You can't buy this brand of dedication
When Pauntehah Poursaba joined Capilano University's marketing case team this fall, she had no idea what she was in for.
When Pauntehah Poursaba joined Capilano University's marketing case team this fall, she had no idea what she was in for.
"I never thought I would stay at school overnight in my life," she says.
But that's exactly what she and her teammates did to ensure their submission for the American Marketing Associations (AMA) Collegiate Case Competition was first-class. Poursaba, team lead, wrote an exam in the morning and then worked on a 20-page case submission to help eBay attract consumers aged 18 to 35 with two of her six teammates: Chris Critchley, Tom Kramer, Adam Wong, Robert Dromey, Phoebe Chung and Vermie Pacson.
"One of our team members had a baby the week before, so we were like, you know what, tend to your baby," Poursaba says.
Those extra hours did the trick. Capilano University's team placed among nine finalists to present its case to representatives of eBay at the AMA Collegiate Conference in New Orleans over the St. Patricks Day weekend. The team — all first timers at the conference — won second place.
“It was really nice to see all the work that we put in pay off,” Poursaba says.
The win was notable for two reasons. This was only the second year that a crew from CapU competed, and the team from the North Shore competed against universities and colleges with well-known business schools, such as Carnegie Mellon University.
School of Business instructor and team coach Andrea Eby was recognized for her dedication to her students at the conference. The Cap U Marketing Association nominated her for the Hugh G. Wales Award for Faculty Advisor of the Year, which she won. As a result, Eby will speak in front of 1,500 attendees at next year’s collegiate conference.
"It was the highlight of my career," says Eby.
But she’s proudest of her students’ performance.
“Coming in second place after Texas State University – they’re a big-name school with 38,000 people – it really puts Cap on the map,” says Eby. “We beat a whack of other big-name schools so that’s what I’m totally proud of.”
Submitted by: Cheryl Rossi, Communications & Marketing