On the Road....Meeting With Others in PRSSA

On Saturday, October 18th Deena from PRestige joined fellow PRSSA Executive-Board members to participate in a regional PRSSA meeting in conjunction with the New York State Communication Association annual convention. Deena and her fellow E-board members drove up to the Hudson Valley Resort in Kerhonkson, NY to meet with PRSSA members from California University of Pennsylvania. It was an exhausting weekend, especially after working so many hours that week with all the debate-related activities at Hofstra, but Deena pushed through.
The meeting was exceptional. Everyone truly "hit it off" and the conversation went on for over two hours. Both PRSSA chapters enjoyed learning and discussing the trials and tribulations of being involved in a PRSSA chapter and having a newly established agency. Both chapters met for some post-meeting coffee in the town of New Paltz, to "wake-up" for the long drive back home.

It was great to learn, share ideas, and meet like-minded students that share the same passion for PR. It was a fantastic experience and the fall foliage was spectacular!

Debate '08

This room has been my home for three days : the prison-like, somewhat barren concession stand of the PFC. The piles of the New York Times and CNN on TV adds to the homeyness. The actual Media Filing Center is something to be impressed with; hundreds of rows of flat screen TVs and seats that will be filled by all important media for tonight's debate.



In the Media Filing Center I answer phone calls from journalists all over the world and people asking if they can buy tickets for tonight's debate. Occasionally there is the frantic phone call from a relations person screaming that they need to speak to so and so right away, CNN needs to do an interview. Occasionally we have had to take messages down for Obama and McCain that will never get to them. Yesterday I typed up the same fact sheet three times in order to print out fifty copies and then throw out to fix an error. I see Professor Geyer and Professor Frisina in action making phone calls and hurriedly typing out press releases. This morning I met Art Harris and tried to help him make it to the Student Center to take pictures of the "action" = Hofstra students. Technically, I got a business card from him, though it was just in order to call about where the van would pick him up.

There are two separate and confusing worlds on campus today. The lots near the PFC and the Arena is filled with people waiting around aimlessly, excited but anxious. Fellow students carry themselves differently due to the badge around their neck and the business attire they have donned. A new security measure was created today - only a certain amount of Media Center overlay passes were created for those to actually be in the Media Filing Center during the debate. Samuel Rubenfeld of The Chronicle was not happy.

I left from my shift on two and walked onto campus, leaving the high security area. I found mayhem, with the air of a political Woodstock. Demonstrations were in the parking lots, in the Student Center, outside, everywhere and from every walks of life.