Representatives of Peru’s government were not just passing through Downtown Binghamton Friday night; they were there to personally meet Binghamton University students.
In an intimate dining room separate from the main dining area in Downtown’s Little Venice, seven students representing the BU Marketing Association (BUMA), the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting, and the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) sat down with Conrado Falco, the director of the Trade Commission of Peru in New York, to discuss increasing student marketing experience and enhancing BU’s global perspective.
The collaboration began last year with Michelle DiGiacomo, a senior majoring in management and the president of BU’s SAE team. The team, which is working to create a hybrid race car, needed sponsors; DiGiacomo reached out to BUMA for sponsorship and funding. The project caught the eye of Emil Lezama, the father of a BU sophomore, who is a member of the Trade Commission of Peru. After months of presentations, the Trade Commission decided to sponsor the hybrid car. Seeing an opportunity for them to return the favor, the Commission suggested furthering the relationship, albeit in a different direction.
They suggested working with BUMA to create a tourism and awareness campaign about Peru, giving both the country exposure on a college campus and BUMA experience running a marketing campaign.
“We’re here to develop an up-and-coming country, working with an up-and-coming school,” Falco said.
The collaboration would also market Peruvian products to the school and surrounding areas, which the team said will hopefully include a Peruvian fashion show at Spring Fling. They also planned on sitting down with Sodexo managers to brainstorm Peruvian-themed specialty nights in dining halls.
“We’re helping to promote culture and understanding, and a lot of people just don’t think about those kinds of things,” DiGiacomo said. “Engineers are getting more out of building cars, business students are getting more out of working with a real organization and the school is working on being more ‘international.’”
After the main course, Falco and Lezama discussed the breadth of the collaborations, which would begin with a marketing competition within the team to work with local travel agencies to sell tickets to Peru.
“You will get experience designing products, developing programs and campaigns, while getting to know the clients and the marketing climate,” Falco said. “We’re open to discussing and utilizing all of us to get a hands-on marketing opportunity.”
Michael Puccio, a senior majoring in management, said he was happy to see a relatively small project between the Thomas J. Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science and the School of Management develop into something that could benefit the entire University.
“This is an exciting opportunity for everyone involved, and this is just the beginning,” Puccio said. “We can take building a race car for a Watson project and turn it into a multinational, multicultural effort that benefits everyone with a new perspective on Latin America and diversity.”
Lezama said the experience was good for both the country and the résumés of those participating.
“When I was younger, I would have loved for someone to give me a chance to show someone why they should hire me,” Lezama said. “Here you’ll have the chance to learn about the country, the product and get experience.”