Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hello and welcome to Storyteller in Depth, a podcast where we go behind the scenes to learn more about the School of Communications Media Arts and designs, people, places and things. I'm your host, Pat Quigley. We have transformed today's episode into an exciting, informative, advice filled, virtual roundtable discussion of Centennial's Bachelor of Public Relations Management Honors Program. Whether you are considering enrolling or are a current student or recent grad ready to take on the public relations industry, this is the episode for you. Not only will you hear the unique benefits of this program, but we also get into the details about the industry, what new grads can look out for, the importance of building a personal brand, advice for prospective and current students, and so much more. Heck, we even get into AI with so many topics covered. It's a discussion that you surely do not want to miss. Each guest will introduce themselves in just a bit, but you'll hear from the program coordinator and professor, Dr. Chitra Anand, two members of the program's program advisory committee, Marjorie McKenzie and Philip Kushmaro, who helped keep the program's curriculum aligned with the industry needs and ensure the program's relevancy. A graduate of the program, Jenna Inlet Hing, and a current student, Connie Sicharoon, ready to dive into the world of pr. Let's do it.
[00:01:21] Speaker B: Thank you so much everybody for being on the podcast today. And before we kind of begin into the whole thing, we're going to just go around the table, the virtual table if you will, and have everybody introduce themselves, talk a little bit about themselves. So starting with you, Marjorie, if you'd like to begin.
[00:01:39] Speaker C: Sure.
[00:01:39] Speaker D: Marjorie McKenzie I have been in advertising and marketing world for over 20 years.
I am a brand and design strategist with a bent towards commerce and retail.
[00:01:53] Speaker B: Awesome. Philip, you next.
[00:01:55] Speaker C: Sure. Philip Kushmaro I've been marketing for about 15 years. Technically I'm a software engineer, but I decide I'm not going to do that. When I finished my degree, I helped build a boutique B2B agency that started off as just the founders and I and within three and a half years we got pretty pretty big under my belt. I have three unicorns soon, hopefully an acquisition as well. And yeah, I mostly do strategy and connect between companies that need marketing to companies that do marketing.
[00:02:31] Speaker B: Awesome.
[00:02:32] Speaker E: Jenna, you perfect. I'm Jenna. I'm a graduate from the BPRM Bachelor in Public Relations Management program. I've graduated just recently in June of this year and I've recently landed a role in the ey, Canada's National Public Relations team.
A little bit about me, I'd say is I came to Canada about like three to four years ago now. I'm originally from a small country, small island in the Indian Ocean which is called Mauritius, if you guys know where that is.
And yeah, I've been really passionate about PR since I started the program and even more now that I'm getting to, you know, exercise my skills in my current role at ey.
And yeah, just happy to be here.
[00:03:23] Speaker A: And now you next, Connie.
[00:03:25] Speaker F: Hi there, my name is Connie and I'm currently in my third year at Centennial in the BPRM program.
[00:03:31] Speaker B: Awesome. And lastly, and certainly not Least, hi.
[00:03:35] Speaker G: I'm Dr. Chitra Anand. I've been with Centennial. I'm the program coordinator and professor with the BPRM program.
Prior to, I've only been with centennial for about two or three years now, but prior to that I spent about 25 years in the tech industry working Microsoft, 10 years at Telus, a few years with a company called OpenText, primarily in the marketing, PR, sales transformation, types of role, really driving brand transformation and delight to be here.
[00:04:06] Speaker B: I don't know a whole lot about the world of pr. So this is going to be a really fun podcast to dive into and talk with you guys about this entire world. I mean, it's something that's in the back of my mind because I deal with a lot of public relations specialists in the field that I work in, local broadcasting and dealing with people from all walks of life. So it's really cool to find out the other side of it and how it all kind of comes together. But as we kind of kick things off here into the podcast, can you, can somebody please provide an overview of Centennial's Bachelor of Public Relations program and explain how the unique qualities that set it apart from other programs at other institutions.
[00:04:50] Speaker G: I'll take that.
Happy to. So the Bachelor of the Public Relations Management program is a four year honors degree program at C. Centennial College. And what makes it unique is that it is a focus on public relations, but it actually does it through the lens of business.
So we've got a deep collaboration with the School of Business which really is garnered towards I would say like a major in pr, a minor in business. What I think is quite interesting, Pat, is if you go to universities, for example, you don't see public relations as a discipline that's offered in degrees and programs. Typically you'll see business, marketing, strategy, sales, et cetera. What's unique about Centennial and this particular school is we've crafted a program program that caters towards the public relations industry. And within the program you'll see concepts such as communications, social media, integrated marketing, business strategy, entrepreneurship that are integrated into a holistic offer as a program which I think is extremely unique. What's also quite interesting about our program is really around the professors that we've carefully curated that are teaching in the program in addition to the pack that we've put together which you can ask about later. Pat Every single professor within our program has actually been in industry. So for example, I was the chief Brand and Communications Officer at Microsoft leading the brand transformation from software to devices to mobile and cloud today. So a very, very strong lens into what PR is. We've also recruited an executive from Sun Life who is very specific to brand new communications and PR who's driving the transformation around those respective industries. So that's what really makes the school unique. We have small classes and that's. And Jenna, I'd love to for you to pipe in into that because you've been through the program with me and you can provide some concret examples of what you have found around the program and what's really made it a standout program for you.
