IvaLea Packee is a senior studying accounting who plans to graduate in 2023. She shared about her recent trip to New York City, supported by the Associated Students of Business student organization and the National Millennial and Gen Z Community.

When I sat down to write this blog post, I couldn’t focus on only a few companies because it was all so amazing! Hopefully, this day-by-day summary of my trip will offer a taste of this experience. I went to New York with the mindset of being a sponge, and I absorbed an incredible amount of information. The National Millennial and Gen Z Community put together a wonderful trip, and I couldn’t have asked for a better first experience.

Day One

I landed at JFK Airport and hit the ground running! We spent the day touring downtown New York, starting at Grand Central Station and walking down 5th Avenue, ending at Time Square for the Broadway musical Hadestown. After a fabulous show, we shared our first meal together at Carmine’s, where I got to know my roommate and the rest of the people I would share three busy days with.

Day Two

We started the morning off nice and early, with breakfast at 6:30 a.m. Our first stop was at ANA Educational Foundation, where we learned about diversity, equity, and inclusion training. This exercise was an eye-opening look at how students view diversity in their lives.

Our second stop was at R/GA, where we toured their amazing creative space. They have been marketing for Air Jordan since the 90s, and we got to view the entire collection. After a working lunch, we moved to our next stop.

Next, we visited McCann Worldgroup, where we signed non-disclosure agreements so we could work on an actual client account. Let’s just say, the beauty industry is working on a more inclusive change!

Lastly, and my favorite visit of the day, was Neilson. As an accounting student, I love to see how numbers flow, and experiencing a data collection company was incredible! I learned a lot about how Neilson uses data to help streaming services provide a better experience for their viewers.

We ended the night with a surprise. We thought we were going to get pizza, but when we arrived at our location, we were greeted by chefs ready to teach us how to make New York street tacos.

Day Three 

Tuesday morning, we started off with an adventure! Our bus driver got stuck downtown due to the United Nations meeting, so we took the subway to our first destination. While we were on the subway, a mariachi band joined us and started playing!

Our first stop was Deutsch, where we made a marketing pitch for a national bank about how they could integrate a “buy now, pay later” service. It was interesting to see what target markets each group chose for their pitch. Across the board, everyone agreed that the bank needed to use social media to reach all audiences.

We made our way from Deutsch to Padilla, which was on the 48th floor of World Trade Center 4. This was the most fun we had at any of our stops. We started by giving our input on some concerns their clients had, which was eye-opening. A lot of manufacturing companies are curious about how millennials and gen z view their industry and how they can make it more marketable. After sharing our feedback, we got a quick social media crash course and used one of their clients (Dole) to make a social media post. After our pictures were taken, we got to enjoy the props!

Our last stop for the day was a networking event with the New York Ad Club. It was incredible to hear from top management and big names in the advertising and PR world. This was a networking social that ended with a panel discussion.

We wrapped up the evening with an incredible dinner at Butter, where Food Network star Chef Alex Guarnaschelli is the head chef and owner. The food was amazing, and we had three wonderful guests, including Mary Ho, president of the China Millennium Council.

Day Four - Last Day! 

Day four was all about the arts and museums! After checking out of the hotel, we all went to the Museum of Modern Art. A museum scavenger hunt had been set up for us, which helped us make it through the entire museum in an hour and a half. Each question was a puzzle we had to solve by looking at the art or the artwork description. Making our way from gallery to gallery was fascinating, and I am convinced I could spend a week there and never see it all!

Our final stop as a group was the Museum of Public Relations where we met the founder and CEO, Shelley Spector. This museum holds 5,000 artifacts and is a non-profit organization. We wrapped up our visit with pizza and goodbyes before everyone left for the airport.

My Biggest Takeaway

Living in Alaska, I sometimes forget about the size of the problems experienced in the continental U.S. In Alaska, the pandemic was easier to navigate with the tremendous amount of outside space and our smaller population. It wasn’t until I was on the ground in New York City that I fully grasped how difficult the pandemic must have been for people in big cities. While I might pass around 20 people when out for an hour's walk, I would pass hundreds in the city. Due to the pandemic, I also noticed how technologically advanced New York is compared to Fairbanks. Everywhere we went offered some sort of contact-less payment option. In contrast, tap payment is only recently making its way into the everyday payment systems in Fairbanks.

Alaska has a lot of military personnel and families that move here, so our population is very diverse. Growing up in Fairbanks, it was common for me to meet people from all walks of life. Some of the students I talked with had very different experiences with diversity, and it was eye-opening listening to their stories. Diving deep into topics like DEI helped me gain a greater understanding of the problems I see in the news and media, since Alaska is not exposed to the magnitude of some social issues. I am so grateful for the stories that were shared during this trip and how they helped me develop a better understanding of our country.

Thank You!

I want to thank the College of Business and Security Management for providing the funds for this trip. I learned so much about what others are facing in the media and how we need to make some changes as a society.

I also want to thank Bill Imada and Jackie Garcia for putting together a busy and exciting trip. The information learned and connections made are priceless, and it’s all thanks to their hard work.

Photos courtesy of IvaLea Packee and NMGZ members