battery and smart power

solutions company, sent

trucks into some of the ar-

eas hit hardest in New York

City, such as a Battery Park.

The trucks were equipped

with cell phone chargers and

laptops with Internet access

so that people could connect

with loved ones. AT&T and

Verizon, two of the nation’s

major cell phone providers,

waived various fees regard-

ing cell phone bills. AT&T

had not only waived its late

payment fees, but also ex-

tended the late-payment

window. These decisions

show that companies are

aware of their customer’s

circumstances and are sen-

sitive to their needs.

In the aftermath of Hurri-

cane Sandy, it is clear that

some retailers attempted to

capitalize on the tragedy of

others, while other compa-

nies put profit aside to focus

on how best to help those in

When Hurricane Sandy

ravaged the East Coast ear-

lier this fall, many people

were left with nothing and

uncertain as how to move

forward. While the storm

was tearing down homes

and destroying beaches,

many retail brands took ac-

t i o n . T h es e a c t i o ns

prompted different re-

sponses from people across

the country.

For instance, a few cloth-

ing stores used the storm as

an opportunity to offer sales.

Gap sent out a tweet asking

their followers to join them

in their online shopping at

Gap.com. Meanwhile, Urban

Outfitters offered free ship-

ping on all orders. At check-

out, the code customers had

to enter at Urban Outfitters

was “ALL SOGGY,” which

was seen by many as inap-

propriate. American Apparel

went so far as to put an ad-

vertisement on their website

reading, “In case you’re

bored during the storm,”

after which they offered 20%

off to customers who reside

in the nine most affected

states on the East Coast.

Many Americans were

highly offended by these

sales incentives, accusing

the companies of being in-

sensitive and selfish for try-

ing to make a profit off of

the misfortunes of others. In

response to American Ap-

parel’s ads, one man

tweeted, “During the inevita-

ble mea culpa from

@americanapparel, they

should donate all proceeds

this year to disaster relief.

Then go out of biz.”

While clothing brands

were offering sales, other

retail brands were respond-

ing to the natural disaster in

another way. Duracell, a

Procter & Gamble-owned

Retail brands learn valuable lesson in crisis

communication in Hurricane Sandy aftermath

esPResso D E C E M B E R 1 3 , 2 0 1 2 V O L U M E 4 I S S U E 2

Your Shot of Industry Insight

By Cassie Yettru

inside this issue:

Page 2

Tim Massie sheds

light on reputation

management for

social media

Page 4

An interview with

PR Professor, Arien

Rozelle

Page 5

A list of Do’s and

Don’ts for student

tweeters.

Page 6

Donald Trump’s

Twitter turmoil

Page 7

A look into the Mar-

ist College Dance

Ensemble Capping

Project

PRSSA members rally together for hurricane victims

On Wednesday, Nov. 15, the Marist College PRSSA Chapter conducted a workshop that

educated members about crisis communication while raising approximately $100 for the

American Red Cross to aid victims devastated by Hurricane Sandy. Overall,

the workshop was a great success. The Marist Chapter executive board provided

members with a way to connect a current event to a crucial sector in the public relations

industry. This donation will go directly to the victims of Hurricane Sandy. Marist College

Chapter members are proud of their efforts to help victims in need and hope the money

donated improves the lives affected by the hurricane.

P A G E 2

Michael Bernardini

Chapter President

@mrBERNARDINI

Erica Conover

Vice President

(President-Elect)

@vivalaerica

Jackie Mucilli

VP of Chapter

Development

@YackieYacks

Meredith Lowe

Director of PR

@merekaylowe

Julie Moller

Firm Director

@juliemoller1

Deanna Morosoff

National Delegate

@Deanna_Morosoff

Chelsea Conroy

Treasurer

@ccon27

Abbey Scalia

Secretary

@abbeyscalia

Elizabeth Odachowski

Historian

@LizOda27

Jennie Donohue

Faculty Adviser

@jenniedonohue

On Wednesday, October 24,

Timmian Massie, former Chief

Public Affairs Officer at Marist

College and current Director of

Corporate Giving at Watson

Pharamceuticals, spoke to the

Marist PRSSA Chapter about

online reputation management.

