The PRogressor

Fall 2015

How to Gain Meaningful

Experience while still
being a student
Need advice aboout what to do with
your communications degree? Look
no further!

Learn all about a local

small business!

Contents
Letter from the
Erin Morgan, The PRogressor Editor, Sophomore
Letter from the
Alyssa Jones, Director, Senior
How to Gain Experience Without Being a Professional
By Sigrid Brus, Senior

PRogressing through the Ranks

By Trey Roosa, Senior

Crisis Communication: A Useful Tool in the Field

By Tabitha Fisher, Senior

Uptown Tots: A Childrens Boutique

By Miranda Stewart, Senior

Fall 2015
Dear Reader,
I am thrilled to be writing you as the editor of the PRogressor for the Fall of 2015! I am a sophomore Public Relations major, Marketing minor, and new member of UNIs student run Public Relations firm, PR Legacy. I dove right into this organization with little clue as to what it entailed and
am elated I did so.
We have been hard at work this semester fulfilling a variety of projects for our clients. Everything
done thus far by our team has been nothing short of exemplary experience which is thoughtfully
elaborated in an article written by one of our executive members, Sigrid Brus. Our list of clientele
ranged from our local Historical Society to a one of a kind childrens boutique downtown Cedar
Falls. We even had the opportunity to help out a fellow student organization here at UNI.
This semesters edition also includes helpful information for students in need of guidance for their
future with their degree in the field of communications.
I would like to thank the executive board for all of their help and direction this semester. Thank
you to our Director Alyssa Jones for leading confidently and successfully and to Sigrid Brus for all
of her technical support. Finally, I would like to congratulate the rest of the team for all of the hard
work put into our respective projects this semester. We have accomplished some outstanding professional work that will be beneficial to ourselves and the organizations we worked with for years
to come.
This edition of the PRogressor is nothing short of unique and enlightening and I hope you enjoy
what has been created. Heres to 2016 and many more rewarding semesters!

Sincerely,
Erin Morgan
The PRogressor Editor, Fall 2015

Dear Reader,

I am writing to you as the 2015-2016 Legacy PR Director. It brings me great pleasure to
see how hard our small but mighty student firm has worked this semester. We have some new
and some returning members. Last years Legacy PR rebranding got us off to a great start this
fall. We were able to meet potential clients prior to the beginning of the fall semester. This enabled us to have a couple clients interested right away.
Our first client was an on campus student organization called Recycle UNI. We created them a
logo that enabled us to learn how to work as a team and find each others strengths. After working
with this client we were able to spilt into smaller groups and add more clients.
We then added Cedar Falls Historical Society, Uptown Tots, and Cedar Valley Friends of the
Family. This client work included creating logos, press releases, recreating digital versions of previous material, posters, Facebook Advisements, and business cards. Each group was able to learn
new skills including writing press releases, using Photoshop, and Publisher. This learning was
done through using campus assets and group members teaching each other.
Next semesters goals include gaining new members, continued learning of programs, and expansion of professional skills. We aim to gain new members by promoting Legacy PR to all PRSSA
members and communication department students. We also plan to maintain relationships with
current clients to do more work for them in the spring semester.
Thank you to all the members and executive board. All of you have stepped up and taken new
challenges. I look forward to seeing what we can accomplish next semester.

