One of the things professors do over the summer is not only work on various projects and conduct presentations at conferences, we also have to prep and make sure things are squared away and in order for the fall semester.
This upcoming fall semester is going to be different in many ways. As many universities are opening back up and bringing students on campus (well, some are going to either a hybrid or hi-flex model), we all are adjusting to these new expectations for our classes.
However, I am also doing some new things for my PR and Crisis Communication class (aka #FrebergPR) as well. We will be working with our class client for the term (Chipotle – which I am very, very excited about!), and we will also be using my new PR book.
We also will be partnering with one of the BEST marketing minds in our industry: Jeremy Darlow.
If you do not know Jeremy, he’s truly amazing. His expertise, experience, and insights into the industry are spot on, and I’ve been a fan for years.
I first heard of Jeremy from one of my former students at UofL, Samantha Hughey, who was following Jeremy’s work at adidas. We of course connected on Twitter, and the rest is history! I have made sure over the years to have Jeremy’s book as a recommended and must have reading for my classes over the years, and when his latest book came out Darlow Rules, it was awesome!
Little did I know he was not only setting up courses and training programs for student-athletes at universities, but he was starting to partner with professors to include this program into their classes.
As soon as I found out about this, I was like:
YES! I have to be a part of it!
So, Jeremy and I talked, brainstormed, and came up w/ a plan for the fall semester.
You may be asking – how will this work out for your PR class, Karen? Isn’t this a marketing and branding program?
The answer is yes, and I am glad it is so I can include it in my PR class. Here’s my take on this:
- PR needs to embrace and understand more of marketing and branding terms and practices. I mentioned this in my PR book actually, where I have a dedicated chapter JUST on management and business acumen. What better way to learn about both of these from one of the leading experts in the field w/ hands on activities?
- Students need experience and unique opportunities to stand out. Most of the programs that are doing this partnership are either sports marketing or sports courses – but we are in PR, so this is a unique opportunity for students to get some experience that is unique and could be marketable for them in the future. This is so important now as we are seeing the industry become even more competitive with jobs and internship opportunities.
- This program will build on knowledge, planning, and creative execution. In order for us to come up w/ the best ideas and perspectives to share w/ Chipotle, we have to raise the bar. We will have three creative challenges where students will have to come up w/ an idea and communicate this in a concise and very focused way.
- Big ideas, small text. What I mean about this point is focusing on the conciseness of the idea with the least amount of words. Each student has to communicate their idea in 200 words or less. That’s quite different from other PR related work we have done in the past! However, it gives students the opportunity to present their big idea in a short time – perfect for pitch practices.
- Get feedback from the expert. Jeremy will be reflecting and deciding which idea “won” for the class, while providing feedback. This is a perfect opportunity to again bridge the gap between academia and industry – which of course gets discussed all the time. Higher education always is battling perceptions of what we are doing to really prepare students for the workplace. This way, we can say we are addressing this in this assignment and part of the class among other things.
- Opportunity to do some more teaching research on academia x industry partnerships. I have found that this has been a growing area of not just my work as a professor, but in research. What better way to explore this trend by researching it?
Let me know if you have any questions on this. I will be sharing more about the work we will be doing throughout the term and takeaways my students have in this program.
Thank you Jeremy for this opportunity and I am honored our class at UofL can partner with you this fall!
Have a great day!
Best Wishes,
