On Monday, April 19, The Yankee Chapter of New Hampshire hosted a Public Relations Seminar called “Public Relations 101.”
As an English major with a minor in Communication Studies that focuses in Corporate Public Relations, I thought this would be a wonderful opportunity to broaden my horizons in the field of Public Relations.
Plymouth State College was represented in the higest regard possible at the conference. Dr. Warren Mason attended with some of his students as part of a Public Relations Field Trip. Conference attendees included Anthony Koschmann, Nolan Fredericks, Delia Langley, Owen Burke, and Nichole Saccoccia. When asked about his conference experience, Anthony Koschmann, a graduating Senior who will purse his Master’s of Arts degree in Television-Radio-Film at Syracuse University said, “It was a refreshing change from the classroom envrironment. Talking with both industry professionals and those new to the field was a fantastic learning expierience.”
Before heading off to this conference, I spoke with Dr. Smyth, my Ancient Literature professor in the English Department. He told me that he would allow me the opportunity to go on the conference as long as I could relate what I learned at the conference to a form of Ancient Literature.
During the conference I learned that Public Relations is indoubtedly a wide spectrum that involves talking and relating to your ‘publics.’ These ‘publics’ could include communicationg current events to your public, depending on who they are. One question that remains is will today’s public relations be the basis for tomorrow’s Ancient Literature? Only time will be able to tell; however, with the prevelent events not only in our socity but in the media as well, there is no telling what the future may actually hold. Will news events such as September 11, the scandal in the Catholic Church, and the EnrÃn debacle be the foundation of future literature in generations to come? I definitely believe this will prove to be a reality! It is quite possible that we are living in the times of Ancient Literature, and we as a society may produce the next famous historian, such as Herodotus was to the Greeks, or a poetic genius such as Sappho, or even emerge an epic hero, such as Gilgamesh. The possibilities are endless!
In closing, Barbara LeBlanc, who is a Mangaing Editor for News at the Union Leader and Rob Frehse, an Assignment Editor at WMUR-TV both said that it is important to “Read widely,” when asked what their one piece of advice would be to up and coming college students interested in the Public Relations profession. Reading widely can most certainly relate back to Ancient Literature because without a wide variety of knowlege it is hard to reference history to today’s society. Every day we live, we are constant witnesses to history repeating itself, which is very enlightening. We are undoubted history in the making!