The document describes the Walter E. Griscti chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) at the University of South Florida. It provides information on PRSSA's mission to enhance students' public relations knowledge and provide career opportunities. It also outlines the chapter's goals of connecting students to their future beyond graduation. Additionally, it discusses the chapter's strengths and weaknesses, target audiences, research findings, objectives to increase membership and brand awareness, and sample tactics used in a promotional campaign.

1. Walter E. Griscti Chapter
Connecting you to your future…
Paige Polatas , Sean Barows, Allison Hansen, Jordan Alves
Murewa Olubela, Kirsty Churchill and Julianna Kauffman

2. Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) is the pre-professional
public relations Society for students interested in public relations and
communications.
PRSSA is made up of more than 10,000 students and advisers organized in
over 300 Chapters in the United States and one in Argentina.

3. PRSSA helps you enhance your education, broaden your network and
launch your career in public relations.
The Society’s mission is to serve members by enhancing their knowledge
of public relations and providing access to professional development
opportunities; and to serve the public relations profession by helping to
develop highly qualified, well-prepared professionals.

4. The Walter E. Griscti Chapter of PRSSA (USF PRSSA) provides the
link between being a University of South Florida public relations
student and student’s role beyond graduation. The chapter welcome
all students and all majors.

5. SWOT
Strengths
•Only Public Relations group at USF
•Have several guest speaker events and agency tours
•Only form of professional networking for public relation majors
•Provide extensive and useful benefits for active members
•Great resume builder
Weaknesses
•Low number of active members
•Limited meeting times
•Lack of awareness of benefits among students
•Does not have a recognizable brand
•No uniform look in posters, handouts, and announcement fliers
•Weak relationship with PRSA and alumni
•Lack of mentor program to connect students with professionals

6. SWOT
Opportunities
•Utilize social media more frequently
•Hold more meetings on different days at a variety of times
•Create special events to draw attention to PRSSA and attract more
students to join the organization
•Create a stronger brand that students will recognize
•Advertise and hand out more fliers about upcoming meetings,
events, and even benefits of the organizations
Threats
•Other Mass Communication organizations (SPJ , Ad Club etc.)
•Other priorities of members that interfere with attending meetings
and events (classes, work, etc.)
•Other clubs, organizations, and activities at USF

7. Current Challenges
• Awareness • Branding
• Existence and • PRSSA logo
benefits • Social Media
• Attendance • Presence
• Current and new • New Members
• Participation • Lack of lower
• Actively helps in classmen
events

8. Target Audiences
Primary Audiences
PR Majors at USF
• Most important audience
• Will make up majority of active members
• Will be most interested in joining for these reasons
1. Networking
2. Gaining Experience
3. Increase Chances of Finding a Job
Current Members
• In order for USF PRSSA to become a better chapter it needs to get these
members more
• involved
• High percentage of current members don’t attend meetings or events
• They are unaware of benefits that can be gained through PRSSA

9. Target Audiences
Primary Audiences
Freshmen and Sophomores in Mass Communications Sequences
• Students don’t know about PRSSA until in the College of Mass
Communications
• Increasing membership among freshmen and sophomores will build a
stronger loyalty
• within the chapter
Key Message: Our team has put together three key messages about PRSSA
that we think will help encourage students to join:
• Networking, Networking, Networking!
• Real Life Experiences are Hard to Come By.
• Learn to be a Leader and Work with Others.

10. Target Audiences
Secondary Audiences
Former USF PRSSA Members
• Important for chapter to have a good relationship with alumni
• One of weaker areas within USF chapter
• Alumni can encourage current members to be more active by talking about
their
• experiences and how PRSSA helped them
Secondary Audiences
High School Seniors
• The earlier students know about PRSSA and what it has to offer the better
chance they
• will join when in college

