IU Bateman team prepping for competition deadline
The IU team of public relations students participating in the Bateman Case Study Competition is implementing its campaign this month with an eye toward the deadline to submit their work in March.
That’s why team members were in the Ernie Pyle Hall lounge Monday night, staging a recruitment and awareness event for their client, Home Matters, a coalition of seeking to raise awareness about the issue of affordable housing in the U.S.
“We started working on this in late September, early October, and did a bunch of research for the first few months,” said account executive Maddy Weil, a member of the Beth Wood Chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America. “February is our implementation month, so now we are starting to do all of our events, such as tabling, and we want to eventually have a concert to raise awareness.”
The annual Bateman competition is one of national PRSSA’s top programs. This is the seventh year an IU team has participated, designing a public relations campaign for a client, then competing against other teams across the nation in the Bateman competition.
Any members of the IU affiliate PRSSA who have taken J321 Principles of Public Relations Writing are eligible to apply for the Bateman team. This year’s members are seniors Weil, Erin Johnson, Katie Denta, Eliza Williams and Dan Szwiec.
Clients vary from year to year, so not every team works with a coalition like Home Matters. Last year’s team worked with Fiserv Incorporated, which is a financial technology service provider.
Williams discussed the challenges of working for a real-life client. First is juggling the time commitment of classes, jobs and the team’s nearly nightly meetings.
“It is a lot of work, but it’s fun,” Williams said.
Monday night, the team was seeking “Homebassadors,” or community ambassadors, for Home Matters, which formed in 2013 to bring attention to the issue of affordable housing. It partners with more than 250 other organizations and government agencies to make the “New American Dream” a reality.
“Right now, we are trying to spread awareness, increase education on how to help out in the community and with affordable housing, and, eventually, raise donations,” Weil said.
At the callout meeting for ambassadors, the team pitched the idea of how being an ambassador can be a resume builder. Presenters outlined the responsibilities, such as participating in social media and telling people about the client.
“The best way to get people to talk is meeting with them face to face,” said team member Eliza Williams.
Team members host weekly “tabling events,” where a few members pass out information in public areas. The next one is 5-8 p.m. Feb. 18 at Teter Residence Center.
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