Transformational Learning for Aspiring Pros

​NEWARK, Del. —​ The University of Delaware’s Department of Communication helped sponsor the travel of six University of Delaware students to Grapevine, Texas, for ICON 2022, an annual conference hosted by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA). Support from the department’s Transformational Learning Fund​ made the trip possible for the students, who are all majoring in communication and serve as executive board members of UD’s chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA-UD). The students shared what they learned with the Communication Department.

To share their insights with the rest of the PRSSA chapter, the exectuive board members have written articles for the PRSSA-UD blog. The trip has also informed the programming, said Zoe Shapiro, director of internal professional developmen​t. Zoe is a senior majoring in communication and minoring in journalism and advertising. ​"I host two skill slams a semester where I teach members an industry-sought skill. Luckily for me, my second skill slam was only two weeks after the ICON Conference. Before I taught the members how to write a press release, I spent 15 minutes sharing my key takeaways from the conference. It gave our members a space to ask questions and have an open discussion." 

Lindsay Fister, vice president of external affairs and a sophomore majoring in media communication and minoring in journalism: I knew I wanted to have a career in the communication field since grade school, but it wasn’t until I joined PRSSA that I knew what that truly meant. I now know just how many opportunities can come out of joining this profession, and I am so glad I stuck with my gut when choosing a major!​​

Emma Churgin, director of external professional development and a senior majoring in communication and minoring in advertising and political science: I decided I wanted to pursue a career in communications and public relations when I was entering college. I wasn't positive about my future, but from speaking to my cousin, who graduated from Syracuse when I became a freshman, she talked so highly of her path. She was the one who recommended I get involved with PRSSA since it helped her become more professional and made her ready for her new career with an agency.​

Danielle Raskin, meetings coordinator and a senior majoring in communication and minoring in organizational leadership & event management: I have always enjoyed hearing about brands and learning about what they were doing. I love working with people and collaborating. I like brainstorming and being creative, and I thought public relations would be a great route for me.

Zoe: I had the opportunity to learn from upperclassmen and be taught invaluable skills. PRSSA not only taught me about PR but also allowed me to hear from professionals within the industry. PRSSA offered me an opportunity to immerse myself in a field without experience or knowledge. As I am about to graduate, I believe that without PRSSA I would not be as confident to enter the professional world!​​

Emma: I remember going to my first PRSSA meeting and seeing the rest of the board all so optimistic while also having fun. I think the most attractive thing about PR is the ability to get out so many different ideas and news to the public. Also, PR professionals are the ones impacting the media the most and I find that fascinating.

Stella Galli, president and a senior majoring in communication and minoring in advertising, journalism, and political communication: I thought I could kill it on the news. Then I came to college. I wanted to major in communication and minor in journalism, and I wanted to cover politics. And I wasn't really 100% sure about that. So as I was navigating in freshman year the different RSOs, I wanted to join PRSSA because I was also interested in working on social media. I thought PR was the same as advertising, but I quickly learned that it's very different. My first PRSSA meeting was with the social media director of anthropology. And I was obsessed automatically. And the more and more meetings I went to, I thought this was more like what I wanted to do. I want to work with celebrities. Influencer marketing is something I'm really interested in. Joining PRSSA led me to get the concentration in PR and pursue a public relations career.

Lindsay: Originally, being a news anchor was my absolute dream. Watching people like Katty Kay (who just so happened to be a keynote speaker at ICON) truly sparked my interest in communicating and representing the world's stories.​

Brittany Zeigler, finance director and a senior majoring in communication: I was excited to gain insight from people who have already established themselves in the professional world and maybe take some pointers that I can use to advance myself.

Lindsay: The list could go on forever! But I have to say, I was so excited for all of the professional networking opportunities, bonding with my fellow executive board members, and preparing for the rest of my future as a college student going into the growing industry!​

Stella: I've always really wanted to go to the conference when I b​​ecame a member of the executive board. And so for the past two years, they were online. I liked it being online, but it was a little draining to sit on your computer all day. So by the time it was finally in person, I was so eager to go and actually meet the people face-to-face because meeting online and then connecting on LinkedIn just isn't the same relationship-building as it would be in person.

Emma: I wanted to attend ICON 2022 so I could grow my network, learn more about the field from professionals, and be put in a position where I could truly see the impact of public relations.

Danielle: I have been on the executive board now for three years, and this year was the first year ICON was in person. I wanted the opportunity to attend all the sessions offered and learn firsthand from inspiring professionals. I wanted to network with fellow students around the country and make connections.​

Brittany: My favorite session was with Scott Pansky, co-founder of Allison+Partners, a global public relations firm. I really resonated with his story of going to college for his parents and being satisfied with working small part time jobs here and there, then having a change of heart and wanting to develop a career. He not only got a late start in PR but took longer to finish his education than most do. He was so different from other PR professionals who seemed to have it all figured out from the get-go. It was a comfort to see someone in the same position as myself being successful and offering genuine insight to being okay with not being caught up.

Stella: All the keynotes were phenomenal. But I did really enjoy the professional development sessions because there were more intimate, and I was able to ask questions. I felt like I learned a lot about industry soft skills. My favorite session was with Rita Tateel. She's the president of the The Celebrity Source. Celebrity PR is something I'm very interested in. She gave tips about working with celebrities. She's well-known for getting celebrities to say yes, and it's really hard to get celebrities to do the work that you want for your clients. So I loved learning from her.

