PR Institute 2010

April 19 - June 7

The PR Institute is entering its fourth year, so sign up now
before the program fills to capacity!

Up-and-coming public relations professionals - broaden your knowledge-base and sharpen your communications skills as a participant in the 2010 PR Institute.  This advanced training program prepares young professionals with the tools needed to excel in the industry, provide greater value to their organizations, and advance their careers. The program was developed specifically for pros with roughly 2-5 years experience working in agencies, corporations, and nonprofit organizations in the Greater Philadelphia region.

Participants will compete on mock agency teams to create and pitch an integrated communications proposal to a real-life client.  Past clients include PricewaterhouseCoopers, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and Toll Brothers.  As part of this six-week program, participants will attend weekly, two-hour educational sessions taught by leading industry practitioners on topics such as strategic planning, return on investment measurement, and presentation training.  At the end of the six weeks, teams will present their final plans to the client at a final judging session.

Not only will participants learn from leading practitioners in the region and gain hands-on planning experience, but each session also provides a unique networking opportunity with course professors and industry colleagues.

• “The PR Institute was a really amazing experience for me because it truly felt like a chance to run our own agency and compete for the business of a real client - an opportunity that I would not have otherwise had.  Throughout the experience, I learned a lot about PR planning, produced work that I was extremely proud of, and received really helpful direct feedback.  I also gained a lot of great industry contacts, a nice resume addition, and even a strong writing sample for my portfolio.” - LIndy Wagner, 2009 PR Institute participant; Corporate Communications Specialist, Keystone Mercy Health Plan; Two years of PR experience

• “As someone with no formal education in public relations, I walked away from my PR Institute experience with a better understanding of the PR field and the competencies required to be successful.  The program is both rewarding and challenging.  The well-structured course is designed to emulate the client-agency relationship and the ‘request for proposal’ process, which provides a holistic view of PR.” - Amanda Hershon, 2009 Institute participant’ Communications Specialist, Campbell Soup Company; Six years of PR experience

To register for the PRSA PR Institute 2010, please download the application here.

Deadline for registration is Friday, April 9, 2010.  If you have any questions or if you’d like additional information, please contact Marisa Olson at m.olson@usp.edu.