There’s always something going on in the School of Mass Communication, but it seems that things have moved into hyperspeed lately. We’ve just survived midterms, with all those exams and papers, and now we’re moving rapidly into that part of the semester during which our time management skills are severely tested.

SMC ad students returned from the Addy Awards, sponsored by the Ad Club of New Orleans, with an armload of trophies. Erica Guastella won a Silver ADDY, and Virginia Peters-Rodbell won a Gold ADDY. And the Ad Team – aka Rebirth Advertising – took two awards, including Best in Show for the student division. Rebirth, as you might recall, created a campaign called “Let Life Be Your Runway” for JCPenney for last year’s American Advertising Federation National Student Advertising Competition. Rebirth is currently hard at work on a campaign for Nissan that they will unveil at the District 7 NSAC presentations in April in Nashville.

The staff of the Shawn M. Donnelley Center for Nonprofit Communications sponsored their first workshop in the series called the Nonprofits Toolkit. The workshop, entitled, “GRANTS: Hammering out the details,” showed representatives from area nonprofits how to fill out applications and grants forms for greater success. The next workshop, “PRESENTATION SOFTWARE: Nuts and bolts of presentations,” is scheduled for March 19.

The Bateman team has just wrapped up its month-long campaign called “Choose Dat.” After submitting their plans book, they’ll be waiting with bated breath to see if they are among the top three teams in the country that go on to make a live formal presentation in Minneapolis in May. (By the way, Loyola’s teams have the best record in the history of the Bateman competition.)

This semester’s combined PR/Ad Campaigns course (the first time the two sequences have merged for one strategic communications capstone) is working with the Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency. The two competing teams – Street Technique and Matador – have turned in their proposals and are now moving forward on their tactical executions.

Internships are a hot topic this time of year as students finalize their summer internship plans. I recently attended a gathering at Xavier where I met with representatives from Dreamworks Animation, NBC Universal and the Golf Channel about their summer opportunities. (Apply now, if you haven’t already. Interviews are going on at this time for most summer internships.)

The internship class recently talked about what not to wear on interviews and on the job, one of the most vigorous discussions we have all semester. Coming up are our mock interviews, with outside professionals coming in to “interview” students for internships and jobs, with critiques following. April 24 we’ll have our portfolio review, with all senior mass comm majors meeting with media and communication professionals to give tips on how to best package yourself for those upcoming interviews.

Teaming with the Press Club of New Orleans, the SMC sponsored the 36th annual Silver Scribe workshops and competition. With support from The Maroon, the SMC provided learning experiences for students from area high schools, newspaper critiques and contests. At the end of the day, Grace King High School was named the most outstanding school, and Mary Margaret Monistere of Mt. Carmel Academy won individual honors.

And we’re far from done. March 17 we’ll be part of the President’s Open House, showcasing the sequences and successes of the SMC and our various student opportunities and organizations. We’ll officially begin advising for summer and fall scheduling on March 19. A month later, we’ll recognize our most outstanding SMCers at the annual Spring Fiesta.

If you want more information about the School of Mass Communication or to find out what ELSE we have on the calendar, drop by our office (Communications/Music 332) or visit us online at http://css.loyno.edu/masscomm/.

I’m turning over this space today to the 2012 Bateman team from the Loyola School of Mass Communication.

Loyola’s School of Mass Communication’s 2012 Bateman team is raising awareness among elementary school students, teachers and parents of those students, and the New Orleans general public with an emphasis on Loyola’s campus of this year’s national childhood obesity campaign.

The first question people usually ask is, “What in the world is the Bateman team?” The Bateman Case Study Competition is Public Relations Student Society of America’s premier national case study competition for public relations students, and gives students an opportunity to apply their classroom education and internship experiences to create and implement a full public relations campaign. Usually somewhere between 80-100 schools compete in this competition, and Loyola’s Bateman team has won more than any other team.