[00:07:24] Speaker E: I do and I love what you just said about getting to experience, you know, instructors and teachers that are in the workforce right now. This has been like the most amazing in my program. Getting to interact with these people on a different, like a lot of different facets of business and pr.
What I liked was that you just don't focus on like PR things such as media pitching and media relations, but you also get like a background on how the business world works so you can tackle issues from a business standpoint instead of just a PR standpoint. And I found that it's really useful for me right now when I'm working in a, you know, ey, a professional services firm which is very broad and getting that understanding is really nice. And you mentioned two small classes. You get to bond with people in your year. You get to, you know, just have that much attention from teachers in class compared to like other university programs that you have like a hundred of students in a class. But yeah, you rightly highlighted the points of the program.
[00:08:37] Speaker A: How about yourself, Connie? What drew you to this program?
[00:08:40] Speaker F: What drew me to this program was I was actually pursuing a different career at the time and it really wasn't for me. But what I did gain from it was that I really enjoy working with people. I enjoy being in an environment that's really fast paced and always evolving and I wanted to explore a more creative and independent side.
And at the time, a good friend of mine had just finished her certificate degree at Centennial and really, really liked Centennial. So I enrolled into a similar program, but the bachelor route so that I was able to also explore masters if I was interested.
And it has been a great choice.
I really love how Centennial puts in the care into their students as well as making sure to offer quite literally the best. Like we have classes with industry experts, we have classes with those who are directly in the field or have resumes that are in tech business.
And not only does the BPRM program really set me up and prepare me for different career paths, but it's also kind of a degree in business. So I kind of feel like I'm getting two degrees in one.
I think that it's been a really fulfilling and nourishing journey so far. I'm really passionate about what I'm doing and I can see my confidence going from when I didn't really know or have a path I was sure about to now where I'm much more confident and I love what I'm doing.
[00:10:28] Speaker B: Awesome. It sounds like it's really, really interesting. And you know, we've got some. Marjorie and Philip, you guys are members of the program advisory committee.
So as members of this committee, what specific skills and qualities do you feel are the most in demand for the PR industry today?
[00:10:45] Speaker D: I'll jump in.
So the first thing obviously is the ability to communicate. So being able to succinctly provide information verbally written and communicate that, whether that's your internal partners or your external partners representing your business. But that business and industry knowledge, I think is the thing that is really, really important. You know, understanding business, understanding how enterprise operates, being able to do that sort of competitive overview and understanding where your business sits in relation to others, and then also that ability to identify trends, what's going on in the marketplace, what's important to our business and the people that we're here for. And I think those skills, that ability to analyze and succinctly communicate and understand business in a deep kind of way, that enterprise knowledge is very, very important for someone to be successful in.
[00:11:42] Speaker E: Peer.
[00:11:44] Speaker B: Philip, do you have anything to add to that?
[00:11:46] Speaker C: No, I actually don't have anything to add to that at all. That was pretty much on point.
I'm going to leave it at that. That's perfect. March.
[00:11:55] Speaker B: So, Jenna, for yourself, would you say some of the topics in this program are broad or are they focused on key themes in pr?
[00:12:02] Speaker E: I would definitely say it's like a fine balance between Both of them that I found.
Obviously it's a PR program, so we're going to focus on it and like media relations a lot, but not just that. We focused a lot on social media, on marketing, on entrepreneurship and those topics. I think for me, you know, kind of developed my knowledge not only on pr, but on the business world. We also had a lot of classes on, you know, data analytics and research, which are a little bit broader. We didn't touch specifically, specifically on pr, but these are good things, you know, good skill set to build before you join the workforce. So find balance.
[00:12:48] Speaker G: If I could jump in to that path, One of my biggest observations that I've had, this is my third year teaching in the program is just from a macro perspective, the most powerful tool that we have as business people is the ability to communicate and write. You start to see things like thought leadership. Think tanks that are coming out of organizations because they really want more and more businesses, institutions, organizations at large are looking to businesses too, as thought leaders because people want meaningful content that's relevant, where people can go for good sources of data. So the ability for students to be able to write critically, think, analyze ideas, and create good content is a very strong focus. And Jenna, you can chime in here is year over year over year, year one, two and three, you've got communication courses in every single year, and every single year, you advance in the level of writing. So it's like level one, level two, level three. And the idea there is that year over year, you become better thinkers, better writers, being able to analyze core themes in content, where you're producing content. And I can honestly say that my year threes that I have now, I taught them last year, and I see a significant change in how they're thinking and writing and producing content. And so the superpower to executives, business people, is really in the comms function. And I believe wholeheartedly it is one of the most powerful tools that we have as business people and we being able to groom people to be able to be great communicators is a real core theme of this program.
