PRSSA STUDENTS TOUR ATLANTA AGENCIES BY KIM LANDRUM Last Wednesday, sixteen junior and senior PRSSA members headed to Atlanta for the day to take part in our annual agency tour. Led by PRSSA advisor, Kim Landrum, students visited Jackson Spalding, MSLGroup and Edelman to learn what the future of public relations looks like.
JACKSON SPALDING Hosts Christina Phillips and Rita Izaguirre welcomed students with a tour of the new Jackson Spalding office located at 1100 Peachtree Street NE in midtown. Students were able to engage with JS team members who handle digital strategy, design, photography and videography, content, account management, and human resources.
MSLGROUP Grady grad, Kristen Heetland, welcomed students with real world
case studies exploring client interaction and social reach. MSL team members also provided useful insight into their internship selection process, an Apprentice style experience geared towards finding the best talent.
EDELMAN Hosts Tia Jackson, Lyschel Hicks and Grady grad, Alexandra Prather, welcomed students with a tour of
of the Edelman office on Peachtree in Midtown. The 31st floor offered a spectacular view of Atlanta and set the stage for our visit. Students learned about Edelman’s six month internship program, the work culture and what they envision for the future of public relations. We are thankful to Jackson Spalding, MSLGroup and Edelman for their time, energy and continued dedication to our program.
JAN/FEB 2016 • UGA PRSSA • DREWRY CHAPTER , UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA • UGAPRSSA.ORG
LANDING A SUMMER INTERNSHIP: WHERE DO I START? will support internal and external communications activities, with a heavy focus on writing and editing for both electronic and print media. The internship is for Summer 2016.
ARBY’S GROUP BY CHELSEY WOOD
Are you feeling the pressure to secure a solid public relations internship this summer? Don’t worry, you’re not alone! Landing a career in the PR industry is all about your experience, which often comes from those summer internships. The good news is that being a Grady student already speaks volumes about your experience and knowledge, and PRSSA equips you with all the tools you need to find the internship that is perfect for you! There are a multitude of PR internships across a wide variety of areas. There are many opportunities for PR students within various corporations, agencies and nonprofits. The key is to narrow down what type of internship you are looking for and seek opportunities in that area first and foremost! Here is the rundown of some of the most prestigious PR JAN/FEB 2016
internships opportunities for the summer of 2016.
SOUTHERN COMPANY
Southern Company, the parent company of Georgia Power and one of the leading electricity producers in the U.S., is offering a paid corporate communication internship for the Summer 2016 semester. They are seeking juniors, seniors or students pursuing graduate degrees in communication, journalism, public relations, advertising, marketing communications, corporate communications, mass media studies, Web communications or other related field of study.
NOVELIS
Novelis, the world’s largest producer of rolled aluminum, with more than 11,000 employees and operations in 11 countries, is offering a full-time, paid internship in its Communications & Government Affairs department. The Communications Intern
Arby’s restaurant group is seeking a digital and social media intern. This intern will work closely with the digital and social media team to fulfill research needs and meet the goals of the Arby’s brand.
EDELMAN
Edelman, one of the most well known PR agencies, offers a wider variety of internship opportunities as well. They offer several internships such as the Posse summer internship, a digital communications internship, a creative design internship and much more! They have offices across the country, in places like Atlanta, Chicago and Washington D.C. The deadline for the current postings is February 5 but we expect to see more opportunities posted throughout the semester!
JACKSON SPALDING
Another well known PR agency offers internships in Atlanta, Dallas, and even right here in Athens!
Executive Board
Jackson Spalding is looking for account coordinating interns as interns with skills in graphic design.
PRESIDENT Amelia Miles ajmiles@uga.edu VICE PRESIDENT Kaitlyn Peel kdpeel@uga.edu
GREEN OLIVE MEDIA
Green Olive Media is a smaller branding firm that specializes in design and communication for consumer products, food and dining. Green Olive has an office in Atlanta as well as Birmingham, Alabama, and is looking for an intern who wants to develop their skills in all aspects of public relations and integrated communications. The deadline is February 26. There are many other agencies across the country searching for interns. Through the process, do yourself a favor and let tomorrow worry about tomorrow. Do not allow the stress and pressure to take over your daily life! Instead, remind yourself of the many skills and qualities that make will make you a strong asset to any company. Find a few companies that you would love to work for, and do your best to show them why they need you on their team. At the end of the day, it’s the determination and drive that defines you – not the job that you land.
