Does money matter when joining a professional

organization? According to The Levo League,

an online social network designed for young

professional women, the message is clear,

professional organizations provide a national

group of like-minded careerists, possible

mentors and other young professionals.

So what does that mean for the Public Relations

Student Society of America? With a network of

more than 10,000 students, PRSSA is more

than a club— it’s a professional student

organization. Eagle Pride sat down with Rachel

Peavy, PR Manager at the Atlanta Convention

& Visitors Bureau to hear her take on the

importance of becoming a member of PRSSA.

What is your background in public

relations?

I have been in public relations for nearly nine

years, with a mix of experience working at PR

agencies and in-house for the Atlanta

Convention & Visitors Bureau. I’ve focused the

majority of my career on travel and tourism

with emphasis on hotels, destinations,

associations and attractions. I attended the Roy

H. Park School of Communications at Ithaca

College in Ithaca, NY where I majored in

Public Relations and Advertising.

What benefits did you see while you were in

undergrad that students gained as members

of PRSSA?

PRSSA has such strong chapters in the south,

especially at the colleges in Georgia. I’ve been

so impressed by how involved students I meet

are in their school’s PRSSA chapters. It makes

me wish I had been more involved in Ithaca’s

PRSSA chapter when I was in school. I would

have loved to have that sense of community,

especially when I was starting to look for jobs

and make the jump into the “real world.”

When I was an associate member in PRSA and

first got

involved with

the Young

Professionals

SIG, I

definitely felt

that sense of

community. I

was meeting

like-minded

people who

understood

what I did at

work everyday (my parents still don’t

understand what I do for a living!). I was able

to share my experiences and bounce ideas off of

my peers.

How has the relationship of PRSA and

PRSSA shaped your personal career?

Being a member of PRSA has been a

tremendous asset to my career. Membership

has provided such a great networking and

professional development opportunity. Some of

the best ideas come from attending a monthly

Reasons to join PRSSA: A professional’s perspective

October 5, 2012 Volume 1, Issue 1 Announcements

Next meeting is

November 6 at

6:30 p.m., Location TBA

PRSA Real World will

be held Friday,

February 22

Sign up for a committee

for the 2013 Spring

Conference

Brainstorming Session

for the Chapter Blog on

Monday, Oct. 29.

Inside this issue:

President’s Letter 2

Shadow Day on the

Horizon 3

Stand Out from the

Crowd with LinkedIn 3

PRSSA National Confer-

ence- Bridging the Gap

Highlights

4

Bridging the Gap: Video

& Photo Highlights 5

Rachel Peavy, @PRRachel

continued on page 4

PPPRESIDENTRESIDENTRESIDENT’’’SSS LLLETTERETTERETTER

Hello Eagles-

What an amazing year it is to be a member of PRSSA! It is with such

great pleasure and honor to serve you as your 2012-2013 president of the Georgia

Southern University Chapter of PRSSA. This year we have 58

registered members. Such growth in our Chapter speaks on the dedication and

involvement of each of you, and the future generations to come.

The opportunities as a pre-professional are endless as a member of

PRSSA. Now that you have taken advantage of becoming a member, I encour-

age you to utilize the membership benefits that are guaranteed to transcend your

knowledge, and expose valuable learning engagements as a student.

PRSSA at Georgia Southern hopes to enlighten you with experiences that may not be found in

the classroom setting. Our goal is to strengthen our internal Chapter by providing leadership opportu-

nities, professional development, workshops and speakers, and serve the Statesboro and campus com-

munity as members of PRSSA. Overall, we hope to “advance the profession and the future profes-

sional.”

I am excited to embark on this journey with each and every one of you. As members of such

a prestigious Society we, as leaders, are given the choice to enhance our future. As the year contin-

ues, I hope that you embrace the possibilities to come.

Amongst other things, I hope that you have a successful year. Thank you for your time and

commitment to this Society. I look forward to another year of PRSSA!

With Eagle pride,

Taylor D. Terrell

Chapter President

By Nadine Benjamin

Looking back at the glitz and

glam from the reality show

“The City,” many did not

recognize the progression of

Whitney Port as a young

professional under the wing

of publicist Kelly Cutrone.

Fortunately, for PRSSA

members the ease of gaining a

mentor is readily available

through events such as the

PRSA Georgia Chapter’s

annual Shadow Day. This

year’s Shadow Day was held

Thursday, Oct. 18.

Shadow Day is an excellent

opportunity to gain insight

into the world of public

relations. In the late 90s the

first Shadow Day was held in

Boston, Mass. Following its

success, the National

Shadowing Coalition was

formed encouraging

participation in the program.

Since then, annual Shadow

Days are held throughout the

country. Through

involvement in Shadow Day,

participants gain an

awareness and understanding

of what will be expected in

the future career.

There are many benefits to

those who participate in

Shadow Day. Students gain

pre-training, as well as build

confidence in themselves.

Though shadowing can seem

overwhelming at times, it is

also encouraging. As each

professional is passionate

about their job, they will

relate and share that love with

the individual shadowing

them.