Massie emphasized that

examining a person’s social

media life is as crucial a part of

the hiring process as checking

employment history, running a

criminal background check and

seeing credit reports. He

shared stories of Facebook

profile pictures ruining job op-

portunities and tweets that put

employees in potentially com-

promising positions. The two

words he recommended that

all people should consider

when posting online are propri-

ety and privacy. PR students

especially should know if some-

thing is proper, use the appro-

priate form of public discourse

and refrain from discussing

incredibly personal topics

such as your current state of

mind or “drunk tweets.” “Why

are you putting this out there

for the world to read?”

Massie asked about students

who do not follow these

rules.

Instead, young PR profes-

sionals should utilize social

media to build his or her

online brand. Dozens of

Massie’s former students

have gotten jobs through

social media, and Massie

taught members tips so they

could hopefully do the same.

These included using Twitter

to network, by conversing

with people who can become

important contacts and read-

ing and commenting on pub-

lic relations blogs to attract

employers’ attention.

Massie’s three steps to

promote your sk i l l s ,

strengths, and interests are

to define your objective, dis-

cover your current brand, and

define your message. These

can all be accomplished

through social media.

Whether it is establishing

credentials on business web-

sites like LinkedIn or commu-

nicating messages through

sharing links or retweeting,

your digital footprint can help

you take many professional

strides. But one stupid post in

social media can ruin your

reputation. “Your digital foot-

print lasts forever. FOREVER,”

he warned.

Tim Massie gave an in-

sightful, informative presenta-

tion regarding all aspects of

social media, good and bad,

and how they can potentially

make or break a reputation

and career. He continues to

be a great resource to the

Chapter and his professional

insight is invaluable.

Tim Massie sheds light on social media etiquette

By Caroline Ferrari

Marist College named top ten

best colleges on Pinterest

Earlier this semester, Marist

College was acknowledged by

ScholarshipExperts.com as

one of the top ten best col-

leges on Pinterest. The ac-

count includes pinboards on

academics, study abroad op-

portunities and student’s In-

stagram photos and helps

showcase the college’s brand.

ScholarshipExpert.com sums

up Marist’s Pinterest page

perfectly, “The page is well-

balanced, offering something

for everyone.”. As social me-

dia loving PR students, we are

thrilled for this recognition. Source: Marist College Pinterest

P A G E 3

It’s hard to

believe

that we’re

already

halfway

through the current aca-

demic year (with gradua-

tion looming on the hori-

zon). At the start of this

semester, it seemed we

had all of the time in the

world to devote to build-

ing and expanding our

Chapter. Now, it seems

there isn’t enough time in

the day to eat, sleep or

breathe, let alone man-

age eight e-board mem-

bers and 100 general

members. Yet, if this se-

mester has taught me

anything, it’s the joy of

delegation and collabora-

tion. Through the enthusi-

asm of our members and

the hard work of the e-

board (and their willing-

ness to respond to my

obnoxious emails), we’ve

been having a great year.

Although I’m usually

not one for New Year’s

resolutions, I might have

to make an exception for

2013. Moving forward, I

hope to continue our

Chapter’s successes and

discover even more ways

to enhance our members’

education and engage-

ment. While plans remain

in their infancy, it appears

that there’s a PRSSA-

related activity nearly

every week. We’ll begin

implementing our fund-

raising and community

service activities, as well

as hosting a slew of guest

speakers across several

disciplines of the industry.

Others may disagree, but

working harder is certainly

a resolution to look for-

ward to. Over the course

of winter break, we’ll be

collaborating on some

exciting updates that we

can’t wait to share upon

our return to campus in

January.

In the meantime, I

want to thank you for con-

tinuing to remain inter-

ested in everything our

Chapter has been up to. I

speak for the rest of the

executive board in extend-

ing our warmest wishes

for a safe journey back

home (wherever that may

be) and a great holiday

season. We’ll see you in

the new year!

Cheers,

Michael Bernardini

Chapter President

Class of 2013

A Letter from the Chapter President

By Elizabeth Odachowski

O n

Nov. 15,

P R S S A

held a

crisis man-

a g e m e n t

workshop.

