A Video Presentation of BU Students at Work

A Video Presentation of BU Students Involved in the Local Community

AGAPE

Over the course of 5 weeks I had the incredible opportunity to be a participant in a circular enhancement grant through the College of Liberal Arts and the Mass Communications Department.

There were 10 students total who were chosen for this project. Each of us was paired with a different Berwick United Way agency. I was fortunate enough to be paired with AGAPE.

When I started this I honestly had no idea what AGAPE was, what they did, what they stood for, nothing. However, with just 1 initial meeting with Matt and Deb, two individuals who work heavily in AGAPE, and then my own research I quickly came to realize how passionate I, myself was about this organization too. I firmly believe when you are passionate about something you work twice as hard and the outcome is exponentially greater.

Matt, Becca and Deb
Photo by: Anthony J. Cucchi

During the first meeting with them we sat down and discussed who they were, what they were about, what their mission statement was, etc. Basically any and all information they could give me on the agency we covered. We also talked about where they want to see AGAPE go in the future as well as the needs of the agency. After this I got right to work developing a strategic communications plan that would better enabled them to understand where they were at, where they want to go, and most importantly how to get there.

For 3 weeks all 10 of us students met with Dr. Byrum to work on our plans. She offered us insight and comments on how to better improve our plans. Some of us even collaborated together to give our agency as much as we possible could.

At the end of April we met with our clients and presented them with the final strategic plan. Matt and Deb were more than pleased with what I created for them. They both thanked me and told me how much they appreciated my expertise and willingness to help the organization. Deb even told me that it is validating to them that things I put in my plan were ideas that they too have for the agency, and that they feel as if they are taking AGAPE in the right direction. Hearing this from them was so rewarding.


Fist bumping Matt from AGAPE celebrating the final plan. Photo by: Anthony J. Cucchi

This experience was extremely beneficial to not only my college career but to my future as an aspiring Public Relations professional. Having this experience and being able to showcase the plan I created for AGAPE will without a doubt come in useful at some point in time. I think every PR major should look for this types of opportunities and jump on board when they are presented.

For the Cause Agency

Over the past five weeks I was a part of an incredible public relations team, collaborating and discussing tips and ideas for each of our PR strategic plans. Each team member was paired up with a real non-profit United Way agency. I got to be paired up with For the Cause organization and worked with one of the main creators himself Josh Nespoli. Our first time sitting down we discussed the aspects he thought his agency needed the most help with. I then took on those tips and ideas we collaborated with and put them into a strategic PR outline with how an intern could go about making these fixes for Josh and his brothers.

On our first time meeting Josh explained to me that his agency was developed by him and his brothers in order to benefit Berwick County. Their ideas were to create big, fun and popular events in order to collect money to feed neglected, and/or low income families. We discussed certain annual events he could hold in order to have a specific thing that For the Cause can be known for.


Throughout this process Josh and I emailed back and forth certain ideas and budget plans in order to help me with my plan. I was also able to meet with him again on April 16, 2015 for our “Big Idea” presentation for the agencies. At this event, every team member created a PowerPoint slide with one idea that they thought stood out of their PR plan the best. When I sat down with Josh again, I showed him what I created for his organization and how I put these ideas into a timetable for them as well. He was more than satisfied with my ideas and we were then able to create additional key elements that would make his agency excel as well.


Working with the PR team including Dr. Byrum, really gave me a clear idea about what I would be doing in my field of study. This program gave me hands on learning experience with a real non-profit agency and gave me more ideas for the future when working on a PR plan again. I was very pleased with my final PR plan and I cannot wait to take what I learned from Dr. Byrum, my PR team and For the Cause with me in the future.

  

Columbia Child Development Program

When I first started school here at Bloomsburg University I really wasn't sure what major was the right fit for me. I took a few semesters and really thought about it and eventually ended up in Mass Communications. I started to enjoy the major right away but this year I finally started to feel like I was in exactly the right place. A big part of feeling like that definitely came from participating in this curriculum extension. The day I got the email from Dr. Byrum saying she had applied for and received a grant for ten students to work with the United Way and ten of their agencies I knew I wanted to be one of those ten. I got paired up with the Columbia Child Development Program and was immediately excited to find out that CCDP was my agency because I have always loved working with kids. Right away I hit it off with Jen and Debbie and it was very easy for me to understand what they wanted from me. I knew that when creating a strategic communications plan for this organization I had to put my self in their shoes and make it just as important to me as it was to them. Throughout the whole program Dr. Byrum worked closely with us to help us do the best we could to help our non-profit as much as possible. Not only was working with a non-profit organization very rewarding but I learned so much from this experience. This program gave me real life experience on working with a non-profit and creating a strategic communications plan. I am also really excited to include this experience on my resume and to keep my plan for a portfolio of all the work I have completed here at Bloomsburg.