A dilemma of this year’s team members, who are Maggie Moore, account executive, Alex Broussard, Wade Kimbro, Jack Lien and Nhi Tieu, was how could they get the Loyola community involved and interested in childhood obesity? The solution they came up with was to reach beyond the topic of childhood obesity by raising awareness about what it means to live a healthy lifestyle in New Orleans. This can be very difficult living in a city that loves to party and eat delicious but not-so-healthy southern cuisine.

When creating a campaign in New Orleans that will be judged on a national level, the culture of New Orleans should be present. It doesn’t matter what time of year it is in New Orleans but Mardi Gras and the Saints should be incorporated. The team has strategically chosen the slogan “Choose Dat Not Dis” and created a logo using fruits and vegetables to design a fleur de lis.

The team encouraged Loyola students, faculty and staff to taste test some healthy southern food created by GW Fins and fat-free and sugar-free cupcakes created by Sodexo. Students embraced their pledge to Choose Dat when they tasted how good shrimp etouffee can taste with brown rice and grilled fish on top.

During Mardi Gras the team will make sure that the crowds are going to “Move it, Move it” as they pump up the crowds and get them to dance to their own mix of Choose Dat songs. Loyola students have also submitted their own healthy recipes and Mardi Gras snacks and meals they pack to keep themselves on track during the week of partying. Since we think of Mardi Gras as finishing a marathon, not a sprint, the team wants to help Loyola students stay energized, fresh and healthy during Carnival season.

To find out more about the campaign or to learn how you could win a Rouse’s Market gift card, visit the team’s Facebook page, Choose Dat, or follow their Twitter handle, @ChooseDat.

Loyola’s teams have, over the past 12 years, finished in first place a record FIVE times, with five second place finishes. The team will submit their plans book in March, with finalists notified in April and the top three teams presenting in May.

If you spend any time on the third floor of the Communications/Music complex, you’ve probably noticed that things are a lot busier at the Shawn M. Donnelley Center for Nonprofit Communications this semester than during the fall. In fact, if you were around last Thursday, you noticed quite a few unfamiliar faces nibbling a chunk of Brie or pointing at a computer screen displaying “Evolution of a Logo.” And that’s after four months of seeing pretty much nobody in the Donnelley Center.

So what’s going on, you might wonder. And we’re glad you did!

The Donnelley Center has gone through a rebirth of sorts. In 1996 Loyola communications alumna Shawn Donnelley funded the establishment of a center where students could strengthen their professional skills by working with nonprofits in need of strategic materials. We all know that nonprofits operate on a shoestring. Small staffs don’t often include communication professionals, and their budgets doesn’t stretch to provide funds to hire them even as freelancers.

Over the past 15 years the Donnelley Center has developed a solid track record of partnerships with organizations as diverse as the Social Apostolate of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, the Greater New Orleans Youth Orchestra, Save Our Cemeteries and Boys Hope.

But the communications world is changing dramatically, and the Donnelley Center needed to reorganize to provide relevant, current and strategic services to the nonprofit community. So, while the doors were shut and the Center was officially “closed” last semester, the staff was diligently redefining its role and expanding its offerings.

Emily Andras, Hedda Asmussen, Caro Avila, Ophelia Battle, Dee Gallagher, Michelle Garcia, Elizabeth Kunzig, Danielle Latimer, Monica Tolosa and Madie Robison (currently studying abroad in Australia) have worked to define the “new” Donnelley Center as a place where “we help nonprofits achieve success through communication.”

Visitors at Thursday’s open house learned that the Center staff can still create unique logos, brochures and T-shirt designs. They can design newsletters and annual reports and websites. But they’re also providing educational opportunities for nonprofits to learn how to help themselves with easy-to-master, inexpensive software programs. They’re adding event planning, media relations and strategic planning to the menu of services. And of course social media is part of the package.

Letting the world know about the Donnelley Center’s expanded services is also a goal. This past Saturday, folks attending the midyear meeting of the National Conference of Bar Foundations learned about the Center when Michelle, Ophelia and Danielle presented “Marketing for Nonprofits: Making Lasting Impressions.”

