On January 31st, CSUF PRSSA members had the opportunity to attend a PR workshop hosted by our sponsors Global Results Communications in Orange County.
Global Results Communications is an award-winning, top tier international tech PR firm with clients and offices all over the world. GRC was founded by Valerie Christopherson in 2005, and since then, has been trusted by groundbreaking companies such as EPSON, Verizon and Nuance.
The workshop started with Managing Director Lora Wilson, and Account Director Anne Milo-Shanahan introducing the company and a little about what they do. After going over what this full-service PR agency does for its clients, we had a session where all of us, college students, got to know each other and our possible plans after graduation. The diversity in the room was incredible, and what brought all of us together was our interest in PR. Then, we were able to gain insight into the challenges and skills needed to be successful in the PR world with a Q&A session from GRC’s team members. A big thank you to those who took time out from their workday to answer all our questions about PR! The panel had members of different positions, ranging from new grad students to seasoned professionals including CEO Valerie Christopherson. This Q&A really cleared up some of the do’s and don’ts of PR. One thing that was emphasized a lot during this discussion was the importance of doing our homework about what is going on in the world and the type of clients the agency is working with. Keeping a healthy relationship with everyone in the industry is crucial as well! Amongst the amazing advice given to us by these PR professionals was also to keep the hunger to learn alive.
After the Q&A session, Chelsea Freeman, the agency’s publicist, gave us a quick tour of the office upstairs, and we came back to the conference room to go over the most anticipated part of the workshop; creating our own Public Relations campaign for an actual client. Before starting it, we had a lunch break where we were able to network and get to know the people around us and our campaign group members. Then in our teams of 5, we got to work on a plan for the IOT Consortium, a summit by invite only, with exclusive networking opportunities and inspirational speakers, highlighting the latest trends across 5 categories: Smart Cities, Connected Homes, Future Mobility, Wearables & Retail Innovation. Our teams were given objectives, key messages, resources, and the thing every PR agency dreams of getting; an unlimited budget. To help with the planning, GRC provided us with a research worksheet to bring all the ideas together.
Later on in the afternoon, it was finally time to pitch our ideas to the GRC team. Every group presented its version of an effective PR campaign and received feedback on it. The team applauded us for being so creative in our pitches, given the short amount of time we had to construct it. Receiving this type of feedback directly from PR pros, who have been in this industry for years, really helped in understanding how real PR campaigns work. At the end of the workshop, we were presented with certificates of completion and just like that, the six hours of hands-on learning was over
This PR 360 workshop was definitely a one of a kind experience that really made us get a glimpse into the real world. Thank you Global Results Communications for taking time out to work with us to further our knowledge about Public Relations!
Global Results Communications | GRC
201 E. Sandpointe Ave, Ste 650
Santa Ana, CA 92707
+1 949-608-0276
