One Club: Where Creativity Meets Community

"If you are creative in any way, literally you can be a part of any major or if you just want a place to hang out, I would definitely say join the One Club," said the club's vice president Lauren Ordaz.

The One Club is a new professional organization focused on advertising, marketing and a variety of creative industries. The CSUDH chapter of the national professional organization originated Spring 2017 by students Crystal Hernandez, president, and Ordaz.

Being involved in the One Club has the same concepts as an advertising agency. It allows students to take on actual clients and promote them. The club members work as a group to make sure their clients are getting every aspect of the promotional campaign process, from videos to flyers to social media campaigns.

Some of the positions within the club include account executives, actors, photographers, and advertisers, in other words from across the spectrum of strategy, creative and media departments. While collaborating, students are also getting hands-on experience in the professional fields they are interested in pursuing.

"One of the benefits that the members and board members receive is a letter of recommendation from the clients, so hopefully getting them to produce work that they can all benefit from," said Ordaz.

Comedian Vince Royale is one of the club's clients. He allows the members to help come up with ideas for his social media and marketing. In the past, they have promoted his work on campus and it included free admission for college students. As a project, the One Club filmed a show of his, which they then edited it and gave it to him to use for future promotion. Royale worked closely with the Production Director of the club, Edgar Perez, on incorporating an Amazon Prime pilot.

Unfortunately, Perez was killed in a car accident this past February, leaving the members in shock and unsure where the club stood without their late member.

"We didn't know if the One Club was still going to go on because we didn't feel right working all together without him there," said Ordaz.

As close as they all were before, the tragic loss of Perez brought them even closer. He made them realize you can't take anything for granted and became the club's motivation to achieve their goals. They want to do everything they can to make him proud.

The One Club's main goal for this year is to attend an award ceremony, the One Show, in New York. They plan on submitting work from projects such as the campaign items of Closed Eyes Open Heart, which deals with youth homelessness. It is an important show for them to go to because it was something that the late Perez was passionate about.

"Edgar was a big part of that and obviously, he would have been going with us, so I think we just want to keep that going and make sure that we still go," said Ordaz.

The events that the One Club offers are agency tours such as 72andSunny and Giant Spoon. This gives the students an inside look on how things are ran and what they can expect to come across in their future careers. They also have guest speakers from advertising companies give tips and insights to students who are majoring in the field.

Originally devised as a club affiliated with the business and marketing programs, the One Club is now more closely connected to the Communications Department, particularly as Communications professor Dr. Burkey took over as the club advisor in the spring of 2018. However, it is still considered an interdisciplinary club, so anyone interested in creative industries, regardless of their major, is welcomed to join the One Club.

For example, to fulfill their clients' wishes, students from a variety of majors might be required to create and maintain their promotional activities, including those in theater, English, photography, graphic design, advertising, and public relations. Whether for acting, writing, or social media campaigns, the One Club is open to finding a position for any student interested in applying their skills.

The club's meetings are held Tuesdays to inform every member on the projects they're working on and then Saturdays are for board meetings with clients to make sure that the work is on track and distributed to all members.