This workshop offered a

great opportunity to learn

and better understand how

PR experts handle a crisis.

We used this workshop as

a forum to address the cur-

rent crisis the tri-state area

is facing due to Hurricane

Sandy.

Our members were in-

strumental in raising

awareness regarding how

the hurricane has affected

the region and we also

raised money to help those

left in crisis in its after-

math. We also used this

occasion to explore the role

social media plays in how

crises are reported as well

as its impact on the com-

munity. Overall, it was an

important learning experi-

ence, as well as a success-

ful opportunity to raise

money for a most worthy

cause.

At the close of the se-

mester, our mentor pro-

gram met once more for an

internship panel. Members

shared their internship ex-

periences in different

fields, including fashion,

sports, and entertainment,

among others. We also

held our networking holiday

party to conclude a great

semester.

Good luck to all our

members and esPResso

readers on their finals, and

Happy Holidays to all!

Photo Courtesy of Brian Apfel

P A G E 4 V O L U M E 4 I S S U E 2

As public relations stu-

dents, we have heard many

accounts about how to make

it in the competitive world of

agency and in-house PR, but

it is rare that we get to learn

about what it takes to go out

on your own. New visiting

professor Arien Rozelle dis-

cussed her experience as a

PR practitioner-turned-

entrepreneur.

Professor Rozelle gradu-

ated from SUNY Fredonia

having had valuable intern-

ship experiences at Seven-

teen Magazine and music

PR firm Big Hassle Media.

Upon graduation, she was

hired as the marketing coor-

dinator at an international

jewelry manufacturer, but

her true passion was in mu-

sic. So she started her own

music blog – interviewing

bands like Gym Class He-

roes and O.A.R. for feature

stories - as well as smaller

local acts. She used her PR

and marketing experience to

plan events in New York City

to promote the blog and to

immerse herself in the

scene, while working exten-

sively with publicists and

managers to arrange inter-

views with artists and coor-

dinate performances.

Just a few short years

later, Rozelle had compiled

an impressive list of con-

tacts and decided to use her

writing, marketing and PR

skills to start FeelingAnxious

PR and Marketing in 2007.

“I decided to make the leap

younger,” said Rozelle, “I

felt I had a lot less to lose.”

Since then, the company

has had an impressive ros-

ter of independent artists

from the New York City area

and beyond.

It was Rozelle’s gutsy

decision that landed her in

the new book, It’s Your Busi-

ness: 183 Essential Tips

that Will Transform Your

Small Business, written by

MSNBC host JJ Ramberg.

The book features tips from

small business owners and

their advice for others who

hope to do the same. Ro-

zelle’s advice, tip #160, is to

“turn your inexperience into

an asset.”

She explains, “I knew at

the time I didn’t have the

necessary business experi-

ence for invoices or graphic

and web design, but I knew

people who were trained in

those fields and looking for

ways to gain experience or

samples for their profes-

sional portfolios.” By recruit-

ing other recent college

grads that were looking for

additional experience in

their respective fields, Ro-

zelle realized how important

it is to know how to ask for

help. “In order to succeed, I

couldn’t let things I didn’t

know how to do stop me.”

When asked if there was

any other advice that is also

important for aspiring pro-

fessionals, Rozelle advises,

“Be authentic.”

Author JJ Ramberg takes a page from Marist PR professor By Julie Moller

Professor Arien Rozelle smiles with author, JJ Ramberg

at the It’s Your Business book launch.

Source: Arien Rozelle

Blog:

www.maristredfoxes

prssa.blogspot.com

Pinterest:

MaristPRSSA

Email:

prssa.marist@gmail.com

Twitter:

@MaristPRSSA

A compilation of Twitter dos and don’ts for PR students

Who knew 140 characters could

make or break you in the public rela-

tions industry? When used correctly,

Twitter can help get you noticed in a

world where everyone seems to be

applying for the jobs and career op-

portunities you want. When used in-

correctly, your tweets can get you

more than just unfollowed – they can

get you fired. Tweet your way to suc-

cess by checking out these #wins and

#fails.

#Win: Show your personality

Make 25 percent of your tweets about

you. By showing your personality on

Twitter, you create bonds with your

followers, which could eventually lead

to connections down the road. What

crosses the line into too personal?

