A Final Farewell

By: Avery Larson

It is that time of the year…graduation time. This time, I’m the one graduating.

I first came to Ferris wanting to be an Optometrist. When I took my first college biology class, I knew from the get go it wasn’t for me, and I quickly realized I was too punctual to be sitting in a room all day looking at eyes.

Second semester my freshman year, I switched majors to Public Relations and I haven’t looked back. I am so thankful for the opportunity to have met such an outstanding group of individuals, amongst them, Dr. B.

I wouldn’t be where I am today without the encouragement, push, and drive my fellow PR peeps gave me. From 8 am press release writing, to late night PowerPoint crams and feeding off one another’s ideas for a group “interaction” presentations, I can’t picture myself being in another program here at Ferris State. The students I’ve met along the way literally “Do what they love, and love what they do.”

To my graduating senior class, you guys ALL rocked your campaigns, even though I wasn’t able to see a few. Thank you for the laughs, hardships, and shared stories over Starbucks. I am going to miss you all.

I am so proud to be part of a program that sent a student to the National PRWeek Student of the Year in New York City, and had over half the class with jobs after graduation on the first day of senior year.

We truly are a group “Built on Character, Driven by Business.” Thank you again for the PR experience and best of luck to the graduating seniors and future graduates of Ferris State PR.

Points of Pride

By: Carman Plank

With finals right around the corner, this school year is coming to a close. This year has been a great one for Ferris State PR, and we want to highlight a few events and clients that we are especially proud about. But, before we do that we want to send out a big thank you to everyone who has supported Ferris State PR in all of our endeavors this year. Without you, these things would not have been possible.

Colleges Against Cancer

Colleges Against Cancer was one of PRSSA’s clients this year and it was an extremely successful one. The CAC client team worked hard all year on numerous events that this organization was putting on. The biggest event CAC put on was Relay For Life. Within an entire year of planning and promoting, CAC and their client team, led by Alexa Donakowski, were able to make this year’s Relay for Life one of the most successful yet. Another event that the CAC client team helped with was the Purple Glove video to help promote the American Cancer Society. During this, the CAC client team got all of Ferris State PRSSA involved in the filming of this!

Lambert Edwards and Amway tour

This year, Ferris State PRSSA was allowed to go tour Lambert, Edwards and Associates as well as Amway. Our first stop was Lambert Edwards. We were able to see the inside of the offices and got to have a quick question and answer session with some of the employees. The next stop on this tour was Amway. During this tour, we got to experience exactly what Amway does and how they do it. After the interactive tour, we got to sit down and have a panel discussion with some Public Relations specialists that work at Amway.

Vagina Monologues

Ferris State PR was really put to the test this year with their client Vagina Monologues. The original date for this event was March 1, 2013. However, due to a countywide power outage, Vagina Monologues and the PR client team had to think fast about rescheduling. They decided to reschedule the event to April 25, and from there it was a great show. The PR skills that are taught were needed to quickly make a decision about rescheduling. This event, including the power outage glitch, was definitely a great experience for everyone involved.

Festivus

Every year Ferris State PRSSA puts on a holiday party. This isn’t just any ordinary holiday party, though. This year, it was a Spanish themed, fun time for everyone involved. It was Festivus. This year, everyone in PRSSA got together for some enchiladas, nachos and of course presents! There was a white elephant gift exchange along with many games. Oh, and don’t forget the Ugly Sweater Contest with our winner being Kellyn Vos.

With these events and many more, Ferris State PR is sad to see this year come to a close. We are looking forward to bettering ourselves and the program, while continuing many of these events next year. Thank you to everyone who has helped and contributed to making this year a success and have a great summer!

Guest Speaker: Tim Baumgardner

By: Jared Kissane

Last week, Ferris State PRSSA was fortunate enough to have Ferris State alumni,
Tim Baumgardner, speak on his experiences with public relations. Tim is currently
the Marketing Manager for Custom Solutions at MLive where he works with the
journalism and sales teams figuring out ways to increase sales and marketing.

Here are some of the points Tim made in response to some of the questions we
asked:

How do you maintain a professional relationship with other departments you
work with at MLive?
• Holding regular meetings with other departments helps maintain
steady communication. When you have a goal in mind and are unable to
communicate problems are bound appear.
• MLive uses a collaborative workspace in their offices. There are no assigned
seats or desks making it easy to interact with other positions. Also the entire
collaborative workspace is wireless making it easy to work from anywhere
that has an Internet connection.

How is working for MLive compared to other large corporations you have
worked for?
• When working in PR for larger corporations you often times find yourself
working on “customer horror stories” trying to figure out a solution before it
becomes a story that will negatively affect your company’s reputation.
• MLive on the other hand is mainly focused on editorials and generating sales
for clients.
Which department should have the right to manage social media platforms?
• This is an ongoing discussion with any company you look at. Social media is
used differently on different venues.
• Marketing, Advertising, Public Relations, and Sales are all departments that
use social media in different ways, so it really depends on the company. The
Editorial department runs the social media at MLive.