-Alyssa Jones
Director

How to Gain Experience Without

Being a Professional

By: Sigrid Brus

A common frustration I hear from many students my age looking for a post-graduation career revolves around one line
on a job description:
4 + more years of experience
We discuss how we cant get experience if no organizations or companies are looking for no experience. As I have
gone through my own job search, I shared this frustration. That is, until I realized I DO have experience!
My experience comes in two parts: internships and Legacy PR.
In my internships, I have gained experience in fundraising, social media management and strategies, programming,
volunteer management, story board writing, PSA writing, and website development. I have also learned to work with
people who lack or have different organizational styles than myself. I have networked with professionals around the
Cedar Valley and can say I have been a part of great, local events!
In Legacy PR, I have contributed to a re-branding campaign by creating client contracts, organization business cards,
and informational postcards as well as designing a new logo. I have also created brochures and other marketing materials for local nonprofits. Once again, I have developed professional contacts in the community and worked with others
who have different creative and organizational styles than I do.
That doesnt sounds like no experience to me!
My internships have been great, but I want to focus on Legacy PR because it is an organization I CHOSE to be a part
of and wasnt required to in order to graduate. I joined Legacy PR in the fall of 2014 not knowing what I was getting
myself into. I only knew the President of the organization at the time and she told me that Legacy PR is the student-run
PR firm and that they were looking for more students to join. I decided to give it a try, and boy am I glad I didI only
wish I had joined sooner!
Legacy PR has given me the opportunity to practice what we learn in class (or learn new skills) by partnering with
local organizations who are looking for help with their public relations materials. I am learning in what I would consider a safe environment. We have plenty of resources at our fingertips including online
Lynda tutorials, the Digital Media Hub in Rod Library or the Production house in the
Innovative Teaching and Technology Center, a faculty advisor ready to help, and each
other to bounce ideas off of or help with certain parts of a project.
Legacy PR has also help me develop a professional realtionship with a professor who
has helped me not only in class and in Legacy PR but also professionally by critiquing my online portfolio and resume. He helped me in the job application process when
I had no idea what I was doing, and, maybe most importantly, he was there just to ask
how my day was going.
Join a professional student organization, build a network, and gain experience!

PRogressing through the Ranks

By: Trey Roosa

Every college student ever can tell you how annoying it is to constantly be bombarded with questions
about your major. What is your major? What do you do in that major? Can you find a job with that?
We have been bombarded with these questions since before we were actually even in college and finally after four years and 130 credits later I finally know what I am doing with my life after I graduate.
Eight months ago I joined the Iowa National Guard. I had always been into the idea of joining the
Armed Services and performing my American duty but had never taken the first step. Finally though I
had gathered the courage to enlist and a month later I was gone to Fort Leonard Wood for Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training. While there I met different types of people and met someone
who had worked in the Public Affairs branch of the Army. At that moment I knew what I wanted to do
for the rest of my life.
A 46A or a Public Affairs officer does the same sort business that a normal public relations personnel
does but you are working with Senior Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs). On the domestic side
you work side by side with journalist and reporters to help better the image of the United States Army.
Whether it be through press releases, creating promotional/ recruiting materials. The biggest thing that
domestic Public Affairs Officers do is advise those people who may not be as aware of the journalistic
spotlight as others.
The fun really begins on the foreign side of things in the position. In a war where we are constantly
practicing counterinsurgency and attempting to win the hearts and minds of the citizens over there a
Public Affairs officer is someone helps with the day to day interactions with foreign journalists. Dealing with other cultures can be a challenge and it is something that can be incredibly fun and challenging.
After college the plan will be to pursue an Active Guard Reserve job, which is a full time position with
a reserve branch in the Army. Hopefully get to see the world a little and enjoy what all the Army has to
offer me.

Crisis Communication: a Useful Tool in the Field

By: Tabitha Fisher
Crisis Communication is the management of a potential crisis that can hurt a company, industry, stakeholders etc. A company crisis has three different threats: public safety, financial loss and reputation loss. All of
these threats are interrelated, injuries or death of the public will cause financial loss and reputation loss while loss
of reputation will also contribute to financial loss. A crisis can happen at any time and a company must be prepared for whenever disaster strikes.

