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Throughout the course of this semester, I’ve been paying particular attention to the differences between my students this year compared to those from last year. As I mentioned in my first post of this series, I am teaching a class I haven’t taught in three years. I’m used to teaching graduating seniors, accustomed to their demeanor and questions, their curiosity about life and what’s next. I often found myself swept up in all of their anticipation and anxiety about the “real world.”

And we are back! Welcome to all of the new readers and hello again to the familiar faces. For those of you who are new, and maybe stumbled upon this post while you were perusing our prSPEAK blog, let me take this opportunity to explain what this blog series is and what we explore. For the past 13 years, I have been teaching at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications. To me, it is something I look forward to every year. From meeting new students to dissecting the latest current event, I always end the semester with more knowledge than when I started, and a greater appreciation for the younger generation.

Looking back at the past 15 weeks, I’ve worn many different hats and have learned as much from my students as I’ve hoped they learned from me. In January when class kicks off, 15 weeks seems endless but then those weeks seem to fly by faster than a blink of an eye. Every year when class finally wraps, a part of me always wishes that we had more time. There is so much I want to teach, share, advise and prepare my students for; and I know deep down there is only so much we can cover in 15 weeks. Before I sign-off for the last time, here are three final takeaways for my students, along with all “students” in management today:

Trust Takes a Long Time to Build, But A Short Time to Lose

No matter what sort of relationship you are in, a teacher--student relationship, VP--Associate relationship or an Account Supervisor--client-contact one, in order for it to be successful there needs to be trust. Trust is a funny thing because building that trust can take some time. When a PR agency starts working with a new client, the team members put a significant amount of effort into proving to their new client how capable they truly are. They look to deliver results right out of the gate (leveraging their relationships); researching and devouring the industry (to become experts overnight), etc., all in an effort to set-the-stage for success and trust with that client.  For my students, they’ve spent almost the entire semester building trust with me and working toward this final project which was the perfect opportunity for them to deliver. However, as the saying goes, trust can be lost much faster than it can be gained. One wrong step or one small mishap can set you back months of hard work. Which brings me into my second tip…

This past week marked our final lecture class of the semester. Tomorrow will be my last class with my students where they will present their final project. As I mentioned in my first post of this series, we switched things up a bit this year, changing the curriculum, assignments throughout the semester, and revamped the final project completely.

In previous years, the final project has functioned like a traditional essay assignment based off a hypothetical client scenario, which does not reflect the type of work my students would be doing at a PR agency or at an in-house PR position. So tomorrow, my students will present a series in-class of analyses and recommendations, based off a real client. They are inheriting a PR position and need to design an integrated communications strategy, with free reign to suggest a variety of communications tactics (social posts, infographics, sponsored content, traditional media, etc.),

Image by Luke Jones https://www.flickr.com/photos/befuddledsenses/ used under CC license.

It’s a great time to be in Boston. Spring is finally here, it’s Patriots Day, the Red Sox are hosting the Orioles at Fenway and runners from all 50 states and around the world have descended upon Boston to participant in the Boston Marathon. I love this time of year when spring finally creeps its way back into Boston and I’m reminded of why I choose Boston to be PAN’s home.

It is around this time that my students, who are nervously and anxiously counting down the days to graduation, always seem to start asking me the question “Why Boston?” As they are trying to determine their next move, they often look to me for guidance around what city they should call home after Syracuse or what PR agency is best for them. As we are celebrating PAN’s 20^th anniversary this year, when my students started asking why I elected to set-up PAN’s headquarters in Boston as opposed to another city, the memories and visions are clearer than a blue sky on a Boston spring day.

Image by Chris Wood used under common wikimedia license. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Boston_Long_Wharf.JPG