PRSSA sponsors Greek Media Training
Relying on your values, striving for transparency and promoting your brand through social media are just some of the ways fraternities and sororities can develop communications plans, a panel of experts told IU greek leaders March 9.
The Beth Wood Chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America hosted Greek Media Training at the IMU Solarium Room to educate greek members on how a public relations plan can help, especially when crises occur.
Panelists included Christine Zetzl, digital marketing manager for Visit Indiana; Mark Land, IU associate vice president for public affairs and government relations; and Myra Borshoff, founder of Borshoff advertising, branding and public relations agency in Indianapolis.
Zetzl stressed the importance of the social media presence of the chapter and each member. She said social media accounts should represent a personal brand, one that potential employees could look at.
“We look up every applicant we’re considering,” she said of the hiring procedure. “When future employers look at your feed, it should show your personal brand and be clean.”
Land dove right into crisis situations, pointing out that not every situation has a clear game plan of how to handle it. There are guiding principles that each chapter should be able to answer before moving on: What will you stand for? How will you be seen? What are your values? Once these questions are answered, it’s important to know it and own it, especially to the audience that is watching and waiting for a response, he said.
Before speaking out to the audience, make sure the members of the chapter know what is going on and what they should do, Land suggested. Then, when talking to press. be transparent, accurate and timely.
“Saying nothing isn’t an option, but what you say needs to reflect the values of your chapter,” Land said.
Borshoff, a veteran in the crisis communications area, discussed the chaos around the crisis and how to control it.
“In a crisis, you need to get your arms around it, make sure you know everything, and then get a plan,” she said.
A greek organization can have a lot of leaks, and it’s important to control those leaks by having one person deal with the press and another attend to chapter members, which includes explaining what the members can and can’t do and taking care of their emotions, she said.
The event concluded with a discussion between speakers and greek members on four different case studies that have happened or could occur within the greek community. For example, how would a chapter deal with a leaked video of a member making racial slurs?
“I think it was really important to show us all of the different case studies because it gave us a direct representation of how it could happen to us, and how those fraternities, although they probably never thought they were going to be in that situation, were in it,” said Jordan Guskey, public relations chair of Phi Kappa Tau fraternity. “So even if you don’t think it’ll never happen to you, you need to be prepared.”
Emma Tiernon, PRSSA director of membership, said group had been preparing for this event since November. She said the members hope the training will resonate with greek leaders.
“We hope that they’ll take back to their chapters some ideas to implement safeguards to prevent future crises or to have a plan in place if a crises were ever to occur” she said.
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