Spring Break
Univ. students win national PR competition
AARON BARTON For The Red & Black
Issue date: 6/14/07 Section: News
After a semester of work, five University students enjoyed their victory when they won the 2007 Public Relations Student Society of America's Bateman Case Study Competition.
The five-member team participated in a national Public Relations competition where they designed the winning campaign for this year's case study.
The team created a campaign for Family Caregiving 101…It's not all up to you!, a national public awareness program designed to encourage family caregivers to acknowledge their role and seek available assistance.
Team members Janna Gay, Molly McFerran, Nikki Kay, Kaitlyn Bagnato and Anna Harrison, who called themselves the "Bateman Girls," were chosen in the fall of last year by Karen Russell, the faculty adviser and associate professor in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.
"I tried to select students who cared about the issue and had already come up with some ideas for the campaign," Russell said. "I picked qualified people and they grew into their positions."
Family Caregiving 101…It's not all up to you! is a national Web site sponsored by Eisai, Inc., a New Jersey-based pharmaceutical company. Eisai, Inc. partnered with the National Family Caregiver Association and the National Alliance for Caregiving to sponsor this year's competition.
In order to localize their client to Athens, the students did in-depth research about the local caregiving climate and designed a Web site tailored to local caregivers' needs.
To raise awareness about caregiving, the students hosted the Share the Care Family Caregiving Fair at the Milledge Avenue Baptist Church on Saturday, Feb. 17.
"We had about 20 different service providers, including representatives from the Alzheimer's Association, Aging Resources and Care Medical and around 30 people came from the community," McFerran said.
"We were told by the service providers that for Athens it was an incredible turnout."
The team also hosted a panel discussion for family caregivers led by a gerontology counselor, a registered nurse and certified geriatric care manager and Betty Jones, a Grady College employee.
The team's Web site, designed by Nikki Kay, was also successful.
"We had over 1,000 hits on our Web site during our campaign and we referred over 250 people to the national Web site," said Kay, a 2007 University alumna.
The team did a survey to determine caregivers' Internet usage. It also implemented search engine optimization, which helped get its Web site on the first page of search results.
Upon completion of their campaign, the "Bateman Girls" traveled to New Jersey to present the campaign to the client. The team, along with two other finalist groups, was judged by representatives from Eisai, NFCA, the Alliance and the Public Relations Society of America.
After being chosen first out of 64 teams, the team members and Russell celebrated in New York City.
The team received an award of $2,500 and will be recognized at the society's annual awards dinner during the PRSSA 2007 National Conference, which will be held in October in Philadelphia.
The five-member team participated in a national Public Relations competition where they designed the winning campaign for this year's case study.
The team created a campaign for Family Caregiving 101…It's not all up to you!, a national public awareness program designed to encourage family caregivers to acknowledge their role and seek available assistance.
Team members Janna Gay, Molly McFerran, Nikki Kay, Kaitlyn Bagnato and Anna Harrison, who called themselves the "Bateman Girls," were chosen in the fall of last year by Karen Russell, the faculty adviser and associate professor in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.
"I tried to select students who cared about the issue and had already come up with some ideas for the campaign," Russell said. "I picked qualified people and they grew into their positions."
Family Caregiving 101…It's not all up to you! is a national Web site sponsored by Eisai, Inc., a New Jersey-based pharmaceutical company. Eisai, Inc. partnered with the National Family Caregiver Association and the National Alliance for Caregiving to sponsor this year's competition.
In order to localize their client to Athens, the students did in-depth research about the local caregiving climate and designed a Web site tailored to local caregivers' needs.
To raise awareness about caregiving, the students hosted the Share the Care Family Caregiving Fair at the Milledge Avenue Baptist Church on Saturday, Feb. 17.
"We had about 20 different service providers, including representatives from the Alzheimer's Association, Aging Resources and Care Medical and around 30 people came from the community," McFerran said.
"We were told by the service providers that for Athens it was an incredible turnout."
The team also hosted a panel discussion for family caregivers led by a gerontology counselor, a registered nurse and certified geriatric care manager and Betty Jones, a Grady College employee.
The team's Web site, designed by Nikki Kay, was also successful.
"We had over 1,000 hits on our Web site during our campaign and we referred over 250 people to the national Web site," said Kay, a 2007 University alumna.
The team did a survey to determine caregivers' Internet usage. It also implemented search engine optimization, which helped get its Web site on the first page of search results.
Upon completion of their campaign, the "Bateman Girls" traveled to New Jersey to present the campaign to the client. The team, along with two other finalist groups, was judged by representatives from Eisai, NFCA, the Alliance and the Public Relations Society of America.
After being chosen first out of 64 teams, the team members and Russell celebrated in New York City.
The team received an award of $2,500 and will be recognized at the society's annual awards dinner during the PRSSA 2007 National Conference, which will be held in October in Philadelphia.
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