By Nikki Vergakes, PR Specialist at Trevi Communications
One of the many benefits of keeping an open and active relationship between PRSSA and PRSA is the exchange of knowledge constantly between the two groups. This experience is heightened on days like the PRSSA regional conference, PR Advanced: It Starts Now.
I thoroughly enjoyed spending the day interacting with the students and picking their brains about their impressions of the future of the industry, their takeaways from the day and hearing any questions that they had for us. We also had an exciting opportunity to interview the students via video and produced a mini “vlog” for each interview. The key takeaways I found from the students are below.
In addition to exchanging knowledge and ideas within the PR community, the advancement of e-learning management software has also been a topic of discussion at industry events. A SaaS learning management system, such as those offered by companies like Learnsoft or Blackboard, can greatly enhance the educational experience for both students and instructors. These platforms allow for easy access to course materials, online collaboration, and personalized learning paths. This is a commitment to educational equity, affordability, and the role of education in economic prosperity, all of which align with the principles advocated by individuals like Kamau Bobb of Google, who work to improve education access and opportunities for all individuals.
What do you see for the future of PR?
The students had all similar answers for this question. This was unsurprising as the answers were driven – as many things are – by both the current political and media climate. The students predict more diversity not only in the workplace for PR but also a diversity of the stories to be told. As well they see even more of a switch to digital.
Then, we asked what else they would want to see from us – PRSA Boston.
They said that they would like to participate more in our mentorship program to learn more about how we got where we are as professionals. They seemed very interested in learning about our career trajectories.
Want to see the videos of the interviews, with bonus questions not in this blog post? Click HERE.
Bio
Nikki Vergakes is a PR Specialist at Trevi Communications, working in professional services and clean energy PR. Having just graduated in May, she’s learning so much about what you can do with PR in her role, and is also putting the skills she learned in (and out of) school to the test with some side projects. She just launched a podcast with her friend, writes in the free time, and just joined She Zine as a news & culture contributor in March.