[00:14:58] Speaker B: You know, as things have kind of progressed through the years, obviously the PR market has changed. Being a public relations specialist has changed a lot. In what ways has it evolved over the years and how has the program managed to keep up with that?
[00:15:12] Speaker C: So I'd like to chime in here what I. What. First of all, right off the bat, one of the things that. That I've noticed, which, as in my previous years in uni, it's been or in College it's been in higher education, I've seen an issue with where the academics stick in academia. And there's no nobody coming from the actual business world into academia and giving real life examples. And that's something that really, really, really helps these students understand how to move forward in life when they actually have people that are doing the work right. There's a lot of people that just stick to teaching and they're, you know, they're separated from the, let's call it the real world, which, you know, everybody has their way of teaching. But I believe that Centennial has broken that gap and made a huge difference. So that's, first of all one of the things and in general, when it comes to, you know, in the PR industry as a whole today, a lot of things that we're trying to teach here is not just pr, right. We talked about, we are learning about business because in today's world, you can't just be focused on one thing. Everybody has to wear multiple hats. And that is incredibly important to understand as you grow as a student and then entering into the real world again and not getting into any kind of culture shock, which is something that I've seen a lot of times in the past where I personally have mentored a few students. Before Centennial, I knew Centennial existed. They came to me and they told me that there's some red flags coming from me, which was kind of interesting. When they do not understand how the real world works and sometimes plans change. So that's just something that's great, that's explained a lot.
So learning those soft skills is really, really important, incredibly important. And one of the things that I believe if you want to join the PR industry, you should be doing is learning how to manage up as well, so dealing with people. So again now, because the professors are actual vice presidents, you know, CMOs, people that, that are in the industry that are very, very high up, you, you can, you can build a rapport and understand how to speak to another manager in the future and you get a lot of insights on that as well. Last but not least, one last thing that I, I really, really think that is really important when you are going to the, in the PR industry. And if you're an introvert, it might be a little bit of an issue, but networking or at least learn how to network. Being an introvert doesn't mean you can't network. You just have to learn those skills a little bit. It's a little bit hard to learn those skills, but there are, they are teachable networking because the best PR people that I know are ones that have a large, large network and can do favors for others and make that reciprocal kind of engagement. So, yeah, those are my points.
[00:18:22] Speaker B: It worries me, though. I'll never be able to get into that field because I am a bit of an introvert. But I chose the field that you have to be the most extroverted person to be in, and that's broadcasting and TV and that whole. I was like, all right, well, this will be fine. Right? This will work for me. And then I'm like, I'll just go home and sit in my. My house and I'll be fine.
[00:18:39] Speaker G: But, you know, I'd actually like to challenge that notion because I don't think that you necessarily have to be an extrovert in order to be in public relations. I think that the industry is changing. The world has changed and is changing pretty rapidly. And if you're an introvert, there are many different roles that you can take on within the realm of public relations that can still, you know, that you can still relate to. So, as I said earlier, you need to be a critical thinker if you want to produce content, if you want to lead a thought leadership discipline. All of that is really based and rooted into researching data and writing and analytics, and that's a form of public relations. Right. You're actually creating content for several different stakeholders, internal and external. So it's kind of across, you know, across different audiences. So I do think that there is something for, you know, your personality profile.
There's no direct correlation to my humble opinion based on that, because I do think that the discipline's changing and the roles are changing and the demands of business are changing, and the context through which you actually do your roles will help you sort of create pathways around that.
[00:19:51] Speaker B: Okay, so. So I still have a chance, is what you're saying. So I still. I still got that chance. I just got to find the right path for me, and this program might be the best way to figure that out. Right. Marjorie, I think you wanted to add to something to that conversation as well. Did you want to jump in?
[00:20:08] Speaker D: I just wanted to sort of underscore what Philip was saying about the idea of managing up and the uniqueness of this course with having people who are doing this, people who are very high up in their industry. Teaching and engaging with these students does break down those barriers. And it's not just about managing up. It's also about erasing the fear of speaking to these people, because that hierarchical thing is still somehow there in business. And we forget that these are just human beings who have worked hard to get to where they are and they have really great stuff to impart. So by allowing these students to engage directly with these very, very senior people who are, you know, very high up in their, in their industry, in their business, really removes, I think, a lot of the sort of hierarchical things that we place upon ourselves. And I think that breaking down of barriers is really, really important specific to this, this program.
[00:21:13] Speaker A: Now, Connie, as a current student of the program, what would you say are some of the most valuable aspects that you've learned so far through your education?
[00:21:22] Speaker F: What's really cool is I'm currently in my first internship and the skills that I've developed due to this program, like writing, editing, creating communication plans, presentations, are quite literally skills I'm using in my internship.
