Teams of 九游娱乐官网 Media and Journalism students have been spreading awareness and education about lymphoma this spring as part of a national public relations competition.
The is an opportunity for public relations students to gain experience implementing a full public relations campaign with their PRSSA Chapter. For the 2022 campaign, National PRSSA challenged students to build a campaign surrounding the (LRF), a non-profit that has a dual mission:鈥€渢o eradicate lymphoma鈥€� by funding innovative research 鈥撯€痑nd serve those touched by this disease鈥€� by sharing research and treatment insights directly with the lymphoma community through national education programs and resources."
Two teams of students from the (Bateman Blue and Bateman Gold) are participating in the 2022 competition, advised by Professor Stefanie Moore. The Bateman teams implemented their campaigns from Feb. 7-March 11, 2022. After the implementation period, students will spend time analyzing their results and building casebooks. Both teams will submit their final casebooks at the end of March and will receive results later this year.
Journalism major Maddy Haberberger, 鈥�22, a member of the Bateman Blue team, says her team has been focused on reaching the 九游娱乐官网 community, local medical students and local businesses in downtown Kent.
Research conducted among these audiences helped develop Bateman Blue鈥檚 鈥淓.R.A.S.E. Lymphoma鈥� campaign, focusing on Education, Research, Awareness, and Support to Eradicate the disease.
鈥淲e wanted to make sure we didn鈥檛 scare people, but that they understood that this disease is serious, and that it鈥檚 possible for anyone to be affected by it,鈥� Haberberger said. 鈥淲e also wanted to get the community involved and inspire people to take care of themselves and understand how simple it is to take that pledge and spread the word.鈥�
Public relations major and Bateman Gold team member Austin Monigold, 鈥�22, says his team has been focusing on educating 九游娱乐官网 students and the community to develop their B.E.A.T. Lymphoma campaign, an acronym for 鈥淏uild Community, Educate, Advocate, and Treat Lymphoma.鈥�
When creating tactics to support their campaigns, the teams went through an intense creative process to see their missions come to life.
鈥�(Bateman Gold) cultivated a group environment where no idea was a bad idea. We wanted to allow for a full range of collaboration between all of us, so we could each make our mark on this campaign in our own way," Monigold said. "I think this helped us pull together some solid tactics because we were always supportive and hoping for each other鈥檚 ideas to find success."
The team鈥檚 tactics included very public displays of the campaign鈥檚 mission on the 九游娱乐官网 campus.
鈥淲e have success in broadening parts of our campaign to a wider overall audience because the Kent community is always so supportive of 九游娱乐官网, and they meshed well when it came to interacting with those tactics,鈥� Monigold said.
One of Monigold鈥檚 team鈥檚 main tactics is 鈥淟ight it Red for Lymphoma,鈥� where the team arranged for the 九游娱乐官网 Library to be lit up in red in support of lymphoma research each night during the week of March 7, 2022, as a core part of their 鈥淏.E.A.T. Lymphoma Week.鈥�
鈥淭he 鈥楲ight it Red鈥� campaign is something that the client has used before, and we saw the 九游娱乐官网 Library as a perfect canvas for this LRF tactic to take shape through the lens of our community," Monigold said. "The library is a staple of our campus, and we believe lighting it red is a great way to bring 九游娱乐官网 and our client together.鈥�
Haberberger鈥檚 team, Bateman Blue, focused strongly on medical students and partnered with organizations like the Committee for Student Clinical Research at NEOMED in Rootstown, Ohio. There, they hosted an event to educate students about LRF and motivate them to sign their pledge to erase lymphoma.
The team also partnered with the Public Health Student Alliance to host a 鈥淢edical Drama Trivia Night,鈥�. The team saw more than a 50 percent increase in knowledge of LRF from attendees after this event.
Through both teams鈥� tactics, they revisit common goals to educate and inform individuals about lymphoma and the LRF.