Emma: My favorite session was with Matt Prince who is the Head of Marketing Communications with Taco Bell. He spoke on how Gen Z is changing the trajectory of public relations and the concept captivated me. I also loved the way he spoke about the industry and hearing about the different campaigns he was a part of. They all seemed so fun and demonstrated that he knew Taco Bell's target audience well.

Danielle: My favorite session was The Power of Heart First Authenticity, which CEO of The Grossman Group & Author, David Grossman led. He taught me about a new level of inspired and authentic leadership, the “Heart First" approach, based on the outward focus on others, authenticity, and empathy. It was so insightful and inspirational as I strive to lead this way. ​

Lindsay: Out of all of the amazing speakers I was able to learn from, Aaron Kwittken —​ the founder of both PRophet and KWT Global —​ gave me some truly amazing advice. He spoke to the audience in a captivating way that really showed humanity in PR. Focusing in on purpose, I definitely have more of a hold on what I want my mark to be on the industry.​

Zoe: My favorite session was Heart First Authenticity with David Grossman. He had the ability to teach through storytelling. It allowed me to not only understand what he said but rather connect to the importance of the story! I will never forget it! ​

Stella: Notebook and pen. Luckily they gave us this cute little PRSA book because I took a ton of notes of all the meetings. But also I had my LinkedIn QR code on hand. So if someone needed to make a connection with me, I could just whip out my phone, scan the QR code, and we were connected on LinkedIn, which I did quite a bit.​

Lindsay: I’m so glad that PRSSA was generous enough to provide us all with tote bags, because mine was full the entire trip! Along with the obvious… water, snacks, chapstick, etc. I also carried my PRSA notebook and pen, as well as room for as many contacts and business cards as possible! Notes and open ears were my biggest tip for this trip.​

Danielle: a. My listening ears: so that I could take in everything and really absorb what I was learning; b. A notebook and pen: to take down my key takeaways and things I wanted to remember; c. A water bottle and snacks: these days are long; d. LinkedIn QR Code: you will meet a lot of people and want to connect…having your LinkedIn QR so people can scan will make connecting easy!; e. Confidence: Don't be shy, say hi to everyone…everyone is there for the same reason and wants to meet each other. Put out your best self!

Brittany: I carried my pen, a notebook, my phone, some small toiletries and makeup to touch up throughout the day as needed, and a portable charger.

Emma: I had my laptop to take notes, water, a notebook to write anything down I needed, snacks to keep up my energy, and my resume to possibly give out to others.​

Lindsay: I got the opportunity to speak to so many amazing people! Networking with other students from all over the country was a really cool experience. It’s nice to have some familiar faces for the future! Also, one of the most amazing learning opportunities was granted to our chapter… a divine dinner with Tara Smith, APR, (PR instructor at UD) and Grace Leong, CEO of HUNTER! Getting to hear some advice from the pros in a more intimate setting was really educational. Their tips and support will definitely stick with me!​

Danielle: I talked to a bunch of students in PRSSA from around the country. It was so interesting to hear about how other chapters run things and what works for them, which gave the executive board a lot of new ideas. After the speaker sessions, I tried to talk one on one with the speaker. I spoke to a ton of professionals, all with such insightful tips. I learned so many things; from being a leader, to what working in PR is really like, to public speaking and poise, to building up brand presence.

Stella: I went to a lunch that was just for PRSSA presidents. So I got to connect with a bunch of other presidents. And I think that's really helpful because it's always good to learn from other chapters. So I can always reach out to other presidents if I have questions about how they do things, see if there's anything like different we can do to improve. Also made a lot of connections with the professionals, like Rita, Matt Prince, who was the Taco Bell PR manager. I connected on LinkedIn with all the speakers, but I also went up to some of them and introduced myself. And I think that's kind of how you make them more meaningful connection like, hi, nice to meet you and then connect with them on LinkedIn and say it was nice to meet you. We talked about this together, like try to tie in so they remember you. I did that as much as I could.

Emma: I talked to many different professionals who taught me to always use my voice as long as I have the information to back it up. Some of the professionals would work well for our Night With the Pros event that's in the Spring. I plan to contact them so they can share their insights with the chapter.​

​Zoe: The biggest piece of advice that I learned from this trip was from Marlee Matlin, the keynote speaker. She said, "Courage + Dreams = Success. If you will it, it's not a dream." It's imperative to make things happen for yourself or they may never come. As a senior graduating in May, these words could not have come at a better time and I hope that it resonates with you as it did for me!​

Emma: Growing your network is so essential in this field, as well as improving your writing skills. If your writing skills aren't strong, no one will take you seriously. The main way to do this is obviously by writing more but also by reading different articles. Subscribe to different outlets to have knowledge of what's going on in the world. Not only things that interest you but everything because you never know what will be related to a client or just someone you are talking to.​​

Brittany: Be okay with being alone. If you are shy or feel like you aren't as established as the team around you, that is okay. Take risks when connecting with others. See what works for strong networking and what doesn't. Do certain topics push the conversation forward or do they just serve as quick pleasantries? Forming bonds is the point of the trip! Don't forget to follow through with the connections you've made and keep in touch!​

Danielle: Connections are so important! Introduce yourself and make a good first impression. Connect on LinkedIn, reach out to your connections, and remind them where you met. Your network will help you so much in life. Work for brands in which you share core values. Put yourself out there, don't be shy.​

Lindsay: My advice is to get involved! As simple as that is, just being a part of something like PRSSA has led to so many amazing things that I absolutely did not expect. Putting yourself out there, to get to events like ICON and to network while there, is extremely important and beneficial. I am so fortunate to have joined my chapter when I did!​

Article and image by Stephanie Doroba, UD Department of Communication staff