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this issueA u b u r n Fa m i l y Be yo n d t h e C l a s s ro o m P. 1

A Fre s h Pe r s p e c t P. 2M o l l y Pa r i s h P. 3

A U P R C A P. 4

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Auburn Family Beyond the ClassroomPR Students Succeed outside of Style and Design

tudents may complain that some of the classes they

are required to take will not benefit them in the future. It is im-portant, though, to remember that taking what you learn seri-ously can help you in the real world. Pupils of Mr. Robert French’s Style and Design class can certainly testify the lat-ter. Especially Caroline Cassidy and Kelsey Ware, two former students of French and interns at the Auburn Alumni Association in the communications department. While in Style and Design, Cassidy and Ware learned a lot including HTML and keeping up with the news and social me-dia. These are things that they appreciate because theses things helped them thrive in successful projects. This pair was among many students last year who helped launch Auburn Family, a social network dedicated to the people of Auburn University. This project was among one of the proud endeavors that Cassidy and Ware participated in while here at Auburn. Service Industry Ad-vertising Awards awarded the 2010 Silver Medal for New Media to the Auburn Family site. This unexpect-ed accomplishment boost-ed up the confidence of our spotlighted pair. “I think it is amazing,” Cassidy said. “I am definitely putting it on my resume.” Style and Design definitely attracted Cassidy and Ware to intern at the Auburn Alumni Association working with electronic media. “I just loved all the social media I had gotten involved with in Robert’s class,” Ware said. “Both of us really liked the responsi-bilities with working with social media and researching the websites and some of the stuff that we were doing in Style and De-

sign,” Cassidy added. Working side by side at the Alumni As-sociation was an added on bonus next to what they got to do as interns there. Ware describes it as a way to “ease the uneasiness of stress” “To be able have somebody there that you know and that you have stuff in com-mon with and be able to bounce ideas off, it has worked out really well,” Ware said. Winning the award for Auburn Family made Cassidy and Ware more credible when working on and then launching the Alumni Clubs, a social network, like Auburn Family for Auburn alumni clubs all over the

country. “We were able to tell members of clubs that we have done this before, it has won an award, it works, it also helped get alum-

ni engages with this project,” said Ware. With the creation of this site came the deputing of it to the leaders of each Auburn club. This unique experience gave Ware and Cassidy a taste of the profes-sional aspects of working on real projects and presenting them to real clients. During the presentation the club lead-ers were quickly signing up to become members of the site. Now Auburn Clubs has almost 500 members. Cassidy analogized Auburn Clubs as “a

Facebook but just for the Alumni Clubs.” Different club can share pictures, create events; add videos and much, more making it a good resource for Auburn clubs. “It just covers all the different basis of other the social media and it puts them in one central place and allows a place for different clubs to communicate with each other and get ideas,” Ware added. Jeffrey Hall, Webmaster multimedia specialist at the Alumni Association, has been working beside Cassidy and Ware this spring semester. Hall used the two as tools when creating Auburn Clubs. “They helped with customizing the actu-al platform all the way to communicating to different the users with tutorials to actu-ally helping them through certain process and setting up individual club pages,” Hall said. Cassidy and Ware, both seniors, came to Auburn as non-Public Relations majors but were both attracted to the major. “I got a taste of fundraising and running events and decided that I was more inter-ested in that,” said Ware, who started off in communications disorders before transi-tioning to Public Relations.Cassidy, on the other hand, was unde-clared and chose Public Relations as her permanent field of study after doing re-search and taking Public Relations classes. She took away a lot from this major.“Keeping in contact with people you meet and professors you meet will be beneficial once you graduate whether you’re apply-ing to grad school or applying for a job,” Cassidy concluded.

by: Erin Edwards

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.”.:: A Fresh Perspective ::.

r. Waters is a wonder-ful professor and per-son,” says senior Meg Beasley. “She desires

to see her students succeed and works with each of us personally to encour-age our individual skills and aspirations. She is a very busy lady yet I have never seen her without a smile on her face.” Public relations students have been praising the newest faculty addition to the Communication and Journal-ism Department, Dr. Susan Waters. As her second semester comes to an end at Auburn University, she has presented challenges and brought joy and fervor to the department. Dr. Waters was born in Philadelphia and raised in Cleveland. Like many of her friends from the suburbs of Cleve-land, Waters had childhood aspira-tions of becoming a high-end fashion designer. She later traded in those dreams and found herself teaching adjunct at Missouri Southern State University. With knowledge of adver-tising and public relations experiences from working in downtown Cleveland, she recognized her love for teaching and received a master’s degree from Pittsburg State University in Kansas. With steadfast determination, she ventured to the University of Kansas, embarking on obtaining a doctoral degree. Perceiving media as a “fas-cinating” subject, she began study-ing age-related issues in TV com-mercials and other forms of media for her dissertation. She left the home of the Jayhawks (ABD) to teach pub-lic relations, advertising and commu-nication courses at Pittsburg State University for two years and then moved to Missouri State University for five years while finishing her Ph.D. Establishing, organizing and advis-ing the new chapter of the Missouri

State Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), she welcomed in about 40 to 50 students into the society. They visited different agen-cies, had speakers and went on field trips. Each year Waters chal-lenged the students to plan one

large PRSSA Day event, which proved to be successful and a good learning experience. While at Missouri State, Waters found a love for research and decided to explore the possibility of working at a larger research institution. With her passion for research growing deeper, Waters sought out an institution where she could explore her research more thoroughly. She saw a job oppor-tunity at Auburn University and pursued it. At the time, Dr. Debra Worthington was the chair of search committee. “We both had gone to the University of Kansas,” says Waters, “so that gave us some common ground and helped move the conversation forward to learn more about Auburn as I was going through the process of interviewing. Debra was very helpful, knowledgeable and warm, a good indication of how the faculty would be at Auburn.” Along with being amazed at the beauty of Auburn University in the spring, Waters was also thrilled that “the public relations students are tops in the commu-nication field here.” Because of this, she feels she can teach concepts at a fast pace in order to move forward more quickly than she has at other uni-versities. Waters is proficient in Adobe Creative Suite and incorporates the programs into her assignments. This year she taught Public Relations Writing, Public Relations Campaigns, Social Me-dia and Gender Communication courses. “Dr. Waters has been an amazing pro-fessor,” says public relations student Samantha Mays. “She always wants her students to do their best and is willing to help you anyway she can. I have learned so much from her and am extremely thank-ful for all of her wisdom and support.” By implementing service-learn-ing into the coursework where stu-dents go out into the field and work with clients, she has encouraged and changed the perceptions of Auburn University’s public relations students.

“She desires to see her students succeed and works with each of us personally to encourage our individual skills and aspirations.”

“D

tion of how the faculty would be at Auburn.” Along with being amazed at the beau-ty of Auburn University in the spring, Waters was also thrilled that “the pub-lic relations students are tops in the communication field here.” Because of this, she feels she can teach concepts at a fast pace in order to move forward more quickly than she has at other uni-versities. Waters is proficient in Adobe Creative Suite and incorporates the programs into her assignments. This year she taught Public Relations Writing, Public Relations Campaigns, Social Me-dia and Gender Communication courses. “Dr. Waters has been an amaz-ing professor,” says public relations student Samantha Mays. “She al-ways wants her students to do their best and is willing to help you any-way she can. I have learned so much from her and am extremely thankful for all of her wisdom and support.” By implementing service-learning into the coursework where students go out into the field and work with clients, she has encouraged and changed the per-

ceptions of Auburn U n i v e r -s i t y ’ s p u b l i c relations students. “Dr.

Waters makes learning fun and at-tending class a pleasure,” says senior Nicole LaMontagne. “She is always upbeat and smiling, but better yet she is truly invested in teaching her students the details about succeed-ing in the communications industry.” Waters’ 2010 noncompetitive grant that she received from Auburn this year for summer will help fund hours of research on aging and ser-vice-learning to write manuscripts for publication. Through assessing the collaboration of the work of the uni-versity, students, professors, com-munity partners and their partnerships, she will teach others how to evaluate these relationships in her publications. “I love it at Auburn and feel very comfortable here,” says Waters. “I think I’ve found a home and I am plan-ning to stay for the long haul.”

by: Whitney Adams

Dr. Susan Waters prepares

lesson for her students.

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Newest Faculty Member Brings Fevor, Impact & Challenges to Public Relation Students...

Molly Parish

Auburn Public Relations Alumna’s

Great Success

by: Stephen Kelly

Molly Parrish shows enthusiasm for her successes

n alumna of Auburn’s pub-lic relations department, Molly Parrish’s career has

been nothing short of an adventure since she left the plains just six years ago.

Originally, Parrish came to Auburn with her sights set on becoming a pilot. She promptly switched her academic concentration from flight to media and began to study radio television and film where she found a mentor in professor Ric Smith.

“I started on the broadcast side, but I noticed that the things I liked to cover were not necessarily newsworthy top-ics,” said Parrish. “As Ric Smith will tell you, most of my stories were about social ac-tivities more so than news.”

Smith enlight-ened her to the media relations aspect of the indus-try. Her interest transitioned more to journalism and public relations class-es, and in 2004 Parrish graduated from Auburn University with a degree in public relations.

“She really found her niche,” said Smith. “She has that connection with media she always wanted, but she found this perfect connection where her passion is and where her talents lie.”

Out of school Parrish struggled finding a job as a fresh graduate, and looked to Habitat for Humanity as a philanthropic use of her time when she found an entry-level opening in media relations at the organization.

Parrish was offered the job and moved to Americus, Ga. where she spent two years working for Habitat for Humanity. Her experience with the organization quickly turned to birth by fire when Hurricane Katrina hit the gulf coast in 2005.

