On October 17, 2013 we had AMIS alumni Gregory Hardy who’s currently employed as the Project Manager at International Paper; Shahab Sadeghi who’s currently employed as the IT Coordinator at Nahon, Saharovich, & Trotz; Jeremy Calhoun recently graduated and is currently employed at International Paper; and Shane Perkins who’s currently employed as the Project Coordinator at Autozone. We had a great time listening and learning about their careers and expertise.

From left to right: Gregory Hardy, Shahab Sadeghi, Jeremy Calhoun, and Shane Perkins

On April 18^th, three AMIS members and one faculty member endured a long drive in a heavy rain storm to attend the AIS Student Chapter Leadership Conference and Competition and the Wal-Mart IT Summit Conference at the Wal-Mart headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas. The three members were Nicole Smith (AMIS President), Austin Marlar, and Nicholas Matlock and the MIS faculty member was Dr. Margaret Schultz.

The AMIS members had to qualify to get invited to this conference by participating in the AIS student contest. To qualify, the students had to write a paper proposing a solution to a case study about an IT management problem. One of our AMIS student teams’ proposals was selected as one of the best by the judges and therefore, those students were invited to attend the final round of competition held at the conference.

In addition to participating in the final round of competition, students attended break-out sessions, discussion panels, and professional presentations. Nicole Smith, president of AMIS, made a presentation at one of the breakout sessions entitled “Building relationships with IT Professionals”. After the AIS conference, the students attended the Wal-Mart IT summit. At the Wal-Mart headquarters, they attended one of Wal-Mart’s employees’ “gala” monthly meetings that consist of a live presentation telecast to all the Wal-Marts throughout the world. They met personally with KarenAnn Terrell, CIO of Wal-Mart and several other Wal-Mart IT professionals to learn about how Wal-Mart has successfully developed an information systems-driven infrastructure to support their customer-centered strategic initiatives. Finally, before heading back to Memphis, they participated in another contest, sponsored by Wal-Mart, which involved generating ideas for a cell phone app that would serve to achieve Wal-Mart’s customer-centered strategic objectives.

Austin Marlar, Nicole Smith, and Nicholas Matlock attend the AIS competition and Wal-Mart IT summit

Nicole Smith makes presentation on “Establishing relationships with IT Professionals”

Austin Marlar and Nicholas Matlock present their case at the AIS compeition

On April 18^th, the Association for Management Information Systems (AMIS) won “Honorable Mention” in the 3^rd annual Fogelman Promise table exhibit competition. The competition takes place on Fogelman Promise day, which is hosted each year by the FCBE. The purpose of Fogelman Promise Day is to recognize the importance of values such as integrity, honesty and hard work.  All registered student organizations associated with the FCBE are encouraged to create a table exhibit that exemplifies their organization’s efforts to contribute to the fulfillment of the Fogelman Promise mission. The AMIS table exhibit included several pictures including one of AMIS members participating in Fogelman Feeds, one of the Fogelman Promise initiatives, a copy of the Fogelman Promise Code of Professionalism for Students, and a picture of the “Excellent Chapter” award presented to AMIS by their parent organization, AIS. In addition to displaying a table exhibit, AMIS members who staff the table are encouraged to spread the word about the mission of Fogelman Promise day with table visitors. This year, Keedrick Bass, Lee Patrick Morrell, Reuben Ballard, Samba Coulibaly, Jeremy Calhoun, and Carlton Rae did a fine job of accomplishing this objective.

On April 15^th, the Association for Management Information Systems (AMIS) members challenged a group of IT professionals and faculty to a Minute-to-Win-it contest. Modeled after the popular TV-game show, every round of the competition requires contestants to perform a different type of “whimsical” activity with a time limit of one minute. In this particular contest, contestants had to balance five die on a tongue depressor held between their teeth, maneuver a cookie placed on their eye into their mouth without touching it, and balance an M&M on a straw standing upright by sucking it into one straw and dropping it onto another. Everyone had a really fun time and afterward they enjoyed pizza and refreshments. Students, faculty, and IT professional got a chance to chat and get to know each other. The IT faculty and professionals who participated included Dr. Brian Janz, Dr. Margaret Schultz, Bruce Livesay, EVP and CIO of First Horizons National Corporation and Tim Hill, CIO and VP of IT at American Residential Services, were very impressed with the students’ talents and abilities.

Bruce Livesay, CIO and EVP of First Horizons Corp. competes in Minute-to-Win-it

Dr. Brian Janz competes in Minute-to-Win-it

Keedrick Bass high fives Brittany Kusi-Appiah for winning in Minute-to-Win-it

On March 20^th, over 80 students attended Information Technology (IT) Career Day hosted by the Association for Management Information Systems (AMIS) in partnership with the local chapter of SIM (Society of Information Management). The FCBE hosts this event annually to offer students a great opportunity to learn about the exciting job opportunities in IT and to stimulate students’ interest in IT careers. This year the agenda included a series of eight speakers from IBM, Merck, AutoZone, Hilton Hotels, Buckman Labs, ACH foods, Cisco, and Robert Half, each of whom made a short presentation about IT initiatives and IT career opportunities with their companies. After the presentations, students had the opportunity to chat with the speakers individually to discuss their person qualifications, preferences, and to seek advice. 

Keedrick Bass introduces guest speaker on IT Career Day

Addison Janz introduces speaker on IT Career Day

Have you seen our new t-shirts? They are really cool! They were designed by Austin Marlar, a fine artist, indeed!

Back of Shirt

Front of Shirt

I would like to say Thank You to Teresa Wells, Nicole Smith and Brittany Kusi for finding strength, courage and time going to the AIS competition at Provo, Utah.  I want to thank Margaret Schultz and Tom Meservy for being our advisors and mentors not only at AMIS but at the University of Memphis overall.

I also would like to Thank AMIS members and everybody else who comes to our meetings and events.

The 3rd place is only a start for us.  Now that we know our “slip-ups”, we would definitely know what to do in order to be the First Student Organization among other universities.  Once again, if you are a member – Thank you for your support! If not, you can always join by filling out an online application-form above and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter!