Jennifer Ruisaard
Staff Writer
Students interested in advertising got a chance to interact with media company representatives at Diversity Career Day Friday.
Ad2 Houston's Education and Diversity committee and its co-sponsors, the UH Communication Alumni Organization and the Houston Chronicle, promoted diversity needed within advertising and media companies.
The Education and Diversity committee is part of The Houston Advertising Federation, a local chapter of the American Advertising Federation. The committee has worked toward helping to educate young advertising professionals since the early '70s.
"I think the most important goal of this committee is to educate students about job opportunities that exist in the advertising community and to educate ad agencies and other media companies about the need for diversity within their businesses," said Loida Casares Ruiz, education/diversity chair.
Ad2 Diversity Career Day brought 14 different advertising, placement and media companies to UH including the Houston Chronicle, UPN 20, Compaq Center, Leisure Management International, McCann-Erickson Southwest, Houston Creative Connection Inc. and Advertemps.
Guest speaker Amy Morrison, president of Advertemps, spoke on how to develop effective interviewing skills.
A panel of speakers discussed their experiences on advertising and how they had advanced in their companies.
"Businesses know they have to do this, but they don't have a way to get to students," said Casares Ruiz.
"By having a fair, (Ad2 Houston) brings the students to us and the companies to the students."