Teahan Award — Chapter Diversity
By Maura Fenske Each year, the Dr. F.H.
FORUM Copy Editor Teahan Chapter Awards
Program recognizes
the outstanding achievements of PRSSA
Chapters in 12 different categories. The
program, sponsored by Champions for
PRSSA, is the Society’s way of recognizing
Chapters all over the globe who go above
and beyond in their efforts to advance the
profession and the future professional.
At the PRSSA 2016 National Conference
in Indianapolis, Kent State University was
awarded the Chapter Diversity Teahan
Award. Latisha Ellison, Chapter president of
Kent State PRSSA from June 2015 to June
2016, accepted the award on Kent State
PRSSA’s behalf, along with fellow Kent State
PRSSA member Erin Zaranec, who was
Chapter president from June 2016 to June
2017.
Throughout the 2015-2016 academic year,
Kent State PRSSA focused on integrating
diversity into every aspect of their Chapter
and campus. The Chapter partnered with
other student organizations on campus,
hosting collaborative meetings that
discussed important issues tied to cultural
and ethnic diversity. Ellison and her Chapter
members hosted a meeting with the Kent
State University Black United Students (BUS)
organization to discuss social movements
such as Black Lives Matter that were given a
voice via social media.
Not only did Ellison and her members seek
to embrace racial diversity but they also
focused on embracing diversity of thought
and experience.
“We also made sure that when we had
panel meetings, they were as diverse as
possible,” said Ellison. “With diversity and
inclusion efforts, it is important that every
member of an audience feels as though
they can relate to the experiences of a
person on a panel. There can be barriers
to that such as different life experiences,
so trying to make those barriers as small as
possible is always best.”
“If you have been doing the same
newsletter process for five years, a Teahan
submission is a great way to make sure you
are properly evaluating and then seeing
what other Chapters are doing and helping
each other improve,” said Ellison. “It is also
a wonderful thing to be recognized for
something you have been working hard
on and that always will boost morale of the
people who have been working tirelessly on
a project for at least a year.”
media analytics are?
Have you ever wondered what social media
analytics are, how they’re run or if they are
even relevant to you? Yes? Great, because
it’s time to explore the real truth about social
media analytics.
What are social media analytics?
First, let’s discuss what social media analytics
really are. Measuring social media analytics
is the practice of gathering data from social
media websites and analyzing that data
using analytics to make business decisions.
Basically, social media analytics are a way of
determining how your social media content
and engagement are affecting your brand.
Analytics give you quantitative data that
can be used to connect the current business
goals of your brand to your presence on
social media.
How does it work?
Second, let’s discuss how social media
analytics work. The first step is to make known
the marketing/business goals of a brand. This
helps social media managers know what the
Once the engagement is analyzed, social
media managers can either continue their
approach or adjust it as necessary. Now,
social media analytics go a step further than
engagement. Analytics not only measure
likes, shares, retweets and comments but
they also track the post’s reach, impressions
and saves. Analytics use artificial intelligence
to report consumer opinions on products. This
is called sentiment analysis.
Together, engagement and social media
analytics are able to spit out information
about the best time to post, what type
of content gets the most attention and
which social media platform is best for your
business.
www.prssa.prsa.org/forum
PRSSA establishes
own website 1995
National Assembly
becomes a spring
event 1982
CEPR is established
1989
PRSSA National
creates Facebook,
First Leadership
Twitter and
Rally hosted in
YouTube accounts Scottsdale, Arizona
2009-2010
2007
PRSSA launches
new website 2017
The affiliate
program is
launched 2006
Member services
expand with the
restructuring of
distinct directos to
national vice
presidents 1996
National blog is
launched 2007
The first
international
Chapter is
established in
Argentina 2007
The Internship
Center is launched
2001
PRSSA celebrates
50th anniversary
2017
Photo courtesy
of Wikipedia
Information provided by prssa.prsa.org
How can you start utilizing it?
In order to fully take advantage of all that
social media analytics have to offer, you
need to know how to find them. Here are a
few social media analytics tools that can be
used:
● Zoho
● Hootsuite
● Audiense (designed specifically for Twitter)
● Quintly
● Google Analytics
Most of these services come with a monthly
fee; however, some social media sites grant
free social analytics. For example, Instagram
and Facebook have “Insights.” These insights
give in-depth information on how a specific
post is doing by tracking its reach and
impressions. Other social media sites such as
Pinterest and Twitter have free analytics as
well.
