New Semester-Welcome

Hi everyone!  Welcome to your Spring semester at the UI and welcome to PRSSA!  Tonight was our first chapter meeting, and there was an awesome turnout!! We covered a lot in a short period of time.  It may seem overwhelming at first, but it just goes to show that PRSSA has something for everyone, whether it is Firm Committee, Newsletter, Events Committee, or getting involved in some community service!  I hope you’ll all get involved with something, since these are all great ways to get real-world PR experience right within PRSSA and meet new people.

Something for us this semester is the “color” groups (mine is green!), where each exec member heads up a group (identifiable by its color) of members.  This is just a way to, A) help everyone get to know each other better, and B) lets members ask questions–about anything–in a more relaxed environment (so you don’t have to ask it in front of 50 other people).

So, get geared up for a great semester and be sure to start marking your calendars for some sweet events:

• THIS FRIDAY!! Jan  29, 4-7 PM, F.W.C. (Friday’s With Class) at Share Wine Lounge & Small Plate Bistro–they are a Firm client and this is the first event of its kind.  Bring  your friends and kick back with food & drink specials!

• Feb. 10, 7 pm, E120 AJB–Next chapter  meeting

• March 27–Polar Plunge–Raises money for Special Olympics

• April 23–Company Tour, Chicago

**More events to come, this is just a sampling of what we’ve got goin’ on!

And, don’t forget to find us on Twitter: @iowaprssa

–Kelly

College in Fast Forward: Tips from an almost-graduate

As the Florida Keys sun sets on the last day of my last college vacation, I’m filled with both the ease of nature’s beauty and the anxiety of research papers, intern projects, and intensive job searching which awaits back in blustery Iowa.  Packing a four-year education into three and a half seemed like great idea six months ago when I paid my last semester of college tuition at The University of Iowa.  I’m all for saving money and ending the college workload, which sent me to the third floor of the university library countless nights while friends texted me to come out for wings and a frosty pint.  Temptations surround a college student, but to make it out alive, I had to keep one sober eye on my end goal: gainful employment post-graduation.

Dorms:  Just Do It!

Setting foot on a massive campus of over 32,000 students was overwhelming for this farm girl, as I was pulled from my security blanket as senior class president of a cozy 46 classmates at the quaint Iowa cornfield school of Pekin-Packwood.  Without a single friend to follow, I rolled the dice for a random room assignment in Hillcrest Hall for not one but two years of dorm life.  If this sounds crazy and naïve, you’re right.  After the first year with a rambunctious Bahamian and a quiet, just proclaimed lesbian, I thought, why not try one more year of this.  Apparently the university found me to be a diverse scholar, pairing me with two exchange women from South Korea.  I barely made it through four years of Spanish, so picking up on Korean was out of the question.  They year passed quickly as the girls weren’t home much, but the cultural experience was worth it in the end.  The dorm adventure is a must for any first (or second)-year student, if not to make life-long friends then to broaden your perspective both socially and culturally.

Jobs and Internships: Get one…now!

As we begin our college careers, we often have a skewed perception of what the next four years will entail.  Sleep, eat, class, party, eat, repeat.  If only life were so simple!  In nearly any professional industry you plan to enter, previous intern and job experience is essential to even be considered by employers.  The key is to start early.  If your resume is blank, search for a part-time job.  There are plenty of local restaurants and retailers continually hiring on a college campus, and these are the places to gain those necessary transferable skills*.

Once you have something to offer an employer, jump into the internship ring.  Use your college career center, professors, peers, and any college publications and departments that may be seeking intern help.  You’d be surprised by what is out there for freshman and sophomore students.

So you get the internship, now what?  Make the most of it!  I have been interning with the university since the end of my sophomore year, taking on event planning, marketing, external relations, and of course, some minor filing.  Each of these tasks is easily applicable to the real working world, so find your flare and passion and get to practicing.

Volunteer: Giving=Receiving

Getting involved is the best way to make friends, network, and help out the community that you’ll be a part of for the next few years.  These are also opportunities to fill resume white space, even if you helped out for just one day.   Employers love to see a potential hire is doing more than sitting in front of the TV and becoming civically involved.  Watch the college message boards and online volunteer pages, such as United Way for tons of ways to give back for a day or all year.

