By CASSIE SLANA
Senior Writer
(WARRENSBURG, Mo., digitalBURG) — UCM’s student-led public relations firm hosted a social media night Thursday, Feb. 7, as the Mules and Jennies basketball teams faced Lincoln.
Cole Braun, account specialist for Innovative Public Relations, said the annual event is intended to support UCM athletics and raise awareness for the on-campus public relations opportunity.
Braun said IPR is a three credit-hour class for students wanting to go into the public relations field. He said hosting events like #teamUCM night gives IPR students an opportunity to organize, collaborate and execute an event in real time.
“It’s funny how people believe these events are easy to execute, however, this is far from the truth,” Braun said in a statement on the IPR website.
Braun said IPR students put in eight hours a week in the office and four hours a week out of the office to plan the event.
Braun said IPR students enticed local and corporate companies to sponsor the event by showing them the benefits of donating. He said the IPR team compiled analytics behind “#teamUCM,” including how the hashtag trended in previous years.
“Because of that, we were able to pull in a lot more sponsors than usual,” Braun said.
Blake Hedberg, IPR manager and graduate assistant, said he had been working on the event since September. He said it gives public relations students the opportunity to gain real-world experience.
“This takes you out of the classroom where there is a syllabus and you’re given freedom to use what you’ve learned,” Hedberg said.
Hedberg said, in its original creation, #teamUCM was meant to reach beyond the athletics community.
“It was really an attempt to unify the entire community behind one phrase that kind of exemplified learning to a greater degree,” Hedberg said. “I would not be surprised if in a couple of years you saw that hashtag replace ‘#ChooseRed.’”
After the game ended, UCM President Chuck Ambrose tweeted out congratulations to the IPR students on a successful social media night.
“Another great #teamUCM game demonstrating why our @UCMInnovativePR students are equipped and ready to lead the #DigitalRevolution!” Ambrose tweeted.
For more information about how to get involved with IPR, call 816-799-7867 or email [email protected].