MeganMiles

Megan Miles, winner of the 2009 Swain Scholarship.



DMAW Educational Foundation
by Chris Gleason


DMAW~EF Board member Chris Gleason thought readers would be interested to hear what DMAW-EF's Swain Scholarship winners are up to since graduation. Here, Chris catches up with Megan Miles.

Megan Miles, the 2009 recipient of the John Swain Memorial Direct & Interactive Marketing Scholarship, credits the real-world experience she received in her marketing courses at Christopher Newport University for helping to prepare for her future career.

In addition to winning the Swain award, Megan was a member of the CNU team led by Dr. Lisa Spiller that took home the first-place Gold Award in this year's DMAW~EF Collegiate MAXI competition. The MAXI challenge in 2009, sponsored by Scholastic Inc., was designed to increase awareness of Study Jams!, an elementary school online program. The challenge required student teams to create a marketing plan that incorporated both direct and interactive distribution channels. Pat Silver, president of Silver Marketing, Inc., who headed the Collegiate MAXI judging team said Megan's four-student team produced "far and away the most impressive one from a wide range of great entries. They had extensive research, as well as unique creativity."

Megan currently is attending the University of Richmond School of Law and hopes to eventually work as a corporate attorney. Still, she said it was Dr. Spiller's CNU Marketing Capstone course that sparked an enduring interest in direct marketing.

The class was unique in that Spiller brought business professionals into the classroom to present students with real-world marketing challenges. Working in teams, the students devised workable, measurable marketing solutions that were presented to those visiting "clients" for comment and feedback.

"All of the real-world professional experience gained from that course gave me the experience of being a professional in the marketing profession with time limits, a 'boss,' and serious professional requirements," Megan said.

After law school, Megan says she'd like to remain involved in the direct marketing world and be a contributing member of DMAW. "The student direct marketing group at CNU was an invaluable organization that allowed me awesome networking opportunities through networking receptions and direct marketing speakers from the VA-DC area."

And although she's not currently in the market for a job, Megan listed the skills she considers essential for any new direct marketing hire. "I believe computer skills are critical to direct marketing today. Direct marketing professionals must have competencies in online networking, electronic communications, electronic presentations and proposals, and computer design for marketing materials. This may be a great reason why recent college graduates are a great investment for direct marketers that are hiring."

And of course, Megan notes that there's just no substitute for experience: "Straight As in a program in which there was little-to-no real-world experience, in my opinion, is worth much less than the real-world experience I gained at CNU."

Anybody out there looking for a direct marketing attorney? Megan could be just the right pick!
 
 
Chris Gleason, new to the DMAW Educational Foundation board of directors, is president of Servant Marketing Group in Leesburg, VA. Reach Chris at 703-581-5579, 703-771-0266 or directmailer@gmail.com.