Tonight’s PRSSA Meeting – Live Blog

For those who can’t make it to the PRSSA meeting tonight to hear Mr. Kevin Bishop speak about his role as Communication Director for Senator Lindsey Graham – follow the meeting via the stream of live blog coverage here.

Director of Communications for SC Senator at November Meeting

Join us for our November meeting on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Daniel room 405.

Kevin Bishop, the Director of Communications for Senator Lindsey Graham here in South Carolina, will be coming to speak that evening. He will be talking to us about PR and communication in the political realm.

Kevin Bishop graduated highschool from Holly Hill Academy in Holly Hill, SC in 1989 and then went on to study Political Science at Clemson University, from which he graduated in 1993.

After college he worked as the Press Secretary for Congressman Steve Stockman of Texas 9th Congressional District in 1994. In the Republican wave of 1994, Stockman knocked off a 42-year incumbent who served as Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. During the 1996 Presidential Election, Bishop worked for the Republican National Committee on the ‘Truth Squad.’  The next year, in 1997, is when he went to work for then Congressman Lindsey Graham and has been with Graham since that April and has always worked as Press Secretary/Communications Director.
 
As Communications Director, Bishop handles the press strategy and interface with the media on the Senator’s behalf.  He does everything from setting up interviews to serving as spokesman. 
 
Bishop is a self-proclaimed political junkie and says he has always been one.

Please feel free to bring all your questions- and we’ll see you there!

October 28- Eboard minutes

PRSSA E-Board Meeting

October 28, 2009

1. Next Meeting: November 18- Wednesday at 7
2. Updates
   1. Leslie- dues?
   2. Cara Clanton- money picked up? Yes
   3. Bryson- t-shirt orders?
      1. Yes, t-shirts being made – will be ready by next meeting.
   4. Kelly- volunteer opportunities?
      1. St. Jude’s Up ‘Til Dawn: Wed Nov. 11^th: 10pm-2am. Everyone brings 30 addresses and we will write letters and send them out.
      2. Relay For Life (April): Will make a team. Details: PRSSA will have a goal amount to raise and have a booth.
         1. Will send out email asking for 3 email addresses from all PRSSA members to send Relay for Life requests. We will offer points for email addresses.
   5. Lauren P– Nov 4: Network Bash:
      1. All of us need to speak to our classes about the event on Nov. 2 and 3^rd. We need to push for people to register online. Look for an email from Lauren with a script for what to say and more details.
3. Speaker:
   1. Lindsay Graham’s Communication Director
   2. I will get room tomorrow- Daniel Auditorium
      1. Attendees who are not PRSSA members or Pre-Law society members will pay $2
      2. Idea: possibly have the meeting in McAdams
4. For next meeting
   1. Alyssa:
      1. Write up e-mail to send out
      2. Pick up parking pass
   2. Leslie:
      1. Bring laptop to take members names
   3. Cara Clanton
      1. Pick up snacks and drinks
   4. Cara Mitchell
      1. Live blog
   5. Other Things that have to be done WHO CAN DO THEM?
      1. Press Release in the Tiger
         1. Alyssa may already be doing this
      2. Flyers around school
         1. Lauren Patterson will make flyers and get them approved at the Hendrix desk
         2. Lauren P and Cara M will put up flyers around campus
      3. Set up people to go talk to classes Comm 101, 201, 301
         1. Kelly will speak to Dr. Hawkins about going into classes to speak and get schedule of classes– Lauren P and Bryson can help her go to classes to speak.
      4. Send E-mail to Marketing Majors (Madison will ask a marketing major about how to do this)
      5. Bulletin Board
   6. Erin Martin
      1. Post bio of speaker on blog
      2. Take pictures, video, and twitter during chapter meetings
      3. Fix “Meet Exec Board” on blog
   7. Bryson
      1. Will t-shirts be in?
5. December Meeting
   1. Social?
      1. Will talk to Tiffany Sellers (previous treasurer) about how it was done before
   2. Chilis! – December 1, 2009 at 8:00pm

Clemson PRSSA Meeting with Leslie Thorton

[cross post from Madison Fisher's blog]

Monday night, we held our second PRSSA (Public Relations Student Society of America) meeting of the year!  We invited Leslie Thorton, the Public Information Director for development within the Advancement Division at Clemson University as well as a public relations teacher in the Communications Department.  Because of her long title (Public Information Director for development within the Advancement Division) I think some people were confused as to what Leslie’s specific duties were (or at least I was!).  Leslie spoke about her duties and clarified her day-to-day tasks that keep her job interesting. 

