PRSSA report: Day 3

Two School of Journalism students are reporting from the national Public Relations Student Society of America conference in Philadelphia Oct. 19-22.

Senior Diana Biette and junior Mary Reisert, both IU chapter PRSSA members, are networking with students from around the nation and taking notes in workshops for ideas on recruiting new members and helping them in the job search.

Here are their reports for Day 3:

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Senior Diana Biette

Today was the final day we will be attending the PRSSA conference. The amount of information I learned today was overwhelming.

The morning session Mary and I attended was a panel entitled “Meet Living Legends.” Four highly accredited members of the industry answered questions for an hour on topics that ranged from the changes in the past 40 years of public relations to their personal keys to success. One of the most refreshing topics that was discussed included the question that PR students often struggle to answer, “How is PR an honorable industry?”

The answers across the panel were unanimous. The PR business is individuals. It is the responsibility and requirement of the professionals in the industry to maintain their own ethics and reputation. According to the legends, the PR field is no different than any other field where there are good and bad professionals who constitute the entire community. It is the necessary task of the current and future professionals to behave honorably and with dignity.

“If you believe the industry is unhonorable you have no one to blame but yourself,” said panelist Gary McCormick, PRSA Fellow.

It was a proud moment for both Mary and me to hear professionals stand up and champion the industry as something we can defend wholeheartedly every time we are questioned in our career path decisions.

Another interesting session I attended today was “Balancing PR With Your Personal Life Upon Graduation” presented by Linda Aldoory. She stressed that there was no such thing as balance, that the key to finding happiness is being able to manage life’s inevitable interruptions.

The final activity of the day featured actress and humanitarian Mia Farrow speaking to a room of 3,200 students and professionals about the genocide in Darfur, Eastern Chad and the Central African Republic.

This is a topic that is necessary to discuss because the word “compelling” does not come close to describing the stories of the survivors of this genocide. Farrow has appointed herself a witness and a voice of the people who are being tortured, massacred and those slowly and painfully dying. There is little I can write in this blog that would impress the gravity of the situation. I can only plead that you educate yourself further on the subject at MiaFarrow.org. The Web site chronicles the genocide.

Once you fully learn, I can only hope you do not turn a blind eye and blind mind to these horrible atrocities, but rather contemplate what you learn and act with your abilities. Once you have the knowledge, do not simply wait for others to act. I leave you with the words of Farrow.

“With knowledge comes responsibility.”

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Junior Mary Reisert

This morning was one of the most important days for the PRSSA conference. PRSSA brought in four living legends from the PR community to discuss why they chose PR and how important PR is. The panel said that organizations cannot survive without PR. When they started out on their careers, public relations did not receive a seat at the corporation. The biggest difference now is that public relations now demands more than one seat at the corporate table.

My favorite part of the entire discussion came from a question from the audience. A PRSSA member from the University of Florida asked the panelists about their three favorite books. A person can learn a lot about another individual from what books he or she read. The most recommended book from the entire panel was Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Other recommended books to read before graduation are The Art of Winning Friends, The Power of Positive Thinking, Don’t Sweat the Small Things.

Many public relations students are confused on which route to take: Should we work for an agency or a corporation? Lori George Billingsley, director of community and multicultural communications for Coca-Cola North America, answered these questions. Billingsley also has experience working for an agency and owning her own consulting firm.

Billingsley suggests PR students work with an agency for a few years. Even if you desire to work for a corporation, many corporations value experience. They want to see how well you handle working with multiple accounts with an agency. It is common for corporations not to hire people fresh out of college looking for entry-level positions.

Actress and humanitarian Mia Farrow concluded today’s presentations. Farrow is a strong believer in change in the Darfur region of Sudan. Tears filled my eyes as picture after picture depicted the violence and brutality these people experience on a daily basis. Young children have to take care of each other because their parents were killed. Farrow is an excellent speaker. It was clear how passionate she was about this cause.

For anyone looking to help with the Darfur region, Farrow has a website, wwww.miafarrow.org, that lists organizations that help Darfur. She has a daily blog chronicling news in the region. There are many valuable resources on the site. I hope people are inspired to take action. I look forward to finding a way that PRSSA can contribute to this movement.

In just three days, this conference helped me grow as a person. Having a drive and challenge everyday is crucial to my success. I was excited to learn more about the industry. I did not want it to end. I learned that we can all learn from each other. Public relations is all about building upon relationships.