I recently attended the OKC PRSA chapter’s Shadow Day in Oklahoma City. Shadow Day is a great concept, and I found the day to be very informative and fun.
I was assigned to shadow a PR professional named Tabbi VanHoutte, who works at Allegiance Credit Union. I will be honest, at first I was a bit disappointed to be going to a credit union, because one thing I have always known is I don’t want to work in the financial industry. My father was a bank president, and I hated working at his bank in the summers! Regardless, I tried to convince myself it would be a valuable experience, and I couldn’t have been more right!
I had a great time shadowing Tabbi, and learned so much from her. It was actually a bit overwhelming because she had so much great advice and experience to share with myself and the other girl who was shadowing. She has only been at the credit union for about a year, and it is her third job in the PR industry. Since she has worked in other areas, I felt that I got a well rounded look at what my future could hold. She described how she arrived at the job she has now, and all that she has learned along the way. She also described what her job entails, and I must say it looks like a lot of fun! She is the Electronic Marketing Specialist and is in charge of all of the credit union’s social media, occasionally designs materials they hand out, as well as many other things. She made the remark that she enjoys the job because it is something different everyday, which I was happy to hear because this is one of the main reasons I am in PR. I hate routine, and hope for a job that is constantly changing and challenging me.
After we spent the morning shadowing Tabbi, we went to the Bricktown Brewery for the monthly PRSA luncheon. There were quite a few OSU students there, which I was happy to see. It was a great time for networking, and I actually made a couple of contacts that I feel will be very helpful in the future. All of the professionals were very friendly and seemed happy to have us at their meeting. There was a panel discussion on ethics in PR, and it was very interesting and informative, since this is something we all know we will be dealing with in our professional lives.
Overall, I thought it was definitely worth my time. I learned a lot, and am even more excited now to graduate and get out into the “real world”. PR is a great field to be in, and the possibilities are endless when it comes to what you want to do. I highly suggest that every PRSSA member take advantage of the opportunity next year. You won’t regret it.
Great post, Celeste!