Nansemond River High School marketing teacher S. Michele Duncan attended the Virginia Association of Marketing Education Conference held last month at the Sheraton Hotel in Virginia Beach.

The conference started with The State of the Retail Industry presented by Karen Videtic, Virginia Commonwealth University professor, and Google for Education, presented by Michael Greene of Lake Braddock High School.

On Tuesday, Duncan received her industry certification in NRF Customer Service and Sales. During the luncheon session, Christie Garton, social entrepreneur, followed with a Virginia DECA update from Sharon Acuff, Virginia marketing specialist.

On Wednesday, Glen Sturn of Virginia Cooperative Extension did a presentation on the “Reality Store” which is a real-world money management simulation activity provided by VCE. Joy Kelly, fashion instructor at the Art Institute of Virginia Beach, did a presentation on best practices for teaching math in marketing and the math “rules” that she has developed to help students find success.

Aaron Arnold, education manager, special programs, Junior Achievement of Greater Hampton Roads Inc., did a presentation on the Junior Achievement program and its role in developing entrepreneurship education in area high schools. On Thursday, Cheryl Tan of Media Strategy for Entrepreneurs did a presentation on live-streaming in the classroom through live-streaming options available on laptops and smartphones. Emily Mowers, director of marketing at WVEC, did a presentation on the changing landscape of the television and entertainment industry, how marketing has shifted and where we think it is going.

Duncan also had an opportunity to meet author Mary G. Wolfe, who wrote the Fashion Marketing and Merchandising textbook. She signed and autographed the book, which is sold through GW Publishing Company.

The VAME Conference concluded with a closing luncheon session and teacher recognition for years of service.

“The VAME Conference offered a variety of workshops, which were very informative,” Duncan stated in a press release. “We also had an opportunity to visit with exhibitors Tuesday and Wednesday. This gave us an opportunity to look at new materials and textbooks, fundraising items and the Career and Technical Resource Center.”