Quotes Corner: UCF Students Reflect on FPRA Conference Experience
L-R: Angelina Rahaman, Alejandra Sepulveda Colon, Isabella Keen, Kaitlyn Lee and Angela Ramirez
As part of the FPRA Orlando Area Chapter’s student outreach efforts, our chapter sent five University of Central Florida Ad/PR students on scholarship to experience the event and network with industry peers. Below are their individual reflections and recaps on some of the sessions they attended.
Recap: Convergence 360: Integrating the PESO Model & Beyond the Buzz: Unleashing the Power of Social Listening to Create Cultural Stickiness
By: Alejandra Sepulveda Colon
I had the time of my life attending the FPRA Annual Conference alongside my peers from Quotes, the UCF Ad/PR club! The day began with Ms. Heidi Otway’s incredible introduction to “Let’s Get It Started” by The Black Eyed Peas. The perfect way to wake us up and get us all excited for the day ahead. Afterward, we got to celebrate the members who recently earned their APR and CPRC certifications. The students were thrilled to see our beloved Profesor Lindsay Hudock up on that stage being recognized for her newly earned CPRC certification. We cheered as loud as we could! At that moment I was reminded of what an incredible honor it is to have such a respected and recognized professional as our mentor. I am eternally grateful to her! Thereafter, we learned everything about the PESO Model from the one and only, Gini Dietrich. It was definitely a very enlightening presentation. I was thankful to learn about such an important organizational method so early in my career. After a quick break, some of my peers and I attended the “Beyond the Buzz: Unleashing the Power of Social Listening to Create Cultural Stickiness'' Break Out Session led by Mark Rottensteiner. He shed light on the importance of taking Social Listening to the next level by diving deeper into analytics and discovering new narratives in the data.
Up next was the most exciting event of the day, the President’s Luncheon! I came in expecting a simple dinner and a few lovely speeches, but I left absolutely stunned (in a good way). The FPRA Orlando Chapter took home so many awards! Amongst them being the President’s Awards for Image Awards and Student Engagement. Jose Luis Dieppa, our Chapter President, asked us (the students) to come up with him to receive the Student Engagement award, and at that moment I felt incredibly proud to be an FPRA member. I got a taste of what comes with hard work, and I realized that nobody’s efforts go unseen at FPRA. The organization constantly pushes us to be better students, better professionals, and better leaders. I am eternally thankful for that. Then came the presentation of the beautiful Dillin Dessert by Publix. I felt like I was attending a royal event when all of the waiters came out in a synchronized fashion. It was absolutely stunning! Afterward, the Immediate Past FPRA State President, Jay Morgan-Schleuning, presented the Chapter President of the Year and the Chapter of the Year awards. And to no one's surprise, the Orlando Chapter took BOTH of these highly regarded awards home! I am incredibly honored to have met and worked alongside our Chapter President, Jose Luis Dieppa, and I can confidently say that he is the most vibrant, kind, and hard-working person I know. Seeing him reap the benefits of his hard work was incredibly gratifying.
I am forever grateful to Lindsay Hudock and Quotes for this incredible opportunity. I definitely recommend students attend this unforgettable conference at least once in their college career. You won’t regret it!
Recap: 10 Social Media Trends to Track Now & AI, Ethics and Reputation: An Existential Challenge for PR
By: Angela Ramirez
If you’ve found yourself or others using TikTok as a search engine, then you can attest to the emergence of social media platforms being used as search engines more than Google itself by emerging generations. Arik Hanson, the founder of Arik Hanson Social Media, gave an enlightening breakout session talking about the emerging trends in social media and how they are impacting society.
Major social media trends dominating this year are social search, SEO, mobile videos and influencers. One trend that definitely stuck out is it's no longer necessary to post ten times a day to be successful. Many social teams have experienced burnout, and this is why it’s being encouraged to focus on quality over quantity. Teams are focusing more on innovation and experimentation to truly see a difference in their platform’s engagement.
To further on the discussion of how technology is transforming society, Martin Waxman dove deep into the existential challenges that AI brings to public relations. He is a digital communication strategist who has explored the ins and outs of Artificial Intelligence and training others on how to do the same. During his general session, we discussed how Artificial Intelligence is revolutionizing the industry, and with proper regulation, it can help us boost productivity and communication. AI lacks the human storytelling element, and that is where we have to adopt a strategic approach on how to embrace it. A public relations professional’s main responsibility is maintaining their ethics, and we need to ensure human’s privacy is protected and that they have the final say.
