Marketing student in selective workshop

Kimberly Crunden, MA ’14, on right, with Ashley Jenkins, a student at Virginia Commonwealth University, and Kirsten Thieman, of Radford University, at the Martin Agency Workshop in Virginia in January 2014. (Courtesy Photo)

Kimberly Crunden, MA ’14, a Global Marketing Communication and Advertising major, recently attended the 10-day Martin Agency Workshop in Richmond, Virginia. Crunden was one of 20 students from across the country selected to attend this month.

The workshop was essentially a crash course in advertising, according to the agency’s website. Participants were placed in teams that designed, developed, and presented an integrated advertising campaign to a live client within 10 days.

Crunden is not allowed to reveal the name of the client she worked for. But previous clients in the workshop include American Cancer Society, BF Goodrich, Discover, Expedia, GEICO, Microsoft, Pizza Hut, and Walmart.

“The main reason we were there was to have hands-on experience planning and executing an advertising campaign from start to finish,” said Crunden, who worked as an account manager in the workshop and called it “an incredible experience.”

“The workshop gave me the chance to see the good, the bad, and the exhausting parts of the advertising industry,” she said, “and I wouldn’t change any of it!”