—

The next couple weeks are going to be bitter-sweet for me, leaving behind 3 A.M. papers and entering the real world of bills and 40+ hour work weeks.  I know I’m always welcome to come back for good ol’ Iowa tailgating and football in Kinnick Stadium, but my college years have gone in a flash as I prepare to say farewell to the friends I’ve made along my journey.

Speaking of friends, many of those that I’ve made have, one way or another come from involvement in student groups.  So my final word of wisdom for all you undergraduates who haven’t left to FAC and are still reading, get involved on campus as soon as you unpack your bags.  Find a group that interests you, be it swing dancing, taekwondo, student events, or a pre-professional group.  You can make friends, attend socials, and climb the elite leadership ranks of thousands of college students.  Life is short and your college career is even shorter.  Make the most of it now and you will reap the benefits long into the future.

*Transferable skills: http://careerplanning.about.com/od/careerchoicechan/a/trans_skills_ex.htm

Seven Things to Do Over Thanksgiving Break

We are lucky as Iowa students to have a WHOLE WEEK off for thanksgiving break, so here are some PR related ideas to fill up some of your downtime over break:

1. Check out PRQuickStart.org – This is a free online program that will help you get more acquainted with the public relations field. Try to complete the entire program over break; it shouldn’t take too long and might even be fun.
2. Set up an informational interview – Try getting in contact with a company or agency in your area and see if they will let you come in for an informational interview. This is a great way to learn more about a company you might want to work or intern for in the future.
3. Start a Twitter account – If you don’t already have a Twitter account, break is a great time to start one up. You’ll have plenty of time to tweet new content every day and work on building your connections. If you already do have a Twitter account, make it your goal over break to get retweeted by a professional in the PR field.
4. Perfect Interview – If you have a webcam or can borrow one from a friend, practice your interview skills with the Pomerantz Career Center’s Perfect Interview program. When you get back from break, you can set up an appointment with a career advisor to go over your interview. It is never too early to start practicing for interviews, and this is an easy and free way to start.http://www.careers.uiowa.edu/perfectinterview/
5. Volunteer – Check out your local food pantry or crisis center and see if they need any extra help during the week. Holidays are often the busiest time of year for these organizations and they will most likely need extra volunteers. This will look great on a resume and will also help you build connections.
6. Blog – Come up with a blog entry about anything you are interested in whether it is related to PR or not. If you don’t have your own blog, post it to the PRSSA blog by contacting Kelly Trettin. Employers are looking for social media savvy students to hire, and blogging is a great way to start.
7. Watch the American Music Awards – The AMA’s will be on ABC on November 22^nd at 8/7c. Pretend like one of the performers, announcers, or winners is one of your clients; after the show, write a press release for him/her. Yeah, it sounds silly and won’t be published anywhere, but it will give you some practice writing press releases. Use the template we received from Karla Stevenson at our press release workshop and get creative.

Have any other ideas of fun, PR related activities to do over break? Feel free to leave your own ideas in the comment section!

Kelsey Thortsen – Finance Director

New Spring 2010 Exec

At our last meeting, the chapter voted on new exec members to fill the spots left by Brittney Wichtendahl (studying abroad), Danette Kapler (graduating) and Genevieve Krier (graduating).  Congratulations to our newest board members:

Paul Spooner: Vice President

Katelyn McBride: Newsletter Editor

Caitlin Peterson: Co-Firm Director

We are looking forward to a great spring semester!

Consider Iowa: PR & Marketing

On Friday, October 30 I was one of 14 students who attended a Consider Iowa road trip through the Pomerantz Career Center.  They have these every so often with trips and tours to different businesses in a certain industry.  The theme for ours was PR & Marketing; we visited three businesses and had a networking lunch with professionals in the field.

The day started bright and early at 8:30 am.  A caravan of UI buses took us to the Johnson County United Way in Coralville, our non-profit stop, where Mitch Overton told us about his experiences in fundraising.  A lifelong resident of Iowa City and graduate of the University of Iowa, his job is primarily based on relationship-building.  The United Way is in the middle of their annual capital campaign, with their goal for 2009 being $2.73 million.  A large percentage of this comes from local businesses that get their employees involved in giving.

When asked about the differences between non-profit PR and a corporation or agency, Overton said that he likes how personal working for a smaller branch can be.

