I had the chance to visit Eugene this week as a PR Game Changer Speaker. The PR Game Changer Speaker Series is a new initiative the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication where they bring in speakers who are “changing the game” for the PR field.
This is an opportunity for the students to engage with the speaker about the field, rising issues and opportunities in the specialization, and be able to host them on campus. I was the second speaker to be invited as part of this program, and I was truly honored.
The last time I was at UO was in a different capacity entirely. I was in Eugene in 2006 where I was competing in the Pac 10 (now 12) Championships for USC. It was great to be able to walk around campus and get a sense of the community of Eugene. I remember certain buildings, but the campus is growing at a pretty fast pace, so a lot of exciting things are on the horizon for the university.
I had a few firsts for me as far as this experience goes. First, I had a press release about my visit at UO. I have written many press releases over the years, and have taught how to write them for my classes as well. But – having a press release written about you is another thing entirely!
Second, wherever I was going on campus at UO, I would look around, and I would see a poster featuring me on it.
Again, I was like – hey! That’s me!
There were a few students who saw me and then also did a double take as well. I had to say – yep! That’s me!
My time to was VERY busy, but fun! I had a chance to not only meet with the faculty and staff at the SOjc, but I was able to speak to two classes. One class was PR campaigns, and the other focused on Strategic PR management.
Both classes were engaged and asked some very insightful questions related to social media. I was impressed with the questions related to the strategic nature of social media, but the thing that came up the most from the students was all about personal branding. How to balance their personal presence w/ their professional manner on each platform. I was able to help them out a bit here with this and provide some suggestions. I enjoyed chatting with the students after the classes. Even some of the UO students wrote blog posts about me, like Jozef, Cleo, and Ani. Thank you!
In my meetings over coffee and meals, I got a chance to learn more about what the PR program is doing, and where they are looking to go. We are in an exciting time in the field, and I think it’s interesting to see what programs are working towards to offer the best and most comprehensive experience for their students. I was able to get the chance to bounce around some ideas from what I am seeing from the social media field, which was a lot of fun.
After my meetings and classes, I got a chance to prepare for my PR Game Changer talk. My talk was hosted by UO’s PRSSA chapter. It was a packed room and I was impressed to see so many students who wanted to hear me speak! I felt this talk was one of my favorites, not just the fact I was talking about social media, but I was able to put a pop culture twist to it with references to Game of Thrones. You got to make presentations not only memorable, but fun!
Here’s the presentation:
[slideshare id=98782749&doc=gamechangerpresentationoregon-180525214354]
I think every university should try to have a program like this. It really does bring forth the human side of the field for the students, and what a great way to be able to showcase your program to other scholars and researchers. I had been to UO many times for track and heard of the great things about the UO program in PR, but I was able to see it first hand thanks to this speaking engagement. UO is definitely leading the way in this for PR programs.
In summary, I had an absolute blast at UO! It was such a wonderful experience – I felt like a celebrity to be honest with the response I got from everyone on campus. Everyone treated me so well during my time in Eugene. From my coffee meetings (they know me too well!) to meeting with faculty and staff, and the official talk – every part of the experience was a highlight for me.
I would like to give a huge S/O to Donnalyn for being such a great host, making sure I got a chance to get the complete Eugene and UO experience, and leading the charge to set this speaker series up for UO. It was awesome to see the great PR professors at UO like Dean, Autumn, Connie, and Kathryn as well.
Thank you all for making my time in Eugene so amazing. SOJC is certainly doing some great things and I am excited to see the program continue to grow and give back to the profession and future generation of PR professionals. Go Ducks!
Hope you all are having a great day!
Best Wishes,