Remember, knowing even the basics of
social media analytics and reviewing your
own analytics makes you more marketable
as a future public relations professional.
Fall 2017
Regional Ambassador
program launched 2017
Firm of the Issue: Capstone Agency, University of Alabama
By Ashleigh Kathryn
Vice President of
Professional Development
The University of Alabama
approved Capstone Agency
as an organization in 2010 and
the firm has grown tremendously
since. In the last seven years,
Capstone Agency has striven to
empower young professionals
to channel their creativity
into meaningful work. Past
initiatives include developing
communication strategies for the
LessThanUThink campaign and
NASCAR’s Daytona 500 as well
as the U.S. Department of Energy
and General Motors’ EcoCAR 3
challenge.
Now the agency pushes itself to
give to those in need.
PRSSA National selected the
University of Alabama’s Capstone
Agency as one of the firms to
host the first CreateAthon along
with Car dinal Communications
of Ball State University. The
associates of Capstone Agency
gave back to their community
by donating their creativity and
public relations skills to deserving
nonprofits this past March.
CreateAthon is a “pro
bono marketing marathon
that harnesses skills-based
8
Governance is
transferred to the
students 1973
PRSSA National joins
Snapchat 2016
PRSSA 2016-2017 Kent State
Bateman Competition participants.
Courtesy of PRSSA Kent.
company wishes to learn from their social
media posts and it allows the business to
determine its key performance indicators
(KPIs). Because we are dealing with social
media, the KPIs are probably based on
engagement, which measures social
media likes, shares and comments. Through
engagement, it can be concluded whether
or not the original business goals are being
met.
FORUM
Champions for
PRSSA founded
1981
PRSSA Kent and the School of Journalism and Mass
Communication’s “Breaking Down Barriers: How
Diversity Is Represented in the Media.”
Courtesy of PRSSA Kent.
The Truth Behind Social Media Analytics
By Gabrielle Lemmon Have you ever
Bowie State University wondered what social
Founded
November
1967
First National
Conference
held 1976
First issue of FORUM
published 1969
Two more
international
Chapters are
chartered in
Colombia and Peru
2013–2014
While winning the Chapter Diversity award
thrilled Ellison and her fellow Kent State
PRSSA Chapter members, the recognition
itself wasn’t what was important to them
and wasn’t why they had chosen to place
an emphasis on diversity efforts.
“Diversity and inclusion efforts are important
things to factor into decision making in order
to get people from different backgrounds
involved and to see themselves as a part of
something,” said Ellison. “I believe diversity
of race, culture and thought is important
because it makes everyone involved more
aware and better communicators.”
Still, Ellison appreciates the value of Teahan
Awards for not only her Chapter at Kent
State but for other Chapters as well. In
addition to the national recognition they
bring, Ellison believes that the Teahan
Awards are a unique opportunity for PRSSA
Chapters to evaluate their individual
strengths and weaknesses.
PRSSA Through the Years
Fall 2017
superpowers for social good.” In
24 hours, students such as those
in Capstone Agency work with
clients to create communications
strategies and materials. information about how to apply
for a bid to host CreateAthon
for the 2017–2018 school year
also will be available at National
Conference.
Capstone Agency started their
inaugural CreateAthon March
3, at noon. By the next day they
had served seven clients and
produced more than $25,000
worth of pro bono strategic
communications work. The seven
teams of 40 students got to walk
away not only with professional
work for their portfolios but had
also given back to numerous
nonprofits. Congratulations to both firms
for hosting a successful event.
PRSSA is excited to see who takes
the wheel next on the road to
CreateAthon 2018.
Megan Perkins, incoming firm
director for Capstone Agency,
shared that Capstone would be
reapplying to participate in this
year’s event. Perkins also said
other firms could prepare for
hosting this event by focusing on
organization and team strength.
CreateAthon requires dedication
and planning throughout the
school year to produce an
effective event.
Participants from Capstone
Agency and Cardinal
Communications will
provide more insight into
the requirements of hosting
the event at the PRSSA 2017
National Conference. More
Capstone Agency during a 2017 CreateAthon meeting.
Courtesy of Capstone Agency.
Interested in starting a Student-run Firm, applying for
National Affiliation or hosting CreateAthon?
Send us an email today at [email protected].
www.prssa.prsa.org/forum
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