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Welcome to the episode of Campus Chronicles, where we explore fascinating topics and initiatives shaping our world. I'm your host, Jessica Hoffman, and today we have a special episode focusing on the power of student-led organizations in making a difference in careers. Specifically, we'll be diving into the world of public relations and communications with the spotlight on two incredible clubs at Rutgers University, the Public Relations Student Society of America, aka PRSSA, and Scarlet PR. Now let's dive into our main topic. Join us today, Salem Tedeschi. The Vice President of Communications at PRSSA and Account Manager at Scarlet PR. Welcome Salem. Hi. Thank you so much for having me, Jessica. I'm really thrilled to be here. Like you said, I'm Salem. I have been VP of Communications at PRSSA for two semesters now, and I've also been at Scarlet PR for two semesters now, but I've been a part of those clubs for two years, I guess. I joined around my junior year. I'm really excited to be here and to talk about this club. I'm really passionate, so yeah. Thank you, Salem. But first, a public ... I'm going to say quick. Okay. Thank you, Salem. But first, a quick public service announcement. Okay, sure. Welcome back, guys. To start off, could you give our listeners a brief overview of what PRSSA and Scarlet PR are all about? Yeah. PRSSA is a nationally recognized organization, so we're more the club side. There's a lot of club meetings and opportunities to compete nationally with other PRSSAs, because Boston University has their own PRSSA, and all these other universities are a part of the organization, and we're directly under PRSA, which is the Public Relations Society of America. That's like for the big professionals, and we're sort of the student section of it. And Rutgers specifically is the Todd Hunt chapter, whereas Scarlet PR kind of operates under PRSSA. It's one of the things we offer under our club, but it is not just a club. It's a student-run PR agency. So we have clients, we have RWJ, we have Tatiana Teaches, we have all these different clients that come to us. I'm on the Studio B account. Studio B account is like a hair salon. Sweet lady. Her name is Barbara, and we work with her on promoting her hair salon, so we do a lot of socials for her. It's really a lot of fun. Both the clubs offer you an ability to get hands-on involvement, but Scarlet PR feels more like a club to get real experience actually applying the skills you learned, whereas PRSSA is really good for your resume, and it shows that you're involved and you care about the PR world. Oh, wow. That sounds like a really great opportunity for students to gain experience also in school. Now I'm wondering, who is your target audience for PRSSA and Scarlet PR? Hmm. So target audience, honestly, it's open to everyone. You don't really have to be a specific major or be in a specific school to be a part of our club, but I would say we do target communication students, more specifically communication students that are interested in PR or marketing or advertising, any kind of marketing campaign or anything like that. If you want to work in those spaces, if you want to work for brands, or if you want to work for agencies, that's kind of what our target demographic is. A lot of the meetings there are just a bunch of young communication students who are interested in PR, whether you're interested in political PR or maybe you're more into entertainment PR, it doesn't really matter as long as you're some level of interested in that world, we are definitely the club for you. Oh, wow. That's really great to hear. So what has these programs done for you? That's a great question. I think PRSSA and Scarlet PR has given me so much. I personally am a commuter, so it's very hard for me to make friends when I'm on campus. I usually just go to class and then I go home because there's not really that third spot for you when you commute. And so PRSSA started out for me as just like, I'm going to go and try to like talk to people who have the same major that I have, and I'm going to go and talk to people who have the same major that I have, or maybe even, I'm going to go and talk to people who have the same major that I have, or maybe even make some friends really in the process of it. And luckily, I feel like I did. I mean, obviously, they're not here for me to be like, am I your friend? But I definitely have made friendships through this club that I think is going to last me a while. My fellow e-board members, specific members of the club, or my co-account manager, assistant account managers, it really is a big bonding experience because everyone is in the same position that you're in. So that's one thing it's done for me. Another thing is that it's given me experience with working with clients. It's given me the ability to put something on my resume so that I could get an internship. And I've secured three internships now. And honestly, yes, it is my hard work and my effort that I've put in to get these internships, but I don't know that I would have had the same qualifications or the same knowledge about where to apply or what I want to do if I didn't have PRSSA or Scarlet PR. So if you're someone who feels like you want to gain experience and you want to have something to put on your resume to get internships and get even better experience, or you want friends, whether you're a commuter or not a commuter, it doesn't matter. You will definitely find friends at the club. Right. And it sounds like it really opened up a bunch of, like, opportunities for you and experiences for you to get this far. So that sounds very amazing. So for students that want to get involved or want to learn more about this, where can they find more information? So you can find more information on our website, or you can e-mail us directly, ruckersuprssa at gmail.com. And I'll actually get back to you because part of my job as VP of Communication is to answer e-mails. People often e-mail me, like, how do I join the club officially? But really to join the club, you just have to go to our Instagram bios and follow the group me and come to the meetings. That's really all it is. There's no, like, official I'm a member badge or anything. You just do become a member. And you get to apply to be account manager on different clients or assistant account manager or even a marketing shadow, whatever it is you want to do. You can also e-mail ruckers.scarletpr at gmail.com to access the VP of Communications, Ava, at Scarlet PR, and she'll get back to you about more information on there. So, yeah, you'll get information on, like, not just how to join but, like, the benefits of becoming a member and really just the official layout of what our clubs are about, what our mission is, what we do, everything. Wow, wonderful. Before we wrap up, are there any partner sites or initiatives that you'd like to highlight? Yeah, sure. So PRSSA right now and Scarlet PR are both looking for executive board members. So absolutely send in your application. It will be in the bio on Instagram, both of the Instagram accounts. And we are looking for new VPs, presidents, everything, even if you just joined last semester or whatever the case may be. Submit your resume, interview, and I think you also have the opportunity to be a part of the e-board. There's so many perks of being an e-board member. We've done trips to Ad Week. We get, like, sort of a lot more direct contact and conversation with advisors like Mark Beal. So I absolutely would recommend taking on that responsibility and being on the e-board of the club. We also often collaborate with other student organizations. We did, like, a fun game night this semester. Obviously, like I said, Mark Beal, he's one of the biggest professors in PR here at Rutgers, and so he works closely with our club. And having a chance to talk to him makes the world's difference. He will absolutely help you with your career. So, yeah. That's fantastic to hear. Thank you so much, Salem, for joining us today and sharing valuable insights into PRSSA and Scarlett PR at Rutgers University. It was my pleasure, Jessica. Thank you for having me. And that's a wrap for today's episode. Thank you to our listeners for tuning in. If you're a student at Rutgers University or interested in the field of public relations, be sure to check out PRSSA and Scarlett PR for exciting opportunities to grow and make a difference. Make sure you like and share this podcast with your friends. Goodbye for now. Why is it the stop on the left?