_ Whitney Jinks
Major: Public Relations, Spanish minor
Year: Sophomore
Quote I like: "The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me." -Ayn Rand

As a proactive, busy UGA student, chances are you’re involved with an organization of some sort on campus. For the fourth year in a row, PRSSA hosted PR Workout, a public relations workshop for PR chairs from student organizations across campus who wanted to learn more about branding, expanding and promoting their clubs. Attendees were able to choose from five different sessions, all dealing with some area of public relations, from member recruitment to campus legalities.

Superstars from PRSSA’s executive board and committee heads administered each session, teaching us PR newbies all about the planning, techniques and hard work that go into promoting and running our respective organizations. What was great about the sessions was the informality of the discussion. Each student speaker was more than happy to answer any questions, clarify discussion points and give advice about what works for a student organization and what doesn’t.

_ I attended PR Workout as a representative from Peter’s Pals, a new organization on campus that promotes multiple sclerosis activism. I had some experience with writing press releases and other elements of public relations from my involvement with other organizations, but I had no real idea of how to run a public relations campaign of my own.



After attending sessions on member recruitment, event planning and media relations on Saturday, I know I’m much more prepared and equipped to be an effective PR and communications chair for my organization. Each session and speaker was informative, professional and enthusiastic about what good PR is and all of the elements that go into creating it. If you’re involved with any type of communication for your organization, I can’t recommend attending PR Workout next year highly enough.

I had such a great experience that I wanted to provide you with some tips about how to get the most out of your PR Workout experience for next year:

 

1.    Try to recruit another member of your organization to come with you.

I was lucky enough to have another executive member of Peter’s Pals attend PR Workout with me. Because of time, you have to select three sessions out of the five offered. Between the two of us, we were able to attend all of the sessions provided. While I was learning about member recruitment, he was able to sit in on the social media session. If you are the only representative from your organization, however, the PR Workout staff has you covered. In the packet you receive at registration are handouts from all five sessions.

 

2.    Come prepared with questions.

The whole purpose of the event is to learn about all of the different ways to improve your organization as a whole. The session leaders were all more than happy to answer any specific questions about different clubs, and I got some great advice and ideas for recruiting, pitching to media outlets and event planning in the future. 

 

3.    Network at the event!

PR Workout attracts executive board members from organizations across campus. By simply talking to people in my sessions, I came away with two different contacts that are willing to have their organizations work with mine for events in the future. Take advantage of the enthusiasm that each attendee has for his or her organization.

 

4.    Take what you learn from PR Workout back to your organization.

The most important thing to remember at the workshop is that you’re there to make your organization better as a whole. Take the information you learn from the event back to the other members of your club and discuss how you can best put them to use.

 

Because of the invaluable information I received, PR Workout was definitely worth the 10 a.m. start time.