 "Photo: Peter Franklin, Daily Texan Staff")
Student-run Texas Tower PR is emerging as its own organization after years under the hub of the networking organization Public Relations Student Society of America, or PRSSA.
The 15-member organization focuses on the hands-on learning experience of public relations. Public relations junior and president Dorian Walker said that the branch into a new organization was necessary because Texas Tower PR serves a different need, and there was confusion about the difference between the two.
“PRSSA is more about networking and skill-building, and this is more like hands-on application,” Walker said. “This is like the bridge between the schoolwork and the real world. I think that was something to be communicated in a new organization.”
Texas Exes has utilized the services of Texas Tower PR to get the word out about their “Texas Proud” campaign, which was launched in 2006. “Texas Fans Make Us Proud” is a double entendre that can be interpreted as a statement of fact or as a request and was conceived in an effort to curb unsportsmanlike behavior of Texas fans.
“We’re essentially taking it to a grassroots level because we are students trying to reach students,” said public relations junior Sarah Barnes.
Quality over quantity is the motto this year, because they want to focus on the accounts they have while establishing a new identity, separate from PRSSA.
Texas Towers PR has only two accounts this year, and both are nonprofit, local organizations. In addition to the “Texas Proud” account, they are working for the Down Syndrome Association of Central Texas.
There is no substitute for a firsthand learning experience, as PR senior Kristin Turner can confirm.
“One of the biggest challenges we’ve had is figuring out who to contact on campus to get our message out,” Turner said. “As PR practitioners you don’t necessarily send out the message — you just find the best way to send out the message.”
Since reaching students often occurs through social media, it is hard to fight through the “clutter.” Texas Tower PR has addressed this by using guerilla marketing and hosting a video contest for the “Texas Proud” account, among other things. Mack Brown even mentioned the campaign at a rally last year, which exemplified the effectiveness of the campaign.
Texas Tower PR is about preparing for the real world of public relations. In addition to providing students with that first bit of experience needed to hopefully land an internship, members believe this preparation is achieved by learning from each project.
As Walker said, “No one’s a pro. We’re all learning together.”
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