COMMent

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COMMWhat Does Your Twitter Say About You?

Q&A with a Comm

Alumna

@HawkTheVote

RWU PR students head to

San Fran!

OCTOBER 2012Volume 2, Issue 1

AN RWU PRSSA PUBLICATION

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Congratulations,Professor Scully!

Winner of the New England Journalism Educator of the Year Award

All public relations students know how important it is to sharpen our journalism skills, and RWU is lucky to have one of the best professors helping us perfect them. On October 11, Michael Scully, journalism pro-fessor here at Roger Williams University, will be pre-sented with the New England Journalism Educator of the Year award. Students who have had Professor Scully have expressed nothing but gratitude towards him, accrediting their successes and confidence in journalism to him. Senior Kinsey Janke says, “Professor Scully has taught me everything I need to go out into the real world and succeed; no one deserves this award more.” Professor Scully agrees, stating: “I’d like to think that this is a really great time to be a journalism student at Roger Wiliams. All of the pieces are falling in place: a new curriculum, a new teaching space, new faculty and now a little regional attention. These are great days.”

Photo courtesy of: Kathryn Lucey/RWU

Photo courtesy of: The Jamaica Observer

Roger Williams University public relations professor Hume John-son released her first book en-titled Challenges to Civil Society: Popular Protest and Governance in Jamaica on June 28, 2012. Dr. Johnson’s highly praised book earned the endorsement of for-mer Prime Minister of Jamaica, P.J. Patterson, who gave the key-note address at the book launch and signing. Johnson explains, “I was shocked to find out [Pat-terson] was following my work. I am very grateful for P.J. Patter-son for endorsing the book and supporting my career.”

Sofia Giovannello_Editor-in-Chief

Sofia Giovannello_Editor-in-Chief

opportunityindustry.

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1. What is your hometown?I’m originally from the small town of Holden, Mass., where

the population of cows exceeds people.

2. What was your background at RWU?I double-majored in Journalism and Art and Architectural History (because I wasn’t busy enough by my senior year)

and graduated in 2010. Officially, I was editor in chief of The Hawks’ Herald during the 2009-2010 academic year. I loved

every second of it and it really helped me decided what kind of career path I wanted to take. After graduating, my experi-

ences as a reporter and editor for the school paper really helped me get a job out of college (and know what I was

doing in that job!).

3. Right after graduation, were you able to find a job?I was fortunate enough to get a job at The MetroWest Daily

News in Framingham, Mass., covering the town of Westbor-ough. I was also the editor of one of the daily’s corresponding

weekly newspaper, The Westborough News.

4. Is this still your current job? No. After two years at The MetroWest Daily News, I felt it was

time to make a change and start getting into magazines. As of July 2012, I have been the assistant editor for Pro Sound News and Pro Audio Review, two publications that cover the profes-

sional music recording and live sound industry. The maga-zine’s company, NewBay Media, is located in New York City.

5. What are the types of things you do at your job?My main job is to act as another set of eyes for fact checking, grammar, spell-ing, etc. for the magazines. I also write news stories for the magazine and its website, mostly writing about concerts, new recording studios, or quirky projects within the industry. Starting this October, I will be traveling to various trade shows and conferences for the industry and assist in the writing and publication of the conferences’ daily newsletters.

6. How has it been so far moving to NYC? Making a big move can always be a bit scary, but it’s also very exciting and very rewarding. I was lucky enough to have a large network of friends who already lived in New York (many who are RWU alumni!) and with their help I was able to find a place to live and adjust without too much of an issue. I always knew that I wanted to live in New York, it was just a matter of getting here. When I finally landed my job, I moved down in the 100 degree summer heat with two small backpacks and rented a room for two weeks with the hope of finding a place to live within that time span. Now, three months later, I’m living in my own apartment and am well-adjusted to the life and couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.

7. What is your dream job?If I could have any job, I’d want to work as an editor for an art or travel maga-zine. I’ve always had an interest in the arts and culture of other places, and actually chose AAH as a second major to give myself a stronger background on the subject. However, I’m also a huge music junkie (I hosted my own radio show on WQRI all four years at RWU) and my current job has really allowed me to combine my love of writing with my love of music. I had never considered a job like this in college, but after trying it, my ideal job could easily change.

Kelleigh Welch, a Roger Williams University journalism and art and architectural history alumna from the class of 2010, gives us some insight on what it’s like to be graduated and working in the real world. As an involved student in the communications depart-ment, Welch credits all of her success in her current and past career to the experiences she had at RWU. Here’s what she had to say about life after graduation:

Meet...

Kelleigh WelchAlumna Q&A

Michelle Lee_COMMunicator

Call Me, Tweet Me, If You Wanna Reach Me Twitter has become an effective tool in the social media world. If you have not created a Twitter account yet, get with it because it is 2012 and you will finally understand why everyone is #hashtagging away. If you have creat-ed a Twitter, you are on the right path to becoming a future communications professional, but do you think your Twitter is being used effectively? It is one thing to have a Twit-ter, but to have a Twitter that you are creating impact with is another. Be-low are some helpful tips to make sure your Twitter is on the path to success:

Have a professional headshot as your profile photo. Like Twitter acknowledg-es, “your photo is your identity on Twit-ter and appears with your tweets.” It is great if you want to tweet professionals in the field, but if your photo is of you on a table at the bar, they may not even con-sider reading the content of your tweet.

