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Every great idea, service, or product is pointless without the right means to reach potential customers. The link to consumers lies in marketing and, in today’s increasingly technology driven world, that means digital marketing. On Saturday, April 23, the �԰����� chapter of Alpha Kappa Psi, the professional business fraternity, and the Digital Creative Institute () will host a digital marketing hackathon in the �԰����� Fiesta Room. The free, daylong initiative provides participants with hands-on experience in key marketing technologies utilized daily in the modern digital marketing landscape. The event will take place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Hackathon participants will attend six skills sessions that will allow them, by day’s end, to create a marketing campaign for a real-life company. Sessions include topics such as developing an integrated digital campaign strategy, understanding buyer persona and goals, building a promotion strategy, pitching to a client, and more. Technologies explored during the hackathon include Google Analytics and AdWords, the HubSpot marketing platform, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.

Shivali Kansagra ’18, the Alpha Kappa Psi service chair, helped bring the hackathon to �԰����� as a service event for her organization. She says that digital marketing is applicable to students of all majors and looks forward to welcoming local companies to campus.

“Traditionally, hackathons have only been popular for computer science,” Kansagra says, “but I know that the idea [of a marketing hackathon] is something people can get behind because these are skills that everyone really needs.” 

Victor Vo ’15 is a marketing operations specialist at DCI and says his company is proud to bring the hackathon to �԰����� because of DCI’s commitment to developing the next generation of talent. Brad Voeller, the company’s founder, will be a session instructor, along with Sara Helmy, CEO and founder of Tribu Marketing, and Ryan Kelly, founder of Pear Analytics. Other participating companies include Sirius Computer Solutions, Rising Barn, and Venture Lab. , a business administration major from Amarillo, Texas, says digital marketing is a field that allows for a wide variety of work, from content development to copywriting to data analytics.

This hackathon, only the second digital marketing hackathon in the world, is meant to allow �԰����� students to build work experience and to connect them with mentors in the local startup community. After a successful hackathon at UT Austin, Vo says he knew �԰����� was the perfect place to grow the series.

“DCI wants to raise the whole idea of apprenticeship and for students to seize every opportunity given to them,” Vo says. “This event will bring people together and students will be able to grow their professional networks.”

Kansagra, a business analytics and technology major from Raleigh, N.C., reiterates that the hackathon is open to anyone who is interested in learning new skills. She says the event is free because Alpha Kappa Psi and DCI want a true exchange of ideas and skills. For more information about the event, she invites students to visit their ���貹����.