By: Erin Caruso
Over the course of our college careers as LSU Manship students, we have been taught countless times the importance of ethics in the workforce. As public relations professionals, it is our duty to uphold the honor and integrity of the profession. The values that set the public relations industry standard had been engraved in our brain for years, and now it is finally time to put them to use. I am Erin Caruso, a senior majoring in mass communication, and alongside my group members, we form the public relations agency, MorphPR.
At MorphPR our mission is change. We seek to transform public perceptions through strategic planning and intentional messaging for nonprofit organizations. We strive to assist organizations in building positive relationships within the community and in achieving their overall goals. At MorphPR, we are determined to create a one-year public relations campaign for the nonprofit organization Connections for Life. In doing so, we will follow the PRSA professional values and competencies. Since it’s only the beginning of our campaign, we have not yet encountered all six professional values. However, a few that we have experienced are advocacy, expertise and independence.
We are responsible advocates and represent Connections for Life in all facades. Our goal is to inform the Baton Rouge community of the association between the thrift store and the Connections for Life program, doing so will require us to be strong advocates for the organization. We need to be the positive voice for Connections for Life, and following the PRSA professional values helps us to do so.
We finally get to put everything we learned over the course of three years in mass communication classes to use and show off our expertise. We have the advantage of learning while simultaneously working with the client, which I believe to be a great learning experience. We are able to put our knowledge to use and work in real life experiences, which will prepare us for the public relations profession.
A large part of working with a client in our campaigns class is independence. We are held accountable for our actions, which adds to our hands-on experience. Utilizing the PRSA values is real life experience that will only improve our work ethic and prepare us for the future. I cannot wait to utilize all the PRSA professional values and competencies during this campaign and in the future. I believe that this campaign we will provide us with much knowledge and experience for our future professions.
We encourage you to visit the Connections for Life thrift store located in Baton Rouge in efforts to support the program. You can visit the website for more information. Also, keep up with MorphPR and what we plan to do with Connections for Life by following my Twitter.
morphpr.wordpress.com 