6 Things I Learned at PRSSA National Assembly

Hi, my name is Bethany Parry.

If you do not already know me, I am the one on the right in the picture above.

This year I was privileged to represent the Missouri State's Chapter of PRSSA at National Assembly.

First, to tell you a little about myself, I joined PRSSA in Spring 2010 because my aunt bought my membership for Christmas. She is a PR professor at Belmont University, and one of the main reasons I am in PR.

This past year, I got more involved serving as a community relations chair and on the Bear Communications Firm as well. One of my passions outside of PR is coffee. When I heard the PRSSA National Assembly was being held in the coffee capitol of the world, Seattle, this year, I volunteered right away!

Little did I know how much this experience would affect me personally and professionally.

The trip was incredible. 

I was surrounded by the brightest, most dedicated PR students in the nation, 

and it was both refreshing and exhilarating.

It was unlike most conferences I have attended because it was intimate and more about the participants than big name speakers.

Even without speakers, I learned so much from just speaking with my peers. 

Today, I would like to share the top 6 things I learned from PRSSA National Assembly:

#1: Know Your Brand: The National Committee put on a few sessions for us. One of them being "Branding with Brandi". It sounds corny, I know, but I realized how important it is to consider each "tweet" and "project" your organization is tied to because that all contributes to your brand. I also learned as individual Chapters, it is important for us to realize the National brand we are representing and try to meet those guidelines.

#2: Take Advantage of Opportunities: PRSSA National has so many tools available for students and Chapters that I was completely unaware of. There are opportunities to win awards for your Chapters, submit news, get published, hold regional activities, chat with other PRSSA members via #TwitterChats, get internships, get jobs, and so much more. The National Committee is such a great resource as well. I hope to set up some "Skype" dates with the new National Committee members to everyone realize the amazing opportunities at our finger tips.

#3: Networking with your Peers, Now, is Networking with Future PR Superstars: I met some incredible people in Seattle. Some that I hope to stay in contact with such as my roommate, Veronica, the new Chapter Development Chair, Kendall, and the new Public Relations Chair, LaurenKGray (and my new twitter friends). This is the best kind of networking, hanging with peers. I know that there were at least some future PR Super Stars in Seattle, and hopefully, they will still remember me someday. Networking is all about the relationships, which makes it so fun! That weekend Edelman, a global PR firm, held a fun networking event for us. They were so nice and brought lots of prices from clients like Starbucks and X-box. Having giant screens with games of Dance Central also helps making networking even more fun. 

#4: Do Not Rely on ONLY Students for Raising Funds: I learned many fundraising ideas from other Chapters, but they all had one common theme: "Do not rely on ONLY students for raising funds". Students do not have money, and they can other buy so many t-shirts and cookies at bake sales. The big money is going to happen when you target businesses and professionals because they have deeper, more reliable pockets.

The National Committee for 2011-2012

#5: Doing Your Civic Duty Can Be Fun: I will be honest. At first, I dreaded Saturday Assembly. All that I knew was that it consisted of voting ALL day on stuff, and it was so strict we had to motion to use the bath room. I was terrified of boredom and possibly wetting my pants. However, it was not terrifying; it was actually quite exciting to be a part of such a grand process. I got to know my peers, watch them run for spots on the committee, and celebrate in their success. Because I was a part of this process, I do not feel intimidated asking help from any of these committee members. I know they are there for the Chapter's, and I have their business cards. Also, I just realized how important being a part of these events are, and I hope Missouri State's Chapter of PRSSA will always have a voice at Assembly.

#6: PR People are SUPER Nice! PR people are the nicest people you will ever meet. I was nervous going to an event that I did not know anyone, but that was ridiculous because PR people seem to instantly become friends. I would encourage anyone who has a chance to go to a National or Regional event to take it because you will meet such wonderful people and hopefully form lifelong bonds with people in your future field!


If you have any questions about Assembly or anything National offers, feel free to contact me via email (Bethany08@live.missouristate.edu) or via Twitter (@bparry08). Or if you want to see more about my trip, check out my personal blog here. Again, I highly recommend getting involved at the National level. It is an experience you will not forget.

