Nearly 1,000 public relations students from around the world convened in the Boston Park Plaza hotel for the PRSSA 2017 National Conference — the largest gathering of PR students in the country — hosted by the Boston University chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America, from Oct. 6-10.
BU College of Communication seniors Carly Gibson, Rebecca Stone, Amanda Howard and Rachel McLean planned and orchestrated the conference under the leadership of their faculty advisor and public relations professor Stephen Quigley. BU PRSSA has never hosted the gathering before, Gibson, the conference coordinator, said.
The committee planned their bid for the national organization to host the conference for six months. Once they won the bid they spent a year planning the conference with the help of PRSSA National and Andrew Cook, the national president of the PRSSA, according to Gibson.
“Our goal when we decided to do this was to inform students about the profession, entertain them and inspire them to go out and do great things and love the profession they’re in,” Gibson said. “I have seen the reactions, and I really do think that we have accomplished that.”
The National Conference, Gibson added, is a meeting place for students aspiring to work in the public relations industry, as it offers them the opportunity to learn the tools of the trade from professionals.
“[The conference] gives students a new perspective on what they have been studying at school,” Gibson said, “and allows them to add to their knowledge but also network with other professionals.”
Stone, the programming coordinator, recruited speakers and orchestrated the conference’s various panels throughout the five-day conference, which featured a variety of speakers with different backgrounds and discussion topics.
“The people we invite to these conferences are professionals that are so successful for a reason,” Stone said. “They’re so charismatic [and] so electric with what they do that it is really transferable.”
Part of that energy and enthusiasm that exists among members of the public relations community stems from the fact that they are close and passionate about what they do, Stone said. The friendly atmosphere at public relations conferences like the National Conference brings people together for the purpose of learning.
“PR is a very tight community. It’s all very friendly people, so these kinds of conferences are just contiuously happy and friendly,” Stone said. “[Students] will leave with more friends than they come with.”
Approximately 300 chapters of the PRSSA participated in the National Conference, including students from Bolivia, Peru and Argentina, according to Stone. Students of diverse backgrounds said the itinerary intrigued and provided them with the tools they need to learn more about public relations.
“The programming that we’ve had has been the thing that I am most excited about,” Gibson said, “and seeing the students and their reactions and excitement, and how they felt that all our events have been helpful and really inspiring.”
Several public relations students who participated in the conference said they thought it provided a good opportunity for them to network while learning more about their field.
Jiaqi Ou, a COM junior, said she went to the conference with hopes of networking and learning more about public relations.
“[I came to the conference for] advice for [my] career,” Ou said, “or any other news of the profession and [to] know some people from the field.”
Makayla Longdon, a sophomore studying public relations at St. John’s University, said she liked the diversity of perspectives from speakers and students alike.
“There’s a lot of people to meet from all over the country, which is really cool,” Longdon said. “[I’m] learning from professionals that talk about their field of choice, whether it’s sports, entertainment … or just tips in general young people should know.”
Julia Kotaev, another sophomore studying public relations at St. John’s University, said she thinks the conference provided students with good opportunities to network and learn from others.
“I’m expecting to meet a lot of people … that could just give me new perspectives on PR and a lot of networking,” Kotaev said. “It’s a really amazing opportunity and a very great learning space.”
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article stated that the name of the conference as 2017 PRSSA National Conference, rather than PRSSA 2017 National Conference. Carly Gibson was mentioned as a coordinator for the conference, rather than the coordinator. In regards to winning the bid, a previous version stated that BU beat out other schools, when BU was the only chapter to bid. Two words from a quote given by Rebecca Stone were transcribed incorrectly. The caption for this article also incorrectly stated the location of this conference. There were also some minor capitalization inconsistencies throughout the article that have been adjusted. The current version of this article reflects these changes.
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