 By Nicole Zahn
What exactly is public relations? What do you do? Who do you work for? What made you chose the public relations path? These are some of the questions I am asked on a regular basis by friends and family. To make it simple, I usually respond with “You’re the face of an organization to gain positive public perception for that company,” which leads to many replies of oohs and ahhs. However, public relations is much more than gaining public popularity. For students unsure of where this field can lead them, public relations can be defined, described, and demonstrated throughout the Principles of Public Relations course at Kent State University. The Principles of Public Relations course is a foundational class required for students majoring and/or minoring in public relations. It provides a basic layout and understanding of the public relations profession. One of the first topics learned in this course is what exactly a PR professional does:
If you are unsure about the path you want to take in public relations, do not worry! The Principles of Public Relations course is a great start to figure out if public relations is for you because it lays out the general foundations and basics of what public relations is and what a public relations professional does. Be a strong writer, have an open mind and don’t be afraid to be different because that is what this field is all about.
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 By Lauren Biertempfel
Being a part of the PRSSA Bateman Case Study Competition is probably one of the most rewarding things for young public relations professionals. Bateman gives great chances to grow as a professional, expand a portfolio and put the knowledge learned in the classroom to work. Bateman is time consuming and fast-paced, and worth every second that is put into it. For any student who is in Bateman, or wants to be, I have a few tips from my personal experience that will help you successfully survive Bateman. 1. Be prepared to invest a lot of time: Bateman is time consuming. You will spend long nights in the library with your team conducting research and creating your plan. If you go into the competition with the intention of investing a lot of time into it, you will do great! 2. Learn to love your team and leave the drama behind: Your teammates will become your best friends, the people you text at 2 a.m. when you get an idea for the cover of the campaign or come up with new tactics. You do not get to choose your team, but keep in mind that you were all placed together for a reason. 3. Grammer is important! Yes, I did that on purpose. The judges will notice and deduct for grammar errors. Make sure your casebook is flawless both visually and grammatically. Your casebook will be printed and kept as an example for years to come 4. Become best friends with your client: The more comfortable your client is with you, the more they are willing to work with you. It may be difficult to get them to open up at first, but adapt to their needs. Remember that this is a competition, but your plan should resemble your client’s ethics and morals. 5. Be creative and have fun! Bateman is one of the best experiences you will have in college, and it is a great asset to your resume. It is so easy to become stressed with the workload, but you and your team will balance each other out. This is your chance to show what you know, so be creative and have fun with it!  By Gabrielle Woodard
Attending national PRSSA events always gives me a sense of a bigger purpose in PR and reminds me of why I love PR so much. A few weekends ago I was able to attend National Assembly, in Austin, Texas. National Assembly is like a smaller version of National Conference. There are representatives from many of the chapters from across the countries and the purpose is to vote on bylaw changes and elect the new national committee for the organizations. During this year’s national assembly we were able to hear from Brandy King, a spokeswoman for Southwest. She spoke about professional tips, how she got into PR and why enjoying your career is important. At the end of assembly we heard from David Grossman and the speech was not what anyone expected. Grossman didn’t tell us about his amazing career or how he got to his current position, he told us about the struggles he faced when he wasn’t being his “authentic self.” Grossman discussed the importance of being authentically you before trying to lead others thus making yourself an authentic leader. National Conference can be very overwhelming. You are surrounded by 1000 other PRSSA members and have sessions all day, where you can hear from amazing professionals. I really enjoyed National Assembly being a different change of pace. We only had sessions until about 4p.m. Also not being surrounded by members of your own chapter, everyone was forced to branch out and get to know other people. National Assembly made me so excited to attend National Conference in November. I am eager to introduce members of PRSSA Kent to the many amazing people I met at National Assembly and let everyone expand their networks. I really hope everyone will consider attending National Conference in Indianapolis this coming November.  By: Charleah Trombitas
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