By Samantha Pelham
Now that we are a third of the way through this semester, it seems as though everything is starting to pick up. Even though this primarily means having three exams a week, it also means there are a lot of great things picking back up in PRSSA!
Here’s an overview of everything we talked about at the meeting on February 9.
Announcements:
- First off, if you want to be a dues-paying member of PRSSA, be sure to bring in $75 by next Monday, February 16. Being a dues-paying member offers you even more opportunities like having a professional mentor and having an upper hand on being able to go on Networking trips.
- Want to learn more about Social Media? Sign up at Eventbrite by Friday, February 13th for the #OHIOU Social Media Summit. It will take place, Saturday February 21 from 11 am to 4 pm at Walter 135 and 145.
- Interested in becoming part of the PRSSA exec team? Come to an info session on February 24 at 6:30 to hear about all the different positions offered as well as to learn more about our upcoming Networking Trip to Chicago from March 26-27! #SCRIPPSPRSSATOCHI
- Don’t forget to join us for Valentines Day card making for the Laurel House at 151 Mill St., Wednesday February 11 from 7-9 pm. It is going to be a LOVEly time!
- Congrats to Gary Bridgens and Amanda Moline for being chosen to attend PRSSANA! We wish you both the best of luck there!
- Another big congrats to our spotlights of the week, Demari Muff (@demarithehuman) a sophomore marketing major and our ImPRessions spotlight, Fangle Magazine (@fanglemag). Fangle will be having a release part February 25th at Jackie O’s so don’t miss the chance to support your piers and get great food!
- Check out the Bateman Team’s Athens Matters blog at athensmatters.wordpress.com. Also look for upcoming events the Bateman team is holding this month.
- International Week will be held from April 12-18, immerse yourself in culture from all over the world and follow them @OHIOIweek
Welcome, Marisa Dockum!
A big welcome back to Marisa Dockum who just spent the last six months interning for the Miss Universe Pageant in New York City and Florida. Not only are we excited to have her back but also we were lucky enough to hear all about her experiences from the internship.
Marisa, a senior here at Ohio University got the experience of a lifetime through interning with the Miss Universe Pageant. Not only was it career experience but also taught her so much more about herself. Marisa worked doing media credentialing, making sure each one of the over 160 media outlets covering the pageant were certified to be there. This meant that every part of the media had to go through her in order to get in. Not only was she in charge of this aspect but also was responsible for handling press junkets. Her days were non-stop, sometimes working 15-20 hour days and handling whatever crisis came her way. For instance, Marisa spoke about the crisis that erupted when Miss Israel and Miss Lebanon posted a selfie together. She had to help come up with statements to release that would send a positive message to viewers. This included composing Donald Trump’s statement on the Today Show as well as for NBC news crews.
For Marisa, this was a new type of PR work. Completing eight other internships before this one, each of them had been with an agency whereas this was internally. The main difference from her work at an agency to internally was that with an agency you’re not the boss and always doing the labor to get things done, whereas with internally, she found herself to be her own boss and able to come up with the creative aspects that were sent out to be handled. A major difference in the types of PR but for her it was a new side of her career she never thought about.
After speaking about her experience during the internship, she gave us Bobcats some advice on preparing for internships and what to expect. She said that moving to New York at first was a bit intimidating, with all the people and being in a new environment but you must go into both your new home and internship with the confidence that you can do anything, because you can. A good place to start when in a new city is through the Bobcat network, there are thousands of Bobcats willing to help out their family all over the world. She also said start out young and dive in headfirst and take the stepping-stones you need to in order to get where you want. Sometimes applying for an internship in another state can be hard with the cost of living but there are ways to help. For Marisa, she got grants and scholarships through different outlets that helped her pay for rent and food. It may not always be the easiest and cheapest way but you must decide if it will be a good investment for your future.
Having an internship like Marisa did will give you an upper hand when applying to jobs. It is real life experience that you can’t always get in the classroom and even if you don’t know it all when walking into the internship, they’ll be there to teach you. As Marisa said, you must have a fearless attitude and think you can do anything. She left us by encouraging us to make the most of the time we have here since it goes by so fast and to not take everything so seriously. Marisa is truly an inspiring Bobcat with a very successful career ahead of her.