Baruch College students unfamiliar with the college’s chapter of the American Marketing Association may think the club is solely for aspiring marketers who want to develop their careers.

As AMA President Meilly Cen Mo told The Ticker, the club’s mission is to shape “today’s students into tomorrow’s markets” through hands-on workshops and networking opportunities with industry professionals, whether at guest speaker events or workplace field trips.

Since the fall 2015 semester, the club has accepted students from all majors into its diverse and vibrant community to learn and socialize with peers.

“We were kind of perceived to be more professional,” Cen Mo said. “Some students, they look at our profile, and they’re like, ‘Oh, I like this — all of these pictures — but it might be too professional, so that kind of scares them. This semester, since everything can be back in person, let’s do a mix of social and professional.”

Since the campus eased restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, AMA members tried to rebrand the club and promote it through tabling sessions, in-person events and club fairs.

To their success, this semester the club surpassed 1,000 followers on its Instagram account, which Creative Director Bryan Farez says is AMA’s main communication channel.

Students do not need to interview or wear suits and ties to join AMA. Aside from members-only events, students don’t need to be club members to attend events. They also don’t have to be a marketing major.

Case in point, Baruch senior Keithlum Collins-Moss majors in communications. He became interested in the AMA after attending a club fair and currently serves as its vice president. He says that even though he knows “nothing about marketing,” he is “still learning as [he] goes.”

AMA Secretary Vasiliki Krommyda added that the skills the club helps students develop apply to everyone.

“You need to sell yourself,” Krommyda said. “You need to sell your abilities and be able to market yourself in order for an employer to consider you for that position. No matter what your background is, those are skills you need and we provide that help, along with fun other events.”

While the club does a lot to advertise itself and what it offers, AMA is not the only club related to the marketing profession. It competes with Marketers of Baruch, which it collaborated with for an Oct. 25 event where students created their own advertisements.

In addition to AMA’s member diversity, Analytics Director Rishi Gill argues that its consistency in holding guest speaker events helps it stand out. He added that these are guests who “people can actually connect with rather than just learning about theoretical stuff in college classes.”

So far, the club has held four guest speaker events with professionals from a range of industries, from e.l.f. Cosmetics to TikTok.

Collins-Moss also said that AMA’s guest speakers stay transparent about pursuing their work.

He spoke of one professional who gave “honest and real” insight regarding his decision to leave his dream job, adding that other clubs’ guest speakers “probably would have sugarcoated it.”

The club also offers students free membership with its parent organization and the perks that come with it. It also participates in national case competitions against other collegiate chapters.

AMA members like Cen Mo credit the bonds within the club for personal growth. She says,“doing a lot of things here and meeting new people” helped her with “stepping out of [her] comfort zone.”

For Farez, it was “a change to actually have stuff to do at school outside of just studying and class,” not to mention the fun in the club’s off-campus hangouts.

The club’s executive board members, mostly seniors, will enjoy as much as they can this academic year. Some joined during their junior year, while some will graduate in less than two months.

“People don’t find out about these things until they’re in junior or senior year, so our goal is to get more freshmen,” Collins-Moss said. “We’ve got more freshmen in our club, so that’s a great thing because they can grow from the very beginning and have multiple semesters to go, rather than just sort of settling on a two or one semester.”

AMA members look forward to the rest of the semester, including another guest speaker event with representatives from The Advertising Council on Nov. 17 and a “Friendsgiving” social event on Nov. 22. Students may keep up on the club’s “AMA-zing” events on its social media

“You don’t want to feel like you’re walking into a classroom where you learn this and this,” Krommyda said. “We keep it real, and you get to see the fun part of it.”