Public Relations group scores multi-state event.
By Faith Lynn
Assistant Photo Editor
Students from up and down the West Coast are coming to Pepperdine Saturday and Sunday to take part in “The Real World,” a public relations conference sponsored by Pepperdine’s chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA).
Twenty students from Pepperdine’s chapter have been planning the conference since before Spring Break. The team has assembled many guest speakers, including executives from “Access Hollywood” and the Make-A-Wish Foundation, sophomore public relations major Adrienne Lyau said.
According to Lyau, the conference will feature several professional development sessions. These are designed to instruct the anticipated 150 participants in such areas as crisis communication, multicultural diversity, event planning and various other aspects of the public relations field.
“I think that it’s just a very good experience for public relations majors,” Lyau said.
Though the conference is also open to and free for any Pepperdine students who wish to attend, Lyau said she thinks it is good that the planning has brought the few public relations students together in an environment in which they can put their skills into practice.
“Everyone’s really excited,” she said. Organizers have been working with the Los Angeles chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and have received assistance from professors Dr. Louella Benson and Dr. Mike Bower, as well as PRSSA member Rhoda Weiss.
Lyau said she is excited to see people from as far away as Alaska coming for the conference. The PRSSA chapter has worked hard to make sure the visiting students get to thoroughly experience Malibu, she said.
April 03, 2003