Rochester’s advertisers have been making waves in the national marketing industry, and it probably helps that the city regularly plays host to thousands of aspiring marketing professionals.

More than 2,300 innovative high school students attended the New York State Distributive Education Clubs of America’s (DECA) Annual State Conference this month in Rochester. DECA, a high school student group, helps young New Yorkers who are interested in marketing and entrepreneurship. At the annual conference, students received a crash course in business, leadership, and advertising skills.

According to the Democrat and Chronicle, the event, held at the Joseph A. Floreano Rochester Riverside Convention Center, marked the 20th consecutive year that Rochester hosted the DECA’s students.

“It is an honor to welcome a convention which brings such a large contingent of students from across New York State directly into our Rochester community,” said Kris Hughes, of the Riverside Convention Center. “We have had the privilege of watching this convention grow over the past 20 years, but most importantly being a part of the significant professional development which occurs here is a special experience for us all.”

Although television ads and car wraps were viewed as the two most memorable forms of advertising in one survey, there is no telling what the future of advertising holds. No matter how the industry changes, these kids plan on contributing in a major way.

In addition to honoring the innovative high school-aged advertisers of the future, the Rochester Advertising Federation (RAF) held an event honoring over 80 Rochester advertising professionals in mid March.

The Rochester Business Journal reports that the American Advertising Federation’s Rochester affiliate, the RAF, held its 26th annual American Advertising Awards with a record-breaking attendance.

About 560 people attended the annual event, commonly known as the ADDYs.

“I think that the ADDYs for our industry are more than an award show,” said Katelin Pellett, president of the RAF. “They’re an opportunity to network and to celebrate great work that’s coming out of a market that I think a lot of other cities might overlook. The exciting thing there’s a lot of people who’ve obviously made a choice to either stay or move back to Rochester that’s such a good message to tell our students — that you can go to a bigger market if that’s something that you want to do but Rochester is a really viable option for you.”