So companies must create a crisis management plan, which is where crisis communication comes in. A crisis
management plan has three steps to it: pre-crisis, crisis response, and post- crisis. The pre-crisis stage is focused
on prevention and preparation. This stage is an important part of any companys communication department. In
this step a company must think about the possible problems that could arise at any given time and think about
the ways they could prevent that problem from happening or getting worse. Creating an outline for a plan and
creating a team of people that will be in charge and specialize in the management. A crisis management team
should typically be made up of public relations, legal, operations, finance and human resources employees. The
crisis plan must include pre-drafted messages that can be used during the crisis. These messages are written in
template form so the team can access them quickly and modify them to the problem at hand. Having pre-drafted
messages not only saves time in getting the information out to the public, but it also helps to get the right information out.
Crisis response has two stages: the initial response and the reputation repair and behavioral intentions. In the initial response the team must be quick, accurate and consistent. Providing a response quickly will save the companys face. By providing a quick response, a company eliminates the opportunity of inaccurate information being
passed on to the media. Although a quick response may not have all the information the media is looking for, it
provides the company with the time to look into the crisis and to provide that information. With every release of
information involving a crisis, the information must be accurate and consistent. It is important to have one voice
speak for the company in order to keep consistency. There are a number of strategies that a company can use to
repair its reputation, for example: attack the accuser- the crisis management team confronts the person or group
that is stating there is something wrong, denial- there is no crisis, apology- the company takes full responsibility
for its actions and asks for forgiveness etc. After a company addresses the crisis and starts to repair its reputation
comes the post-crisis stage. This stage focuses on getting back to normal day to day activities. After the crisis
the management team looks at the crisis as a learning experience and changes the crisis management plan for
future use. The crisis is no longer on the front stage but is still part of the play.
Crisis communication is an ever growing field. Not only are the threats to
companies getting more complicated and changing, the ways companies
can communicate and control their problems are changing. There will be
no shortage of jobs in the future for crisis communication.
Crisis Management and Communications | Institute for Public Relations.
Institute for Public Relations. N.p., 30 Oct. 2007. Web. 17 Nov. 2015.

Uptown Tots: a Childrens Boutique

By: Miranda Stewart

Uptown Tots is a childrens boutique located on Main Street in downtown Cedar Falls.
This boutique features unique one of a kind childrens clothing ranging from newborn to school
aged. Uptown Tots has a variety of childrens products including, cloth diapers, organic toys,
baby carriers, bows, bibs, swaddlers, and baby gifts.
Ruth and her husband Terry own Uptown Tots and opened their boutique October of
2013. Ruth has over 25 years of retail experience and Terry has a background in marketing.
Together the two have opened a new, cute, and exciting place for customers to shop. They
have reached their demographic using several public relations techniques.This small business
is making a big name for itself throughout the Cedar Valley and their reach is expanding across
the country.
One of the main forms of connecting with their public is through social media. Uptown
Tots currently has a Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram; the main social media account being
Facebook. One page is directly for loyalty program members and has exclusive offers. The main
Uptown Tots page features new items, sales, Main Street events, store events, contest winners,
and general information about Uptown Tots. I personally have had the opportunity to work on
projects for Uptown Tots directly with Ruth and Terry. The Facebook page is organized and
posts are scheduled at various times on various days of the week to keep the audience
guessing. It makes Uptown Tots post more random and less predictable. Each message is
crafted to attract the audience and gear them to coming into the boutique or shopping the online
store.
Uptown Tots thanks much of its business and image to good customer service, high
quality products, and word of mouth. Uptown Tots offers a baby registry program as well. The
baby registry program brings more awareness to Uptown Tots. Currently Uptown Tots is
focusing on expanding their baby registry. They will do this through creating Facebook ads, a
commercial, and by informing customers verbally.
An upcoming event for Uptown Tots is Holiday Hoopla and Small Business Saturday.
Holiday Hoopla is held by Community Main Street every year and brings people from across the
state. Small Business Saturday is national small business shopping day. The use
of social media and the #shopsmall tag are public relations campaign strategies
related to supporting local business. On this Saturday Uptown will have deals
similar to Black Friday. Uptown Tots is a new and upcoming Childrens Boutique
that connects with its demographic using social media platforms, word of mouth,
excellent customer service, advertisements, and quality products. They currently
are expanding on their outreach by providing a baby registry program. Their online store is another focus in order to reach publics throughout the US. Events such
as Small Business Saturday and Holiday Hoopla provide an opportunity for their
business to gain acknowledgement and to build on their success.