The PR Squared blog has placed our plight on its "Best of PR Squared" list. We, as PR undergraduates, are one of the most talked about concerns for the industry. In this post from the PR Squared blog in April of 2006 Todd Defren asks this question:
Wouldn't it be great if new PR graduates were on the cutting edge of technology innovations impacting the mediasphere?---Colleges are supposed to be the training ground for our future leaders in all fields; the place where the cutting-edge is honed... so why do most college comms programs focus on press releases (dying!?)and PR plans? When was the last time anyone asked a new college grad to draft a strategic PR plan, anyway? I'd rather that THEY are to equipped to teach ME about cool new ideas like, how Search Engine Optimization, wikis and RSS might impact the PR realm.
I think that this class in particular, Social Media: ADPR 5990, is the answer to this question. I have been in this class since August and I have learned more in the last three months than I have in the past couple years. Seriously, I never thought that I would be blogging, twittering and podcasting all at the same time. This is great!
There are many other great questions that Todd Defren asks on this post. He talks about how PR people interact with journalists and how undergraduate PR majors should be interacting with journalism majors. This rings a serious bell for me, since I am taking a News Writing and Reporting class with about 50 journalism majors. I can actually see how they work and what they look for!
So cheers to you class and cheers to the Grady College here at UGA for being ahead of the game in today's fast pace PR world.
2 comments:
There seems to have been a lot of progress in universities' PR curriculum since I wrote that post, 18 months ago. Thank goodness!
Just make sure ya'll bring your Social Media chops to SHIFT Communications first, eh? We want the right of first refusal! ;)
Good luck with your studies...
I agree with you Savannah, but I believe the people in our social media class (ADPR 5990) are minorities when it comes to being on the cutting edge of social media innovations. One of our PRSSA meetings this fall was all about social media and there were actually people at the meeting that did not know what a blog was! As the integration of social media becomes more crucial in the PR industry, a social media class should be required for all communication students. A social media class requirement will not only benefit individuals, but the future of the entire communication field as well.
As PR professionals, it is our job to be knowledgeable and informed about the new cutting edge technology innovations in order to provide our clients with the best possible representation. Fortunately, our class has been able to practice and experience the success that social media tools can bring to an organization/event. As students of ADPR 5990, we will be able to go into an interview and confidently say that we know how to successfully integrate social media into an organization. I bet that not many people have the opportunity to say that! Our social media class rules!
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