WHAT IS PUBLIC RELATIONS? BY SHANNON WALSH
What actually is public relations? This is a question PR majors are all too familiar with, followed by the struggle to give a clear and concise definition of this industry. As the importance of public relations is growing and becoming ubiquitous with all industries, PR agents are now expected to be versatile with their skills and perform at higher standards. Traditionally, the fields of journalism, public relations, advertising and marketing were separate fields and professionals had a distinct job in each industry. Now, the fields are converging- particularly PR, advertising and journalism- and it is essential that professionals in any of these fields have an understanding and competence in all of these areas of focus. The Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication stresses the importance of being well rounded and having a broad skill set. Public relations majors are required to take classes in journalism in order to understand how journalists operate and how to cooperate and work with these professionals. For
example, knowing how journalists edit and reformat press releases submitted by PR agents provides us with an advantage so that in the future we can write in such a manner that evokes an understanding and respect for the basics of journalism. Equally as important as a having a broad skill set across industries is developing a depth of skills within a field. Since public relations majors can enter the work force having a large range of careers, certain skills are more necessary in some jobs rather than others. As a new hire though, in order to stand out among many other qualified new graduates it is essential to highlight an understanding and basic experience with diverse tasks and skills that could lead to success in many different jobs. While some individuals may excel at writing and speaking, it is important to be familiar with the applications and technology that is also critical in this field. On the other hand, someone’s main job could be working with applications such as Photoshop and focusing on graphic communication, but it is still essential to know how to communicate well through writing.
CREATIVE CONSULTANTS DIRECTOR Katie Hall khall@uga.edu PR DIRECTOR Nia Washington niaw24@uga.edu TREASURER Kristyn Hicks kristynhicks@gmail.com SECRETARY Tess Clegg cclegg12@uga.edu PUBLICATIONS EDITOR Tori Mckenney vcm93@uga.edu DIGITAL MEDIA DIRECTOR Isabel Berger isabelberger00@gmail.com HISTORIAN Kelly Tran kellytran384@gmail.com FACULTY ADVISOR Kim Landrum klandrum@uga.edu CREATIVE CONSULTANTS ADVISOR Kristen Smith kmsmith@uga.edu PROFESSIONAL ADVISOR Lynn Harris Medcalf MA, APR lynnharrismedcalf@gmail.com
DREWRY CHAPTER , UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA • UGAPRSSA.ORG
BEHIND THE SCENES: WHAT COMPANIES REALLY MEAN WHEN THEY ASK FOR “SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING INTERNS”
MORE THAN DUES TO DO
BY RILEY MUSE
At the beginning of each new semester, the University of Georgia`s Public Relations Student Society of America opens up applications to students interested in becoming a member of the well-known and established Drewry Chapter. Students complete the application and pay the membership dues to become an affiliate of the largest PRSSA chapter in the nation, a recognition this chapter is surely proud of. But with over 300 plus members to help earn this acknowledgement for UGA`s PRSSA, approximately only a third of the members actively participate in meetings and other events hosted. Why for so many students is filling out an application and paying initial new member dues the first and final involvement they have with the chapter? From agency tours, networking events, conferences, to featuring guest speakers from well known companies and agencies, member mixers, leadership positions, to mentor/mentee programs, even free food and beyond, active members of this chapter find that when taking full advantage of the opportunities presented, the results of participation are highly beneficial and even rewarding. For sophomore public relations student, Jake MacCracken, membership in this chapter has proved to be valuable. Through his active participation, MacCracken has realized that “since Grady has so many pre-requisites to complete, PRSSA allows
The beginning of a new year and a new semester always brings about a lot of new and exciting things: new classes, new resolutions, new workout routine; the list goes on and on. Yet amidst all of the excitement of 2016 comes the daunting and ever looming question: “What are your plans for the summer?” It is around that time of the school year to begin thinking about how you want to spend those glorious three months of vacation, and for many that means the hunt is on to find that perfect summer internship. While searching for a Public Relations/ Marketing related internship last summer, I found myself constantly seeing that companies were looking to hire “digital and social media interns.” I was continuously confused as to what this job entailed; I thought to myself, “Well I have an Instagram account and I’ve dabbled in Twitter, surely I can fulfill the requirements for this job!” After spending a summer conducting a company’s social media accounts and online presence, I now understand just want it means to be a social media intern. In today’s digital and technology based society, almost every company out there from huge corporate offices to your favorite local coffee shops use social media as a means of connecting with their target consumers. With this new way of advertising and networking comes a new job: the social media intern. Companies are constantly searching for college students to fill JAN/FEB 2016