11. Research
Primary Research Secondary Research
18 personal interviews with mass • researched using various sources
communications students. • more PRSSA chapters are forming at
Results universities
• lack of awareness of actual group • need to increase diversity in PRSSA
• lack of awareness of long term Results
benefits • 295 colleges have PRSSA chapters
• networking with over 10,0000 participants
• easier access to PRSA • developing high-quality, prepared
PR professionals-creates more
participants in Bateman
Competition
• creates student run firms: over 100
firms throughout country

12. OBJECTIVES
Objective 1: Give the PRSSA brand a more prominent presence on campus.
Specifically aiming for a 50% increase in Mass Communications students’
ability to identify the logo.
Rationale: By increasing the visibility of the logo around campus the overall
brand will grow stronger and more recognizable to students.
Strategy 1: Advertise on campus with logo
Tactic 1: Chalk sidewalks to advertise meetings, special events, etc.
Tactic 2: Put up more fliers that advertise special events, meetings, etc. in the
CIS Building and Library that incorporate PRSSA’s logo.
Tactic 3: Create a float that members of PRSSA ride in during the
Homecoming parade.
Tactic 4: Making announcements in intro Mass Communications classes.

13. OBJECTIVES
Strategy 2: Utilize Facebook and Twitter to full potential (currently very little
recent activity)
Tactic 1: Post information about events, meetings, updates,
acknowledgements, etc..
Tactic 2: Advertise the fact that PRSSA is on social media via the flyers
o Encourage Likes, follows and shares

14. OBJECTIVES
Objective 2: Push membership participation while increasing membership
enrollment by 35% by January 2013.
Rationale: Through our primary research, discovered that many students
were completely unaware that PRSSA even existed at USF and current
members needed more activities to be involved in.
Strategy 1: Reach out to current members of PRSSA through meetings and
special events.
Tactic 1: Scholarship workshops
Tactic 2: Resume building workshops
Tactic 3: PRSSA alumni interaction with current members

15. OBJECTIVES
Strategy 2: Reach out to non-members
Tactic 1: Focus promotions/announcements to students beginning the Mass
Comm major (haven’t started a specific track yet)
o i.e. Principles of Public Relations, Writing for Mass Media, and Mass
Communications and Society
Tactic 2: Incoming freshman/Transfer students: PRSSA presence at Week of
Welcome and Orientation events each semester

16. OBJECTIVES
Objective 3: Raise community awareness in surrounding area 25% by January
2013.
Rational: PRSSA can benefit from mutually beneficial relationships with
other organizations and high school students.
Strategy 1: Partner/relationship with MOSI
o MOSI provides resume experience (volunteering, leadership, etc..)
Tactic 1: PRSSA helps promote MOSI events that they don’t have the budget to
promote.
o MOSI After Dark: failed to reach a college age demographic = PRSSA
opportunity.
Tactic 2: Arrange for PRSSA to volunteer as a chapter for events requiring PR
relevant duties

17. OBJECTIVES
Strategy 2: Inform local high school seniors
Tactic 1: Distribute flyers at local high schools
Tactic 2: Speak to classes of students interested in Mass Comm/PR
o Inform them of the benefits that even current members forget

18. Sample Tactics
We chalked up two sidewalks in front of main
entrance to CIS and the sidewalk between Cooper
Hall and Subway.

21. Sample Tactics
Full Circle Internship Event took
place and all the attendees, but
two, admitted to seeing the chalk.
Successful implementation,
unsuccessful outcome.
Three of the nine attendants were
seniors. Six of the nine were
juniors (shows need to recruit
earlier).

22. Sample Tactics
• 1-3 events is the average attended by the surveyed group.
• Five of the nine indicated being members of PRSSA.
• Contributing factors to failing: Captain Natgas.

23. Sample Tactics
We apologize for the slant.

24. Conclusion
The campaign’s effects were measured through the administration of two
surveys.
The outcome of the campaign did not generate desirable results, due to the
conflicting date with another public relations’ event. Although the end
result was not an increase in attendants, more than 80% of the students
who attended the event indicated they had seen some form of promotion
that resulted from the team’s efforts.
Our PRSSA awareness group’s efforts were unsuccessful.

25. Q&A