“At one point I took a group of about 10 reporters down to the gulf

coast and we built for a week,” said Parrish. “Instead of just tell-ing them the story and giving them de-tails they were there and they got to ex-perience it which is something really cool that Habitat does for media other than just your typical pitching.”

The next step for Parrish’s career took her from non-profit to Atlanta, Ga. where she began work at a for-profit boutique public relations firm. Over the two years she worked at the firm she was able to develop mutually beneficial relationships with reporters in the Atlanta area and built strong re-lationships with her clients.

The firm was eventually forced to downsize and Parrish, along with some

of her colleagues, was let go. Fortu-nately, her clients were so pleased with her performance they asked her to continue servicing their accounts after she left the firm.

“That was a really refreshing point of my life because I was considering doing something else, I was some-what burned out, but the feeling that my clients really appreciated the work that I was doing and asked if they could come with me was re-freshing,” said Parrish.

Parrish now owns her own pub-lic relations firm, Polished PR, that she manages out of a home office. Her client base has snowballed into a healthy collection of businesses that she believes in and cares for. She prides her business on her abil-ity to keep her client base at a level in which she can provide the quality of service required for them to suc-ceed.

“The friendship I’ve developed with my clients has given me the opportunity to treat these people not just as clients but as business partners because they are helping me succeed in my business and I’m helping them succeed in theirs,” said Parrish.

“She really found her niche,” said Ric Smith. “She has that connection with media she always wanted, but she found this perfect connection where her passion is and where her talents lie.”

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“As a senior and a first year member of the AUPRCA,I would definitely recommend everyone to get involved with

the club,” said Duffy

Auburn UniversityAuburn, Ala. (334) 494-3973 www.erinedwards.com

AUPRCA: On the Rise for Student and School SuccessAuburn University Public Relations Council of America

he Auburn University Public Relations Council of Alabama, AUPRCA, is on the rise this year with more than 70 active members. With this growing Auburn chapter comes success stories from students and faculty that not only affect Auburn, but the students personally as well. Vice President of Pro-gramming, Nicole LaMon-tagne, has put much effort into making this organization flourish. From planning each

meeting to finding and securing speakers to come to Auburn, LaMontagne has developed many skills that will help in her future careers.

“The club has been beneficial to me because I have been fortunate to develop leadership skills from being one of the officers,” said

LaMontagne. She is also learning about new companies and the impor-tance of networking in her pub-lic relations career field. Having the opportunity to speak with practitioners already en-trenched in their industries and learn about their roles for vari-ous clients is another beneficial aspect of being a part of the club for LaMontagne. With many opportunities to arise for her, LaMontagne said she is proud to be a part of this club and hopes it contin-ues to succeed throughout the years. Another member of the AUPRCA, Kaitlin Duffy, feels the same. “As a senior and a first year member of the AUPRCA, I would definitely recommend ev-eryone to get involved with the club,” said Duffy, “especially younger classmen so they can really gain knowledge about their career field.”

Duffy is a public relations major who has found the AUPRCA to be very beneficial. At a recent meeting where the Director of Public Rela-tions for Concentrics Restaurants spoke at, Hannah Amick, Duffy was able to present her portfolio to her where she was then asked to set up a formal meeting to discuss a potential job opportunity. “It was good to meet with her and learn more about restaurant PR and to hear about what they do day-to-day,” said Duffy. “She even gave me references to other PR agencies in Atlanta if I was inter-ested in looking for more opportu-nities.” Aside from the guest speakers, Duffy has learned about agencies and corporations from all ends of the spectrum. One week the club may hear about Edelman, while at the following meeting there may be a representative from a smaller industry, such as Concentrics. Duffy has been involved with the Liberal Arts Homecoming Tailgate that members were in charge of organizing, as well as taking part in workshops where public relations practitioners help members with their resumes. “I really enjoyed going to the open-house workshop that the AUPRCA put on for all students, not just public relations students,” said Duffy. “It was cool to have a

professional look at my resume and give advice on how to make it better.” Duffy will graduate in May 2010 and she hopes to be working for a boutique in Atlanta. Aside from students benefiting from being a part of the AUPRCA, facultymembers are becoming just as successful. This year the adviser, Jessie King, won the “Outstanding Adviser of the Year Award” from the Student Gov-ernment Association’s annual award ceremony. Much of this comes from King’s hard work in turning around the Auburn chapter. “Last year the club had only 20 members,” said LaMontagne, “and this year membership has increased drastically to 75 members as a result to King’s hard work.” Additionally, King worked closely with members and officers to become more organized and to develop their leadership skills as well as setting things up for the Public Relations Council of Alabama to host its annual conference in Auburn this year. The 2010 PRCA Student Medal-lion Awards will take place in April, and with encouragement from King, 39 members have submitted entries in hopes of receiving the award. Through the work from faculty ad-visers, to the efforts made by officers and members of the AUPRCA, the club is morphing into a successful chapter at Auburn. The organization hopes to continue on this path with a chance of having more members receive awards and recognitions with the years to come.

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RunningErins Issue 01 April 2010

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by: Caitlin Shatlock