Open lab experience pairs Communication students with real clients
With more than three decades of experience as a communicator, Tammy Roche, director of Strategic Communication for the Barber National Institute and part-time lecturer in communication at Behrend, knows how to get her message across.
In COMM 370: Public Relations, Roche has found a winning formula for teaching students about PR by giving them handson experiences working with real clients. Each year, using her extensive contact list, Roche finds four area businesses or organizations that identify a project or problem for students to address.
“I teach the class as if they were my interns,” Roche said. “I tell them, like an internship, they will get out of the class what they put into it. The final project, where they work with a client, reinforces that there is a practical application for the things we Associates have learned in the first part of the semester.”
Clients this past semester were The Erie Blues and Jazz Festival, the ExpERIEnce Children’s Museum, a start-up walking tour company named Tour Erie, and Vintage & Soul Home, a furniture, home décor, and gift store. The projects begin just after spring break each year when Roche forms the fictional "Roche & Public Relations" firm and assigns a group of students to each client. The clients attend product launch meetings at Behrend to give students a chance to learn about their client’s needs and ask questions.
From there, each student group tackles the PR challenge they’ve been assigned, ultimately compiling a comprehensive report that includes background research, a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis, and communication strategies and suggestions as well as a proposed budget.
The final aspect of each project is a pitch meeting in which the client returns to the classroom to learn what “Roche & Associates” has developed. Some clients offer feedback, and they all leave with an array of ideas to consider implementing.
“In 2023, one group did a campaign for U Pick 6’s Pier 6 restaurant, and I saw that the client did use a few of the students’ ideas in their marketing,” Roche said. “We always get great feedback from clients at the pitch meeting.” The students gain exactly what Roche hopes they will— knowledge and skill built through experience. “I ran into a former student who told me she did an internship last summer and she was able to apply a lot of what she learned in COMM 370 in her work there,” Roche said. “I love teaching this class. It’s a wonderful gift to be able to help shape a new generation of PR professionals.”
Are you a small business owner or event planner with a PR challenge for Behrend students to work on next spring? Email Roche at [email protected].