I think that it's really cool to see that everything that I've learned in a classroom is being translated to experience in the real world. And it's really clear to see that the program is thoughtfully created so that what we do learn in the classroom is, are the skills that we do need to succeed in a career in the field. And I've seen that quite literally translated in the internship that I'm doing. And I know that I'm confident in my internship due to having the foundation that the BPRM program has given me. And I don't think I would do as well if I hadn't enrolled into the BPRM program and learned, quite literally, like I said, from the industry experts, from those that have experience in the field, who are now coming into these classrooms and teaching us firsthand what to expect, what the conversation looks like, what the skills will look like being translated.
And I think that is really valuable. And I don't think you get that in a lot of places or in a lot of programs. So I can see in my internship how quite literally everything we're learning is valuable to succeeding.
[00:22:59] Speaker C: Awesome.
[00:22:59] Speaker B: Cool. So, Jen, I'm going to throw it over to you because I want to get the experience of a grad in the program.
How did this program prepare you for the transition from student life to a professional career in this industry?
[00:23:12] Speaker E: Sure. So I feel like what stood out for me and what really helped me to transition into a professional career was like the numerous projects and the numerous, you know, co op opportunities that we had in the program. And that's one thing I want to highlight is the co ops, because I did my co op last year at ey and I think that's what, you know, Opened me to this world of professional services and kind of, you know, drew me to want to apply at EY again this year when I finished my program.
As I said, projects bring you really close to real life situations. And I really appreciate what the facets do for us is if they're already in the industry, they'll guide us with projects that are related to the real life situation and real life experiences such as creating marketing campaigns, social media campaigns, PR plants and stuff like that really prepared me for what I'm doing now. And a lot of things, you know, echoes between the program and what I'm doing now. And one other thing that really helped me was building my personal brand. And I think that does not get enough highlighted in other programs and overall in the educational system. Here is like, you know, when I first started, I was right out of my teenage years, didn't know, was unsure of myself, as you guys said, really introverted. But at the end of the program, you know, I built my Prof. Professional and personal brand to really know what I want to do in my career and how I can project that to other employers, other professionals that I'm interacting with. So other role, I'd say really, really good at transitioning between those two.
[00:25:06] Speaker B: It's very important too, right, to be able to transition from the one to the other. And sometimes it can take a lot of work to get to that end result. So, you know, what kind of things did you do to be able to get to that end result?
[00:25:19] Speaker E: I feel like during the program it's a lot of hard work and staying consistent because four years is a lot of time. If you, if you see it like that, it's not a two year college diploma, it's like a four year program. So I'd say over the years just staying consistent and relating stuff back and forth to the previous year and just like taking a step back and really thinking about, you know, what am I learning here? Am I just going to class to learn about media or am I relating it to something else in the real world?
Staying consistent, hard work and you know, just enjoying it and you know, it's, it's college. You don't have some other times like that in your life and get to bond with your, your classmate, get to network with people. So yeah, awesome.
[00:26:15] Speaker B: I want to build off a little bit. You were talking about the importance of building a brand for yourself and you know, Marjorie and Philip, I saw you guys nodding and agreeing along with that. Let's, let's, let's dive into that a little bit. And talk about, like, why is it so important to build your own personal brand?
[00:26:30] Speaker C: So there's something. I'll start from the end and then I'll explain. So there's something called like the CEO branding or owner led marketing. And the reason why that's incredibly important, why that exists today is because nobody believes a thing. They believe people.
You can put a logo in front of anybody's face, and unless they're Nike or Adidas that have already built that brand recognition, they don't care who you are. And being able to from at a young, at a younger age, not young age, because, you know, we're all adults here at a younger age, to be able to know how to do that and build that brand recognition, people are going to trust you a lot more than, again, just a logo.
Today, whenever I go into any kind of company and they ask me, okay, what should we do? When it comes to marketing, one of the first things I say is the CEO on LinkedIn and are they active? And there's a reason for that, because people care more about the person behind the company than the company itself. So, yeah, that's, that's why I was nodding my head and I'm super happy that Jenna, Jenna's feeling comfortable in doing that because not a lot of people are, because a lot of conferences that I have with CEOs that are a little bit older than Jenna, which, which probably is one of the reasons, but they're like, no, no, no, I don't want to be the face of the company. I'm like, but you're the CEO. You need to be the face of the company. People care more of. I'm going to the third time saying this already, but people care more about the person than the actual anything, honestly. And if they trust that person, they're going to trust the company. It's just, it just, that's just how it is.
[00:28:09] Speaker B: And what kind of things do you need to do to be able to build yourself in that brand? Right? You're talking about these CEOs. You need to build this brand, Jennifer, yourself. What did you have to do to build your brand?
[00:28:20] Speaker E: I'd say, you know, figuring out your goals, figuring out what you want to project to other people and where do you want to go in life? You don't just go out in the workforce saying, yeah, I don't know what I want to do, I don't know where I want to do, I don't know for whom I want to work for. And I guess, you know, just from early on And I won't say like year one, but by the end of year three, just kind of figuring out what you like in PR and what you're interested to work on and communicate for. Because we often forget that work is what we do on a day to day basis. And you really want to love what you're writing for. So just figuring these, these things out. And yeah, I just wanted to jump.
