College students step away from the books and into the industry by visiting two Louisville advertising agencies

Ball State University student Ryan Bonnell hopes to open his own advertising agency one day, but for now he just wants to learn how agencies operate outside of the textbook.
“I’ve only interned at a smaller firm,” said Bonnell, the 2012 Vice President of the Ball State University Chapter of the American Advertising Federation. “I’m excited to see larger agencies and how they function.”
He and around 25 of his peers will have that opportunity on Monday, Oct. 22 as they visit two Louisville advertising agencies to better their understanding of the industry. The students will spend several hours at both Creative Alliance and CurrentMarketing, where they will be given the opportunity to tour the offices, speak with department leaders and ask questions.
“We’re just as excited about the visit as the students,” said President of CurrentMarketing, Richard Schardein. “This business is all about being innovative and pitching fresh ideas, so it will be fun for us to see what questions the industry’s up-and-comers have for us, and we might even ask them a thing or two as well.”
Students will visit Creative Alliance during the first part of their day, then CurrentMarketing. Members of the media are invited attend CurrentMarketing’s portion of the event, which will include a Q&A session with the agency’s department leaders.