The Complexity of Public Relations

When my class was first assigned the daunting task of creating a campaign as a public relations team for a local organization, I believe I speak for us all when I say I could smell the fear. As a large and diverse university, it was intimidating to think of how a group project between prospective lawyers, bloggers, and food critics would cohesively build a project with a common goal. Despite this anxiety, presentation day came and my peers nailed it.

While watching them present their campaigns to the class, I found myself instantly tying the key terms, like design, circulation, audience, and assemblage, to the projects. Each of the presentations were designed so differently, because you obviously can't use sparkly backgrounds with attorneys, nor should you use pictures of puppies to increase a divorce attorney's clientele. Students showcased their abilities to create visually appealing texts, with evidence of circulation, the process of design, and explanation on how the overall assemblage could be considered successful.

Some of the campaigns were inspiring, like the campaign done for the non-profit animal shelter. Other campaigns were exciting because they encouraged people to vote. Many of the teams faced difficulties just as mine had! Time was the most common restraint in regards to circulation. Although we all had to have an idea of how successfully the texts circulated, many of the results will not be seen until after the projects are graded. In addition, some groups had communication difficulties with the organizations. For example, the team working with a women's voting group had difficulties because the women were in their 60's and didn't understand the implications of social media, emailing and constructive critique, and timely responsiveness. Despite these issues that each group encountered, the process was to evolve with the situation and exigence, and deliver an adequate and fitting campaign. The mentality in the Editing, Writing, and Media major consists of mindfulness to literature, but also an understanding that this major exists because English is evolving, so we must be able to as well. Watching my classmates present helped me understand that my team's campaign was successful despite it being so different from what any other team was doing. More importantly, the presentations solidified my understanding of the key terms and how they should be applied to every day texts, whether they are info-graphics containing voting information, or gifs designed to appeal to our emotions.