And the Center’s series of workshops, “The Nonprofit’s Toolkit,” will bring even more awareness. On Feb. 27 the staff will talk about how to fill out applications and grant forms for greater success in “GRANTS: Hammering out the details.” The March 19 workshop will look at presentation software and skills during “PRESENTATION SOFTWARE: Nuts and bolts of presentations.” And April 16′s session will discuss putting social media to work for nonprofit organizations through “SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIES: Nailing down your Web image.”

The door is open once more, so stop in and find out how the Donnelley Center is ready for the next 15 years of service to the nonprofit community. You might like it so much you’ll stay. And we’ll put you to work so that you too can “help nonprofits achieve success through communication.”

If you want to keep up with the Donnelley Center’s ongoing educational programs, growing client base and expanding services, follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Or email donnelleycenter@loyno.edu for more details.

It hardly seems possible, but registration week is already here. Didn’t we just start the fall semester?

Advising students during the last few weeks has been challenging, as always, but it’s a great opportunity for me to talk one-on-one with students about their plans for the future, both next semester and beyond. For some, the spring semester will be their last at Loyola. These graduating seniors all remark on how quickly the four years have flown by. And while they’re ready to go out and DO what they’ve been learning how to do, they’re a little anxious about the prospects of facing that new world.

I have a tradition of sending towels to my favorite people as they move into new worlds (usually just after high school graduation). It grew out of my experience reading “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” The lesson? Never go anywhere in the universe without your towel, which has many uses. I think anyone heading out to a new universe should be given our best wishes – and a new towel – to start them on their way. Loyola has given these soon-to-be-graduates a metaphorical towel: the skills and knowledge to head into the future, prepared for whatever they might encounter.

One of the experiences that helps build those useful skills is an internship, and the SMC believes very strongly in the value of a professional, hands-on internship (several, in fact). We offer an internship class that includes in-depth examination of the tactical aspects of the search for the great internship, as well as the tools you need to get one (résumé, portfolio, interview prep, proper attire, professional behavior, corporate culture).

Beyond that, we sponsor our annual internship fair each November, creating a comfortable, (business) casual environment in which all-important connections can be made for future internships. NETWORKING NIGHT AT LOYOLA will be held Tuesday, Nov. 8, 6-8 p.m. in Studio A. This year’s Networking Night team – Deidre Gallagher, Danielle Latimer and Allison McElligott – has put together a great event, stretching their own professional skills as they work to bring students and professionals together. Professionals representing media and mass communication-related industries will be there to talk about what they can offer by way of internships. We encourage all students who are interested in media and mass comm to visit with us during Networking Night. (No RSVP – or towel – required!)

Is it me, or is the semester flying by at a dizzying speed? We’ve been back less than a month, and it’s hard to keep count of all the meetings, retreats, seminars, events, kickoffs, deadlines and assignments that have made their way onto our calendars!

Dr. Mark Poepsel, our new journalism sequence head, got a quick initiation to the SMC. The faculty started the fall with a curriculum retreat. The results are making their way through the proper channels, and we’re eagerly anticipating the final approval for new courses and sequence requirements.

We had more than 50 pizzas delivered for our annual SMC Kick Off on Sept. 8. With about 100 students, faculty and staff in attendance, it didn’t take long for the empty boxes to pile up. New students got to meet and greet the leaders of our professional associations. The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) and the American Advertising Federation (AAF, also called Ad Club) are being joined by two new groups: The RTDNA (Radio, Television, Digital News Association) and KAPS, the SMC student leadership council.

These organizations have already hit the ground running. If you follow the SMC on Facebook or Twitter, you’ve seen notices of upcoming meetings and programs. Membership is still open in all five groups, if you’re looking for a way to learn even more about the mass communication field.

