During the past 11 weeks, we had the opportunity to interview the following great names in marketing:
- Blair Roebuck Vice President, Marketing Science Valtech
- Stephanie Lee Assistant Media Planner, Wavemaker Canada
- PAUL MICHEL Senior Manager, Performance Marketing Harry Rosen
- Gar Concannon Senior Customer Success Manager, Hootsuite
- Caroline A. Berryman, CMMP Manager, Departmental Communications, Strategic Initiatives & Programs Transportation Operations Public Works The Regional Municipality of York
- Ashley Walsh Account Director North Strategic
- Lia Grimberg Divisional VP, Customer Marketing The Bay
- Jennifer Stoll VP, Strategy Valtech
- Cathy McKnight VP Strategy and Consulting The Content Advisory
- Steven Tran Account Director The Aber Group
- Jennifer Melton Group Account Director, Search Saatchi & Saatchi
During the seminar, we were given case studies as an opportunity to explore and discuss new scenarios and challenges in a specific area of marketing. Moreover, we discussed the challenges and opportunities in every aspect of the career.
Caroline A. Berryman was a great inspiration to learn more about Marketing in the public sector. I have never had the opportunity to discuss this topic before and always wondered how the process was to have a project approved in the public sector and how the campaigns were managed internally. The other interesting and challenging point of marketing in the public sector is that your target audience is geographically the same but demographically different and it would include everyone in that designed area and it would require different formats of campaigns for each demographic group.
I had the opportunity to connect through LinkedIn with most of the guests such as Caroline Berryman, Blair Roebuck, Paul Michael, Gar Concannon and others. As Porter Gale said, “Your network is your net worth”.
The most important thing to learn is that there is always so much more to learn. Marketing is always changing in concepts, technology, and relevance. It is a trend that you need to follow, keep updated, talk about, use social chats and network. It is a constant learning process, and it changes faster than any other career.
Network and Resources:
Which career do you want to pursue in Marketing?
To get the best out of your career you need to understand which field of marketing you would like to work in. So many options to choose from, analytics, creation, social, public sector, search engine optimization, etc.
– Publicis
I had the amazing opportunity to network with Alister Adams the Digital Manager and Chief Digital Officer from Publicis and Jessica Balter Analytics Manager. It was an incredible experience. Alister invited us for a meeting to present the agency and clarify all our questions. During the meeting, we had the chance to understand their process, policies and their team including the HR team which spoke about the open opportunities that they have and how to apply.
– Collision Conference
Collision was the best event for Marketing and Technology that I visited this year. The collision Conference took place in Toronto from Jun 20 to Jun 23. The event brings together the “world’s best speakers, tech’s leading companies and top media in North America\”. The connections start with their App where you can scan a QR code and add the contact to your network which had led to many LinkedIn contacts as well. The event was so rich in information, innovation, and connections. In 2023 the event is scheduled to take place at Enercare Centre from Jun 19 to Jun 22 in Toronto.
– Marketing Groups to Join
Another effective way to network is through groups. I joined many groups to keep me updated and learning. I would recommend some groups to join in from different platforms. On LinkedIn for example there are many options to join groups for marketing and I recommend following hashtags, you can follow brands like Hootsuite and Canva. Twitter is another tool to keep updated and participate in social chats. On Facebook and Instagram, you can follow brands like Canva, Adobe Creator and others. It will always have free courses that the brands host online or new features that they launch.
Job Search resources in Marketing
In my opinion, LinkedIn has been the most successful job search option. I recommend learning everything about the company before applying. On LinkedIn, you can also directly contact someone that works at the company and get all the information that you need. As a secondary source, I would recommend Indeed which is also a great tool with more limited features but also a variety of options. If you are using Indeed. Always remember that more important than to know if you are a good fit for the company is to know if the company is a good fit for you.
If you are A GBC student and looking for a co-op, I would suggest using the college resource to find your opportunity. In my case, I opted for StartCBG.
Roberta Pelucio