At her occupation, Leslie focuses on writing proposals to perspective donors, keeping current donors happy, and engaging future donors (students).  I thought that the most interesting part of Leslie’s job was how she keeps current donors happy.  Along with holding annual banquets for large donors, she explained that after a large donation is given, a committee formulates the best way to thank the donor.  Sometimes, the donor is thanked during the halftime show of the Clemson football games and other times, buildings or statues are named in honor of the donor.  One time, the committee found out that a specific donor enjoyed opera music.  In order to thank the donor, Clemson University set up a luncheon and had a Clemson student sing opera for entertainment!      

 Leslie also reminded PRSSA members that even though a job/volunteer/internship may not have a title that includes the words “public relations”, the job may still include public relations duties.  For example, even if you’re not constantly writing press releases or tracking media clips, you may still be helping an organization relate and connect to its publics. 

The last two tips of advice that Leslie left with us were: strengthen your writing skills and be organized. 

Our secretary, Cara Mitchell, took notes on CoverItLive.com.  You can find the live notes here.  Please also visit our Clemson University PRSSA blog and follow us on Twitter @clemsonprssa!

Leveraging Yourself Above The Resume

Network Bash is a free event that will allow students the opportunity to acquire skills in the art of selling themselves. This event will have a wide range of industry professionals all brought together under one roof to help teach students the necessary networking skills.

Students who attend will learn the art of pitching themselves, next they will  practice what they’ve learned, and afterwards receive feedback on their performance.  Also practicing in this one-on-one environment, students will gain the self-confidence needed to go out and successfully pitch themselves to either potential employers or clients.

This even will be held November 4^th at the Hendrixs Student Center in the ball room. There will only be enough room for 250 students, so students interested in attend need to RSVP as soon as possible.  More information can be located at http://clemson.networkbash.com. And remember, “Opportunity only knocks once.”

Guest Post by Clemson advanced business writing class

PRSSA Meeting 2- Leslie Thornton- See Live Blog Coverage

For all who couldn’t make it to our meeting tonight, catch up on what you missed by following our live blog coverage. Leslie Thornton – Public Information Director for Development here at Clemson University was our speaker for the night. She talked about her day-to-day activities at work and gave us some insight about starting out in the PR field.
See the post here:PRSSA Meeting 2- Leslie Thorton (Speaker)

Leslie Thornton speaking for October PRSSA Meeting

Come out to tomorrow’s 2nd PRSSA meeting of the fall semester! It will be held at 8 p.m. in Daniel 413.

Leslie Thornton will be joining us and speaking about her day-to-day duties and her experiences as a Public Relations professional.

Leslie Thornton is a public information director for development within the Advancement Division at Clemson University. Prior to joining the advancement team, she worked as the program director for a major grant at Clemson University and as a researcher at Toborg Associates in Washington, D.C. In her current position, Ms. Thornton supports the University’s development and donor relations staff as a writer and editor, focusing on fundraising materials, major gifts proposals and donor recognition activities. In addition, as a member of the Creative Services Department, she is helping to implement Clemson’s new brand. Ms. Thornton holds an M.A. in health and organizational communication (Ohio University ’05) and a B.S. in interpersonal communication (Ohio University ’03).

