December 2012 Issue

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What’s Inside?

General Meeting: Greg St. Claire...2

PSU Football & PR...3

Professor Spotlight...4

Alumni Spotlight...5

Exec Board Spotlights...6

Holiday Editorial...7

Acknowledgements...8

Contact Information:

Website:http://pennstateprssa.wee-bly.com/

#CommComm Blog:http://psuprssa.wordpress.com/

Twitter:: @PennStatePRSSA

Facebook: The Penn State Chapter of PRSSA

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December General Meeting Featuring Greg St. Claire

By Natasha Bailey

Greg St. Claire, Edelman executive vice president with the corporate issues management practice in Washington D.C. made a special visit to Penn State in December. He spoke at the general meeting of PRSSA and shared some advice on the world of public relations. St. Claire has worked with Penn State through Edelman, the world’s largest public relations firm, over the past year to help rebuild the school’s reputation after the Jerry Sandusky scandal. Making it very clear that he was here to educate the students and not comment on events of last year’s scandal, St. Claire did just so.

His first piece of advice was to find an agency to work for that lets you explore all aspects of communication, meaning find somewhere to work where you can test the waters and figure out exactly which department of communications you enjoy best.

As the presentation went on, he discussed two major topics, Public Engagement and Crisis Communications. Public Engagement is the new landscape of communications. It is the idea that companies are no longer trying to push their message onto consumers without feedback but now want to have a conversation by deeply discussing that message.

Some of the most interesting issues we learned about Public Engagement included: the mobile tipping point (the growing use of electronics), human connectivity, the difference between a license to operate and a license to lead, and the idea of company and government collaboration. Public Engagement creates increased trust, changed behavior and the building of deeper communities by creating a stronger relationship with consumers.

As St. Claire began to speak about Crisis Communications, he gave some great tips on what to do during a crisis and how they have helped him in the past. The most important thing anyone can do is to plan to get ahead of a crisis and have the protocol ready before anything happens. For young students entering Crisis Communications, St. Claire said “it’s going to be tough getting in there and taking a hit but you have to do it.”

His advice was to first welcome anything as an opportunity to talk about your message, and how you respond is more important than the event. Your response should be calculated and empathetic to those involved. You also have to control the information during a crisis and respect the 24-hour news cycle by responding in real time. The last tips were to establish yourself as a reliable source of communication and find a credible third party to validate for your company.

As the presentation came to an end, St. Claire shared stories of projects and high profile companies he has worked on in the past and what he has learned from them. He has worked for a variety of companies including Wal-Mart, eBay, Shell, GE and Starbucks. St. Claire’s helpful tips provided PRSSA members with great information on how to succeed in the public relations field.

Penn State Football Creates Positive PRBy Kayla Shredni

For the public it may be surprising, but as Penn Staters it is not hard to believe that the sport associated with much of the negative PR last year is now helping to restore Penn State and the reputation of this university. As many know, a year ago the football program was the epicenter of the biggest scandal to ever hit Penn State.

Our institution faced the harshest and most negative PR it had ever seen. The media and public slammed our football program, our faculty and our entire school culture. Our university was not being represented for what it truly is, a great university. To the public, the wrong doings of a couple individuals became synonymous with our university’s core values. As members of the Penn State community we knew this reflection of our school was unjust and simply inaccurate.

Once the source of scandal and negativity, the Penn State football program has now become a model for how to handle oneself in the midst of anger and disappointment. They have shown the world how to make the most out of an unfortunate situation. The student athletes on the Penn State football team this year have really turned our reputation around. The culmination of their class when faced with adversity, and their determination to win when faced with doubt has been a source of positive PR for this university. The football team has undoubtedly become one of the main sources of encouraging publicity.

Additionally, Coach Bill O’ Brien has been a phenomenal leader and source of favorable PR. He has lead by example, worked hard, and stood by Penn State’s side when times were tough. His expertise and professionalism led him to win the much deserved Big Ten Coach of the Year Award. Penn Staters could not be more pleased with him and his team’s performance this season, as they have done much more than just play football. Their positive impact on our school and model citizen behavior have helped restore our reputation and relationships with the public, and for that, much of the Penn State community is thankful.

“It’s going to be tough getting in there and taking a hit but you have to do it.”

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Professor Spotlight: Professor Michel Haigh By Rachelle Gaynor

The Penn State College of Communications gives students access to many world class professors in order to help prepare them for suc-cess in their future careers. One such professor is Michel Haigh. Professor Haigh teaches a variety of classes at Penn State including a freshman seminar about image restoration and a research methods class.

“All classes are unique and include real world situations and clients,” Haigh said.

She spent more than six years as a public relations writer, where she also worked with editing and web design. With that experience, she coauthored more than 30 conference papers and published more

than 25 articles. Those articles showed up in respected journals such as Communication Quarterly and Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media. Even though Haigh has been recognized in many professional outlets, she still cares a great deal about what her students have to say.

“I value being named Promising Professor,” Haigh said in response to the question of what her most valued achievement in her career was. “Students wrote letters of recommendation for me, and that was very inspiring,” Haigh said. A professor with this much experience is definitely able to impart good advice onto up-and-coming PR students.

“Students need to write - a lot,” Haigh said. She believes that writing is an ongoing process, and the only way to perfect that process is to practice as much as you can. However, writing isn’t enough to give you all the skills you will need.

“Reading informs how one writes,” Said Haigh. Learning how to write properly, and how to write on a deadline, are what Haigh stresses to her own students while teaching her classes at Penn State.