“If I have an idea for something, I can just walk down the hall and talk to my boss about,” he said, “where at other places it could be ‘fill out these forms, then wait a couple weeks…’”  He said that being a smaller branch of a nationally known name like the United Way is especially helpful when putting together campaigns, since the national office puts together all of the marketing materials.  Overton and the other four full-time employees can then personalize the campaign to most effectively appeal to the people of Johnson County.

Our next stop was the Riverside Casino & Golf Resort.  The behind the scenes operations for that place are unreal!  Riverside is especially focused on employee relations—they have many incentive programs to promote wellness and exceptional customer service.  We met with Riverside’s public relations director, Sharon Haselhoff .  She gave us a tour of the facilities, and we then had a Q&A session with employees from all different departments from marketing to accounting.  Sharon actually has a degree in political science, but got involved with PR when trying to persuade Washington County voters to vote yes for the casino referendum five years ago.

Lunch was an amazing spread shared in a conference room at Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust with three professionals from the area.  Nancy Garberson, who has spoken at our meetings, was there from Marketing and Communications Strategies, Inc. (http://www.mcshome.com) in Cedar Rapids.  Dr. Lynn Manternach from Mind Fire Communications (http://www.mindfirecomm.com) was also in attendance, as well as Sherri Lennarson from Banker’s Advertising Company (http://www.bankersadvertising.com), who was the speaker at my table.

Lennarson has worked at Banker’s her entire career, involved in promotional products, or basically anything tangible you can put your company’s name on.  Think pens, Koozies, pizza cutters, lip balms—if you come up with a way you want to promote your company, Banker’s can put your name on anything.  They’ve recently collaborated with the Avoid the Stork campaign and made the lip balms and cups they hand out on campus.

Promotional products are an interesting way to market because, as Sherri said, “People actually thank you for your advertisement,” when you give them a promotional product.  A study they once did showed that almost everyone in a supermarket had at least one pen with a company’s name on it, and most customers could usually tell you exactly what the pen said.

Lennarson was also all about building your personal brand.  “What message do you want to convey about yourself?”  She has gone so far as to pick a personal color and motto that she hands out on products.  We were all given neon green wristlets that said “Having fun and getting things done!  For a friend of Sherri Lennarson,” with her contact information on it, full of pocket Kleenex, Shout wipes, and other handy incidentals that can easily be thrown in a backpack.

Our final stop was Metro Studios in Hiawatha—talk about a hidden gem!  This company started as a video production place, but now focuses more on marketing.  They have everything from a graphic designer, Web developers, and a recording studio, to a room for shooting commercials complete with a green screen, and a full service kitchen where “Metro Moms” come in and bake them cookies!  You can check them out at http://www.metro-studios.com

Each place offered so much great advice and insight into the industry, your eyes would glaze over if I tried to blog about it all.  So first of all: PLEASE take advantage of opportunities like this through the Pomerantz Center.  At first I was unsure that I wanted to devote my entire Friday pre-Halloween to a school trip, but I’m so glad I did.  The networking I got to do with professionals in the area was invaluable (the free lunch was an added perk!)

Secondly, there were a few points that everyone seemed to re-iterate.

1.       Don’t limit yourself.  Most of the professionals we spoke to had no plan to go into PR or took a non-traditional path to get where they are.  They all advised to try a variety of things in college to really find what you’re truly passionate about.

2.       Take risks.  They may not always pay off, but not only will you learn a lot from your failures, future employers love to hear of a time you learned from a mistake and turned it into a growing experience.

3.       Find something you love and do it!  This may be easier said than done, but those we spoke with all have a contagious passion for what they do.  Every single person said they honestly love waking up to do what they do every day—if you’re not happy in life, change it!

By: Brittney Wichtendahl

PRSSA’s Growing Firm

PRSSA’s student-run firm has turned a new leaf this semester. Both Tina Larson and I, co-firm directors, wanted to expand the firm. With some hard work, we managed to generate new interest in PRSSA members and now firm has a 15-member committee! Our new firm members are committed to our clients and together we have accomplished more than expected thus far. With new clients, new members, and a new outlook, firm is well on its way to become nationally affiliated within the next couple of years.

With increased membership, firm has been able to take on more clients because the workload is dispersed. Firm is excited to have five new account executives and a few assistant account executives. Students have stepped up to the plate and volunteered their time and effort in return for public relations experience. Joining firm is a great way to heighten experience in the field as Monica Madura mentioned in her presentation last week. Firm supplies members with bullet points to put on their resumes because students are assigned responsibilities and held accountable for seeing them through.

