#PROGR ESSSUA PANEL OF PROFESSIONAL WOMEN DISCUSS DIVERSITY,

INCLUSION AND LEADERSHIP IN PUBLIC RELATIONS[ ]By:

Katherine Arts, John Boudreau, Haley Filippone

They told me not to w

ear heels. A

nd you know

what I did? I w

ent and found m

y ta

llest pair. I'm

not here to fit in, I am

here to m

ake cha

nge.

- DA

RA ROYER, Senior VP & COO, Syracuse University

LIKE a BossEXECU

TIVE SU

MM

ARY:

PRogressSU w

as a one-night panel discussion spotlighting local wom

en in public relations, with a special focus

on diversity and inclusion. The event was m

eant to address several systemic inequalities in the public relations

workforce. According to a study by Q

uartz, wom

en make up 60 to 85 percent of public relations professionals,

but only about 30 percent of executive-level positions. The panel discussed the experiences of wom

en of various races, ages and backgrounds w

ithin public relations and also brainstormed various solutions to fix equality issues

within the field.

The event took place at the S.I. New

house School of Public Com

munications at Syracuse U

niversity on Monday,

February 26, 2018. Panelists represented a range of experiences and backgrounds: Anneliese Cassalia from

Syracuse-based agency Eric M

ower and Associates provided insight as a junior-level em

ployee in an agency setti

ng; Dara J. Royer, the senior vice president and chief com

munications offi

cer at Syracuse University spoke

to the nonprofit sector; Master Sergeant Angel Ford of the N

ew York Air N

ational Guard offered a m

ilitary/public affairs perspective; and Eboni Britt of Kodak shared her experiences in the corporate w

orld.

PRogressSU w

as inspired by SHEquality, an initiative of the PR C

ouncil. PRogressSU w

as originally conceived of as an offshoot of SH

Equality specifically tailored to the schedules and needs of college students. Initial com

munications about the event thus used the nam

e and branding SHEqualitySU

, but a conflict with the PR

Council over unauthorized use of their branding ultim

ately necessitated a re-branding of the event. The tweets

and other comm

unications that used the SHEqualitySU

name and logo w

ere removed and replaced w

ith the new

event name and branding.

The target audience for this event was public relations undergraduate and graduate students attending the

New

house School. A majority of public relations students at N

ewhouse are w

omen, w

hich mirrors the gender

makeup of the w

orkforce. Since the focus of the panel was on w

omen’s leadership and diversifying the C

-Suite, fem

ale students were specifically targeted in com

munication and outreach efforts.

Com

munication strategy for this event centered around tw

o main tools: Tw

itter and traditional word-of-m

outh efforts. A m

onth-long Twitter cam

paign on the New

housePR Twitter page built interest in the event and provided

context to the discussion. Promotion on-cam

pus consisted of hanging posters in heavily-trafficked areas in

New

house and utilizing the connections of New

house public relations faculty to promote the event to staff,

colleagues and students. A Snapchat geofilter was also available w

ithin the New

house building complex on the day

of the event to promote attendance and foster aw

areness.

PRogressSU saw

imm

ense success in both its comm

unications efforts and panel discussion for its first appearance on the SU

campus. The event w

as standing-room only, highlighting the im

portance the topic held with N

ewhouse

students. In the month of February, the N

ewhousePR Tw

itter page garnered 35,000 impressions from

30 tweets,

and in one day, the PRogressSU Snapchat geofilter w

as viewed nearly 4,000 tim

es. The event earned media

attention from M

ornings On the H

ill, a student-run television show, as w

ell as on several student blogs. In the future, N

ewhouse faculty have show

n interest in making PRogressSU

an annual event. 1

TABLE OF C

ON

TENTS:

Executive Summ

ary....................................................................................................................1G

oal...............................................................................................................................................3

Objective #1.....................................................................................................................3

O

bjective #2.....................................................................................................................4

