3 Takeaways from Point Park University’s Speaker Series

By Morgan McCoy

Looking back at the fall 2017 semester, Point Park University’s PRSSA Chapter is thankful to all the speakers that took time out of their busy days to spend time with our members. From non-profit to agency, these distinguished professionals gave invaluable advice, encouragement and tips.

A huge thank you to Therese Joseph (Shift Collaborative), Felicia McKinney (Point Park University), Brenda Jaros (Goodwill), Emmiley Stern (Tailored Marketing) and Jessica DiVito (Special Olympics) for joining us last semester to share your knowledge with our members. Here are three big takeaways from our guests:

It’s how you hustle

Each of our speakers shared their paths to success and each had one thing in common: hustle. When all else fails, you must know how to get back to business and try, try again until the goal is met. If you want it, you work hard for it, and we saw firsthand how well that hustle worked for each of our speakers.

Passion, passion, passion

Passion was a big point that each of our speakers touched upon. Every great communication project has a team of passionate workers that tirelessly perfect their plans to deliver maximum impact. DiVito has a passion for connecting supporters with athletes by telling their stories through newsletters and more. Seeing speakers so passionate about their causes on every level showed our members how inspiring a career in communications can be.

Networking is real

While it’s not all about networking, all our speakers encouraged our members to get out there and start getting involved so you can meet communicators in their backyard. Being involved in the community by doing something as simple as volunteering to help with local PRSA events can connect you with industry professionals. A great network can lead to great opportunities. Be kind and be genuine.

We would also like to thank Top Hat for allowing our members to visit at the end of the semester. With similar advice to the above, our members have a great understanding of the industry.

Morgan McCoy is a student at Point Park University and firm director at Bison Media. Email Morgan here.