And speaking of membership, applications for the Ad Team – part of the AAF National Student Advertising Competition, which this year is working on a campaign for Nissan – and the Bateman Team – PRSSA’s national case competition, working on childhood obesity – are due this week. Loyola has quite a reputation for outstanding performance in these competitions, and this academic year’s teams will certainly continue this tradition. Information on the teams is available from Dr. Yolanda Cal (ycal@loyno.edu) for Ad Team and Dr. Cathy Rogers (crogers@loyno.edu) for Bateman.

Dr. Leslie Parr, director of the Center for the Study of New Orleans, has a humdinger of a day planned for Friday, Sept. 30. NOLALoyola 2011: LIVE TO EAT will start with scholarly panels at 9:00 a.m. and continue through 4:15 p.m. in Monroe Library. Davis Rogan will provide musical entertainment during lunch, and the highlight of the day starts at 7:30 when a panel featuring some of New Orleans’ leading ladies will convene in Nunemaker Auditorium to talk about, what else, food!

We continue to get information on internships, which are available for credit (for those who qualify) and without credit. Information is available through the SMC Internship Newsletter, which is posted online. We encourage students to gain as much professional experience as possible to complement your classroom education. If you want more information on mass communication internships, visit our website.

Although it’s weeks away, you may want to mark Tuesday, Nov. 8 on your calendar; it’s the 2011 Networking Night at Loyola. We bring together potential internship supervisors and mass comm majors and minors to network and start the process of setting up interviews for spring and summer internships.

There’s always something happening in the SMC. If you’re considering a career in media or related fields, we invite you to attend our events, keep an eye on our plasma screen (3rd floor lobby) or visit our office (Communications/Music 332).

I spent WAY too much time on Facebook this summer, but I could justify it by calling it research. Many Facebook posts have links to other sites, and they’re a valuable source of information. I found great articles about public relations, mass communication, internships, social media and other topics we talk about on the third floor. And I discovered blogs that are charming, funny, informative and insightful. And full of good advice.

Lisa Earle McLeod is a business strategist and writer, and her blog is called How Smart People Can Get Better At Everything. One post was called “7 Ways to Have a Great Life.” Some of the seven are really relevant to incoming students.
• Get enough sleep. Pulling all-nighters might sound cool, until you do them. It’s better to get a good night’s sleep than to cram in information you won’t remember.
• Say yes with enthusiasm. Loyola is a great place to say “yes.” We have so many opportunities to get involved and to make a difference.
• Recognize your own power. Your future is NOW! You have the power to make your college years positively memorable (or positively rotten). Embrace the chance to be part of what makes Loyola unique and why you chose to come here.

Flack Me, the PR Professionals’ Blog, is a part of TalentZoo.com, which says it’s a “resource on the web for jobs and industry updates in advertising, new media, marketing, and technology.” Their stable of bloggers includes Desiree Simone, a former student of mine (full disclosure) who recently posted “A Successful PR Pro is a Jack-of-All-Trades.” She swears the content came from me, and I’m happy to take credit! Her tips are targeted to young PR professionals, but some can be applied to any new endeavor (like starting college).
• Shadow a professional. Many pros are happy to let you tag along for a day, ask questions and find out more about this profession you’ve chosen.
• Take a class. Sure, you’re taking CLASSES, but there are other, noncredit classes that will add to your skill set. Or try seminars/webinars that allow you to focus on a particular topic. Try a “Lunch and Learn,” a type of mini-seminar or lecture that lets you learn something new over your lunch break. (Loyola offers a huge variety of events and meetings during the lunch window. Get involved!)
• Become a volunteer. It’s a great learning experience, and you can live up to the Jesuit mission of being men and women for others.

The School of Mass Communication offers a plethora of opportunities to follow the advice of these bloggers. To stay informed, make sure you’re our friend on Facebook (Loyno School of Mass Communication), follow us on Twitter (loyno_masscomm), and check out our website. Welcome to the SMC!

Internships have been on my mind lately. I’ve been talking with dozens of businesses and organizations that will be looking for fall interns (yes, there are LOTS of fall internships available) and reminding them to send in their requests for our SMC internship newsletter (available at the SMC website).