Objective #3.....................................................................................................................5

O

bjective #4.....................................................................................................................6

Objective #5.....................................................................................................................7

O

bjective #6.....................................................................................................................8

Objective #7.....................................................................................................................8

PESO..........................................................................................................................................10

Content C

alendar......................................................................................................................12Evaluation..................................................................................................................................14Appendices...............................................................................................................................16

Appendix A: Twitter posts............................................................................................16

Appendix B: Blog Coverage.........................................................................................18

Appendix C: Snapchat G

eofilter..................................................................................20References................................................................................................................................22

1. Create a measurable social m

edia campaign.

2. Begin a discussion on Twitter about system

ic problems facing fem

ale

practitioners in public relations.

3. Continue the discussion in person with a panel of local w

omen w

orking

in public relations to talk about diversity, inclusion and equality.

4. To encourage students to attend the PRogressSU panel discussion.

GOALs

Objective 1

{ }TOP 50 m

ost popular used with

the hastag #ProGressSU

Tactics-• Research potential panelists • M

eet with D

r. Ford to gain contacts of potential panelists• Reach out to Kelly G

aggin for recomm

endations and contacts for panelists• Pitch event to potential panelists via em

ail and social media

• Book a moderately-sized room

to hold event• Create posters to prom

ote event around New

house• H

ost panelists for dinner prior to event• Prom

ote the event on Twitter

Strategy- Product exposure via social m

edia in order to promote to new

audience w

hile maintaining its existing custom

ers.

To plan a speaking panel comprised of four diverse w

omen w

orking

locally in public relations on Monday, February 26, 2018.

3

Objective 2

Objective 3

Tactics-• Tw

eet once a day between M

onday - Friday for three weeks

• Quote tw

eet relevant articles found in the New

housePR Twitter feed

• Spotlight powerful w

omen w

orking in public relations• Post interactive posts, i.e. Tw

itter Poll• Share relevant stories, articles and data that talks about w

omen in public relations.

• Spotlight confirmed panelists the w

eek leading up to event

Strategy- U

tilize New

housePR Twitt

er following to prom

ote event.

To reach 50 total retweets and 75 total likes for tw

eets pertaining to the event on the New

housePR Twitter page by the

end of the event on Monday, February 26, 2018.

Tactics-• Run a m

onth-long social media cam

paign about wom

en in PR• Pin event announcem

ent to top of New

housePR Twitter page

• Post one original tweet M

onday - Friday• Post interactive tw

eets once per week to encourage interaction

• Spotlight powerful w

omen w

orking in public relations • Share relevant stories, articles and data that talks about w

omen in public relations.

• Spotlight confirmed panelists the w

eek leading up to event. • Prom

ote poster with event location, date and tim

e on Twitter page frequently.

Strategy- U

tilize the following of the N

ewhousePR Tw

itter account to run a

social media cam

paign

To increase awareness of system

ic issues facing wom

en in public relations by gaining 15,000 Tw

itter impressions betw

een February 1, 2018 and February 26, 2018.

45

61 169 retw

eets

likes

Objective 4

Objective 5Tactics-• U

se the hashtag #PRogressSU in each tw

eet to promote use

• Encourage a Twitter discussion during the event

• Display Tw

eetbeam in the background of event to encourage social m

edia engagement

Strategy- To prom

ote conversation with the use of the hashtag

To have 50 uses of the hashtag #PRogressSU by the end of the panel.

Tactics-• H

ang posters in popular locations around New

house• Talk to N

ewhouse professors to have event count for extra credit

• Run social media cam

paign leading up to the event• G

et email sent out to listserv to all N

ewhouse PR students

• Purchase Snapchat geofilter with room

location displayed• Put poster on easel in N

ewhouse on day of event

Strategy- U

tilize social media and w

ord-of-mouth to prom

ote the event on cam

pus, specifically within N

ewhouse.