E-board Oct 6

I.     Next Meeting: October 19- MONDAY at 8

II.   Updates

         a. Leslie- dues?

         b. Cara Clanton- money picked up? Yes

         c. Bryson- t-shirt orders?

         d. Kelly- volunteer opportunities- Feel Good – will contact

III.  Speaker:

           a. Kelly has her name- Leslie Thorton

           b. Maybe Carrie Dupree

           c.  I will get room tomorrow

IV.  For next meeting

          a. Alyssa:

              i.     Write up e-mail to send out

              ii.    Pick up parking pass

          b. Leslie:

              i.   Draft an e-mail to remind everyone when dues are due and I’ll send it out.

              ii.   Bring laptop to take members names

             iii.   Put together information to send to Erin Martin
to put on blog- update information on the blog about who to call about
dues

          c. Cara Clanton:

              i.    Pick up snacks and drink

              ii.   Buy stationary

          d. Cara Mitchell

              i.     Live blog- get with Alyssa to make sure link to coveritlive will work for the next meeting

              ii.    After Cara Clanton buys stationary send thank you letter to Bobby Rettew

          e. Lauren Gaulin

              i.    Press Release in the Tiger- possible angles could be our upcoming meeting or networkbash

              ii.      Flyers around school- Lauren created a flyer w/ a fall theme

              iii.      Set up people to go talk to classes Comm 101,
201, 301- members volunteered- Lauren will talk to Dr. Hawkins to find
out more about scheduling these visits

              iv.      Bulletin board ideas: update the board monthly -
have a pocket for people to pick up information to take with them, have
categories on the board including (ex: Sports PR, Entertainment PR),
include info about upcoming meetings and speakers

              v.      Get speakers to guest blog on the Clemson PRSSA blog

              vi.      Get PRSSA members to blog about their reactions to the meetings

              vii.      CU on Ice – get a table – as a PR effort and
fundraising effort. Lauren plans to contact the CU on Ice contact person

           f.  Erin Martin

               i.      Post bio of speaker on blog

               ii.     Take pictures, video, and twitter during chapter meetings- Erin plans on using her own camera

               iii.     Fix “Meet Exec Board” on blog

               iv.    Add pictures- E-board members should be prepared to take pictures at the next chapter meeting.

               v.     Add interesting information- everyone should get 2 fun/interesting facts in mind for their blurb on the blog

           g.   Bryson:

               i.    Will t-shirts be in?

           h.    KellyVolunteer opportunities?

V.      November Meeting

           a.    Ideas- political PR speaker – public affairs

              i.    Invite the pre-law society to collaborate with us in this meeting since it is of interest to them

           b.    Speakers- Alyssa has some contacts – possibly someone out of Clyburn’s office or another politician.

           c.    Date- November’s chapter meeting will be on Tuesday Nov.17 at 8

                i. The eboard meeting for November will be Monday Nov. 2 at 9

Follow Tonight’s PRSSA Meeting Live

If you can’t make it to the meeting tonight in Daniel 408 at 8:00, you can follow our meeting here with moment-to-moment coverage from our live blog:
1st PRSSA Meeting of the Year- with Speaker: Bobby Rettew
Bobby Rettew will talk to us about NetworkBash – an event that will be held on campus. We will also take care of some administrative business tonight. So, don’t miss out on the first meeting completely – if you can’t be with us in person, be present virtually

CLEMSON PRSSA’s FIRST MEETING OF THE YEAR!

Please join Clemson PRSSA at their first member meeting of the year.  The meeting will take place September 21 at 8 pm in Daniel 408.
 
Bobby Rettew will be speaking about the NetworkBash.  The NetworkBash is a day-long event aiming to connect students and business professionals to build career relationships.  The NetworkBash will be held on Clemson’s campus and run by students.
 
Bobby Rettew graduated from Clemson University in 1997 and received his masters from Clemson University in 2003. He now works in Greenville as a Partner with View Digital Media, LLC.  View Digital Media, LLC works to create video messages which are transmitted on the Internet via email and social networking sites.  Bobby is also an Advanced Writing Instructor at Clemson University.
 
At this meeting PRSSA will be also be accepting new members and taking care of some administrative tasks.  If you have any questions please contact Madison Fisher at mefishe@clemson.edu.