Penn State Marketing Association

President

Marissa Presser is a senior Marketing major with a minor in Leadership Development. As a PSMA member since freshmen year, she has served as the AMA Regional Conference Project Manager, Event Coordinator for the Smeal Case Competition, Vice President of Professional Development and Marketing Career Fair Coordinator.

In addition to PSMA, Marissa is the President of the Smeal Student Society and a Marketing Intern for Smeal Career and Corporate Connections. She interned for Macy’s Product Development department this summer, and was a Business Project Analyst for Cigna during the summer of 2011.

If you have any questions about PSMA, the American Marketing Association, or how to get involved, please do not hesitate to email her at mjp5326@psu.edu. Marissa is very happy to meet with potential and current members and looks forward to improving the organization this year.

Vice President

Logan James is a senior with a double major in both Marketing and Advertising. He has been a member of PSMA since his freshman year, starting in the Sports Division. He led an individual ticket sale competition for the Penn State men’s basketball team and eventually became the Director of the Sports Division his junior year.

Outside of PSMA, Logan currently serves as the head of in game promotions for the Penn State men’s basketball team. Here he collaborates with the team’s marketing department and other student interns to increase attendance at the men’s collegiate basketball games. He has interned with Penn State Athletics since his sophomore year. Also, this past summer Logan interned with Dick’s Sporting Goods at their corporate headquarters in Pittsburgh, PA. There he was a buyer of licensed apparel and headwear for professional and collegiate sports teams around the country.

This year as Vice President, Logan assumes the role of overseeing all of PSMA’s divisions. Members should feel comfortable approaching Logan to see how they can get involved in the different divisions and projects within PSMA to maximize their experience. He is easily reachable at his email, lmj5100@gmail.com to answer any questions.

VP of Finances

Brittania Gaspar is a Junior Management major and completing a two-piece sequence in Marketing. She has been with PSMA since the fall of her freshman year, starting as the Project Manager of the 2010 Winter Concert and then as the 2011-2012 Managing Director of Entertainment.

This summer, Brittania is interning for her second year with Synergy Events, an independent, full-service event-marketing agency based in Ocean, NJ. She is also interning in the public relations department of Meridian Health’s Ocean Medical Center, which was named one of Forbes’ 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2011. This fall, Brittania will be continuing for her second semester as a marketing intern for Lionmenus.com.

Brittania is very excited to serve as PSMA’s Vice President of Finances, and looks forward to working with the exec board to make PSMA bigger and better this year.

She lives in Toms River, NJ with her parents and younger brother, and two Yorkie Terriers.

Please feel free to reach out to Brittania at bog5045@gmail.com for any advice or guidance about PSMA, internship experience, or mentorship. She loves helping anyone on campus with a passion to succeed in Smeal and Penn State!

VP of Communications

Jacob Gillett is a senior Marketing major with a minor in Political Science. He was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico and for the past 8 years has lived in Vermont. He has spent the last 3 semesters heading the Philanthropy Department of PSMA. He has worked on several projects and has been involved in most divisions since joining PSMA in his freshman year. This summer he worked at the United Way of Chittenden County as a Communications and Marketing intern. Jacob worked on sending out press releases, updating the media contact list, editing the eNewsletters and prep work for the annual Community Campaign.

This year Jacob will serve as the Vice President of Communications. He will work with a media team to broadcast PSMA messages to the community through the website, social media, and the newsflash. He also works with the Member Relations Chair to make sure members are kept up to date on PSMA as well as awarded and given opportunities they deserve. If you have any questions about PSMA, the communications side, membership, or anything else feel free to contact him at PSMA.psu@gmail.com. He would be delighted to help in any way he can.

VP of Professional Development

Cara Zierke is a sophomore in the Smeal College of Business. She plans to major in Marketing, with a minor in International Business. She also plans on completing the newly developed Retail Certificate Program. Originally from State College, Cara has been a Penn State fan her whole life. She joined PSMA the first semester of her freshman year, and was apart of four divisions: Retail, Entertainment, THON, and Non profit. During her second semester in PSMA, Cara became the Associate Director of the Retail Division.

This year she plans to bring Professional Development into the specific divisions- bringing in companies directed towards each divisions’ particular focus. In addition, she plans to bring in top companies to speak to the general PSMA organization, through special event sponsorship and spotlight info and learning sessions. Plan to see some new PSMA partnered companies at Penn State this year!

VP of Philanthropy

Ashley Cummings is a junior with a double major in Marketing and Public Relations and a minor in International Business. She has been in PSMA since the fall of her sophomore year and was previously an Assistant Project Manager for Women’s Soccer Marketing and served as a Chairperson on the Philanthropy Advisory Board.

Besides her involvement in PSMA, Ashley is the Vice President of a choir called Oriana Singers. She also is currently serving as the Registration Coordinator for the Smeal Case Competition and is an intern in the Career and Corporate Connections office.