The event started with a presentation by Jeff Carrigan , who is the founder of Big Shoes Network. BSN is a job board resource that has postings of available jobs and internships in the fields of public relations, advertising, communications, social media, web development, graphic design and marketing. The website is extremely beneficial to myself, as a public relations major, and I find myself on there every single day to check the new postings!
Part of Jeff's presentation was giving us advice on how to be successful. He gave us 5 ways to stand out:
competence
connections
character
chemistry
c-suite (think like the CEO)
After his presentation, the networking began! I got the chance to meet with three professionals: Ryan Cigler, Sharon Roy and Amy Cielinski. They each offered great advice and gave me constructive criticism. Ryan is a Partner and Account Director at SPEC, inc. Sharon is a marketing professor and internship coordinator at UW-Whitewater. Amy works as an administrative assistant for Jefferson County Fair Park.
Events like these make me so excited to be a professional in the "real world" of public relations in just one more semester!