Tweets about sex, arguments, politics

and religion (unless you want politics

or religion to be a part of your per-

sonal brand.)

#Fail: Oversharing

Follow this rule when it comes to

tweets: if you don’t want your man-

ager (or mother) to know about it,

don’t post it.

#Win: Demonstrate skills

Are you a budding movie critic? A fu-

ture fashion blogger? Use Twitter to

link to your personal page or blogs.

This allows followers to get to know

you and what you do a little bit better.

#Fail: Ranting

“Keep your tweets 80 percent posi-

tive,” says Jeff Lipschultz, cofounder

of recruiting firm A-List Solutions,

located in Texas. While everyone is

entitled to their bad days, employers

are not going to want to hire habitual

complainers.

#Win: Focus your interests

Don’t post tweets about everything re-

lated to your interests. Build up your

credibility by focusing on your passions

and what you feel you are most quali-

fied to write about and weigh in on.

#Fail: Random tweets

These tweets (about what you ate this

morning) can cost you valuable follow-

ers. Before posting, ask yourself, “do

my followers care about this?” Add

value to bland tweets through photos,

facts or by using humor.

#Win: Twitter is a dialogue

Work on starting conversations with

followers. When you need their help (for

possible promotions and retweets) they

will be much more inclined to lend a

hand knowing you don’t just aim to post

things about yourself.

Source: Self Magazine

P A G E 5 V O L U M E 4 I S S U E 2

By: Casey Galasso

@nycprgirls: Exploring public relations, fashion & entertainment, two 20-something PR girls

document their experiences in the city they call home.

@PRJobsNYC: Free resource site for those seeking PR jobs in New York City. Hundreds

of up-to-the-minute NYC PR job listings. Resume, cover letter and interview tips.

@Edelman_Careers: Interested in a position at Edelman, the world’s leading independent

PR firm? The recruitment team can help, sharing opps, guidance and answering questions.

@PRNews: The public relations professional's resource for ideas, strategies and tools

to maximize communications and social media efforts.

@devriespr: DeVries PR is an award-winning team of consumer PR experts based in NYC.

The agency tweets about industry news, people and trends.

@PRSSANational: The official Twitter account of this national organization can connect you to

past and present members from all over the country, as well as provide updates on

current PRSSA activities and offerings.

@socialPRgirl: This humorous account offers PR jokes and puns, and comments on many of the

everyday struggles we face as budding PR pros.

P A G E 6

Donald Trump’s hostility

towards President Obama is

nothing new. He has relent-

lessly questioned the presi-

dent’s citizenship, therefore,

his eligibility as president.

What’s new is Trump’s out-

right distain for Obama ex-

pressed through his election

night Twitter tirade. Trump

posted more than ten egotis-

tical, aggressive tweets chal-

lenging President Obama’s

re-election—labeling the

election results as “a total

sham and a travesty.” He did

not stop at simple self-

expression, but encouraged

the following of the public

calling for a “revolution in

this country” stating “the

world is laughing at us.”

Trump’s belligerent, rash

tweets caught on like wild

fire, a consequence of the

immediacy of social media.

His Twitter followers were

bombarded with his anti-

Obama rant, gaining the

negative attention of NBC’s

anchor Brain Williams, who

exposed Trump’s tweets on

Nightly News. Williams com-

mented on the Twitter ram-

page on-air stating Trump

had “driven well past the

last exit of relevance and

veered into something closer

to irresponsible”. In typical

Trump-like fashion he went

to Twitter to attack the

Nightly News anchor writing,

“Wouldn’t you love to have

my ratings?”

After coming to his

senses, or perhaps by the

urging of his public relations

team, Trump deleted some

of his election night tweets,

namely the one calling for a

revolution and inaccurately

concluding that Obama had

lost the popular vote. Delet-

ing the offensive tweets was

the first step in protecting

Trump’s reputation in this

crisis situation, but he and

his PR team did not go far

enough to publicly apologize.

