National PR Day 2021 KSMC PR Club Organizes Annual Talk on “Public Relations as a Career in the 21st Century”
The KSMC PR Club is of the students, for the students and by the students which encourages maximum participation of the young and talented members and their inclusion in all activities.
On the occasion of the 44th National PR Day on 21st April 2021, PR Club of the KIIT School of Mass Communication (KSMC) organized its first Annual Talk programme under the theme “Public Relations as a Career in the 21st Century” on Zoom Platform. The talk was delivered by Dr. Krishnamurthy Sriramesh, Professor of Public Relations and Director of the Professional Master’s Program in Corporate Communication at the University of Colorado Boulder, USA.
In his talk, Prof Sriramesh explained why he chose the topic and how it is important for the students and their future. He spoke about how PR in reality is very different from various myths about PR that people have and how PR is not corporate communication but strategic communication and engagement with the audience.
He highlighted major aspects of PR and the need to constantly communicate with the audience and stakeholders to have a mutually beneficial relationship just like a symbiotic relation. He talked in detail about how much PR has changed in the 21st Century and is more developed. He further spoke about the explosion of communication in this era that has increased citizen participation, misuse and activism. Moreover, he also elaborated on the problems the world is facing like food shortage, security problems and importance of PR in such situations.
Prof. Sriramesh shared five very useful tips to prepare for PR as a career. These are: Broadening horizon by improving communication, especially cross culture communication; focusing on better emotional intelligence to be aware about oneself, others and the context of communication to become a successful communicator; looking beyond corporations and work for NGOs as it lets us work on our social responsibilities; acquiring knowledge by linking research abilities and conceptual abilities. According to Prof. Sriramesh, it can help a person to become a ‘communication doctor’. His last tip was to gain as much practical knowledge as possible because experience gives even more knowledge than classroom teaching. Participants interacted with the speaker on various aspects of the topic after the talk ended.
Earlier, the event began with a welcome note by Ms. Nidhi Nyari, President of KSMC PR Club and Moderator of the webinar. She discussed various events on Public Relations that has been previously organized by the KIIT School of Mass Communication. She then briefed about the concept, objective, future goals and areas of coverage offered under the KSMC PR Club. This was followed by an introduction of the guest speaker, Prof. Sriramesh. Ms. Nidhi Nyari proposed the vote of thanks. Dr. Bidu Bhusan Dash, Course Coordinator, KSMC also spoke on the occasion.
The event was a big success with active participation of faculty members, alumni and students of KSMC as well as by students, PR Practitioners, media educators and media persons from different universities such as Aryabhatta Knowledge University, Bangalore University, Central University of Odisha, Manipur University, MD University Rohtak, Mount Carmel College, Ravenshaw University, Rourkela Institute of Management Studies, Tezpur University, University of Madras, Visva Bharati and from a few organisations across the country and abroad.