To fill Newhouse 3 Room

251 to its maxim

um seating capacity of 52

people on Monday, February, 26, 2018.

67

Objective 6

Objective 7

Tactics-• C

reate geofilter with that aligns w

ith PRogressSU poster branding and evokes fem

ale em

powerm

ent through popularized motifs. (ie: Rosie the riveter, fem

ale symbol)

• Purchase geofilter as a Syracuse University sponsored event

• Make geofilter view

able in entire New

house building• Prom

ote use of geofilter during the event by retweeting posted im

ages on Twitter

• Promote use of geofilter at speaking panel

Strategy- To use a popular social platform

to promote event

To create a geofilter in Newhouse that is view

ed 2,000 times and

used 50 times on M

onday, Feb. 26, 2018 between 8 a.m

. and 9 p.m.

Tactics-• To go live on Tw

itter during the event, due to numerous requests to show

online.

Strategy- To allow

off-campus audiences to be a part of the event

To reach 20 viewers on the Tw

itter live stream during the panel

event.

87

PESO...

1011

PAID: Paid media took tw

o forms: a one-day Snapchat geofilter and 20 11” x 17” posters. Both of

these tools were specifically designed to be used w

here our target audience would have the greatest

likelihood of seeing them: in the N

ewhouse com

plex.

The Snapchat geofilter, which w

as geolocated to only be available to Snapchat users in the imm

ediate vicinity of N

ewhouse, w

as our most expensive m

arketing outlay, totalling $74.69. Our geofilter w

as view

ed 3,986 times in total and used 268 tim

es, which created a total reach of 4,508 unique users

in total. This meant that our cost per user w

as around $ .02, and our cost per use about $ .28. It is unlikely that w

e could have found a more cost-effi

cient social media advertisem

ent for this event, as neither Tw

itter nor Facebook w

ould have permitt

ed such efficient targeting.

According to research from H

ootsuite, the 18-24 year olds use Snapchat more than any other age

group, and although precise figures are not available, Snapchat’s CEO

Evan Spiegel said in 2013 that a vast m

ajority of the app’s user base are wom

en (New

bury, 2016). These demographics m

atch those of our target audience perfectly.

We also relied on a m

ore traditional form of paid m

edia: posters. A standout design that pared sim

plistic, bold text with a trendy pink background again spoke to how

our target audience viewed

themselves: bold com

municators w

ith a feminine flair. Posters w

ere placed on bulletin boards throughout the N

ewhouse com

plex, as well as on the doors of several faculty offi

ces (notably in N

ewhouse 2). A

lthough it is more diffi

cult to quantify the posters’ impact, they proved to be eye-

catching and mem

orable. Reporter Jose Cuevas’ interest in the posters w

as what led him

to cover the event for O

range TV, and one student attendee liked the poster design so m

uch that she made it the

cover image of her personal blog.

EARNED: Earned media w

as not an explicit focus of the campaign, but the panel discussion

nevertheless generated significant attention from

student media. It w

as the subject of a dozen blog posts from

attendees and also a featured segm

ent on Orange TV

’s Mornings on the H

ill, a w

eekly televised news-m

agazine show. M

uch of the student blog attention w

as a direct result of our success at activating professors and other academ

ic influencers to incentivize attendance at the

panel discussion. The Mornings on the H

ill piece resulted from a different and equally satisfactory

motivation: the inherent new

s value of the panel attracted reporter Jose C

uevas, with no pitch

necessary.

SHARED: Shared media w

as a pivotal aspect of promoting this event. In particular, the N

ewhouse

PR department w

as a crucial part of our promotion strategy. N

ewhouse faculty influencers like Kelly

Gaggin and G

ina Luttrell am

plified PRogressSU’s reach by retw

eeting and quoting tweets. Their

status as professors also added legitimacy to the event due to their reputations and large follow

ings. Professors also are also particularly resonant influencers for our target dem

ographic of New

house students. The N

ewhouse PR departm

ent also shared the event to all public relations students via a listserv em

ail, which ensured that every public relations student in N

ewhouse w

as aware of the event.

