Public Relations Student Society of America at Texas State University

PRSSA National Conference 2011

By: Caitlyn Denham

This year was my first experience attending PRSSA National Conference and I couldn’t have asked for a more enlightening time. It was absolutely incredible meeting so many students who have the same passion for public relations as I do and learning about what their Chapters are doing all over the U.S. I found it difficult to pick which session I would attend during each interval because every one of the sessions offered something valuable. I ended up going to two sessions that discussed global public relations and those were the sessions that I found most valuable to me personally.

After hearing from two men who work for global companies, I changed my idea of a perfect career in public relations. Since the very first day I decided I wanted to study public relations, I thought the only thing I would ever want to do was to become a publicist for a country music star in Nashville, but after having so many wonderful experiences during my semester abroad and hearing about the life of someone who works in global public relations, my mind quickly changed. There would be no better way to spend the rest of my life than doing two things that I am very passionate about, which are public relations and traveling the world. So for me, conference changed the course for my career.

The key speakers for this year’s National Conference were phenomenal. Of course how can you not be when you work for the happiest and most magical place on Earth? Hearing from Craig Dezern, vice president of global public relations at Disney, was extremely interesting because of all the things he has accomplished in his career so far and what he has had the chance to experience. Walt Disney World Parks are a worldwide franchise and to be one of the people responsible for that is incredible to hear about. Dezern’s speech was also a major part of my choice to change career paths. The other keynote speaker was Rick Leventhal, senior correspondent for Fox News. Although I did not find him as interesting as Dezern, Leventhal offered some great insights into the world of broadcast media and how important the relationship between public relations professionals and journalists is. Leventhal has had some incredible experiences during his time as senior correspondent including covering the BP oil spill, major hurricanes and the war in Iraq.

Besides having the opportunity to hear from a number of great speakers and meet hundreds of fellow PRSSA members, I was able to get to know members from my own Chapter at Texas State. I was able to bring back multiple ideas for new meeting topics, tips on how our members can get more involved on a national level and reasons why our members should attend next year’s conference.