Currently firm has five clients including: Ponseti Races, American Cancer Society, Colleges Against Cancer/Relay for Life, Polar Plunge/Iowa Special Olympics and Landlocked Film Festival. Ponseti Races was firm’s first event which took place Friday, October 16, 2009. This is a new client to firm. Ponseti Races launched its first 5K race this year to raise awareness of clubfoot and to honor Dr. Ponseti of the UI Hospitals who pioneered a non-surgical procedure to cure clubfoot. American Cancer Society is in the process of creating a Johnson County newsletter, and firm would be in charge of content and design of that newsletter. In conjunction, firm will be assisting Colleges against Cancer with the publicity and promotion for the UI Relay for Life held April 16, 2010. Firm will also be helping Polar Plunge with publicity this year which will take place on March 27, 2010. Landlocked is firm’s summer client, and we will help with publicity and promotions for the Landlocked Film Festival which will take place in August of 2010.

Joining firm is a great way to gain hands-on experience in public relations. This year’s firm growth has excited PRSSA, and we hope to keep on growing.

By: Paul Spooner, Co-Firm Director

Practical Advice from Monica Madura

At our October 28^th Chapter meeting, Monica Madura, the Communication Studies Academic Advisor, came to speak.  Monica geared her presentation towards job searching and how to prepare oneself for the “real world.”  She also offered a valuable question and answer session where members got their most burning questions answered.

Monica suggested that the earlier we start looking for jobs and internships, the better.  Not only can you utilize the Pomerantz Career Center’s Employment Expo and Career Shift, but look on the Communication Studies webpage and utilize your network.  Some ways to get your network started can range from attending Chamber of Commerce events to talking with your professors here at the University of Iowa.

Once you find a job or internship that you are interested in, Monica talked about the importance of customizing our resumes and cover letters for the specific position.  It’s a great idea to make a “master resume” where you list everything you have done.  Then once you look at the job description or requirements you can cut and paste on a new document what is most relevant to that job.

The take away message from our speaker was to start job-hunting early, customize your resume, and utilize the resources we have at our fingertips here at the University!

By Shannon Kane

Exec Positions Opening Up!

Sadly, PRSSA will be losing a few great members next semester due to graduation and study abroad.  On the bright side, this means that there will be a couple of positions on the exec board opening up!  I want encourage everyone to run–even if you have only been in PRSSA one or two semesters–because regardless of how inexperienced you might feel, you will learn along the way and we love getting fresh perspectives on our exec board!

The process for running is simple.  At one of our upcoming meetings (date is still undetermined), we’ll hold an election.  Anyone interested in a position will give a short speech to the group about what position they are running for and why they want it.  I know this sounds intimidating, but you have nothing to worry about!  Just make sure you cover these points:  what position you want, what experience and skills you will bring to the position and why you want it/think you will do well in it.  You could also tell us about any new ideas you have for that position.  If you don’t have a ton of experience, just focus on the skills or personality traits you have that will allow you to excel or maybe even talk about a class you’ve taken that would be useful.  Dont’ sweat it.

We’ll be discussing the elections more at upcoming meetings and announcing positions that will be open.  This is a great opportunity to gain leadership experience.  I was only in PRSSA one semester before I ran for exec, and was really nervous about it, but everything worked out.  Being in PRSSA, and especially being on exec has been a wonderful experience for me and is one of those things you’ll look back on and be glad you did.  I hope you’ll all really consider running for a position.  Best of luck!

By: Kelly Trettin, Social Media Editor and Webmaster

Trying to find internships this spring or summer?

On Tuesday, October 20, 2009, I attended a small class led by Amy A’Hearn the communications career advisor. When I say small, I mean small. It was a class size of three people including myself and it was wonderful. The class was all about how to find an internship whether it be for the spring, summer, or fall. She started off the class by asking what our priorities were, what did we want out of the internship? What was important to us, location, paid/unpaid, work environment, work hours, etc? She said the key to finding an internship was first figuring out what you, yourself wanted out of one.

Next, she showed us the Pomerantz Career Center’s website (www.careers.uiowa.edu) and located the Career Guide button which brought up a number of sample resumes, cover letters, letters of inquiry, etc. A’Hearn urged us to look at each of these to begin writing and then advised us to go to walk-in hours at the PCC. During walk-in hours, students can have their resumes reviewed by a peer advisor who will be sure to provide them with tips to improve their resume.