[00:29:06] Speaker D: In as the, the brand strategist person in this conversation.
The word empathy, Empathy, empathy, empathy. And that's what Philip, I think was getting at. Right. For me, I, as a strategist always lead with empathy. And as a PR person or a person going into marketing, you have to consider your passion. So Jenna, just building off of that too. If you can find that thing that makes you leap out of bed in the morning because you're so excited to go to work, that passion will, will bring you the success that you're looking for. It will make those communications easier when you're, whether they're written or verbal, doing the social easier because you feel something. And that's one of the big words that we're hearing now in the advertising industry in marketing is empathy. Who are the people we're designing for, is a sentence that I say repeatedly in my work. But that idea of following your passion and remembering humanity is going to take you very, very far in your career.
[00:30:14] Speaker B: Well, that's some really good advice for sure to, you know, just for, for a lot of different careers too. Right. Like, what can I learn here that will help apply to things in the future? So, yeah, that's, that's awesome for sure. Um, you know, there's a lot of core skills that we can develop through this, through different programs. But what specific core skills can students develop in this course? Prepare them for a career upon graduation. And Chitra, did you want to jump in on this?
[00:30:43] Speaker G: Yeah, definitely. You know, just through the nature of this program being public relations focused. If you just look at the function of that industry, you know, writing, critical thinking, media relations, social media, we look at some influencer stuff. We look at marketing, but on the integrated side, I mean, those are all, you know, pretty much core in terms of public relations, creative thinking, etc. But then on the business side, you know, we teach some business courses in terms of, you know, how to create a business plan, project management, which I think is a core function of any of the work that you do. Any business professional needs to be a solid project manager.
We look at business strategy. We're starting to. And you asked earlier, Pat, how Do we maintain relevance in the program? AI is becoming and has become more of an integrated view. We're embedding AI into parts of the program, into some of the curriculum as well and how it's influencing and impacting the PR and comms industry.
What are those trends and then how do we use that platform as a tool to better equip us to be PR practition?
We have this co op program as well where you can actually take theory to practice, where we, you can go and apply a lot of the work that we're, we've taught you and that happens in third year.
We also have a independent study which I teach. It's a thesis led course where students are required to actually come up with a hypothesized thesis and defend it through an in depth research project. And again, that's critical as business professionals because everything that you do requires some level of research and data analytics and really coming up with doing some concrete research and then being able to defend your statement, your problem statement.
And lastly I would say is we also incorporated a whole module on entrepreneurialism. So obviously, you know, the startup culture is huge. Everybody wants to be an entrepreneur, everybody wants to start their own company. And if you're part of this program and you choose if you want to do that, we help you and equip you with understanding what are the core functions on, you know, traits of an entrepreneur. How do you look at funding? Series A, B and C? Where do you go for funding? How do you put a pitch deck together? Which we actually did in one of the courses that I taught fourth year, did a whole pitch competition. So we really look at a real integrated look across the market in general and say like, what's going on in the world and how do we best equip our students with these core skills and fundamentals and set them up for success?
[00:33:52] Speaker B: Something I want to jump off on that and something that I know is a very relevant topic in today's world is AI for sure. We had a whole series on it on the podcast and it's always fun to jump back to it every now and then just to see different people's viewpoints. So what does AI mean for this industry? For you, for all of you and whoever wants to start, please, I'd love to hear your take on it.
[00:34:18] Speaker C: I'll go first a little.
I was pitched the other day the exact opposite of AI. So they're saying they, they do, they do non cold calling or they do non AI marketing. And that is their unique selling that is their big selling position. The issue with AI is if you don't know how to prompt it correctly and you don't go over it a few times, what ends up happening is you get a mishmash of whatever's out there and it's not really. It doesn't really fit what you need. It might sound that way because you don't understand because you're not that person. And you think you're going to use ChatGPT or Perplexity or Claude or whatever, whatever you have out there to kind of make up for it. And what ends up happening is you got a.
A hot mess of gray.
Nothing, you know, nothing really that makes you stand out. So we need to understand that AI, and I hope, and I'm pretty sure somebody mentioned this in your AI series, but you need to utilize it to maybe help you get that spark. But at the end of the day, it needs to be somebody who understands, understands what needs to be done. Whatever the AI, whatever you're using AI for, if it's marketing, pr, coding, whatever it is, they need to understand what the final product needs to be based on the goals that you need to reach to move forward and go over it and fix those mistakes, because there's going to be a lot of them. So that's just my $0.02 on AI. I've gone all in on AI, and even though I know how to do it pretty well if it comes to textual or even imagery, I've been playing around with mid journey as of late and getting really, really into it.
You need to know what the goals are, otherwise you're going to get a big pile of gray.
