"Be flexible" Becca says to future PR professionals
By Joshua Fried
Becca Salmon has always had a knack for organization. As young as high school Becca was planning events for her community and church, truly developing a passion for events. While at OU Becca worked for museums publicizing events, statewide political campaigns, the Oklahoma National Democratic Party and the American Cancer Society. She was also a student intern for the OU Mewbourne School of Petroleum and Geological Engineering; helping plan joint conferences and maintain their scholarship database.
Becca received a B.A. in Planned Program and Organizational Studies and Social Sciences with a concentration in Communication and Criminology from the University of Oklahoma in May 2006.
Becca is currently in her forth year as an Event Coordinator at the Center for Public Management in the OU College of Continuing Education. Becca’s job involves creating events and awareness for state agencies such as the Department of Human Services .
Becca is responsible for all aspects of the events she contracts; from the location and the food served to the color scheme for the logo. Initially she meets with the customer to hear what kind of event will be held and then creates a proposal including various locations and their costs, speakers and breakout sessions, handouts and publicity.
In order to create a mutually beneficial relationship for the client and their public, Becca will analyze both the advantages and drawbacks of a certain speaker or giveaway and present this to the client. During the planning stages of an event “all of the problems end up on my desk to be fixed” she says. “Cleaning up the mess” as Becca refers to it is a specific skill of hers. Issues that arise during an event look bad for her customer and the OU department that she works for, thus, she always strives to create a positive image for both of them. After an event Becca uses surveys to create a report for the client on what was and was not successful.
“I love my job,” Becca says with a smile as she continues planning an event that will host over 500 people in the upcoming month. When asked for advice for future PR professionals, Becca immediately stressed the importance of flexibility.
This is the logo from the last event Becca organized.
2 comments:
Good profile and interesting perspectives on event planning. Not everyone believes that special events are important to the PR practice.
I understand but I truly believe that people need something to get excited about. It is amazing what some free cookies can accomplish if used effectively.
Post a Comment