To actually find internships, A’Hearn showed us the Expo website on the PCC’s webpage. This site is used to find jobs and internships with companies who are affiliated with the University of Iowa. The easiest ways to look for jobs is to first log-in, then click on the Jobs button, then Search. A’Hearn said to use the “Major Seeking” button which allows for a wider search of jobs within your major that you may have never considered before. Also, for the “Type” you should select Internships. Then click “Search” and a whole skew of internships appear on the page. Expo also has you upload your resume to the site, so if you do find an internship that interests you, all you have to do is click Apply and your resume is already there. I should mention that Expo does have a one-time fee of $32, but that you can use the site all through college and even after.

Also, on the Expo site is a tab labeled ICE-NET, which is an awesome tool! It has alumni from the University of Iowa who put their job information on the website and then you can look them up and ask them about their current jobs. This is a great tool because it allows you to have an informational interview which is when you get to ask people about their job and find out how they got there. Also, the PCC has a whole page on how to go about have an informational interview, A’Hearn stressed that this was a good way to get to know what a specific job was actually like.

The final piece of advice from A’Hearn was that everyone should start a LinkedIn account! This is like Facebook for big people, the real deal. This is a site where you can upload your resume and talk about all the things you are great at (what could be better!). Just make sure your LinkedIn page is professional!

Hope this helps & Best of luck!

Melissa Rasper—Historian/Alumni Relations

Fund Raising, PRSSA style

What do ice cream, guys in Speedos, fifty cent brownies have to do with each other?

They’ve all been part of some of the many fundraisers we’ve done!

Since joining PRSSA in 2007, I’ve been privy to quite a few creative ideas that have been on the table to get us money for our various chapter needs.  A few don’t pan out, and some are less than thrilling, but overall, fundraisers are a great way to get to know your fellow members and make some money that will directly benefit your PRSSA experience.

Previously, we’ve taken shifts at Coldstone Creamery which gives us a percentage of the night’s sales depending on how much ice cream is sold.  Hands-down the best part of working there, even for an hour or two, is sampling all of the ice cream.  My go-to flavor is oatmeal cookie batter, except for the late falls months when pumpkin ice cream is the only thing you should be eating.

During my freshman year, we did Coldstone night in November—not exactly an ideal time to rake in big bucks on ice cream sales.  Timing is a key element when putting on fundraisers, and the next year we were proactive in making sure we were behind the counter during the first week of classes in August.

Personally, my favorite fundraiser was one we just completed.  At the intramural co-ed swim meet on October 4^th, eight members were awarded $300 for the chapter by being back-up timers one early Saturday morning!  We really lucked out in that, although it was a home football game, the intramural meets are shorter and people were able to leave in time to watch the game or continue tailgating.  The swimmers were extremely nice and very appreciative of us, and I think I’m not just speaking for myself when I say that particular fundraiser was especially easy on the eyes.

Another of my favorite fundraisers (boy howdy, I sure do like making money) is the PRSSA bake sale in AJB!  Not only do I enjoy this because I am ob-SESS-ed with baking, but working at the table gives you great interaction with some of the more colorful characters that roam our hallowed halls.  Also, people are super supportive of anyone selling awesome baked goods at bargain-basement prices.  The sampling that may or may not go on is also a highlight.

But Brittney, where does this money go?  I know you’re asking, so I’ll TELL YOU.  As rewarding as the fundraisers themselves can be, what we do with the money is about a million times better.  Money for hotels, gas, etc. is needed when we go on agency tours or to conferences, end-of-the-semester banquets and socials, some overhead costs, PR Day, possibly bringing in certain speakers—the list of what we can do with our chapter funds is never ending!

The most important part of fundraising, my PRSSA minions, is that you NEED TO GET INVOLVED.  The same five or six people can’t raise all of the money for the entire chapter—everyone needs to pull their own weight.  This making money stuff is not hard—it’s really fun and we don’t even notice that we’re working because there’s bonding, there’s laughing, and more often than not, there’s a trip to the Airliner afterward.

If YOU have an awesomely creative idea (or even a really obvious one we’ve never thought of before) please, please, please speak up!  We’re always looking for ways to get money for our chapter and get our name out on campus.

By: Brittney Wichtendahl, PR Director