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Public relations firm seeks membership |
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Monday, 25 February 2008 |
by ERICA DURHAM
Intern News Reporter
New student firm OMNI Communications offers a stepping stone between graduation and the real world.
Through the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), Appalachian State University students have built OMNI Communications, a pre-professional public relations firm.
OMNI Communications is dedicated to truthful and ethical practices of public relations advertising and
direct marketing.
According to the PRSA Web site, OMNI uses skills acquired in and out of the classroom to achieve a
quality product for the clients but also provides members with opportunities for professional
development.
“We work with local businesses to satisfy their promotional needs,” said Thomas H. Ransom, senior
public relations major and executive director for OMNI. “OMNI is an encouraging, creative and
innovative place.”
OMNI works with three local businesses including the Watauga Humane Society, Tipsy Taxi and the
Beanstalk.
“We are currently just consulting with them,” Beanstalk employee Will Bryan said. “They basically
outlined what we wanted. We really want to get the word out on campus. They have been really
professional.”
According to the PRSA Web site, OMNI Communications’ goal is to create a new class of public
relations professionals, competent in both creativity and implementation cultivated on a foundation of
exceeding expectations.
Ransom said that to gain clients, OMNI approached local businesses that generally like to help out
students and like getting help from the university.
OMNI uses strategies such as press releases, pitch letters, brochures, advertising, and e-mails as
only some of their tactics for bringing attention to local businesses.
“We are looking at publicity and starting small,” Ransom said.
Ransom said the various roles of students in OMNI are all different. There is an executive director
position, writer positions, a media director and anyone can be an associate.
“We would love to work with as many students as possible,” Ransom said. “This is for anyone; it’s just
as easy for a communication major as an English major.”
Students can gain real world experience with OMNI.
“It branches out the textbook analogies,” he said. “In academia, you only receive a slim slice of the
industry. I’m hoping OMNI will be the step between graduation and professional.”
“I believe that OMNI was a viable option to work outside the classroom and to practice on another
level. It was an opportunity,” Ransom said.
Students can get involved with OMNI by attending meetings every Sunday at 7 p.m. in room 218 of
Belk Library & Information Commons.
Students can also check out the group’s Web site at www.prsa.appstate.edu.
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