Sean McGowan February 28, 2015

COMMS 485

Reflection Paper What I learned in the program

This section could go on and on forever. First and foremost, I learned that honesty

is always the answer, especially in public relations. You should never try to hide anything

but should be transparent as an organization. I see the value and purpose of public

relations in any organization and cant imagine trying to succeed without anyone doing

PR. I hear about companies that cut their PR teamsthat just tells me they werent doing

an effective job or providing value like PR professionals should. As PR pros, we are in

charge of doing something that no other department, not even marketing, can do. Our

efforts determine, for the most part, how our organizations and executives are viewed,

accepted, and respectedor the opposite. Not only does PR maintain a good public

image by getting the name of the organization out there by shedding good light on it, but

its PR that gets lots of things done, keeps an organization together and unites team

members across departments. We are the ones putting out fires when they ignite. Without

good PR, no company can hope to grow and is always in jeopardy or danger in time of

crisis. The program improved my writing skills and condensed my style. It taught me

persuasion and credibility. It showed me the importance of being well-rounded in my

skills and talents, to not only settle for certain abilities but to seek competitive advantage

and constantly build my repertoire of assets. The matrix is one of the best things Ive ever

learned as well. With that, there are so many things PR professionals can do. In my final

semester or two in the program, I learned that public relations encompasses so many

things as an industry, and that I shouldnt think of it as a limiting template, but must take

everything I know and think creatively outside the box.

How the program prepared me for career/life

The program instilled so many skills in me that will be such a huge part of my

career, work life and personal life as well. I learned the importance of having well-

developed relationships, both in the profession and in a networking sense. You never

know when youll need to use a relationship, for work or for personal opportunities.

Something that will really assist in PR and in almost everything Ill do is the ability to tell

a story. Thats what PR is all about. How youll tell your publics the story they need to

know, the value of stories as a main influence, the stories that youll tell your superiors

when reporting job performance and success and so much moreall real situations Im

sure to rely on the art of story-telling. The program taught me professionalism,

accountability, respect, courtesy, timeliness, responsibility and diligent work ethic. It

taught me to continue to learn and be knowledgeable in all things. The matrix thinking

style is a logical process that I can use with any problem or opportunity I have. Ive

already used it to think so many things through, analyzing the situation and coming up

with a plan. Also, I know the importance of measuring results and evaluation.

How I can improve my learning

While Ive learned so much this last year or two, I recognize that I must continue

to grow and progress with my skills and abilities in communications and PR. The

industry and world will constantly be changing. Social media has completely redefined

the way communications is handled and allowed more engagement between brands and

their publics. Further advancements in the future will do the same. I must not only stay up

to date on things like that, but always be in the know with world conditions and vital

knowledge of important or influential factors. Being well versed in the ways of

everything in the world is something required of PR and communications professionals.

We must know how to influence everyone and understand how the world works the way

it does. This will be required of us if we hope to make a difference.

Suggestions for the program

Id love to add my two cents to make this program better in the future. My first bit

of advice would be to not waste valuable time with certain tactic creation in 421. Making

things like posters and flyers is a good skill to have, but thats what creative departments

are for. I would feel so much more prepared if instead we had spent that precious time

practicing our pitching, writing releases, managing crises situations, etc. I felt there was

focus on the wrong things some of the time, which took away from what Im doing in my

internships. It seems like most of what we were taught was crisis PR, and this has left me

underprepared to do basic things like pitching, event management and social media

engagement in my real-world responsibilities. There is so much more to PR than just

handling crises. I would also recommend some type of synchronization between

instructors. Im sure this is something the faculty is aware of, but students have a problem

(and often argue) over what is the right way to do things. I recognize that its difficult

to collaborate and that there is benefit from being taught things a few different ways, but

it was tough to have teachers that stressed different things and taught things differently.

Finally, I feel it would be a big benefit for classes within the program to work more

directly with campus entities. It would be awesome (and probably easier) to better the

institution we attend and care so much about.