American Academy of Advertising's (AAA) 2009 Annual Conference was held March 26-29 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The pre-conference session, entitled The Future of Advertising Education took place on March 26th. Topics covered during the session include predictions for the future of advertising education, media, research, account planning, creative strategies, advertising and society, and advertising education. There were 18 participants from 13 universities representing a wide spectrum of opinions.
The pre-conference topics provide a significant opportunity to discuss and think collectively with other influential minds in advertising education. "Aligning advertising education with a constantly changing media landscape, uncertain economic conditions, and evolving consumer culture is a daunting task. Unfortunately, we rarely would have the opportunity to exchange ideas and explore options with other educators" says Wei-Na Lee, UT professor. "Participating in this daylong session was quite a treat. Although we don't have answers to everything, I think just the opportunity to think out loud collectively is rejuvenating."
Not only was the conference a great opportunity for faculty from different schools to connect, it also provides doctoral students a chance to meet the other individuals who will lead the future of advertising education. "This was my second AAA's conference, and this experience was even better than my first since I was able to share it with so many of my fellow students who were there for the first time" says Jennifer Ball, a Texas PhD student. "I think about how fun it will be in the future when we're all professors and each conference is a reunion!"
The speakers represented many schools from across the country. However, there were an impressive number of speakers who came from the University of Texas to share their expertise and views with the conference. Out of all the sessions, 20% were lead by UT speakers.
In addition, a large number of attendees from other universities, including University of Florida, University of Georgia, Alabama, University of Miami, and Southern Methodist University, are alums of UT's Advertising program. The overwhelming UT presence highlights the emphasis placed on research in the doctoral education program.
The first official conference session began on the morning of March 27th with UT's own Nam-Hyun Um, covering attitudes and perceptions toward advertising. Some topics covered in the conference where UT speakers shared their expertise:
Educating and impacting Generation "Y"
Consumer's trust and use of direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising
Advertising, Culture, and Consumer Behavior
Global and International Perspectives on Consumers and Advertising
Gender Portrayals and Responses
Online and Interactive Advertising and Messages
The Future of Account Planning
Achieving and Extending Advertising Effectiveness
Political and Issue-related Advertising
Advertising, Social Networks and Networking
In addition to the strong UT presence at the conference, another keynote aspect was the election of UT's Wei-Na Lee to Vice President of AAA. "This is a great honor. I have been associated with AAA for over 20 years now…first as a doctoral student presenting research papers and now as a faculty bringing doctoral students to present papers at the annual conference" says Lee. "You can say that I practically grew up with the AAA. So, this is an opportunity for me to give back to the organization. I will try my best to represent the diversity of the organization's membership. I also look forward to helping organize next year's annual conference with quality papers that provide deep theoretical insights and thought provoking ideas."