On November 6th 2015, the annual PRSSA (Public Relations Student Society of America) National Conference was held in Atlanta, Georgia. As an active chapter of the PRSSA, Longwood University was able to offer some of its PRSSA members the opportunity to attend the four day conference.
The PRSSA National Conference gives all PRSSA representatives the chance to hear from the nations most prominent PR organisations and companies. With Longwood Communication Studies Assistant Professor Dr. Alec R. Hosterman in attendance the students were also given a strong platform to network with experts and colleagues in the PR field.
– Ben Stembridge, Longwood’s PRSSA President
Head of PR for Coca-Cola North America, Scott Williamson was the keynote speaker at the conference. Williamson has over 23 years of PR experience and has overseen a majority of Coca-Cola’s PR campaigns. Williamson spoke to those in attendance about his personal rules for success in Public Relations and was one of the many speakers the students were able to see at this years conference.
The trip wasn’t all business for the students and they were able to take some time out to explore Atlanta before returning to Longwood. The Longwood students were able to visit Atlanta’s World of Coca-Cola building, which gave them the opportunity to look at Coca-Cola’s history, successful advertising campaigns and other pop culture memorabilia.
The students also went on the Inside CNN Studio Tour, where they got a close look at CNN Studios in Atlanta. The tour includes a look at how CNN puts together a news broadcast, behind the scenes look at a newsroom, and how a professional news studio operates.
“Attending the sessions throughout the conference was a really good opportunity for students to see how their education is being put in to practice.”– Dr. Alec R. Hosterman, Communication Studies Assistant Professor
Anyone who has an an interest in Public Relations can join Longwood University’s PRSSA chapter. If you want to get a feel of the PRSSA chapter all majors are welcome to sit in on one of their weekly meetings that are held at 4pm in CSTAC 205 on Tuesday afternoons.