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.  

 

The Berwick Mural Project

   Making a Difference in our community is the perfect title to what Dr. Byrum has started here at Bloomsburg University. This past semester I was approached by Dr. Byrum who then informed me about the program she wanted to fulfill. I was immediately enthusiastic about this opportunity and

One of the murals that
The Berwick Mural Project Designed.

accepted the challenge. When going into this program I was very nervous about my skill level to work with a real world public relations campaign. Dr. Byrum understood this fear and she instilled in me that I need to be confident with the skills I learned thus far and to be fearless moving forward.

Upon the first meeting with my United Way agency I found out that I would be working with The Berwick Mural Project. I had no idea what this agency was and therefore went ahead and did vast amounts of research. Prior to the first meeting I looked into all their social media platforms, their past events, website, and made myself a list of what they could use help with from a PR prospective. The first meeting brought on a lot of nerves but the research helped a lot. I knew what their agency was and now I was able to meet with Connie Donlin, founder and sole operator of The Berwick Mural Project. This is where we went through an outline that was given to us by Dr. Byrum. We spent the

Connie Donlin, founder and sole operator
of The Berwick Mural Project, and I
discussing the work we did together.

next few hours going over everything that this outline had. This gave us the building blocks of what our main focus was. Every week after this meeting we met with Dr. Byrum and continued our project. These meetings were informative and were also used as work sessions. This gave us the ability to work with Dr. Byrum and get vital information from a professional. As we worked toward our goal of creating a strategic communications plan we were supposed to meet up one on one with our agency. I met with Connie and her family at her families’ coffee shop in Berwick. We talked together about the program and she even showed me around Berwick to see some of the different murals that they have executed.

Connie Donlin and myself at the conclusion of our project.

It was such an inspiration to see the murals in person and to see what passion Connie and her family has for this organization. When this project came to a close we were able to present it at the Greenly center to each other and to our agencies. This gave us the opportunity to showcase our work as well as inform them on all of the ideas we hope to have them execute. This program was such an amazing experience here at Bloomsburg. I felt honored to have been chosen to participate and feel that I have gained so much knowledge from it. I have had the opportunity to work with a successful professional in my field and to work one on one to create both a relationship with an organization and a plan that will help them in the future. I am pleased that I had this chance to work together with these 9 other students and Dr. Byrum to enhance my skills and to become an all around better PR professional.

All ten Bloomsburg PR students and Dr.Byrum at the
conclusion of the Curriculum Enhancement Program.