Overall, the Florida Public Relations Association’s 84th Annual Conference was truly one to remember. I learned so many new things to apply to my education and current/future careers. I am truly grateful for the amazing opportunities that FPRA and Quotes Club offers to students for them to connect with such intelligent individuals and learn from their expertise.
Recap: The Art of Crisis Communication and Leadership & How Brand Campaigns Can Authentically Reach and Support Diverse Audiences
By: Isabella Keen
On the second day of the conference, the first general session was “The Art of Crisis Communication and Leadership” with speaker Melissa Agnes. The focus of this presentation was understanding, relating and connecting with your audience in times of crisis. Agnes focused on what she coined the Crisis Response Penalty which is the growing penalty an organization experiences the longer they take to respond. The CRP is preventable if a response is formulated that reaches the audience through their emotions. When responding to a crisis the communicator must validate the audience’s emotions to affirm what they are feeling is real. Relating means showing what matters to you, the audience, matters to us, the organization and proving that through actions. While communication is one of the most challenging aspects of a crisis it is always an opportunity.
The breakout session that I attended was “How Brand Campaigns Can Authentically Reach and Support Diverse Audiences” with speaker Jarryd Boyd. When creating a campaign, it is important to identify what is “diverse” about the audience that you are targeting and how to acknowledge them throughout the year. When focusing on a specific audience it is important that your work has a positive impact to not be seen as performative. This not only builds a positive relationship with the audience and the organization but helps to support them. This can be done by generating awareness through providing simple solutions, offering donations, creating a new service or connecting the audience with a resource to provide a meaningful impact. When building an authentic campaign for a diverse audience it is important to find and invite partners that make the campaign more credible, authentic and louder. This makes the campaign meaningful for the audience because it amplifies their story through niche outlets in their community. Once a campaign has been completed the organization must continue to support the audience throughout the year. This is done by continuing the conversation in meaningful ways which builds the relationship between a brand and the audience.
Recap: The Art of Storytelling
By: Angelina Rahaman, Quotes President
As professional communicators, the art of strategic storytelling should come as no surprise. We all wish to give our audience a story worth sharing. However, many of us fail to consider asking the questions necessary to deliver a powerful message.
During the second day of the 84th Florida Public Relations Association (FPRA) Annual Conference, I had the opportunity to attend General Session IV - The Art of Storytelling. The speaker's passion for storytelling captivated me from the start. Justin Sikora, Senior Vice President of Communications of Darden Restaurants, offered his insight on what makes a compelling story. He starts by encouraging the audience to be more purposeful with their marketing materials, such as imputing more visually appealing elements. The example demonstrated transformed an ordinary lengthy email into a more visual and concise experience for the reader.
Sikora also expressed the importance of building human connection through the stories we share. He even goes as far as providing a scientific explanation as to why storytelling connects us. Surprisingly, his explanation was relatively simple. Our brain releases cortisol, which helps us focus, and oxytocin, which regulates our emotions, such as empathy.
But that’s not even the best part! He shocked the audience with a mindblowing revelation. To help us effectively build our stories on the foundation of thoughtful questions, Sikora devised an unforgettable acronym:
Transparency
Universally
Personally
Aggressively
Clarity
Creativity
The internet theories are true! T.U.P.A.C.C is alive!
Overall, the presentations at the annual conference were extremely beneficial to my professional growth. The innovative insights and perspectives I gained from both presenters will remain invaluable as I continue to strive for excellence. As a graduating senior, I look forward to putting this newfound knowledge into practice both in my present and future endeavors.
Recap: Student Field Trip, Tour of United Launch Alliance, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
By: Kaitlyn Lee
On the last day of the conference, I and five other students had the opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes tour of the United Launch Alliance. Growing up, I always had a deep connection and extreme fascination with space so I was over the moon excited. When we arrived, we got to meet the amazing women behind the communications and social media team. They gave us a look at how they respond to different crises that they deal with. We were taught to always have a plan set for any sort of crisis that may arise. It doesn’t matter if it’s big or small, being prepared is always better than being unprepared. With this being such a large and well-known company, there are competitors. It was interesting to see the route that they take to differ from them. Throughout the rest of the day, we got a tour of the different facilities. We were able to see different secret projects being built for missions. It was an amazing experience that I wouldn’t trade for the world.
FPRA students at the United Launch Alliance, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, with Lindsay Hudock, APR, CPRC, UCF Faculty Advisor for the Ad/PR major.
