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USU to host regional PR conference

February 11th, 2010 Posted in Opinion

LOGAN—The USU public relations program will host the Mountain West Regional PR Conference March 25-26 at the Riverwoods Conference Center in Logan.

The USU chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) is one of 12 universities nationwide to win a bid to host a regional conference for students and PR professionals. Participants have been invited from 13 Western states.

“Last year, our PR students worked together to carry out a statewide PR conference at USU,” said USU PR instructor Preston Parker of USU’s Department of Journalism and Communication. “Many of those same dedicated students landed the regional meeting and are planning the best Public Relations conference the Mountain West region has ever seen.”

USU senior Brittany Brown, the conference chairperson, said it is a huge achievement for the USU PRSSA chapter to be selected as one of only 12 university chapters nationwide to host the regional meeting. “There were 25 ‘bids’ or applications sent in to the PRSSA National Committee,” Brown said. “The national bid reviewers appreciated our originality, enthusiasm and energy for PR.”

Jenna Huskinson of Wayne State  University, vice president of regional activities for the PRSSA National Committee, said the bid by the USU chapter of PRSSA offered a well developed schedule for a two-day conference and included “new and refreshing” topic ideas for speakers. “We were impressed that in addition to the informational sessions, workshops and socials would be included for members,” Huskinson said.

The theme for this year’s conference is “putting the PR in professional.”

Some of the topics of the two-day conference include social media, marketing, event planning, non-profit organizations, image branding, and organizational communication. Other aspects of public relations that will be covered include government PR, corporate PR, educational PR, ethics and diversity.

Public relations students in the six-state Mountain West Region (or Region 1) are encouraged to attend the PR Conference in Logan. Brown said, “Although only six other states are technically in our region, we are inviting schools and professionals from throughout 13 states because there are some colleges that are closer to our region than to the regional activity they are ‘assigned’ to.”

PRSSA Faculty Adviser Parker noted that the conference also will draw a large number of media professionals. “PR conferences are great for networking, skill-building and resume-polishing, among countless other benefits,” he said. “This conference is held for the purpose of showing both students and professionals how to create a winning self, organization, and business.”

Students, professionals, and the general public from throughout the western United States will walk away from the conference equipped with the PR tools and principles to help them become PR professionals, Brown said.

For more information about the conference or for registration information, please contact Brittany Brown, Conference Chairperson, at brittany.brown@aggiemail.usu.edu, Lauren Hong, Conference Director, at lauren.hong@aggiemail.usu.edu, or the USU JCOM Department (435-797-3292).

TP

Tags: PRSSA, regional conference, USU