Jessica Haney | Oct. 10, 2010
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| Photo by Jessica Haney |
| IU PRSSA members Helen Russick (left) and Shabrelle Pollock talk in a recent meeting about plans for the spring regional meeting. IU's chapter is one of 11 that will host meetings. |
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The Beth Wood Chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America at Indiana University recently was selected as one of 11 chapters across the nation to host a regional meeting. Chapter members will spend much of the coming months planning the meeting, but simply applying to host was a challenging process.
Amy Bishop, a junior and vice president of the IU chapter, started researching the possibility of hosting an activity last spring and spent the summer developing and outlining the plans. The bid was due the last week of August to the PRSSA national committee for review.
“The application looked at almost every aspect of planning a large event like this,” said Bishop. It asked about the schedule, speakers, budget, attendance, promotions and the timeline for getting it all done, among other specifics. But Bishop’s close attention to detail and strategy paid off, she said.
Rachel Sprung, the national vice president of regional activities for PRSSA, interviewed candidates and eventually selected the winners. Her prior experience as host of a regional activity helped her to understand what it takes. IU’s chapter was especially successful at presenting clear, thorough plans, she said.
“One thing that I was so impressed by was that they interviewed 20 to 30 professionals to get the idea,” said Sprung.
Bishop contacted several regional professionals to find out what the pressing issues were in the field. “Definitely right now in public relations, social media is a hot topic,” said Bishop.
However, many companies are confused by how it works or don’t use it effectively. This conference aims to fix that and to educate students about what they may not learn in the classroom. The conference will address the ethics of social media, how to measure social media results, social media research and search engine optimization. Notable regional and national speakers from the social media arena will be presenting.
“This is our first time submitting a bid, so it’s a really exciting opportunity for us,” said Bishop.
The IU chapter was founded in 2004, but with around 100 members, it has one of the largest memberships in the country.
“This event really is about the membership being totally engaged in everything we do,” said lecturer Dennis Elliott, who is the faculty adviser for the IU chapter.
Elliott has arranged large events in the past, so he understands the staffing required to pull it off. The chapter will organize a committee especially for this event to carry out the details, such as registration, fees, hotels, venues, catering, promotions and sponsorship.
“I am a little nervous because this is a lot to do, probably more than we even realize,” said Kristina Hunter, president of the chapter. “It just means a lot to our chapter and a lot to PRSSA nationally.”
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| Photo by Jessica Haney |
| PRSSA chapter president Kristina Hunter considers ideas for the regional meeting “It just means a lot to our chapter and a lot to PRSSA nationally,” she said. |
“Since social media is such a current topic, these are things that everyone can learn,” said Bishop.
Meanwhile, Bishop will attend a conference this fall for PRSSA members specifically about hosting a regional activity. And, the chapter will conduct regular meetings devoted to planning for this event.
“This is significant,” said Elliott. “We’re going to get a lot of visibility not only for the chapter, but for the School of Journalism.”
“It’s a big honor to be chosen,” said Sprung, “A lot of people will hear about it.”
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