[00:36:07] Speaker B: I've tried using it on my new phone every so often to do some photos, and it never works for me. My wife has a brilliant way of making it work for her for some reason, but maybe I'm just not using it properly. Marjorie, do you want to jump in on this at all and talk about your views around it?
[00:36:22] Speaker D: I sure do. So, you know, Philip, I agree with you. AI in my universe is the jumping off point for the research that I'm going to do. So I'm going to prompt it with my thesis. What is my strategic thesis that's going to, I believe, potentially solve this problem? And how am I going to get the materials that I need to then dig even further? And understanding how to prompt is very, very, very important because to Philip's point, you could be led very, very far astray with AI. And I have actually had it spit things out to me and Said, are you sure? And then it will say, oh, wait, maybe it not. And so that's my cautionary tale is challenge AI2. Because if you're trying to build an image or start your research off with AI sort of pulling a bunch of things for you from the Internet, just be very, very careful that it's not a human being, it's not a research scientist, it didn't write the white paper, it's just giving you what you're giving it. So fantastic to know that the course is embedding AI understanding into it and how you can use it to your advantage in the field of pr.
[00:37:41] Speaker G: Can I just jump piggyback on what something that Marge said, please, is?
It's very astute. It is exactly that. Like garbage in, garbage out. Like, AI is built off of human beings because you have to train them, you have to educate them. It's content that's going in and then it's being taught certain algorithms, et cetera, et cetera, and it's built by humans. So I caution all of my students just on how you're going to use it like it is a tool. Start using it, start playing around with it. And the AI will only be and produce is only as intelligent as you are. So your prompt will be that indicator. So if you ask it, you'll have to be very careful on the things that you prompt it to do, because that will be what it creates for you. So start using it, play around with it, and start to understand like AI is not humans, like human, like you will always require critical thinking, creative thinking, decision making. And AI is just simply a tool that is used for mass consumption, mass data crunching, mass data, et cetera. But at the end of the day, it is not human beings. So we leverage it as a tool to make us more efficient and productive and find ways in how to do that.
[00:39:07] Speaker B: That's some really good advice on, you know, some what to do when you're entering the PR industry. Right. And I was just wondering again, going around the table, is that what would you say to someone who's entering the PR industry today? Like, what advice would you have for them? And is there anything that they should be prepared for other than AI?
[00:39:28] Speaker C: I think it's be prepared for getting heard a bit, because when you go into the real world, unfortunately there are a lot of people that don't forgot that they also were students and it was hard for them to start. And I'm not saying this happens a lot. It's probably happening a little bit less than it has probably in the past, but it's still, still very much happening, even for people that aren't necessarily brand new, that there's a possibility that you're just. Your ideas might not come across as something that somebody wants to move forward with. So that's kind of like touching on my managing up side of things. Understand that there's somebody that potentially has more experience. Not potentially has more experience. Whether it's good or bad, it's not the conversation right now, but somebody who has a little bit more experience is considering the hierarchy slightly higher than you, and they might have some complex. Just understand that that isn't everybody. And regardless, because it is, again, I keep saying the real world, because it is the real world. You have to learn how to deal with them and, and sometimes you might get hurt and just got to find a person that you can speak to about it and let them calm you down and, and explain to them, hey, listen, don't take it personally and try to move forward. That's something that I, I tell the students that I, if I ever come across them that, you know, it's, it's going to be hard. It's not, it's not, it's not a snap of the finger. Oh, all of a sudden I'm a vp or all of a sudden I have this brilliant idea. Um, it just, it takes, it takes a couple of steps. And, and, and as long as you're consistent and as long as you keep trying and keep pushing forward and doing your best, you. You will prevail.
[00:41:10] Speaker B: Marjorie, how about yourself? What advice do you have?
[00:41:13] Speaker D: Yeah, I'll go back to that follow your passion thing. Right. I think in PR there are multiple avenues you can follow. So really stay open to that learning. And even upon graduation and you get your first gig, stay open to continually learning.
Listen, but also be fearless. To Philip's point, that managing up thing, do not be afraid of those people. There are lessons to be learned everywhere. And then the last thing I'll say is get ready for data, because I think some people think of PR as this fluffy. I wrote a, you know, I wrote a press release and I said something to the media. It is a lot deeper than that. It is not fluffy. It is grounded in data and in knowledge.
And so those were the things. Those are the things that I would say is just stay open and follow that passion to show yourself.
[00:42:13] Speaker B: Do you have any advice?
[00:42:15] Speaker G: I feel like I'm always giving my students advice, but I would say, you know, really perfect your craft. So, you know, learning is a process.
And, you know, as communicators, writers, thinkers, it is. You're never, you're never arrived. You're constantly learning. And so fall in love with being life learners and just getting better, you know, year over year, setting goals for yourself on things that you want to advance forward.
You know, be bold, have lofty goals, and really stay focused.
[00:42:57] Speaker C: Perfect.
[00:42:58] Speaker B: Jenna, I'm going to change the question slightly for you, and I'm sorry that I'm taking you off guard by this a little bit, but what advice would you have to current or prospective students of the program who want to pursue this industry?