Downtown Bloomsburg, Inc.

For the last month I have been working with the Berwick United Way under the grant for a Curriculum Enhancement through Bloomsburg University.

I had the opportunity to work with Downtown Bloomsburg, Inc.  Laura, the manager was very experienced and helpful.  The best part of working with Laura was that she really cared about helping me in enhancing my resume and working on projects that pertained to the interest of my major.  

While working with DBI, I got to create a Strategic Communications Plan.  It was very interesting to be able to work with a local business and help them achieve the plans they had for the community.  I got real wold experience that I would not normally be able to get in the classroom.  

I think this grant really enables students to be able to learn by doing and offers a unique experience to students that not many people get to have.  

Finally, I would recommend this to any student in the public relations field because it is something you can use in your portfolio.  Having more than just experience to put on paper, but having actual material may be what it takes to score that perfect job after college.  

The Women's Center

I have never been particularly fond of the cliche "you need to go to college in order to succeed." This statement is false. College only offers individuals a greater opportunity to become successful. Success is achieved when an individual seizes an opportunistic moment that arises and that is exactly what the nine other students who took this project on did.

Dr. Byrum has done an excellent job creating opportunities for students at Bloomsburg University to be successful. The work she has developed gives student the ability to gain authentic experience in the PR field. So when she approached me about crating a strategic communications plan for a United Way Agency I was unable to oppose.

Initially, I was suppose to be working with the Boy Scouts. Before our first meeting that is the client that I did preliminary research on. However, the tables turned and I was matched up with The Women's Center.

The Women's Center dedicates themselves to assisting victims of domestic violence and sexual assault during crisis situations, as well as aiding them through their recovery phase. Our organization provides a twenty-four hour crisis hotline, hospitalization, counseling, legal guidance and preventative education programs for all individuals.

This was a great non-profit organization to have the chance to work with. Their goals were astronomical as they already created a firm base for themselves. So, as other students were working on getting their clients started, my client was looking to expand. We came up with some great ideas to move the organization forward and will have an intern implement it over the next year.

Collaborating with The Women's Center and their Marketing and Education Coordinator, Christiana Paradis, was a great experience. I could not be more appreciative of the opportunity Dr. Byrum presented us.  I was able to gain my first experience in creating a strategic communications plan for an organization and though it was quite a bit of work it was a step forward into our careers. 

 

Berwick Pool Assocation

When I received an invite from Dr. Byrum to participate in a curriculum enhancement program where I would create a strategic plan for a United Way agency, I knew it was an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up. For Dr. Byrum’s PR Theory and Practice class, I was required to create a strategic plan for a fictitious business; this prior knowledge made me extremely excited to be doing public relations work for a real client

Before the initial meeting with my client, I was informed that the United Way Agency that I would be working with was the Berwick Pool Association.  After finding out who I was working with, I went and started looking up the pool association online, and on social media. I was unsuccessful at finding out much information on the pool association before my initial client meeting. At the first meeting, I met Matt Getty, a Berwick Pool Association Board Member.  Matt informed me that I would be creating a strategic plan for the Ber-Vaughn Pool and also that the pool association is renovating and reopening in May 2016. The Ber-Vaughn Pool is in need of support from the local community. Many people are unaware that the pool is going to be reopening and for the pool to be successful it needs the community to come together and support it. Throughout this first meeting Dr. Byrum led us through exercises where I would find out the strengths, and weaknesses of the agency providing insight on the areas where the pool needs the most improvement.

For the next four weeks everyone involved in the program met with Dr. Byrum. This was when we were have a chance to ask questions and have a work session for our plans. My strategic plan for the Berwick Pool Association was a much more in depth plan than the one I created for class last semester. It was definitely different working for a real client, rather than a fictitious company where I decided everything on my own.  Throughout these four weeks, I also kept in contact with Matt as far as how the weekly pool board meetings went, and where they were with the pool design.

At the end of the four weeks we had a final client meeting where we presented the entire strategic plan to our client. Matt loved that plan that I created and was anxious to start implementing some of the tactics I came up with. Overall, this was an extremely rewarding experience. I am very thankful to Dr. Byrum for getting me involved in this curriculum enhancement program and allowing me the opportunity to take my public relations knowledge and use it to help a local organization, such as the Berwick Pool Association better themselves.