Rosemont Students Place Third in Statewide Direct Effect Business Competition
Congratulations to Tyler Howard, Kendyll Strohl, and Sean Milelli, for placing third in this year’s Statewide DEIC 2023 Direct Effect Innovation Challenge!
Rosemont’s team presented on Nov. 17 in the final round in front of a panel of industry professionals at the Pennsylvania State Capitol Complex in Harrisburg, PA.
Annual Competition Highlights Marketing Skills of PA College Students
America250PA, the PA Semiquincentennial Commission to celebrate the 250th Anniversary of the United States of America, hosts the annual Direct Effect™ Innovation Challenge (DEIC). The multi-round competition challenges students from postsecondary institutions across the Commonwealth to design and develop integrated marketing campaigns that explore solutions to real-life challenges and questions and specifically to explore methods to engage all Pennsylvanians in activities related to the semiquincentennial. This is the fifth year that Rosemont has participated in the competition.
Christine Hagedorn, chair of the business department, served as faculty advisor to the students.
“I had the joy of witnessing how our three students worked together over many weeks to produce an integrated marketing campaign that was well planned, creative, realistic and professional and met all the requirements for the competition rubric,” said Professor Hagedorn. “And they did this as volunteers, on their own time. What started as a class project spanned beyond the end of the class. Our students were not graded for this, they did it for the joy of having a new learning and personal growth experience.”
Kendyll Strohl, a junior accounting and finance major, learned a lot about networking.
“I enjoyed getting to network with the people and companies that were able to come to the final round,” she said. “The whole experience was an amazing way to get my name out into the world and meet new people. I learned that the uncomfortable leaps are the leaps that need to be taken.”
Pictured above: Left to right – Kendyll Strohl, Professor Hagedorn, Tyler Howard, and Sean Milelli.
The 2023 DEIC consisted of three rounds: a campus round, a virtual second round, and in-person final round at the Pennsylvania State Capitol Complex in Harrisburg, PA. This year’s theme, “Diverse Stories. Unique Communities. ONE Pennsylvania,” challenged students to design and pitch original integrated marketing campaigns that showcase diverse stories and unique communities in the Commonwealth and aid in America250PA’s mission of engaging “every Pennsylvanian” in “every county.”
“I enjoyed getting to travel to the state capital and represent our college through our project that we spent almost three months on,” said Sean Milelli, a junior business management major. “It was exciting to speak in front of America250PA and compete against other colleges with our proposed ideas. I learned a lot through this experience – not just about the marketing efforts behind our event but also about the state of Pennsylvania since I am originally from New Jersey.”
Rosemont is an important supporter of America250PA with three full-time staff members who are Rosemont alums as well as several student interns.
Watch the broadcast of the finals challenge online.