[00:43:09] Speaker E: Don't I say don't be afraid because a lot of people are afraid of PR because it's a very daunting, you know, industry. I feel like if you're interested in media, if you're interested in writing and strategic thinking, go for it.
And if you're a current student, really immerse yourself in all the learning opportunities that you're getting.
Don't forget to connect with people along your journey. Connect with business professionals, because this really helped me get a bigger view of what PR is during these four years. What, what would I say? I say keep up with trends because in PR you can quickly get outdated because everything is changing. I feel like connecting with business professionals on LinkedIn really help because it's, there's always conversations on LinkedIn, so it's a great tool to keep up with the trends. And, you know, as I said, returning back to my first point, don't be afraid to go, go get it. And if you, if you want it, just go get it.
It's not that daunting.
[00:44:20] Speaker A: And Connie, what about yourself?
[00:44:23] Speaker F: If I could give any advice for those who want to pursue a career in pr, or maybe they're considering enrolling into Centennial's BPRM program is really. Yes, do it.
I think that sometimes it's hard to see the whole vision or maybe the light at the end of the tunnel, as one would say. But everything leading up to it, I think, is more important. And that means the network you'll create, the relationships you'll build. Your LinkedIn, which will look phenomenal by the end of this, I think are really what's important to get you to that finish line. I think Centennial as a school does a really good job at supporting students, making sure they get to that finish line. I think the staff and the way that the program has been put together will really prepare you for a career in the industry.
And I know there's going to be some moments that are scary or unsure, but it'll all come together in the end, and you have a lot of people to lean on. I think that's what I learned, and I'm learning while doing this, is that you can lean on your network. You can lean on the folks that show up every day in your life, because those are the folks that care about your success the most.
And I think that this program will set you up and unlock some passions that maybe you didn't know were there before.
It provides a great opportunity for you to be in a field that is constantly changing and evolving. And the BPRM program really does a good job at setting you up with those skills. So my advice, do it, enroll, finish it, and it's going to be a really wonderful journey.
[00:46:28] Speaker B: Some good advice. Some very, very good advice.
So what do you think are some of the biggest advantages of choosing this particular program for someone looking to break into public relations And Chitra, if we can start with you and then we'll just go around the room to break.
[00:46:44] Speaker G: Into the PR industry, I think, obviously, being great communicators, having a natural curiosity about what's happening in the world and really leveraging and using those worldview insights. So one of the things that I constantly tell my students is, you know, there's learning outside of the classroom. Start to become curious about what's happening from a worldview perspective, socially, economically, politically, culturally. All of those insights shape business, shape the way we think, shape the way we operate as humans, shape the way we shop, shape the way we eat, the way we interact with each other, everything that we do. So all of those things will lead to some interesting gateway or pathway. So, you know, if you're interested in, you know, let's say in the hospitality industry or in sports or, you know, look at what's happening from an overall trend perspective and really zone in on becoming experts on those insights and those data insights. And those will start you. When you. When you start to create connections with people in those industries, that you will demonstrate that you're well informed about what's happening in those industries by asking questions, by creating connections, by perhaps, you know, sharing insights. And those pathways will help you route in the right industries and people that you want to meet within those industries.
[00:48:18] Speaker B: It's easy to think that PR is just press releases, right? It's so much more than that. And how can we help dispel that maybe unconscious bias of what this is and why it's so much more than that.
Somebody wants to jump in.
[00:48:41] Speaker C: I know it's a loaded Question, I'll answer quickly. It's education, it's educating the market. So when you are talking to other people as a public relations expert or somebody just finished their degree, just talking about it, she was with the letters pr. It's literally press release too, which is maybe we should change the name Chitra. Maybe we should change the name, we should be pioneers and change the name of what's going on here. But yeah, it's just education, it's just getting people to understand it. And I think that's the short answer. Easy to say, hard to do, but that's what needs to be done.
[00:49:27] Speaker G: Yeah, I mean it's interesting because, you know, I grew up in tech and I would say technology is one of the industries that actually invests in a PR discipline. So if you look at Google, Apple, Microsoft, they have entire departments that are dedicated to pr.
PR is a tool that enables sales. PR is a tool that helps with brand and reputation management. PR is a tool that helps manage crises on a day to day basis. PR is a tool that helps shape the narrative and storytelling of an organization. PR is a tool that works with other key stakeholders amongst the different functional groups as it relates to campaigns and programs.
And you know, this whole piece of thought leadership you've got, you know, so it's, it's across so many. So you're going to find it will vary from industry to industry. You will find that it's going to vary from, you know, so some more traditional industries may only use it as for press releases and that's, that's there, that's how they use the tool. But other industries use it as an entire engine to enable the business. So when you start having experiences like Jenna's having in professional services at emy, whoever thought that they would even have a department that's dedicated to public relations? Because I think that organizations are now realizing that this discipline is an enabler to the organization on many different levels. And I just think that that's a function of change that naturally happens.
