Redbird road trip!

The day started early at 6:30 A.M. where 25 members of PRSSA gathered in the Student Service Center parking lot on Friday, September 15th. Our members traveled to Chicago for the first agency tour of the school year. The PRSSA members got the opportunity to tour two PR firms: Golin and Edelman.

We left Normal with seven packed cars traveling up to Chicago. The car ride was full of good music and great conversation. We arrived for our first agency tour with Golin. We all met in the lobby of the John Hancock Center where we travelled up Golin’s office space. It had a modern, open-concept style. The Golin employees welcomed us with warm, welcoming faces. Sarah Babcock, an associate at Golin, led the presentation along with other ISU alumni such as Nick Nottoli, Hannah Sheley and Kristen Kelley. In the presentation, the employees discussed the G4 method and different case studies such as Talenti, Humana and their famous client: McDonald’s. The G4 model is unique in PR; it allows professionals to have a focus whether that be research, creative content, pitching for new business or project management. As a member, I was incredibly interested in seeing the fresh take on what PR professional’s job description. After the presentation, Hannah and Sarah split us into groups and took us on an office tour (not after we took the beautiful view of the lake and the Chicago skyline).

We all met up in the lobby of the AON building where we all headed up to visit Edelman. Jordan Parisi, the Internship Coordinator for Edelman, led us to a conference room where Julia Fedor, Timothy Wrona, Molly Coyle and Jillian Collins Bohr. The time we had was spent asking questions regarding crisis communication, case studies, graduate school and many other topics. At the end of the time, we had time to network with speakers and again, take in the amazing Edel-views.

Both tours gave members the opportunity to see two Public Relations agency firms with vastly different work culture. Members were also given the chance to investigate the type of work they could be doing after graduation. The tours definitely give younger members like me something to look forward to.

By: Megan Pellock