Trump’s actions needed to

be addressed through a se-

ries of crisis communication

strategies. The day following

the election, Trump and his

Donald Trump’s tweets cause a stir on Election Night PR team should have recog-

nized the tweets as an error

in judgment, and designated

a crisis communication

spokesperson to apologize

for the offensive rant, as well

as answer the questions of

the public and media. An

immediate apology to Presi-

dent Obama, Brian Williams,

and the public would have

illustrated Trump as a sin-

cere man of character, aid-

ing to repair his public im-

age.

In addition, Trump should

have updated his Twitter

account to further express

his regrets to the public.

Through effective, instant

use of crisis communication

strategies, Trump could have

saved his public reputation.

Simply deleting a tweet does

not cut it. Trump can now

add to his list of credentials,

“conducted a hissy fit via

Twitter.”

By Amanda Fiore

@realDonaldTrump was

lampooned for his anti-Obama

remarks in the Twittersphere on

Election Night.

Upon hearing the term

“the big screen,” various

images of grandeur, red car-

pets and flashing lights be-

gin to formulate in one’s

mind. The big time. But en-

tertainment is also enjoyed

on “the small screen”, most

commonly known as televi-

sion.

Loveable sitcom charac-

ters, frivolous game shows,

reality TV and mini series

have captured the attention

and adoration of audiences

around the world. However,

as the world of PR continues

to develop, so does the de-

sire for connectivity to all

things showbiz. As of late, a

new type of screen is quickly

becoming a huge phenome-

non – though it is relatively

small in size. Ladies and

gentlemen, boys and girls,

the star of this year’s show

… The Smaller Small Screen!

What exactly is the

smaller small screen? Well

by that, industry profession-

als mean things like smart

phones, Facebook, Twitter

and YouTube. All of these

media outlets are now pro-

viding us with more connec-

tions than ever to the world

of entertainment. Social

media sources have com-

pletely altered the way the

“big screens” and “small

screens” broadcast their

contents and they are blow-

ing the doors of the enter-

tainment PR industry wide

open.

A 2011 Social Commerce

Study concluded that be-

cause of these smaller

“small screens”, the appe-

tite for entertainment is

stronger than ever. But of

course, this smaller “small

screen” is more than just for

the showing and viewing of

our favorite movies and tele-

vision shows. The PR market

is about circulating informa-

tion and representing clien-

tele.

This new docking for en-

tertainment is also to help

drive celebrity brand en-

dorsements so that the stars

we love can keep making

movies and TV shows that

we love. The new possibili-

ties that are now under our

belts are invigorating for PR

professionals and the future

of the smaller “small

screen” is “poised for further

growth.”

Overall, it is a very excit-

ing time in the entertain-

ment industry. Tom Tardio,

CEO of Rogers & Cowan

commented: “While the sto-

rytellers used to be the pro-

ducers and the people who

wrote scripts, now the story-

tellers have become you and

me.” It’s safe to say that we

won’t be pulling the curtain

on this screen anytime soon.

Entertainment adjusts for the “smaller small screen” By Amanda Hickey

P A G E 7 V O L U M E 4 I S S U E 2

Ask any senior about the

dreaded Capstone project

and you will most likely re-

ceive exasperated sighs,

shaking of heads and

maybe even a slight shud-

der. In all honesty, I was

absolutely dreading my

“Capping” class next se-

mester until I got the

chance to participate in

several of my friends’ pro-

jects. I realized that if you

have a passion for your

project and enjoy doing it,

it’s really not work at all.

Communication majors

Alyssa Pallotti and Gina

Sirico can certainly attest to

this fact.

For their capstone pro-

ject, they focused on their

passion for dance and the

Marist College Dance En-

semble (MCDE). They called

their project the MCDE Be-

hind the Curtain Campaign

and utilized everything they

learned about PR to pro-

duce a campaign that docu-

mented the ensemble’s

road to the fall semester

showcase.

Pallotti and Sirico used a

myriad of social media plat-

forms to share their con-

tent. Twitter and Facebook

were used to promote their

work, a Pinterest was cre-

ated to show the creative

aspect of the campaign and

WordPress was used to

document their writing

pieces. They found that

Facebook in particular

worked best for sharing

their campaign with others.

