By Riley Fridinger
When switching my major to public relations as a junior in college in the midst of a worldwide pandemic, I never thought I would have the opportunities, excitement, and growth that I have been fortunate enough to experience in such a short period of time. In the time that I have been a part of UNI PRSSA, I have gained friendships, insights, involvement, and so much more. One of the most influential opportunities I have been able to grab hold of was attending a virtual PRSSA District Conference hosted by Temple University in March. This conference provided me with more insight into the public relations industry than I could have ever imagined. Oh, the Insight I Gained:“The day you stop learning is the day you stop living.” Meghnaa Tallapragada, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations at Temple University, said this during the conference and it has stuck with me ever since. Learning is a vital aspect to any goal an individual is trying to achieve, especially when it comes to “stepping into success” as a PR professional. I began this conference feeling inadequate because I felt I had so much to learn. However, this quote from Meghnaa recentered me and showed me that needing to learn is not a bad thing and is not something to be ashamed of. The breakout session, “The Future of PR,” focused heavily on web analytics. I had little knowledge on this topic, however I left the session filled with new knowledge on the topic and an eagerness to continue learning. Within the topic of web analytics, I learned how crucial research is for the PR world because it investigates what the user goals are and how they can relate to the overall organizational goals. This is information that can also be related to my minor in marketing because marketing focuses on consumer wants and needs compared to what a company is trying to achieve. This was very insightful because it stressed the importance of doing your research as a public relations professional and how it can impact your success. I attended another breakout session on event planning. Event planning is right up my alley as I am an event planning major, so this breakout session was one that was more comfortable and felt more natural. Even though this topic of event planning came more naturally to me, I was still able to learn a great deal of wisdom from this breakout session. The biggest insight I had during this session was that event planning can still thrive in the middle of a global pandemic. There was an example given of a virtual Santa Claus visit for kids last Christmas season in order to bring holiday cheer amidst the chaos. The children loved this and the parents were able to give a glimpse of joy to their family in hard times. This was an amazing story that opened my eyes to the vast ways one can make event planning successful during different situations of life. Event planning has the potential to bring light into a dark time and this is one of the many reasons why event planning gives me such happiness to be a part of. These were the two different learning situations I found myself in throughout the conference. During the analytics breakout session, I was soaking in as much knowledge as I could in a short period of time with a curiosity to learn more about something I was not yet comfortable with. In another, I went into the “Virtual Event Planning” breakout session with quite a bit of background knowledge and an excitement to enjoy this topic with others who have similar interests as me. I am equally thankful for the chances I had to learn about topics that I had both very little wisdom in, as well as a good deal of background knowledge in. Both experiences were valuable to my journey of “stepping into success” as a PR professional. Community and Connections:I was a bit hesitant to participate in my first virtual PRSSA District Conference because of the fear of a lack of community building and involvement due to its virtual presence. However, this conference was completely opposite of what I thought it would be. The conference was set up well and was easy to navigate. Chat boxes were heavily utilized for engagement during the sessions. All the speakers were personable and extremely willing to have conversations with anyone who was interested. I logged onto the conference in the morning and finished up eight hours later with so many new connections and friends. As a college student with large ambitions for a career, I urge you to try anything even when you may have hesitations at first. This is the best way to “step into success” and pursue your goals. I was the only midwestern participant, but if I had listened to the doubts I had due to the conference being virtual instead of in person, I would have missed out on so many new connections. I left that day with over 10 new LinkedIn connections that I could personally connect and reach out to. The amount of knowledge a person can gain in just eight hours of time at a conference such as the Temple PRSSA Conference gives me curiosity into how much more we can learn throughout our lives and careers as professionals. This conference gave me an eagerness to continue seeking these opportunities to learn and grow to be the best professional that I can be. I am so thankful that I was able to take part in this informational and stimulating PRSSA conference. For more information on how to take advantage of these amazing opportunities through UNI’s PRSSA Chapter, visit uni-prssa.weebly.com.
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