Sacramento State’s chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America has been selected to host the group’s October 2012 national convention in San Francisco.

The conference, which will be held in San Francisco at the Westin Hotel, is expected to attract students from as many as 300 chapters of the society from across the country. The organizers of the event said they expect as many as 1,100 attendees.

Sac State’s chapter is now faced with the task of building the convention from the ground up. The group is responsible for not only speakers, but the type of minutiae the average attendee might take for granted.

Sac State public relations professor Tim Howard is the chapter’s adviser. He started it in 2006 and said it is a testament to the hard work of his students that the group is already hosting a national conference.

“We are definitely the Cinderella story here,” Howard said. “This is amazing that a chapter five years in its infancy has become what I would consider one of the most vibrant programs in the CSU system for public relations. And I think it is now being recognized nationally as a result of this wonderful honor and award to be the host university of a national conference.”

The group competed with a number of other West Coast chapters for the chance to organize this national conference, which they already knew would be held in San Francisco. It submitted a bid at this year’s convention, held last month in Orlando. The 40-page packet and corresponding presentation, focusing on ideas for workshops and speakers, earned the group the gig.

The presentation focused on the theme of “bridging the gap,” with a logo based on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. Howard said the group chose this theme because it represents the city where it is to be held, but also for the plentiful public relations metaphors a bridge provides – the gap between consumer and manufacturer, or between student and perspective employer.

Robert Pritchard, or “Pritch” as he is called by friends and colleagues, is the national faculty adviser for the society and a public relations professor at the University of Oklahoma. While not an official member of the panel that chose the host school, he said he was so impressed with Sac State’s presentation that he was able to “correct a couple misconceptions” in order to assure their victory.

Pritchard said he loved how they tied their theme back to the city, but he said what most impressed him was that Howard seemed confident in his students’ ability to make their case without him.

“It was obvious that (Howard) trusted them an awful lot because he was not at their presentation,” Pritchard said. “He had complete confidence in his folks.”

Although many hours of planning lie ahead, junior public relations major Jeff DePew, head of the planning committee, said this is a tremendous opportunity well worth the hard work. He said this convention draws many established professionals every year, so this is a chance for Sac State students to showcase their skills.

“If we nail this, it is going to make us look really good,” DePew said. “We are going to stand out. I hate to sound selfish, but it is true.”

As a professional in the field, Howard knows this is a great chance for his students to prove that they have flourished under his tutelage. He has seen graduates from Sac State go on to find careers at major companies like General Motors, so he knows what attracts employers.

“The students who do this will be zeroed in on by the professionals that are going to be there, and they are going to take note,” Howard said. “They are going to say ‘I want to meet that young lady and young gentleman from (Sac State) who just spent the last year designing and implementing this national conference. That is the kind of individual I want working for our company.'”

Chapter President Briana Washington said the biggest challenge in staging this event is getting the message out to other chapters. She said the organizers will utilize traditional means of communication like mail and email, but will rely heavily on social media like Facebook and Twitter to build up excitement.

Howard said the next stage is to iron out all the details of the proceedings. He said they already have General Motors lined up as a sponsor. The group’s goal is to make San Francisco “one of those memories (attendees) never forget.”

Above all, Howard is glad his students were given this opportunity instead of someone else.

“As I always tell my students, we want to be the windshield, not the bug,” Howard said.

Alex Grotewohl can be reached at [email protected] 

 

Public Relations Society of America conference, hosted by Sac State

• What: Conference for discovering practices and strategies to develop professional public relations abilities.
• Where: Westin Hotel, San Francisco.
• When: Oct. 13-16, 2012.