May NMU graduates Abby Cook and Jami Hogeboom, along with Professor Tom Isaacson, recently presented a case study on the evolution of public relations at the International History of Public Relations Conference in Bournemouth, England.
The case study is titled "Evolving Public Relations: The Role of Social Good and Tactical Changes in Historic and Modern U.S. Campaigns.” It started as a PR Case Studies class project in the Communication and Performance Studies Department (CAPS) in 2017. Cook and Hogeboom expanded the class project and developed NMU's first-ever submission to the Arthur Page Society's Case Study Competition. Later, the case study was adapted into presentation form, enabling the graduates to travel abroad for the first time.
Upon their arrival in the small seaside town in England, Hogeboom, Cook and Isaacson delivered the first presentation at the conference.
“We felt confident and prepared to present our case study to several educators and students from the UK, Greece, Croatia, Iran and many more countries,” said Cook. “Following our presentation, we attended two days of sessions, where we learned about the history within the field of public relations.”
“This was the first time I've co-presented work with undergraduate students at NMU, but I was confident that Jami and Abby would be great representatives for NMU and the CAPS Department,” Isaacson said. “The students put in long hours preparing and updating their case analysis and were rewarded with great feedback from conference attendees, and even had Boston University faculty encouraging them to apply to its PR graduate programs.”
Reflecting on the conference, Hogeboom said, “I am extremely grateful to have been given the chance to travel abroad, share our findings and connect with other public relation professionals from all over the world. The insight I gained from not only the other presentations, but from conversations with educators and other students from countries such as Australia and Germany, were incredible and eye-opening.”
The international presentation was made possible with internal support from Jim Cantrill, CAPS department head, and Rob Winn, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.