[00:51:20] Speaker B: Wow. Truly public relations specialists are the unsung heroes that we don't, we don't recognize. Right. That aren't recognized. At the end of the day, without this we wouldn't have a lot of things happening within different departments and different companies. Getting the message out there is so important and getting the message out about the program is important too. So, you know, the more people that can be in this field, the more the message gets out, the more the message doesn't get construed or changed. It's so important on so many different levels. So.
[00:51:56] Speaker G: And I. If I have one more thing to add, Pat, that you. Then I'm going to stop talking. But I think this is, this is really important is. The pandemic showed us how critical communications was. Why? Because you needed to still accurate data to different people around the globe. We were in a crisis. The pandemic showed us how critical this function is. And I truly believe that even before that, like, I, you know, going back to the tech industry and how, you know, there's departments that are built around that. But since then, the focus on comms and the value of communications and public relations has, I believe has. There's been a rise in the criticality of this function to not just government and institutions, but to businesses as a whole. Like, the world is in a bit of disarray right now.
[00:52:50] Speaker E: Right.
[00:52:50] Speaker G: We've got economic difficulties and challenges, financial things that are happening with banks and institutions. And think about it in terms of how is that information not just going to be synthesized, but then communicated back to the world at large. So I think that there's been a extreme laser focus on this discipline, and it's only going to get more and more critical as the world evolves, as AI is being implemented, as, you know, as we go from one macro change to the other, it's.
[00:53:26] Speaker B: Yeah, I don't know how many people and public relations specialists and comms managers and in every way that I've talked to over the pandemic to make sure that I was getting the information I needed to broadcast it on TV when. When the moment struck. Right. And for more than that was for everything else. But I digress. And I need to continue on with the rest of the questions that are in. In the podcast itself and not talk about myself. But, you know, Marjorie, starting with you.
[00:53:53] Speaker A: And just as we kind of wrap things up, if you could leave prospective.
[00:53:57] Speaker B: Students who have an interest in the PR industry with just one takeaway about.
[00:54:00] Speaker A: This program, what would it be?
[00:54:03] Speaker D: Okay, I would say if you're interested in business, but you are a more creative kind of person and your passion sort of lies in that sort of middle between the two, PR can really deliver both sides of that for you. You can really express yourself creatively in this industry, but also develop really strong business acumen and bringing those two things together, I don't think a lot of people really understand, we've talked about this already, the business side of what PR is. And, you know, maybe PR needs some PR to help define it or redefine it to Philip's point. But that's what I would say is I would consider this program if I was very interested in business, but also knew that I had sort of this creative passion and bent and empathy.
[00:54:57] Speaker B: Jenna, if you want to go next.
[00:54:59] Speaker E: Yep. For prospective students, I say if you want an exciting career, that's it for you. Because business is often like misinterpreted. It can get a little boring and comms can get a little boring. But if you want like a day to day excitement, a little spark, choose like pr. And this program was really great, you know, really empowered me to get practical skills in like on top of like theory. So come and try it for yourself.
[00:55:31] Speaker B: Philip, yourself. One key takeaway about this program. What would it be?
[00:55:36] Speaker C: It would, it would mostly be that Centennial has a great job, has done a great job in understanding what's really needed in the workforce. And the fact that they are putting people that are actually in the workforce as professors, as people on this advisory board that understand the real world implications of what's going on is a huge, huge plus. And I've been saying this for so long, since I finished my student times and when Dr. Cheek mentioned this to me, I was super excited because like, oh, this is exactly what I've been talking about this whole time. This is the way to actually grow students into valuable additions to the workforce. So if you want to be a valued addition to the workforce and this is the right course to take. And yourself, Chitra?
[00:56:33] Speaker G: Yeah, look, I'll be very quick. It's you know, a four year honors bachelor degree that is, has industry professionals that are teaching.
You have a co op that's integrated into this.
And what's most interesting is if you want to major in pr, minor in business and then if you want to pursue even more higher learning like a master's, we have a few pathways with Cape Breton University, Niagara University, where you can shave off several of your courses that you've taken towards a MBA program. So there's different pathways that we're also trying to create for students who want to go on do more. You know, there's this whole debate, you know, should, if you're in business, should you have an mba? So that's an option as well. So there's optionality, there's very variety, there's practicality, you know, with all of these instructors that are industry professionals. So I think it's a great way for students to really hone in on what it is that they want to do.
[00:57:41] Speaker B: I think I've been almost completely convinced to join the program. I'm just giving you that warning now that you might see me in a couple of years. Who knows? So thank you so much, all of you, for being on the podcast today. I learned so much, and I hope I get to see all your faces again in the future.
[00:58:02] Speaker A: Thank you so much to our guests who joined us in this incredible discussion, and to you, the listener, for exploring the PR industry and considering the Bachelor of Public Relations Management Honors Program. Until next time, I'm your host, Pat Quigley, and this is Storyteller in Depth.
