Community Outreach

I coordinated an activity for the basketball team to reach out to the younger community and be a part of a mentoring program with an organization called “Enactus.” The mentoring program is called Project Occupation where high school students from Columbus High School come to learn enrichment skills to prepare them for college. The team would conduct mock interviews to prepare the high school students for understanding concepts of appropriate dress codes, good confidence and effective ways to communicate. Also the basketball team would help set up times and schedules to make sure that the students were registered for SAT and ACT testing to send along with their applications. I also witnessed the team set up team building activities where the students would interview each other and display the strengths and weaknesses in their group performances. The Bearcats scheduled a community service activity at the River Park homeless shelter for the Christmas break to dedicate time to unfortunate families.

The Bearcats Fan Experience

Want to perform in front of a large crowd and gain exposure for your performance group? Well here is an opportunity to take advantage of our 6-minute pre-game warm up. This opportunity is designed for cheerleaders/dance groups, youth basketball teams, bands, etc. In order to participate in the activity, the minimum is 20 tickets sold before groups can take advantage of pre-game warm up.

 Another experience we created was the high-five tunnel that offers 20 youth ages 6-14 to create a tunnel for the Bearcats to run through as they take the court for the game. However this fan experience is only available for home games in which either the Boys & Girls Club or Big Brothers Big Sisters club is not scheduled to participate.

These are two of the new fan experiences that the Columbus Bearcats has created in order to give fans more of an opportunity to be an active fan rather than just someone who sits and observes. These experiences are directed towards children to give them a new outlook on basketball and players.

Contact us via email ABA@columbus-bearcats.com

The Bearcats Reading Initiative

As the team’s second year here in Columbus, I was part of a planning committee created new initiative and fan experiences for fans. The Bearcats Reading initiative is intended to target elementary students by encouraging them to read a set number of hours a week. Teachers and parents are an important part of the initiative by monitoring the number of hours read each month. At the end of each month teachers report the total number of hours read by their class which can include hours read outside of the school setting. Once the totals have been collected, at the beginning of the following month the class with the most hours in each grade level will be rewarded with a pizza party. While writing the blueprints of the initiative we encountered a few obstacles which such as getting it approved by the Superintendent of the Muscogee County School district and encouraging parents and teachers to participate in the program.

Giving Back: Ronald McDonald House

On November 6, 2013, the Columbus Bearcats volunteered to cook dinner for families of the Ronald McDonald House of Columbus, GA. The purpose of this event was to show families in the Chattahoochee River area that their local community is always willing to support them. We started preparing dinner around 4:30 p.m. We cooked baked chicken, rice, corn and rolls. During dinner we talked with the families and got to know them a little bit. While talking with them I discovered how humble and thankful they were for their meal today. The team and I appreciated the opportunity to getaway from practice and give back. 

Jennifer Therrien – LAST DAY!!!

My last day at the Chamber was bittersweet! I was sad but happy to leave because I knew I would be starting a new chapter of my life. My experience at the Chamber was one of the best experiences I have ever had and I feel like I am walking away with so much. I learned a lot about the PR world and a lot about myself. I can’t wait to see what the future holds.

Fall Festival

In a previous post, I discussed the upcoming community events planned for the rest of this year. On Halloween, we (Columbus Bearcats) aided  North Columbus Boys & Girls club in hosting a Fall Festival event. We provided candy and other treats for the kids of the along with providing candy we helped paint faces. The purpose of this event is to provide a safe place for children to trick or treat and enjoy Halloween. There were around 50 boys and girls that attended the festival. We set-up different activity stations, such as a photo booth, cookie creations, and a coloring station. In my opinion the event was a success, most of all I enjoyed seeing the smiles on the faces of the children and knowing they were in a safe environment.

Out of all the stations I enjoyed the cookie creations the most because at this station, I had the chance to see the creativity of the children.

Intern in a NPACE World!

This semester I got too finish my junior internship (did previous hours this summer) with the NPACE center here on campus. Let me say this: When I first changed my major to Communication I was thrilled. I was at the official opening of the NPACE center and I could not wait to work here!

When I first started to work here, I was intimidated. Everyone was already in their zone. They had a flow of things and here I was the newcomer. Those insecurities quickly left once I was introduced to Hayley Henderson. She welcomed me to the center and I never felt so much at home. My first task is to learn the ins and outs of the NPACE center.

I am actually thinking about pitching a radio show. That would be awesome and the NPACE center has an amazing radio station!

This semester is going to be wonderful!

Enjoying the News Stories

The last few weeks I have been able to film, edit, and work on my personal stand-ups and gain more experience in the studio.  One thing I love about this industry is that there is hardly ever a dull moment because there is always a news story to be told and something to do.  I was able to shoot some footage, and film some things inside the studio last week as I worked with Roslyn. She gave me many different tips on the broadcasting industry and answered many questions I had as well.  As the weeks pass by I am still looking forward to the finishing product of my news reporter reel!

David Douglas – Halloween Fall Festival

In a previous post, I discussed the upcoming community events planned for the rest of this year. On Halloween, I was able to attend the “Fall Festival” that was from 5 pm – 7 pm at the North Columbus Boys & Girls club on 1309 29^th Street. I participated in Spooktacular last year with another organization so I somewhat knew what to expect. There were around 50 boys and girls that attended the festival. We set-up different activity stations, such as, a photo booth, cookie creations, and a coloring station.

Out of all the stations I enjoyed the cookie creations the most because at this station, I had the chance to see the creativity of the children.

Jacob Leatherwood – Give the Kids a Shot

December 2

So this is my last post as a part of the internship program. I have to say, it’s been killing me trying to get these posts to work. It’s been a long time working on these projects with Aflac, and a lot of the things I worked on specifically as PR-ish type projects turned into real, fleshed out assignments from my manager and I will wind up working on them well after this internship is over. I have learned a lot about “technical PR” and “corporate PR” through some of my classes and especially seeing the impact of PR where the P stands for “Peveryone but us” Relations. Some of the work revolves around the public and Aflac’s customer base, but a huge portion of what I have done was just finding ways to make sure that my department was presentable and looked good to all the other departments at Aflac. Personally, I still feel like that is a completely valid form of Public Relations.

A while back, I started emailing the woman in charge of Aflac Children’s Cancer Center of Atlanta, and asked if I could help with any fundraisers or anything else. She mentioned that they typically “sponsor” one fundraiser each year, and that if I could pitch a good enough idea, that I could potentially get a sponsorship for my philanthropy and get a plaque on the wall at the Center. I pitched an idea to my brothers in Tau Kappa Epsilon for a pool tournament called Give the Kids a Shot. I am talking to Players’ Pool Hall on Airport Thruway and Veterans and trying to get them to let us use a few of the tables for it for free and let all of the proceeds go to the Cancer Center. I am currently developing a poster for it, and will hopefully be able to put it on in March or April of 2014! I am really excited about this and it just goes to show that even if you don’t get a career in PR, you can still use PR to better your career, your life, and the lives of those around you!