Alumni Engagement

"Choose a positive thought." - Some great advice from building art in Milwaukee's historic Third Ward.

On Wednesday evening, I was one of almost 90 UW-Whitewater students who had the privilege of meeting with three of 45 working PR professionals. This event took place at the Hudson Business Lounge, a very cool shared office and workspace lounge located in Milwaukee's historic Third Ward. The setting was conducive to networking with the professionals who so generously donated their time to help out UW-W students.

The night was kicked off by a presentation from Jeff Carrigan of Big Shoes Network. Jeff gave us several statistics about the public relations field based on information from his niche online job posting service. According to Jeff:

• Postings on Big Shoes Network are up by 9% from last year
• Entry-level positions make up 33% of the postings on the site
• Jobs are composed of about 45% agency positions, 45% corporate positions, and the remaining jobs are in non-profits or other positions

Jeff also mentioned that employers post about 30 internships per month, with April and May being the two biggest months for internships in anticipation of the summer months. Of the internships on Big Shoes Network, 70% of them are paid. Jeff stressed how important internships are to potential employers - the more experience, the better!

Jeff also presented to us five "C's" to focus on to stand out to future employers. These C's included Competence, Connections, Character, Chemistry, and C-suite. Jeff stressed that the more you know about the company you're interviewing with, the better. He also impressed upon us the importance of good questions, making solid connections in the industry, being honest, finding a company where you feel you belong, and thinking like a CEO.

After Jeff's very informative presentation, students then broke up into one-on-one speed interviews with PR professionals. The first professional I was able to speak with was Emily Bultman of Wisconsin Dental Association, and then I also met with Justin Smith of Trefoil Group. Both of these young professionals were extremely helpful and willing to talk with me and give me great tips for moving on in the professional world. It was really a pleasure to network with these enthusiastic individuals who wanted to help me succeed.

Finally, we wrapped up the night with a mock informational interview with a final working professional. For this session, I was paired up with Timothy Olsen of St. Joseph's Hospital, part of Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin. Mr. Olsen was extremely knowledgeable and willing to answer all the questions I presented him with.

Overall, the Alumni Engagement was a great learning and networking experience. I'm so thankful for all of the professionals who took the time to give such valuable advice to UW-Whitewater students!

Steve Staedler, #awesome

This past Monday, Oct. 14, my PR Tactics II class had the pleasure of having Steve Staedler in to speak with the class. I knew Steve was going to be a fun presenter when my professor mentioned that this was an opportunity to live Tweet, and Steve replied with, "Yes, and I am using #awesome."

Well, Steve's presentation did turn out to be pretty awesome! Business-to-Business Public Relations is not the most popular or glorified field of PR, and frankly I didn't know much about it before Steve's presentation. Steve is currently an Account Executive at LePoidevin Marketing in Brookfield, Wis. With a beginning at UW-Milwaukee, where Steve received a Bachelor's degree in Mass Communications, Steve has used his love of writing to get where he is today. At LePoidevin, Steve works with clients in the industrial and animal health industries, with big-name clients such as Snap-on Tools.

Steve explained to us that his daily activities include A LOT of writing. From fact sheets to news releases and whitepapers, Steve said that he writes almost 80% of his average workday. Steve also explained that in the world of B2B PR, social media really is not as much of a tool as it is in other areas of PR. The fact is that B2B clients aren't as active on social media, and when they are they are in it more for the communication with their own customers - not their suppliers or business partners. Steve also does a lot of "ghost writing" in his current position, where an "industry expert" is appointed and assigned as the author of certain publications to gain credibility, even though they were actually written by Steve. This showed me that Steve really has a passion for his work- even when he doesn't get the public recognition.

Steve gave us a lot of helpful advice and a brief run through of Cision, a software used by many public relations professionals to keep lists of media contacts and send out hundred of releases in the quickest, most efficient way possible. Steve also impressed upon us that it is very important to use keywords in press releases that will boost search engine optimization (SEO). Another tool Steve uses to track coverage, or "ink," on a certain topic or client is Google Alerts.

Steve finished up his presentation by giving us a case study to work on and then explaining the actual measures that were being taken to carry out the program at hand. I found this to be extremely helpful and a great learning experience.

All in all, Steve was an extremely personable and helpful presenter and I learned so much from his discussion with our class.

What Happens After UWW?

This past Wednesday (which just happened to be my birthday!) we had the pleasure of hearing from Amy Paul, a recent graduate of UW-Whitewater. Her presentation was extremely interesting and helpful, and I really enjoyed listening to her story of how she went from a PR student to a PR professional.

Amy graduated from UWW in 2011. Shortly after graduation, she took a position at the Milwaukee County Executive Office as a Public Relations Assistant. Amy was in charge of several different aspects in this position, from constituent communications, planning and executing major county events, to administering all social media efforts for the office. Amy's second job was at Bottom Line Marketing & Public Relations as a Public Relations Assistant. Amy said that at her first two jobs, she estimates that she wrote 95% of her day. Wanting to dig deeper into the digital side of PR, Amy moved to Ascedia where she is currently working as the Interactive Account Coordinator.

One very common theme that Amy stressed throughout her presentation was the importance of getting involved while still in college. Amy was a member of PRSSA and had four different internships throughout her college career, including positions with the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin and the Milwaukee Admirals. Amy said that all of this extra-curricular experience helped immensely when she was thrown into her first position.

A couple things that I learned and found to be quite surprising had to do with Amy's internships. None of them were paid, and she stressed several times that you should always ask for more responsibility. I think this is such great advice, and Amy is a success story of this advice because she gained so much experience that someone in the same position who hadn't spoken up may not have gotten.

Along with the wealth of information Amy gave us about her journey through college and into the professional world, she also gave us several tips and professional courtesies that will prove to be very helpful when making this transition myself.

The PR Student

Hello, my name is Haley Elmendorf! I am a Marketing major and a Public Relations minor at the University of Wisconsin - Whitewater. This is my fifth year in college and I will be graduating this upcoming May. I have many interests and ideas about which career path I want to take once I graduate, but I believe I will start in the southeastern Wisconsin region and pursue a career in commercial real estate. This past summer, I had an internship with a company called Campus Special where I sold advertising space to local businesses. I really enjoyed this internship because it allowed me to really step out of my comfort zone. I was also able to apply a lot of skills that I have learned so far in both my marketing and public relations courses. In Tactics II this semester, I am very excited to learn more about how the many different aspects of "Web 2.0" can be extremely beneficial in many public relations practices, and how to make sure I have a positive web presence. No matter what field I end up working in, these skills will be very important. While at school, I work at the front desk of Fischer hall on-campus, and I love interacting with the residents. In my free time, I love to read, watch movies and TV shows, and spend time with my friends and family. My favorite book series of all time is the Harry Potter series. I'm also a huge Packer fan and love football Sundays. I love to visit my family and my dog, Lucy, who just turned four this year.

Throughout the semester, I'll be updating my progress throughout my Tactics II course and the rest of my exciting life here at UW-Whitewater.