Reviving the CCNY Chapter of the American Advertising Federation
Student Club Relaunches Virtually, Builds Real Experience & Momentum
Ad/PR student life has regained a new source of excitement, as the CCNY student chapter of the American Advertising Federation - or AAF for short - has been resurrected.
Thanks to the combined efforts of former Ad/PR student turned Ad/PR Professor, Javier Garcia, Ad/PR student leaders Monique Carchi, Francini Balbuena, Dakota Medina and Pravita Sunar, and Fall ‘20 Ad/PR alums Edgar Pena and Isabella Santana, the club has risen from the ashes to achieve a remarkable list of achievements over the course of the academic year.
Early efforts to resurrect the CCNY AAF started to build momentum early in the Spring 2020 semester, but the spread of COVID-19 and the shift to distance learning put the effort on hold. The snowball effort began to gain momentum during the Fall of 2020 when Ad/PR alumnus Edgar (“Eggie”) Pena pitched the idea of launching a podcast as part of the core club experience. After publishing an open call to students, the club organically attracted a trifecta of Media & Communication Arts excellence: students representing all three disciplines of the MCA program - Advertising & PR, Film and Journalism - came together with the shared mission of launching the first season of the student-led and student-produced podcast “Where We Fit” at the close of the Fall 2020 semester.
The CCNY AAF’s momentum accelerated going into the Spring 2021 semester, thanks to the club’s newly elected student leadership team of President Monique Carchi, Vice President Francini Balbuena, Secretary & Operations Manager Dakota Medina and Treasurer & Project Manager Pravita Sunar. Major milestones achieved by the CCNY AAF over the course of the Spring 2021 semester include production of season 2 of the “Where We Fit” podcast and hosting/co-hosting a handful of events including a virtual alumni networking event featuring CCNY Ad/PR all-stars Isabella Santana ‘20, Eli Joseph ‘20, and Edgar Pena ‘20, and the CCNY AAF’s flagship Lunch with Leaders series, featuring award-winning marketing legend Antonio Lucio, who held Chief Marketing Officer roles at Facebook, Hewlett Packard Inc, and Visa, and served as the Chief Innovation and Portfolio Transformation Officer for PepsiCo Inc. The CCNY AAF also achieved major administrative milestones, such as reestablishing the CCNY AAF’s status as an official student club, reestablishing the club’s relationship with the AAF national organization, and having seven active student members inducted into the AAF national’s Alpha Delta Sigma honors society for outstanding academic achievement and securing a GPA of 3.5 or across all of their academic and advertising-related coursework.
The CCNY AAF is poised to continue its success going into the Fall 2021 - Spring 2022 semester - and they need YOU.
To learn more, join, or partner with the CCNY AAF:
Visit the official CCNY AAF Website at https://ccnyaaf.weebly.com/
Follow the CCNY AAF on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/aafcitycollege/
Email the CCNY AAF Executive Board at aaf.ccny@gmail.com
Contact Professor Javier Garcia at garcia.javier@gmail.com
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