QMAC Experience 2017

Lily Du

In a nutshell, my experience at QMAC 2017 was eye-opening. As an external

delegate and QMAC first-timer, I truly had no idea of what to expect. Something I

noticed right off the bat was the amount of pure, contagious, energy in the room

stemming from evidently passionate students that had a genuine enthusiasm for

marketing. I believe that QMAC creates an atmosphere that is impossible to replicate to

the same scale on the west coast. Although I was weary of the fatigue I would

experience, every day of the conference started off with pure excitement. The speakers

and sponsors were top-notch, and were able to effectively deliver valuable industry

insights to each delegate. The networking experience at the conference in itself was

invaluable, as it created opportunities that are simply not present in Vancouver. I was

able to meet representatives from well known companies including Pepsico, MARS,

Unilever, Smuckers, Johnson&Johnson, etc., and gain knowledge from their

experiences in the marketing industry.

My favourite part of the conference was the mini-challenge competition where we

were assigned random groups and had to create marketing campaigns that were

presented to the executives of the respective companies. The cases were challenging,

thought-provoking, and allowed me to meet students from eastern schools. It was

definitely interesting to collaborate with students from other schools because I feel as if

they provided different and creative perspectives to the assignments that allowed us to

do well. Ultimately, I have endless positive things to say about QMAC 2017. This

conference opened my eyes to the realm of possibilities beyond Vancouver, and to what

it takes to reach new heights. If given the opportunity, I would definitely attend again

and I highly recommend it to anybody interested in marketing.