“Out of our 4,000 views on

our site,” Pallotti explains,

“2,157 views were linked

from Facebook. As soon as

we published our page, we

had over 100 likes.”

The partners had their

own personal strengths

when it came to their cam-

paign. Pallotti excelled in

the written aspects of the

project while Sirico contrib-

uted best visually. It was

certainly a team effort to

produce content three to

four times a week on their

social media platforms. “To

us, it wasn’t homework,”

explained Pallotti “it was

entertaining for us to see

all the behind the scenes

work and rewarding to pub-

lish our interpretation of it.”

The showcase was cer-

tainly a success with over

1,000 tickets sold for both

shows--a feat that has never

been accomplished during

the fall semester due to the

off campus venue of the

showcase. While the cam-

paign isn’t the sole reason

for the show’s success, it’s

evident that the girls’ savvy

communication skills defi-

nitely helped promote the

amazing show.

By Meredith Lowe

Senior Capping students utilize PR skills and social media

talent to showcase the Marist College Dance Ensemble

Dancers practice their routines for the showcase

during rehearsal week.

Source:MCDE Behind The Curtain WordPress

Start planning ideas for your project now; It’s the hardest part of getting started.

Take your skill set and apply it to something you’re passionate about.

Do something no one has done before or put a spin on a past idea to make it uniquely yours.

Think of what you’d like to see from the Marist community, and turn it into your project

to benefit not only others but yourself as well.

T I P S F O R F U T U R E C O M M C A P P I N G S E N I O R S

P A G E 8

As technology evolves,

all facets of human life are

affected. We see the ef-

fects of new media not

only take control of our

personal lives, but in the

political realm as well. This

held especially true for

both the Democratic and

Republican candidates

during this presidential

race. Barack Obama and

Mitt Romney’s campaign

staff needed to learn not

only how to use the new

media outlets effectively,

but to use them better

than their opponent. This

is not always an easy task

for them to do, especially

because many senior staff

members on these cam-

paigns are from an older

generation than those of

the social media era.

Nonetheless, new media

has held a presence in

recent campaigns, taking

a broad stand in the 2008

presidential race and con-

tinuing to be an important

part of the political spec-

trum today. New media

has given a voice to the

regular citizen and has

allowed anyone to become

a journalist on whatever

topic they desire. We have

seen major improvements

in media since the last

election. It is assumed

that new media is not only

here to stay, but will be-

come vital in future elec-

tions if not already crucial

in the current one. This is

not a trend that can be

ignored, but must be em-

braced and accepted to be

a successful candidate

and person in the profes-

sional atmosphere today.

In the current election,

Barack Obama’s use of

new media pulled him for-

ward in the polls, similarly

to in 2008, above oppo-

nent Mitt Romney. This is

p r o b a b l y b e c a u s e

Obama’s campaign team

had ventured down this

new media routine before

and had been successful.

Romney was new to this

kind of campaigning and it

was obvious, especially

when taking a look on

each of their YouTube

channels, with 61% views

over Romney’s 39%. Ac-

cording to the Unruly 2012

Election Tracker, Obama

Media takes on a new form in 2012 presidential election

By Erica Jordan

Obamas tweet “Four More

Years” received the most

retweets of all time.

Source: @BarackObama

T W I T T E R TA K E S O N T H E

P R E S I D E N T I A L E L E C T I O N

Tweets averaged 9, 965 tweets per second throughout election results

coverage

The total of election-related tweets reached 31 million

on November 6th, 2012

Barack Obama’s post-victory tweet, “Four more years” garnered over

510,000 retweets

Source: Mashable.com and Business2Community.com

had 57% of Facebook and

Twitter shares while Rom-

ney only had 43% . This can

reflect two things; more

Obama supporters are

online or of the younger

generation or Romney is

not posting as much con-

tent as his opponent. The

same went for the amount

of likes on their Facebook

pages and amount of re-

tweets on their Twitter ac-

counts; Obama was in the

lead.

It seems that Obama

had more success in his

online media due to the

fact that he interacted

more frequently with his

supporters on these sites.

Obama re-tweets twice as

much as Romney does, so

perhaps this is why he finds

more success and loyalty

online. It seems to be that

the more active a candi-

date is online, the more

success they find.