SDSU Shines at Public Relations Society of America's Annual Conference

Over the weekend of October 18th, the Public Relations Society of America held its annual conference in San Diego. While PRSA held its summit at San Diego State University’s iconic Hardy Tower, the student-led branch of the organization, the Public Relations Student Society of America, held its own conference at the Bahia Resort in Mission Bay. The two events drew public relations professionals and students from across the nation to discuss a variety of topics that affect their industry, as well as award individuals and chapters that have demonstrated excellence in the field of public relations.

San Diego State University was heavily represented throughout the weekend conferences. While students from the School of Journalism and Media Studies organized and managed the conference for PRSA at Hardy Tower, SDSU School of Journalism and Media Studies (SJMS) professor, Dr. Kaye Sweeter, APR + M, conducted the keynote presentation for the PRSSA conference at the Bahia.

Additionally, SDSU’s chapter of PRSSA volunteered with both conferences and won multiple awards including the Star Chapter Award, a coveted nationwide title that they have won for the past three years in a row. The SDSU PRSSA group earned recognition for their local high school outreach, involvement with their parent chapter of PRSA, conference attendance, and for upholding a high standard of ethics within their organization.

PRSSA president, Sofia Bert, was also awarded the 2019 Altschul Champions for PRSSA Outstanding Internship Award. Bert, a Journalism student in her senior year, won the award after submitting a piece describing her experience interning with the College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts at SDSU.

Sofia contributed her internship for helping develop her professional writing voice, as well as hone her passion for public relations. Speaking of her experience, Bert noted that her job at PSFA “offered me so much insight into the real world of public relations. My current career goal is to be a PIO for the State of California, and I feel that [my position] is preparing me for that [type of] role.” After graduation, Bert hopes to transition into work as a public relations professional fulltime and attend the PRSA segment of the conference in the future.

Reflecting on the weekend of public relations, interim SJMS director Noah Arceneaux stated, “PRSA represents the best and the brightest of those work in public relations, both in industry and academia. That fact that San Diego State University was chosen to host some of their events is an acknowledgment of our award-winning public relations program and the amazing work that is done by our faculty.” SJMS is proud of the recognition it received over the conference weekend and is hopeful to host the conference again when it returns to San Diego.

The content within this article has been edited by Lizbeth Persons.