this new role. As college students, we have been born and raised in the technology and social media age and understand how this new world works. Ultimately what better way to get into the mind of Millennials on social media than hiring someone who is that age handle the online presence of your company? Yet as second nature as operating and updating social media has become to us, the number one thing I learned was don’t underestimate the job of social media intern. As a social media intern for a company, everything you post and upload is representing the company you work for, which is not something to take lightly. You are the head of the entire online presence of a company. Therefore it is essential to fully understand the company’s mission statement, values and image they wish to portray to the world. While social media may seem trivial to us as casual users of it, to businesses it can be
the key to their PR and marketing strategies. Take the time to also understand the company’s target audience. Are they trying to reach teenagers who will primarily be on social media past 3 p.m. when school is over? Or adults, who are usually found surfing the web during their noon lunch break? Fully immersing yourself in the PR strategy of your company can truly make the impact you have on their social media marketing a lasting one. This all may sound slightly daunting, yet the skills you learn as a social media intern can be applied to so many aspects of a future career in Public Relations. I went into my internship last summer thinking all I would be doing would be writing a few tweets and deciding what filter looked best for Instagram, yet what I learned about online marketing are skills that will last me long into my professional future.
BY ERIN SHATTLES
those who are still on the path to Grady be a part of its culture, learn valuable skills, network with like-minded students, and even earn access to amazing opportunities.” MacCracken has learned from being a member for one year thus far that being immersed in a PR environment already has helped him “learn skills that will help during my time in Grady and in the real world without even being an official PR major yet.” Further along in her college career, senior consumer journalism and PR major, Burgess Foster, has experienced the benefits of being an active member of PRSSA as it has given her “an unparalleled opportunity to network with other PR students and professionals, and bridge the gap between my Grady courses and the real-life industry.” It is through three years of membership, choosing to attend events and immerse herself as frequently as possible into the many opportunities presented by the chapter that Foster has learned and gained excellent experience that led her to earning the position of Account Executive of the Porter Novelli Team through UGA`s student-run PR Firm, Creative Consultants. As a member of PRSSA’s Creative Consultants, Foster is one of the many students who has indeed gained real-life experience that would not be possible without her active participation. Foster encourages members to go a step further with the chapter and participate in the “countless
opportunities that will set you apart in a competitive industry—there`s no excuse not to get involved!” So for those who pay dues and have a line of membership in the chapter typed on their resume, go beyond just that. Why not get involved with the chapter and experience personally all of the benefits so many active members are able to say is the initial action that led them to real-life experiences, positions, mentors and even internships? With that in mind, we hope to start seeing more paying members in attendance at future meetings and events to come throughout this spring semester!
DREWRY CHAPTER , UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA • UGAPRSSA.ORG
INTRODUCING:
MASTERS IN EMERGING MEDIA BY KATIE MCKEOGH
In January, Grady College introduced the new program Masters in Emerging Media to answer students’ desire to learn more about digital communication. Dr. Jeffery Springston, the program director, said the program is “designed for students who wish to learn how to identify emerging media needs and solutions, develop content and application, and strategically manage emerging media platforms to further personal career goals and those of their employers.” The curriculum lists classes such as, digital media design and aesthetics and digital media storytelling. The program aims to give students not simply a background in code, but also teach them how to use those skills creatively to reach viewers. Dr. Springston urges students to look into this program as it “will prepare students to be both technically proficient, with
the ability to code and integrate good design principles, but will also prepare students to strategically manage communication platforms to get effective results for their organizations.” As audiences utilize the Internet more and more to gather information, this masters degree
will prepare students to tackle this change in their future careers and lead their organizations to the forefront of innovation. Another informational meeting about the program will be held in on Wednesday, February 17, at 12:10 p.m. in Grady College room 205.
UPCOMING PRSSA EVENTS FEBRUARY 9 Washington DC Tour FEBRUARY 12 PR For Good Nonprofit Tour Atlanta FEBRUARY 19 PRSA Real World Conference Atlanta
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JAN/FEB 2016 • UGA PRSSA • DREWRY CHAPTER , UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA • UGAPRSSA.ORG