The School of Communication, Media and Journalism (CMJ) hosted three public relations professionals for their fourth annual public relations panel discussion. This year's theme was entertainment, travel and tourism.
The panel featured Laurel Mundth, account supervisor at Coyne PR, Erica Campbell, senior account director at NJF PR and Korin Lamourt, senior account supervisor at Wagstaff Worldwide.The panel discussion was moderated by Kean's Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) adviser Jeremiah Sullivan.
Mundth works as an account supervisor for Coyne PR's travel team. Her clients have included the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism, Hudson Group, Motel6/G6 Hospitality and more. She has worked for Coyne PR for about seven years now.
Campbell is well-traveled, having lived in Baltimore, Bangkok, Jersey City
and Newcastle. Some of her clients have included MasterCard, Starwood and Uber. Campbell has been in the field of public relations for over 10 years.
Lamourt is a senior account supervisor at Wagstaff Worldwide. Lamourt boasts over 10 years in the field of public relations working to promote vacation destinations. Some of her clients included Travel Guard, Empire State Development and vacation spots such as Chile, Rhode Island and Telluride, Colorado.
The panel discussion focused on questions from members of PRSSA as they were introduced by Sullivan.
The discussion ranged from practical advice like how to give pitches to journalists to career advice like how to figure out what public relations niche fits one best.
After the panel, students in the audience were able to ask their questions.
Many students were concerned with how to become a successful public relations professional. One student asked for advice on things outside of academia to prepare them for a future career in the field.
"Be an active participant in this [college] experience. Do things that stretch you outside of your comfort zone, so join any clubs or volunteer at places that maybe don't always fall into what you typically do because the more well-rounded you are, the more interesting you become," responded Campbell. "The more exposure you have to diverse experiences, the better you are at your job-especially with PR."
With some of these questions, Sullivan added to the discussion by asking follow-up questions on behalf of the students. This particular subject led to a tangent from the panelists on general life advice.
"If you're in a really challenging class, stick with it," said Campbell. "When it gets really tough, don't avoid that type of challenge, just push through it."
Students soaked up everything the public relations professionals had to tell them, eager to jumpstart a successful career in public relations field.
"Keep your contacts here in school. Stay connected and pay attention to what your friends are doing and reach out to them... If you find you have another friend that has an internship in the city, meet up with them because I think keeping this network is going to be valuable," said Mundth.
Students looking to further prepare for a career in public relations can join Kean's PRSSA. For more information, check out PRSSA's Cougar Link webpage or email them at prssa@kean.edu.