Alumni Spotlight: Becky MurdyBy Brittany Davidson

Becky Murdy, a 2010 Penn State graduate, is working as a sports marketing specialist for Google + at Google. Murdy majored in public relations and advertising with an emphasis in sports journalism from the John Curley Center for Sports journalism, and demonstrates how being able to effectively use social media can go a long way in today’s job market.

“Social media has all of the credit for where I am today. I have worked hard to become as versed in social media as anyone and using it as much and as technically as I do proved to be successful,” said Murdy.

“...think big. There is no idea that is ‘too big.’”

While in her undergraduate studies, Murdy was involved in extra curricular activities that gave her the possibilities to work with different social media devices. To list a few, she was a student assistant for the Penn State Athletic Communications Office for the Men’s Golf team, an Overall Director of Communications for Penn State’s Greek Sing and a member of a Communications Committee for THON.

Working at Google, Murdy provides outreach for teams, bloggers and media that are in need of assistance with Google +. She also meets with other fellow “Googlers” to organize extraordinary events for Google users. Murdy is surrounded by co-workers who are all equally as passionate about social media as she is. Her favorite part about her work is that she is proud of the company she represents on a day-to-day basis.

“The environment at Google is electric and the opportunities are endless,” said Murdy.

So fellow Penn State College of Communications students, how do you personally enhance your social media skills in order to become a pro like Murdy?

“My advice would be to think big. There is no idea that is ‘too big.’ Sign up for every opportunity you can, volunteer for events and don’t be afraid of being busy. Don’t miss an opportunity because you were sleeping,” said Murdy.

Murdy leaves students with a recommendation to watch this link (just for some extra motivation!) :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GcusXA069I

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Exec Board Spotlights: Jule Gamache and Alexandria PumpBy Andrew Patterson

Jule Gamache and Alexandria Pump are Directors of Chapter Development for Penn State’s chapter of PRSSA. As directors, Gamache and Pump have multiple responsibilities, which include organizing workshops for the members, booking all meeting rooms, and securing speakers for general meetings.

According to Gamache, getting speakers for the chapter is not always an easy task.

“It's often difficult to get speakers to come to Penn State because many of the speakers we would like to host cannot travel all the way out here,” Gamache said. “With that in mind, we use all of our connections through networking to find people that we think have something valuable for our members to learn.”

Gamache said that her favorite speaker this year was Greg St. Claire from Edelman, the world’s largest PR firm.

“I enjoyed his presentation because he taught us a lot of valuable information about agencies, and I was really impressed that so many members had questions for him and wanted to talk to him after,” Gamache said. “I think his presentation was beneficial to everyone who attended. It was also a very spur of the moment thing that we got him to come speak, so that was very exciting.”

Pump also loved Greg St. Claire, but her other favorite was Rob Boulware.

“Rob provided excellent advice on networking and how to conduct yourself under a high amount of stress,” Pump said.

Going forward, Gamache and Pump both urge any chapter member to share their opinions about PRSSA – workshop ideas, speaker requests, and any other general feedback -- because they are always looking for new ideas.

A PRSSA THON Chair’s Thoughts on Holiday CheerBy Caroline Nelson

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. The lights are up, the festive and fattening foods are out, and the familiar jingle of the Salvation Army bell lines the streets. It is obvious why there are so many reasons that people look forward to the Holiday season. It’s family, friends, presents, religion, decorations, food; the list goes on and on.

I look forward to this time of the year for something less tangible and freer, something to me that is in the air. Call me a Christmas Romantic, but the holiday cheer is why I look forward to this time most out of the year.

Everyone is in a good mood; I can just see it on people’s faces. It’s an aura, call it the Christmas spirit. I am not talking about some creepy ghost; I am talking about the glee that people get from seeing a lit-up Christmas tree. People seem a little nicer and jollier.

Even in our little borough of State College where half the year the world revolves around football and the other half of the year there is THON, we get this little break the week before finals where everyone is in their holiday cheer and for once we can identify as something more than Penn State. Don’t get me wrong I still flip whenever I see the Nittany Lion embroidered on another’s attire outside of University Park.

However, the universal joy of the holiday is something that is incomparable and refreshing. Downtown the bars are done-up with fake trees and red and green, the ugly Christmas sweaters come out, and the Santa hats finish off the little black dress on nights out.

What makes this happen, have we drunk the peppermint flavored Kool-Aid, and all believe that this is the way we are supposed to act or are we just breathing in the Christmas spirit?

“Even though we have finals and all the group projects are due, there is something about this time of the year that is fun,” said Logan Dunkle a junior majoring in Biology. “I don’t look forward to finals week, but you come back there is four, well usually three, weeks until you go back home and you can’t help but be happy.”

“It’s a little depressing at first because football season is over, because the question is, what are you going to do with your Saturdays?” said Amanda Laughlin a junior majoring in Health and Human Development. “Then you realize, we can just make everything in the holiday spirit, dress up the apartment, go out and sing songs, be jolly, it’s a great few weeks to just enjoy the holiday with your friends.”

We hope you have enjoyed the holiday season, as it only comes once a year, and although there are other reasons to be happy during the year, it is seldom that it is ok to stuff a dozen cookies into your mouth and watch Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer with such joy.

Alexandria Pump Jule Gamache

Acknowledgments:Featured Writers:Natasha Bailey

Kayla Shredni

Rachelle Gaynor

Brittany Davidson

Andrew Patterson

Caroline Nelson

Editors in Chief:Ed Wons

Sarah Kurz

A note from the editors:

Happy New Year! We are kicking off the semester with fervor and can’t wait to see what committee has in store for us! We continue to see our newsletter grow in numerous aspects from our committee members’ writing to new design features. Let the 2013 bring us positive change and continued growth!

Cheers,

Edewons5@gmail.com

Sarahkurzs92@gmail.com