PRSSA 2006 National Conference

Anchorage, Alaska (November 29, 2006) – Three UAA journalism and public communications students traveled to Salt Lake City on Nov. 10th through the 14th to represent the Alaska “Seawolf” Chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America at the 2006 PRSSA National Conference. Chapter President, Anna Marie Roedl, Vice President Jerami Marsh and Historian Shannon Orley returned on the 14th with a fresh outlook to lead their Chapter and plan to present their experiences to fellow students in the upcoming weeks.

The annual Conference featured four days of professional workshops and social events that members may use to as an edge in their future communications careers.
Over 800 students from around the country attended sessions geared to help Chapter members develop their leadership, recruitment, fundraising, networking and professional communications skills.

“We are just taking advantage of opportunities now because public relations is a competitive field, especially in a market as small as Anchorage.” President Roedl said. “The experience we gain and the networks we build in the community play an important role in what happens to us from now on. These skills could help pretty much any professional career.”

Key discussion topics included using technological advancements such as blogging, vlogging, social bookmarking and podcasting in communications strategies, media influences and interaction, sports promotion, international opportunities in public relations, advocacy, resume and career enhancement.

Keynote and general session speakers included top executives of major companies such as Richard Edelman from Edelman Public Relations Worldwide and Newsweek managing editor, Jon Meacham. Tavis Smiley, of Public Radio International, delivered a sermonesque message that nailed the importance of stopping public relations spin, adding values to add message value, to better relate to our people and stopping the “spin” in order to build a nation that is as good as its promise.

About UAA’s PRSSA

PRSSA members have worked with local organizations to coordinate public events such as the 2006 Arctic Winter Games and Veterans Wheelchair Games last summer. Members have written press releases, templates, communications plans, websites and advertisements for local groups such as the Anchorage Conventions and Visitors Bureau, the Red Cross of Alaska, Habitat for Humanity, the Emergency Operations Center and the Aviation Heritage Museum.

Current officers are strengthening the Chapter by recruiting other UAA students who want to get involved in communications or similar pre-professional careers.

For more information call Jerami Marsh: 907-952-1154.
More chapter information will be available on our website: prssa.uaa.alaska.edu
For national information: www.prssa.org

MEL AND I: A Tagteam Approach to Continuity

One cycle that I really want to break is the lack of continuity. It seems that every year our officers graduate, leaving behind no experience to manage the Chapter. Those that are left struggling to learn what they are doing and how they want to do it. By the time they figure it out, they are ready to graduate and have not had the time to train anyone or create a continuity binder.

One of the things I would like to strengthen is our standard of continuity. It has three tiers: mentorship, experience and leadership. If I were to surrender to the common practice of acronym usage, I might call it MEL. MEL is cool.

In the first stage-mentorship-a student is initiated into PRSSA, paired with a mentor and taught their role as a pre-professional public relations student. At this point, they learn to crawl. They may be given a few simple tasks or responsibilities until they become more familiar with the Chapter routine. Most importantly, they discover what they strive to accomplish in PRSSA.

The second stage is experience. The public relations student becomes confident of their skill and PRSSA knowledge. They are allowed to take on greater roles in our projects. They may still be under mentorship, but gradually progress into leadership positions.

The last stage-leadership-should occur naturally for most public relations personality types. They take on the management of accounts and inter-organizational projects, and they are elected into officer positions or subcommitees. They should be adopted by a PRSA professional mentor to help them complete the transition into the “real world” of public relations.

Finally, leaders begin to realize what it takes to be a successful professional, and who might be willing and able to fufill its duties. A leader will take on an understudy who seeks knowledge and is gaining experience, to teach and condition them to become a future Chapter leader.

Throughout the three phases, public relations students should to log their experiences, keep track of projects and hours spent volunteering, working and learning. By the time they graduate, they will have more than enough material to contribute to their own continuity binder. One is needed for every officer position and for long term projects such as the website.

Jerami Marsh
Vice President
Public Relations Student Society of America
Seawolf Chapter