Saturday, September 11, 2010

Helping Future PR Pros to attend PRSSA Conference

A couple of weeks ago, I was talking with a student at American University about the upcoming PRSA/PRSSA conference. During our conversation, she mentioned that there are a number of students who would like to attend the conference, but they can’t afford it because of their financial situation. She mentioned that other universities in the area are helping students attend the conference or donating items for the event.

It’s important to help future professionals learn about the public relations industry. One of the ways I’m hoping to help future PR professionals is by offering to sponsor a student. With this sponsorship, I’m going to pay for half of a student’s registration ($150). In return, the student will intern/job shadow at my office for a couple of days. I thought this would provide the student a win-win situation. It will give them an opportunity to learn at the conference and provide them with hands-on experience. It’s important for us to give back and mentor future professionals provide them with every opportunity to learn more about the PR industry.

 
This offer is for this year’s conference, and I hope others will be able to help out other students to attend the PRSSA conference. What I’m envisioning for this job shadow/intern opportunity is for a student to work in an office for a couple of days learning the ins and outs of PR. Students should write a short essay (400 words or less) about why they would like to attend the PRSSA conference, including a short description about the type of job shadow opportunity or industry they would like to enter in the future.

Students who are interested should submit their information to me (Kidwai.sabrina@gmail.com) by Monday, September 13. As I receive the entries, I’ll post them on my blog. Hopefully, we can find organizations willing to help students at American, Howard, George Mason or University of Maryland.

If someone is interested in sponsoring a student to attend the PRSSA conference, please contact a president from one of the local chapters. Here is a list of the local chapter presidents:
I have the address and information for American University donations. Please e-mail me and I’ll
forward you the information. Deadline for students to register for the conference is September 13.