I also discovered The Intern Queen, a great website that incorporates blogs from interns talking about their summer experiences. (The Intern Queen also offers ambassadorships; if you’re interested, visit their site. Or find them on Facebook.)

Through email and Facebook, I’ve kept in touch with SMC majors working throughout the country in a plethora of internships. I thought I’d ask some of our interns – past and present – to share their insights on the value of this type of professional experience. So, just in case you’re wondering why an internship is the right way to spend your summer (or fall or spring), even if you’re not getting paid for it, hear it from those who know:

Michelle Gingras, an intern at WWL-TV, was assigned the job of getting sound bytes on the reaction to the Casey Anthony trial verdict. After conducting interviews and editing the resulting information, her work appeared on the 5:00 news. She said, “It was very surreal to see the product I had produced on the actual news.”

Jennifer Barkley is busy executing what she’s learned in class. “I’m currently the PR intern for the New Orleans Film Society (NOFS). They don’t hire an outside PR firm, nor do they have any in-house PR people, so all of their PR needs fell into my lap.”

New agencies are great for internships. Courtney Shaw, a veteran of several internships, just took another one at a relatively new agency, Pointe and Clique iMarketing. She says she’ll be “working with different clients in the New Orleans area to develop social media strategies and editorial content.”

Sable LeFrere is working with another new company, InthekNOwla.com. She’s covering events and says, “My internship experience has been pretty good so far.”

Molly Cutler’s social media internship at MTV in NYC has convinced her that her career path will include TV. “My internship has been amazing so far. I’ve been learning a lot about the importance of social media in a huge company like MTV. I’ve been able to sit in on meetings with top-level marketing and production executives and see how much of the company relies on social media for promotion of new and current shows and also fan interaction. My experience has been really eye opening. I’ve learned so much about television marketing and public relations. My internship has shown me that this is truly my dream job.”

Closer to home, Kimberly Kolb Aguillard is currently the lead generator intern in the marketing department at ReadSoft. She finds her internship rewarding because “I feel that my work is truly helping ReadSoft grow here in the U.S. by creating leads for potential customers, researching for new marketing campaigns and promoting ReadSoft on various social media sites.”

Ashley Stevens, after internships on campus and with Bond Public Relations and Brand Management, said these opportunities gave her valuable experience in media relations. “It has helped me understand the relationship between PR professionals and the media and how to pitch professionally and effectively.”

Alexia Barrail’s internship at New Orleans-based Keating Magee broadened her skill set. There, she was able to work in design and event planning as well as PR. “I got to work with clients such as the Windsor Court and Tobacco Free Living, and I felt like part of the team in no time. It was a great opportunity for me where I got first-hand experience of what working for an agency would be like.”

Kate Gremillion says, “My internship at Deveney has continued to exceed my expectations every day. I am given the opportunity to work on multiple accounts, sit in on client meetings, elevate our company’s social media usage and participate in brainstorms. It is an amazing mix of guidance and independence that helps me grow as a PR student and contribute to Deveney Communication. My internship provides a very comfortable and supportive atmosphere, and I am thrilled to be a part of the team.”

Soraya Schwartz, currently interning with RAINN (Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network) in Washington, D.C., offers this advice. “Sometimes I get to the office earlier in the morning or stay a little longer in the afternoon if I am working on a project and it’s taking longer than I thought. It shows that you are committed and it’s something your supervisor will definitely notice and appreciate.”

Last year’s Touro Infirmary intern Angie Dyer agrees. “Always do more than expected. When you go the extra mile, it shows your initiative and that will stay with your supervisor. She’ll always remember you as the intern who always did more. And that’s just fabulous.”

Eduardo Gonzalez, who has interned in PR and journalism, most recently in media relations with the New Orleans VooDoo of the Arena Football League, adds, “Treat it like a full-time job. Always make yourself available for anything.” It certainly worked for Eduardo, who graduated in May. He’s just been hired at WWL.