Spring 2015 | Vol. 47, Issue 3 | www.prssa.org/FORUM
#BetsyDay Celebration Gains National Participation
BY TAYLOR SHELNUTT University of Alabama
T
welve PRSSA Chapters
around the country celebrated
Betsy Plank Day on April 2
to honor the “Godmother of
PRSSA” and the namesake of the
Plank Center for Leadership in
Public Relations.
Betsy Plank was a trailblazer
in the industry. Known as the First
Lady of Public Relations, she
achieved many firsts for women,
won multiple honors and awards,
and held prestigious corporate and
agency positions. She championed
public relations education and
was passionate about students,
leading to her pivotal role in the
establishment of PRSSA.
The inaugural Betsy Plank
Day was held last year, but the
Plank Center had big plans for
making the second go-round have
more national involvement.
“We’re entering a time where
future generations will not have
the opportunity to meet Betsy
personally,” said Jessika White,
communications specialist for
the Plank Center. “By celebrating Betsy Plank Day, we hope
to share Betsy’s knowledge and
legacy by educating future generations about a great lady and a
great profession.”
The Plank Center asked
PRSSA Chapters to complete
a two-step process for an opportunity to win the #BetsyDay
grand prize. In step one, they
were required to tweet a selfie
of the Chapter watching a short
Betsy Plank documentary during
March. Step two called upon the
Chapters’ creative abilities. With
no requirements and a “sky’s the
limit” approach, the Chapters
had to create an innovative way
to promote #BetsyDay on their
campuses. They submitted entries
to the Plank Center and published
their ideas via Twitter.
The University of Georgia
PRSSA Chapter hosted a bake
sale in honor of Betsy Plank. The
Chapter attached tags to each
baked treat to feature pieces of
advice from Betsy. Alyssa
Stafford, Chapter president at
UGA, said they resembled fortune cookies.
“Betsy Plank was an incredible woman … As members
of PRSSA, we quite literally
wouldn’t be here without her. She
gave back so much to others,”
Stafford said.
The University of South
Dakota also had a unique idea.
Chapter members encouraged
others to take a picture with a
large Betsy portrait and tweet it
using #BeLikeBetsy. About 75
people took a picture with Betsy
by the day of the campaign
submission.
“Disposable cameras may
be outdated, but Betsy had it
right when she utilized them to
commemorate every meeting. It’s
a timeless tactic, and it was fun
bringing it back in Betsy’s honor
for the #BeLikeBetsy challenge
at USD,” said Arianne Wunder,
president of the USD Chapter.
Many Chapters used Betsy
Plank’s quotes to inspire others
by creating informative displays to educate students about
this public relations legend.
The University of Alabama
Chapter members used what
they learned about Betsy to
create a campaign combining
her passions. Jacquie
McMahon, UA’s Chapter
president, said members took
pictures with a Polaroid cutout
and created unique captions.
All of the pictures were incorporated into a #BetsyDay
video, with personal testimonies included. UA’s method
of celebrating Betsy’s legacy
combined her love of both —
students and photos.
Waynesburg University’s
PRSSA President Megan
Bayles won a 2014 Betsy Plank
PRSSA Scholarship, so getting
her Chapter involved hit home on
a different level.
“Celebrating #BetsyDay allowed me to learn more about the
life and loves of this influential
woman. It allowed me to better
understand the woman whose
legacy I work to carry on day by
day,” Bayles said.
The grand prize winner of the
competition, the PRSSA Chapter
at the University of Oklahoma,
decided to literally #PlankforPlank.
Members planked around campus,
tweeting photos as proof. As first
place winners, they will receive
quarterly Skype sessions with a
member of the Plank Center board,
a year-long subscription to PRWeek
and a six-month online subscription
for each member, a recommendation from the Plank Center, and the
title of Betsy Day 2015 Champions.
Olivia Taylor, webmaster of
the OU Chapter, said her members’ biggest takeaway from the
challenge was the realization that
anyone can make a difference.
“Whether or not you’re in a
‘powerful’ position, through hard
work and strong sense of self,
anyone can change the world for
the better,” Taylor said. “Everyone holds the power to make their
own mark on the world.”
Seven other Chapters joined
in the #BetsyDay challenge, including Bethany College, California Polytechnic State University
– San Luis Obispo, Drexel University, East Carolina University,
Susquehanna University, University of North Alabama and West
Virginia University. Betsy Plank
also was honored internationally,
as participants in Peru and Spain,
among other areas, participated in
the celebration on Twitter.
The Plank Center considers
this year to be a major steppingstone in carrying on Betsy’s
legacy. It hopes that #BetsyDay
will spread even more in the years
to come.
“There’s always ways to
improve with anything and
everything you do,” White said.
“One of our goals is to continue
increasing participation from
PRSSA Chapters, students, educators and professionals each year.
Betsy was, and is, the definition
of leadership in public relations,
and we are excited to start planning Betsy Day 2016.”
Betsy Plank’s 91st birthday
would have been April 3. After
wrapping up Betsy Day 2015,
one thing was clear — PRSSA
Chapters threw Betsy the party of
a lifetime.
Chapters came up with many creative ideas and methods for celebrating the late Godmother of PRSSA, Betsy Plank.
Photos courtesy of Twitter.
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A Legacy of Service:
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Term Concluding
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