The PR Apprentice, 100% Trump-free
Now and then, I have the privilege of leveraging the craft of public relations to do some real-world good. In a few weeks, that opportunity comes around again with our "PR Apprentice" competition -- where we'll ask college students to dive in to the deep end of the PR pool.
It's a sink or swim event.
This year's program (Oct. 2-3) involves members of the PRSA chapter in Rochester, NY and local media representatives serving as coaches and judges of teams from several colleges and universities in Western New York.
Over a 36-hour period, the teams of students will strategize and pitch their best plans to promote a dual-language awareness campaign for Ibero American Action League's Early Childhood Center. View a video and full details on PRSA Rochester's website.
Engaging undergraduates in this competition gives them both exposure to a real-world PR challenge, and helps them demonstrate their skills to agency, not-for-profit, and corporate practitioners who may help them network and find career opportunities. It also helps them engage with a diverse audience, and try to wrap their heads around engaging audiences they might not encounter on a college campus.
Did I mention that the winners will also have opportunities to put their great ideas into action? They'll be writing content and blog posts and capturing video for actual media consumption, not a college class.
And, we hope, they'll move the needle on awareness for Ibero's program.
(Full disclosure: we adapted the program's "PR Apprentice" name in an earlier iteration a few years ago, before the TV series' star entertained notions of political campaigning. Thus, we have zero connection with Mr. Trump.)
Check back here in a few weeks to see how we did.
This year's program (Oct. 2-3) involves members of the PRSA chapter in Rochester, NY and local media representatives serving as coaches and judges of teams from several colleges and universities in Western New York.
Over a 36-hour period, the teams of students will strategize and pitch their best plans to promote a dual-language awareness campaign for Ibero American Action League's Early Childhood Center. View a video and full details on PRSA Rochester's website.
Engaging undergraduates in this competition gives them both exposure to a real-world PR challenge, and helps them demonstrate their skills to agency, not-for-profit, and corporate practitioners who may help them network and find career opportunities. It also helps them engage with a diverse audience, and try to wrap their heads around engaging audiences they might not encounter on a college campus.
Did I mention that the winners will also have opportunities to put their great ideas into action? They'll be writing content and blog posts and capturing video for actual media consumption, not a college class.
And, we hope, they'll move the needle on awareness for Ibero's program.
(Full disclosure: we adapted the program's "PR Apprentice" name in an earlier iteration a few years ago, before the TV series' star entertained notions of political campaigning. Thus, we have zero connection with Mr. Trump.)
Check back here in a few weeks to see how we did.