If you are a student just

beginning in the program or a

senior on the cusp of

graduation, Shadow Day is the

perfect opportunity to gain

experience and perhaps gain a

mentor. If you are interested in

participating in a future

Shadow Day, contact

Taylor Terrell at

tt01315@georgiasouthern.edu.

were “jobless or

underemployed.” The

competition in the job market

is fierce.

With free resources such as

LinkedIn, college students

and recent graduates should

take advantage of the site. In

doing so the number of

companies that see their

resume will increase, as well

as networking with

professionals.

Shadow Day provides experience

Stand out from the crowd with LinkedIn

school, major, minor work

experience and skills are just

a few of the categories to

share. Additional information

includes leadership positions

and membership in student

organizations.

As a public relations major it

is important to join LinkedIn

and share your experience

with the world. Don’t just go

to school and pass your

classes. Get involved on cam-

pus, join organizations and

take leadership roles in them.

These are the building blocks

to your future.

The Associated Press reported

earlier this year that nearly

1.5 million, or 53.6 percent,

of recent college graduates

By Melika Hill

According to LinkedIn’s

about us page, “professionals

are signing up to join

LinkedIn at a rate of

approximately two new

members per second.”

LinkedIn has been described

as the professional world’s

Facebook, connecting

members with more than 200

million company pages and

175 million other

connections. Members range

from college students, who

are breaking into professional

networking, and seasoned

professionals.

LinkedIn serves as a site for

students to showcase their

experience. Information

including classification in

“LinkedIn serves

as a site for

students to

showcase their

experience.”

Page 3

Alum Robert Roberts at MSL

Group for 2011 Shadow Day

luncheon, or the annual PRSA Travel & Tourism Conference. We

are really surrounded by some talented practitioners!

Describe one of your most memorable moments or an

experience that you’ve encountered with a PRSSA student?

What made this memorable?

In a previous position, we hired an intern who was president of her

PRSSA chapter. She was so sharp, tenacious and smart. She was

always on top of the news, an excellent writer and never afraid to

share her ideas. She was so impressive, that the company ended up

hiring her before she officially graduated. I attribute a lot of her

success to her passion for PR and her strong involvement in her

PRSSA chapter.

What advice would you give students who want to optimize

their relationship with PRSA?

Don’t be afraid to network and ask questions. PRSA events are

such a great place to meet fellow practitioners and develop those

lasting professional relationships (that could lead to future jobs!).

Describe a moment when you’ve seen a PRSSA student’s

involvement impact their professional career?

Over the past three years, we’ve hired five interns that we met

during PRSSA events and one coordinator (our entry-level

position). I think that in itself speaks volumes for getting involved

in your PRSSA chapter. You never know where that first (or next)

job will come from!

This year’s PRSSA National Conference,

Bridging the Gap cultivated creativity,

relationships, and a genuine love for the

field of public relations. Some left their

hearts in San Francisco, but not their

passion for public relations.

From sessions on breaking into sports

public relations to personal branding,

students from across the United States and

Argentina came together to find out more

about public relations. The adventures of

National Conference still hasn’t ended.

Visit Your chapter’s blog, PRSSA at

Southern for posts on your fellow members

experience at National Conference. Also,

on page 5 you will find a few videos and

photos on what you missed at National

Conference!

Reasons to Join PRSSA: A Professional’s Perspective

Yasmine Horton, Nadine Benjamin, Lindsey McCormick, Taylor

Terrell, Laura Jefferson, and Marissa Martin (from to right)

PRSSA National Conference: Bridging the Gap

Bridging the Gap: Photo Highlights

Bridging the Gap: Video Highlights

Biz Stone, founder of Twitter talks about the birth of #hashtags

Students letting their creativity roll with Jeffery Ory

Timothy Jordan, Senior Developer

Advocate, Google

Jeffery Ory’s Creativity Personal Branding by Matt Prince

Michael Steele, Political Analyst, MSNBC

Tim Westergren, Founder of Pandora

Contact the Executive

Board!

Chapter President –

Taylor Terrell

@_denisetaylor

Chapter Vice

President –

Sarah Russell

@sarahjruss

Chapter Secretary-

Morgan Love

@Morgan_Love11

Chapter Treasurer-

Kelly Winkler

@kellywinkler

Chapter PR Liaison -

Yasmine Horton

@YasmineHorton

Chapter Webmaster –

Marissa Martin

@marmarchica

Chapter Assistant

Webmaster-

Nadine Benjamin

@ntb3802

Georgia Southern

University

Georgia Southern University

The Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) at Georgia Southern University

is an organization for students interested in public relations and communications. Our

Chapter is located in the rural area of south Georgia. This small college town, Statesboro,

is known to many as Eagle Nation. PRSSA at Georgia Southern proudly represents their

Alma Mater and parent Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Chapter.

Our PRSSA chapter adheres to all academic standards, ethical principles and diversity

advocated by our parent PRSA Chapter.

You can join our PRSSA Chapter at Georgia Southern University today. Contact us at

PRSSAGaSouthern0@gmail.com or visit our Facebook and Twitter page.