Some final advice:
• Stay aware of the image you are displaying of yourself online because
employers are always checking.
• You never know whom you will work for or with, or who will work for you
so be aware that networking yourself in a positive way to everyone you
encounter will help in the long run.
• Build relationships with the people you will be working with. It doesn’t have
to be a personal relationship, just one that doesn’t rely on you contacting that
person only when you are in need.

The Big Event

By: Courtney Guajardo

The 6^th annual Big Event took place on Saturday April 20^th here in Big Rapids. The event was originally supposed to happen on April 13^th, but was rescheduled due to poor weather conditions. Luckily, students from different Registered Student Organizations, Fraternities and Sororities, and individuals were still able to participate and help out the Big Rapids Community.  Despite the cold and snow that occurred during the morning, a lot was accomplished. Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) had eight students participate and complete the tasks of washing windows and raking leaves for a household in Big Rapids. Overall, about 15 bags of leaves were filled to help the resident.

This year the Big Event also held a challenge for the most creative photo that incorporated fun while helping out! The winner is yet to be announced. Although the event was rescheduled, a ton of students participated, making the day as successful as it has been in the past!

Senior Sendoff

By: Sean Godfrey

San Chez Bistro, located in Downtown Grand Rapids, played host to 2013’s Senior Sendoff last Thursday. It was a night of laughter, great food, tears, drinks, and emotional goodbyes. Twenty seniors are graduating from our program and heading global, spanning to places as far west as Denver, and as far east as Ireland.

After a few drinks, and hopefully too many pictures, the night began with our MC, FSU PR alum Troy Vos. Dinner followed shortly after, and then the speeches began, including an original song from our very own, Dr. B. It was a heartfelt night.

“It’s tough getting so close with a group as amazing as our seniors and then having to say goodbye to them,” said Matt Main, junior in the program. “You get so close to everyone.”

In the past few years, PRSSA has evolved from just a typical program at Ferris, to a close-knit family identified by the hashtag #PRPeeps. Last year, I saw this change for myself. PRSSA, before my time here at Ferris, has always been a close-knit group. However, last year’s senior class brought the hashtag PR Peeps into the mix. This hashtag meant more to us than just a prefix starting with the symbol #. It brought us together as a family.

I can only imagine the bond this years seniors have managed to create with each other. As we grow stronger each year under the direction of Dr. Patrick Bishop, as well as several other influential professors, we grew close friendships with our peers. When it comes time for my senior sendoff, I may have to follow suit with this years graduating class and choke back a few tears.

“This Senior Sendoff was my very first, and I couldn’t have had more fun,” said Natalie Bycraft, a freshman in the program. “I am so glad that I was surrounded by such great people and amazing friends.”

Graduation is never goodbye. It may mean separation for an indefinite amount of time, but never goodbye. As we all follow different paths in our lives, we never stray from our roots. I’m so proud to call myself a #PRpeep, and I think I can speak on behalf of our entire program when I say that this year’s graduating class will be missed tremendously.

Senior Sendoff Excitement!

This gallery contains 4 photos.

Senior Sendoff is TODAY!!!!!! Senior Sendoff is Ferris State PRSSA’s big end of the year party where we celebrate our seniors and all of their accomplishments. It’s known as one of the best nights in PRSSA. Here’s what some PRSSA … Continue reading →

Meet Your 2013-14 Executive Board

By: Samantha Bankey

Along with the appointment of a new PRSSA president, we must say goodbye to the Class of 2013. With the current president, Stephanie Dallman, and all of the current vice president’s walking the stage in May, we welcome four great members to the PRSSA executive board. Congratulations!

Morgan Andree, VP of Internal Relations

Andree will be replacing current vice president, Christie Bender. Andree hopes to bring even more fun and exciting events to Ferris State PR next year. With her experience in the group for the past two years, Andree will make a great group in PRSSA even better.

Kaitlyn Baase, VP of Chapter Development

Taking over Samantha Bankey’s position, Baase is focusing on improving all aspects of the group next year. With her experience as this year’s blog manager and involvement in our Client Relations group, along with her social media and newsletter skills, she is ready to take this fairly new division of PRSSA to the next level.

Tarah Bourke, VP of Client Relations

With current vice president Liz Michalski also leaving, Bourke will have her hands full as we transition into a new structure for the client relations team. Bourke has been working in client relations since she first joined PRSSA and also helped this semester with the PR BizNews newsletter. She also writes for the Ferris State Torch.

Amy Bardell, Secretary/Treasurer 

For next year, rather than having two separate positions for secretary and treasurer (held by Bender and Petix, respectively), the 2012-13 executive board decided to combine the two into a single role. Bardell will be working intensely with Andree to easily keep track of fundraising and budgetary decisions needed for social events. Bardell is currently involved in Client Relations where she works heavily with PetSavers.