WOW! What happened to the last five months?
Today, as I delivered media kits from the PR Writing class (Clear Sky Communications) to our semester client, LatiNola, I started thinking about what all’s happened this semester. Seems only yesterday we were explaining our spring syllabi. Suddenly, it’s May.
Looking back, I’d say we were so busy we didn’t have time to notice how fast time was flying. In January and February, we cheered the Saints through the end of a miraculous season to a Super Bowl victory. Then we danced in the streets during a celebratory parade, the likes of which this city has never seen. And we’ve SEEN some parades. Add in Mardi Gras and Spring Break and – don’t blink! – it’s graduation (or as someone put it, grad-DREW-ation). Where else are you going to hear “When the Saints go marching in” played during commencement?
We did manage to squeeze in some school work along the way. Just ask anyone who took a mass comm campaigns class this spring.
The Ad Team (aka Advanced Advertising Campaigns) made us proud at the District 7 AAF National Student Advertising Competition in Mobile, sharing their campaign for State Farm, “Driven to be there.”
And the 2010 Bateman Team (aka Advanced PR Campaigns), keeping up a tradition of excellence in the PRSSA competition, was named the number two team in the nation for their campaign, “Down for the Count,” for the U.S. Census. (Didn’t you love the video on facebook?) Dr. Rogers and the PR majors who made up the team – Jodi, Kate, Christine, Dom and Mari – deserve a huge round of applause for making us all look good.
My own PR campaigns class, PR504, created a rebranding campaign for the Episcopal Community Services of Louisiana, spending six months (they started at Thanksgiving, even though the class didn’t begin until January) crafting an effective campaign for this newly-reorganized local nonprofit.
The halls on the third floor are pretty quiet these days, but if you listen closely, you’ll hear echoes of campaigns past: laughter, intense discussion, sometimes disagreements and always creative strategizing. And while I’m glad to have some time off, I’m looking forward to having those halls filled again. Who knows what’ll happen once August gets here?
Ah, summer vacation. A time the fledgling student renews his reserves, relaxes and recuperates from the semester just past. A time to prepare for the rigors of the coming school year by spending hours lolling on a pristine beach with a Mexican drink in one hand and a remote control in the other.
Of course, you can probably guess that the only resemblance the above has to my summer vacation is the presence of a student. You’d be right.
Thus started the “daddies paying for college” controversy. I can’t remember if it was preceded or followed by the “evil minions of a shadowy force called ‘nationals’”; Greeks and freeloaders are so touchy! I do know that it informed students that gato frito is a Mexican delicacy that requires a very hot stove, so I feel I did some good in there.
Have a good summer!