And of course I enjoyed many good cups of coffee while I was there! ;)

-Bethany

November Update from the PRSSA

Hello again @MoStatePRSSA followers! Yesterday we had another meeting in good old Craig Hall, and it went really well. We conducted a “Day of Competition,” which gave our members a chance to present how they would have reacted to the Tiger Woods crisis. I think it went well, and we even brought in Ann Elwell, the current PRSA president-elect, and Tom Ellis, the PRSA programming chair, to judge the competition. Unfortunately, our fantastic judges did not agree upon a solid winning team, so the Executive Board had to take it upon ourselves to decide the winners, who excitingly enough all got $10 gift cards to Chipotle!

                  For our next meeting we are going to tour Noble and Associates, and then hopefully going to eat at Prima’s Mexican Grill after! We are very excited for the tour, considering we are in the middle of working through our first semester of the student-run PR firm, Bear Communications! Hopefully the Noble employees will be able to teach us a thing or two.

                  A couple updates, going along with Bear Communications include: the GYN Cancer Alliances’ Wine tasting event is on November 14, and Big Brothers Big Sister’s 2^nd annual Beerfest  event is on November 21. We are all very excited, and will basically all be volunteering as long as everybody is 21! J

                  That’s all for now, but as always please follow us on Twitter at @MoStatePRSSA or check us out on Facebook at Missouri State Uninversity PRSSA! Have a good day, talk to you again soon.

Sincerely,

Lindsay Van Quaethem

What’s the #Buzz with @MoStatePRSSA

Hello again from Missouri State PRSSA! This week we have a meeting at 5 p.m. on Tuesday night, and Charlotte McCoy from the Springfield Discovery Center is coming to present. Keep an eye out on our Twitter @MoStatePRSSA for tips and quotes from Charlotte throughout the meeting.

Last week was a pretty busy week, for the members of the Firm, which we believe is now officially being called Bear Communications, to pay tribute to Missouri State. But anyway, over the last week all of the Firm members met with their clients: Big Brothers Big Sisters, Champion Athletes, and GYN Cancer Alliance, and it looks like some really great plans are going to happen this semester. Some of the events include Beerfest through Big Brothers Big Sisters, a Casino Night with GYN Cancer Alliance and Champaign and Cupcakes with Champion Athletes.

Updates will be blogged and Tweeted about as the events get closer, but for now, put November 20 and 21 on your calendars for Beerfest.  Our Firm members are all really excited to start working very diligently with their clients, so I will have detailed updates coming at you shortly!

Also, this year our Community Relations chairs are planning at least one community involvement activity a month, and so far they have planned:

·      Friday, October 29: "Halloween Night at the Museum" @ The Discovery Center from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m.

·      Thursday, November 18th (evening): Fashion Show for Ozarks Food Harvest

·      Sunday, November 21: Beerfest

Finally, our Fundraising chairs are planning a night at Orange Leaf for November 2, and they have agreed to donate $1 from each redeemed coupon from the night, to PRSSA.

That is all for now, but please keep following us to see what the constant #Buzz is with @MoStatePRSSA.

Thanks for reading!

-Lindsay Van Quaethem

What's the #Buzz with @MoStatePRSSA

By: Lindsay Van Quaethem

Hello out there, to everyone in the land of the interactive web. My name is Lindsay Van Quaethem and I am the President of Missouri State’s chapter of Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA). This is a national organization that works to enhance student knowledge of Public Relations, to create well-prepared professionals. Our local chapter has been around since 2006, and we currently have roughly 30 members. This year our goal is to really help our chapter grow, and this is only possible because we have such a fantastic Executive Board, these members include:

·      Vice President: Daniel Ortega

·      Director of Administration: Sara Gwin

·      Chief Financial Officer: Meredith Pearson

·      Firm Director: Sara McClendon

We are a great team, and I cannot wait to see what exciting programs we can put together this year. One new initiative we are taking on is the implementation of a completely student-run PR firm sponsored by PRSSA. For this initiative to be successful, our Executive Board created our newest Executive position: Firm Director, who as I already stated is held by senior, Sara McClendon.

This semester our Firm is working with three clients, and they include: GYN Cancer Alliance, Champion Athletes of the Ozarks and Big Brothers Big Sisters. There are quite a few community events, that each of our clients are putting on this semester and the Firm’s goal is make these even more successful than last year. I will provide constant updates about the Firm and PRSSA as a whole. With questions see our Facebook page at Missouri State University PRSSA or follow us on Twitter @MoStatePRSSA.  Thanks for your attention, keep an eye out for new posts, coming at you soon!