Earlier this month, 25 UT advertising and public relations students traveled to Nashville to network with alumni and learn about various types of advertising and public relations opportunities.
Students were accompanied by Maureen Taylor, director of the School of Advertising and Public Relations, and Lauren Ziegler, school coordinator.
“UT’s School of Advertising and Public Relations has so many great alumni who are passionate about helping current students,” Taylor said. “These types of trips help build relationships among students and alumni.”
Students were introduced to the strong alumni network in Nashville. The students met with a panel at the Country Music Association to learn about the work that goes into CMA Fest. The panel featured members of CMA’s marketing team, including UT alumna Mary Overend, the senior marketing manager.
Junior Abigail Cox, of Indianapolis, said the trip provided “the chance to make contacts in the agencies that I would like to work for after graduation, as well as a look into what working in an agency really looks like.”
At MP&F Public Relations, students met senior partner Mark McNeely and partner Alice Chapman, both UT alumni.
Alumnus David Bohan gave students a tour of Bohan Advertising, his full-service advertising agency with clients such as Pigeon Forge and O’Charley’s. Some of UT’s Nashville alumni gathered for a networking social at the Bohan agency.
On Friday, students toured DVL Seigenthaler, a communications agency in Nashville.
“It was really cool to learn about their work with the Nashville Zoo, and we also got to hear from their current interns about their postgrad internship program. You could tell that they have a great company culture,” said Lauren Turner, a senior from Clarksville, Tennessee.
To end the trip, students met with Tennessee Titans social media manager Nate Bain. Bain is a graduate of UT’s sports management master’s program and led the students on a tour of the Titans’ practice facility.
“It was such a great experience getting to network with fellow UT alums and having the chance to see how successful graduates of CCI are and can be,” said Lauren Hood, a senior from Chattanooga.
The School of Advertising and Public Relations in the College of Communication and Information also offered experiential networking trips this year to New York, Atlanta, and Disney World.
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CONTACT:
Amy Blakely, UT media relations (865-974-5034, ablakely@utk.edu)
Kelsie Swift (865-974-3409, kswift4@vols.utk.edu)