BATON ROUGE, La. – Members of The Louisiana State University chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America not only cheered the Tigers to victory over Tulane at the men’s basketball game in the New Orleans Arena on Saturday, but also learned what really goes on behind the scenes in sports information public relations.
Richie Weaver, assistant director of athletic media relations at Tulane University, served as the group’s guide. He gave PRSSA members a behind-the-scenes tour of the different media posts around the Arena, including the press box and courtside activities. He also spoke with the group about his experience in the field of athletic public relations.
"The world of public relations is a very large one and the field seems to be changing every day,” Weaver said. “I can only speak of my experience, which has been limited to working in the world of college athletics, but I've always been a big believer that the more experience you can get while you're still in school, the better off you're going to be. By coming down on Saturday and getting a small glimpse of what we do as sports public relations personnel, I hope that we were able to help some of the LSU PRSSA students get a better handle of our small niche in the PR
world."
The group received media passes for the game, which granted the students access to the media room, postgame interviews and the opportunity to meet with various media personalities.
PRSSA members met with LSU Men’s Basketball Sports Information Director Kent Lowe, The Voice of the Tigers Jim Hawthorne, The Times-Picayune journalist Jim Kleinpeter, and ABC26 Sports Director Ed Daniels. The speakers provided valuable career advice and answered numerous questions regarding their daily tasks and opportunities.
Eight students took advantage of the opportunity to learn about the field of athletic public relations, including Curtis Akey, Joni Andrews, Stevie Crovetto, Jill Hancock, Eric Hollier, Megan Komendanchik, Meghan Legaux and Jessica Shay. Participating students have also been invited back to New Orleans to participate in other upcoming sporting events.
“I always knew I wanted my career to be behind the scenes of a sports team; I just didn’t know exactly what that was or how to go about finding it.” Shay said. “When I joined PRSSA, it really helped me decide that Public Relations was the career path I wanted to take. Then, when I got the e-mail about the chance to help with the LSU vs. Tulane game, I knew it would be a great experience, and it was! I am so happy I got the opportunity to meet people like Jim Hawthorne and Ed Daniels and to see how the media aspect of sports works. It was definitely a valuable experience and one that I look forward to having again.”