Make 160 characters count. Your bio needs to be fewer than 160 charac-ters, but if you only include impor-tant information, 160 are enough. Include your occupation, any titles you currently have, and a future goal you aspire to complete. The fact that #YOLO is your life motto might not be what you want people to read about you when your profile comes up.

Think before you tweet. As a tweeter, you want people to retweet what you’re saying. If you’re tweeting about how you couldn’t make it to class Friday morning and how you don’t even re-member getting home, this will leave a negative impression on a future em-ployer. Tweet about the communica-tions field you are about to become a part of; who knows, you may tweet

something that can catch the eye of someone looking for a new employee.

Separate business and pleasure. If you really feel the need to tweet about your weekend festivities and your is-sues with your significant/weekend other, create two twitter accounts. Di-rect all communication professionals to your Twitter handle with your full name, and all of your friends to a differ-ent account with a nickname. It really is a win-win; you get to show your boss you understand the how to effectively use Twitter and update your friends on your alcohol intake for the week.

Follow a potential future employer. If you want to intern one day for the @Patriots and you are not following them yet, I am judging you. It is im-portant to be as up to date with a po-tential future employer as possible. By following their Twitter account, you have new information to mention in an interview with your boss. How good will you look in an interview if you say, “I saw a Tweet with an upcom-ing event your company is planning. I look forward to seeing how well it goes.” Pretty darn good if you ask me.

I hope these tips have made you re-consider what your Twitter looks like. Remember, your Twitter is your online identity. Be sure it is an example of what you want your boss to know about you.

-@TheresaAgonia

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Introducing...

Jolly Roger Public Relations!RWU’s PRSSA Chapter is proud to announce its new student run public relations firm, Jolly Roger Public Relations (JRPR) with its two clients, the Warren Bap-tist Church and Project Book. JRPR will host a release party in December to celebrate the arrival of this long awaited firm, so keep your eyes open for an invitation!

Learn about JRPR’s clients below:

Project Book is a nonprofit organization that provides funds to purchase books in support of higher educa-tion for young people while incarcerated in local Rhode Island prisons. JRPR Account Executive Lisa Reddy ex-plains, “Our first [goal] is to raise awareness of the pro-gram in the community and from there, textbook dona-tions would be the bonus.” The PR students will run an informational campaign within the community to create awareness.

The Warren Baptist Church is a historically rich place of worship that will be cele-brating its 250th anniversary in November 2014. Account Executive Liz Monahan says, “Our team will create a PR plan to encourage commu-nity participation, special events, design work and local media coverage for a year of celebration.” The PR students will work to raise awareness of the 250th an-niversary throughout the Warren and surrounding communities.

Project Book Warren Baptist Church

HAWKTHEVOTE

Each year the nation’s PRSSA Chapters get together for five days of networking and professional seminars at National Conference. This year our Chapter will be traveling to San Francisco not only to attend conference, but also to present! Kitty McTeague, Chapter President, expressed enthusiasm saying, “We are thrilled to not only be presenting on behalf of RWU, but on behalf of our chapter.”

McTeague, along with Theresa Agonia, PRSSA VP, and Alexa Roberto, PRSSA Member, will be the presenting on our wonderful alumni relations work. Roberto says: “It’s great how suc-cessful our PRSSA Chapter is at maintaining relationships with former members. I am so proud we are being recognized for our hard work and are able to teach other Chapters how to be as successful as we are.” RWU PRSSA was chosen to be one of eight to speak at conference.

“We have 13 members going to join the crowd of over 600, which is the most we’ve ever had at-tend Conference” said Agonia. “We’re looking forward to meeting professionals, but also excited to be in San Francisco. It’s such a beautiful city and I know we’re really going to enjoy ourselves.”

The conference will be held October 12-16. Make sure to follow the hash tag #PRSSANC on Twitter to stay up on the action!

Last Day to Register: October 6

This year, the Hawk The Vote campaign is run by the Election Media Lab 2012, a student-run group to offer a unique angle on the election from a students point of view. This campaign was originally created to encour-age students on campus to get involved in the election so that their voices can be heard. For many students at RWU, this will be their first time voting. Senior Nicholle Buckley is a part of the Media Lab 2012 and explains the meaning behind the slogan “Our Voice, Your Choice. “As students, we all have a voice, but it is up to us whether or not we want to use it.”

More events coming soon!

PRSSA 2012 National Conference– Bridging the GapElizabeth Monahan_COMMunicator

Kyrie Perry_COMMunicator

@HawkTheVote

Editor-in-ChiefSofia Giovannello

COMMunicatorsTheresa Agonia

Michelle LeeElizabeth Monahan

Kyrie Perry

Want to write for us? Contact: [email protected]

@RWUCOMMent