On the day of the event, shared m

edia was heavily used to prom

ote the event. The Snapchat filter is a key exam

ple of this methodology. The PRogressSU

filter was available on the day of the event,

and anyone who used the filter and sent it to their social circle provided shared m

edia. The geofilter had the slogan “Like A Boss” branded in a pink speech bubble, w

hich caused the organic growth of

the hashtag #LikeABoss to also pick up notable use throughout the panel discussion. Personal social

media tw

eets was also a large source of shared m

edia. Faculty mem

bers, New

house public relations graduate students, and professionals off-cam

pus who w

ere interested in the event all provided shared m

edia by posting about the event. OW

NED: Ow

ned media w

as the primary tactic to prom

ote the PRogressSU event. Tw

itter w

as the m

ost heavily used tactic for created owned m

edia because it was the m

ost easily accessible. The N

ewhouse PR departm

ent allowed full usage of its Tw

itter page throughout the duration of the social

media cam

paign that lead up to the event. In total, 30 posts were m

ade on Twitt

er pertaining to the PRogressSU

campaign. This does not include the tw

eets that were deleted follow

ing a name change of

the event.

A content calendar for the month of February w

as made for Tw

itter to create a general plan each w

eek for content. A m

ajority of Twitt

er posts were spotlight posts that highlighted pow

erful wom

en in public relations. A total of eight spotlight posts w

ere created, which featured a headshot and a quote about

working in the field, and all posts had the sam

e pink and orange branding from the PRogressSU

poster. Additionally, articles pertaining to w

omen in the w

orkplace and wom

en in public relations were used

to highlight the core values of the PRogressSU event. Interactive posts, such as Tw

itter polls, w

ere used to encourage interaction w

ith the New

housePR Twitt

er page.

S

FEBRUARY 2018

45

67

1112

1314

1819

2021

2526

2728

Content

12

MT

3130

29Tw

itter - Introduce the event.

Twitter - Retw

eet relevant content.

Twitter - Retw

eet relevant content.

Twitter - Retw

eet relevant content.

Twitter - Retw

eet relevant content.

Twitter - Spotlight

wom

an leaders in PR.DO

NN

A IMPERATO

Twitter - Retw

eet relevant content.

Twitter - Spotlight

wom

an leaders in PR.PATRICIA N

ICASTRI

Twitter - Retw

eet relevant content.

Twitter - Spotlight

panelists.DARA RO

YER

Twitter - Spotlight

panelists.AN

NELIESE CASSALIA

Twitter - Spotlight

panelists.AN

GEL FORD

Twitter - Rem

ind w

/ event details.

12

3

89

10

1516

17

2223

24 Calendar

13

WS

FTh

Twitter - Spotlight

wom

an leaders in PR.M

AUREEN LIPPE

Twitter - Post

interactive pole about w

omen in PR.

Twitter - Spotlight

wom

an leaders in PR.CRYSTAL W

ASHIN

GTON

Twitter - Post

interactive pole about w

omen in PR.

Twitter - Spotlight

wom

an leaders in PR.CHERYL M

CCANTS

Twitter - Post

interactive pole about w

omen in PR.

Twitter - Retw

eet relevant content.

Twitter - Spotlight

wom

an leaders in PR.EBO

NI BRITT

Twitter - Post

interactive pole about w

omen in PR.

Initial outreach to panelists.

Confirm

with

panelists.

Reserved room

and parking.Subm

itted geofi

lter.

Logistical m

eeting.

Logistical m

eeting.

