ALAINA MILAZZO

When a peer and fellow School of Journalism student asked me to enter the Washington Media Scholars Case Competition with her, I jumped at the chance to expand my knowledge and experience in media planning. 30 teams had advanced to the second round in March 2016, and six teams went on to the final competition in June 2016. For this year's case competition, participants allocated a budget to various media outlets to promote an initiative in a fictitious city that would allow 16-year-olds to vote.

 

My peer and I advanced to the finals in Washington, D.C, where we presented our final media plan and budget allocation to a panel of five judges. We also had the opportunity to network with advertising professionals and to tour various media and technology companies such as Fox News, Google, iHeartRadio, and Politico. On our final evening in Washington, D.C., we networked with executives, writers, and managers from these highly renowned companies.

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Below is the second-round information we received, along with our budget spreadsheet and memo detailing why we selected certain media in the simulated campaign to promote the voting initiative.