EvaluationObjective 1: The PRogressSU

event was planned and executed successfully. The four panelists

for this event were confirm

ed one week prior to the event. Panelists w

ere found through personal and professional connections w

ithin the Syracuse area from areas spanning from

non-profit, education, agency, m

ilitary and corporate. A moderately-sized event space w

as booked in proportion with

expected attendance of the event. Prom

otion of the panel was very successful w

ithin New

house. Posters w

ere hung in heavily-trafficked areas w

ithin the New

house complex, and received notable

praise from students at the event. Panelists w

ere taken to dinner at the Sheraton prior to the event, and received N

ewhouse gift

s in conclusion of the discussion.

Objective 2: Between February 1 and February 26, w

e generated 25 tweets about the event

from N

ewhousePR’s dedicated Tw

itter account. Tw

itter posting w

as somew

hat erratic time-w

ise and content-w

ise, but ultimately didn’t affect our ability to m

eet--and far exceed--this objective. These tw

eets garnered over 30,000 total impressions as of Sunday, M

arch 4, meaning w

e met our initial

benchmark of 15,000 im

pressions and then more than doubled it. O

ur most pow

erful tweets in term

s of im

pressions were those that used m

ultiple hashtags and tagged other Twitt

er users, which am

plified the reach of these tw

eets to new and related audiences.

Objective 3: Twitt

er Analytics w

as used to measure the outcom

es of this objective. The num

ber of retweets and likes received on the N

ewhousePR Tw

itter page exceeded this objective.

In total, tweets pertaining to the event on the N

ewhousePR Tw

itter page received 61 retw

eets and 169 likes. Posts that gained a higher num

ber of retweets typically prom

oted the PRogressSU event;

meanw

hile, posts that were particularly popular in receiving likes w

ere the spotlight posts that highlighted w

omen in public relations as w

ell as our panelists for the PRogressSU event.

Objective 4: We far exceeded the 52-person capacity of our program

room, w

ith an estimated

75 attendees. The phenom

enal turnout was due in large part to our ability to effectively m

obilize w

ord-of-mouth netw

orks. We shared inform

ation about the event with several PR professors, w

ho in turned not only passed the inform

ation on to their students, offered extra credit for students that att

ended the event. The authority and ability of professors to incentivize attendance m

ade our m

essage more com

pelling, and gaining buy-in from these influencers w

as a vital part of our success. O

ur digital push (Twitt

er, email, Snapchat) ensured that student aw

areness of the event remained high,

even outside the classroom.

14

Objective 5: To measure this objective, the free social search tool TalkW

alker was used to gain

analytics and insight on the use of the hashtag #PRogressSU. The analytics tool tracked 507 m

entions of the hashtag and 239 engagem

ents with the hashtag w

ith 39 unique authors.

Objective 6: Twitt

er Live was used to broadcast the PRogressSU

panel discussion in real time

on the New

housePR Twitt

er page due to numerous requests from

participants off-campus. At the end

of the event, 62 viewers had w

atched the live stream. C

urrently, the live stream is now

available to replay on the N

ewhousePR Tw

itter page. To date, the broadcast now

has over 160 viewers.

Objective 7: The geofilter was a tool that w

as carefully calculated to reach our target audience. C

ollege-aged wom

en are the most frequent users of Snapchat, and since the geofilter w

as positioned to run only in the vicinity of N

ewhouse, w

e were guaranteed a high overlap betw

een our target audience and people w

ho would see our geofilter. A

lthough the process to design and get our filter approved w

as tedious, it was w

ell worth the effort. W

e met and exceeded both portions of our

objective: the geofilter was view

ed 3,986 times in total and used 268 tim

es.

15

APPENDIX

16 17

18 19

20 21

R EFER EN C ES

22

Newberry, Christina. (2016, August 24). Top Snapchat demographics that matter to social media marketers. Hootsuite. Retrieved from: https://blog.hootsuite.com snapchat-demographics/

Risi, Jennifer. (2016, March 8). Public relations agencies are dominated by women. So why are all their leaders men? Quartz. Retrieved from: https://qz.com/631499/public relations-agencies-are-dominated-by-women-so-why-are-all-their-leaders-men/