Learning to Live With a Disability-Inspiration from Bryon Riesch

My PR tactics class had the opportunity to listen and learn about Bryon Riesch’s contribution to those with disabilities, particularly those with paralysis and neurological disorders. Riesch not only is very knowledgeable about paralysis, but has firsthand experience on what living with a disability is like. In speaking with us he also provided useful tips to consider when communicating with people with disabilities as well as challenges associated with accepting life with a disability.

Riesch had been living the typical college student’s life at Marquette University until an unexpected accident happened that had left Riesch paralyzed from the chest down qualifying as a C-5 quadriplegic. Riesch’s life would never be the same again as he would have to face the challenges of accepting his disability as well as learning to adjust to the changes the disability would bring.  After taking the long hard steps of adjusting to the drastic change, Riesch had decided that he wanted to make a difference in the lives of others going through similar situations. Riesch started the Bryon Riesch Paralysis Foundation in 2001 with a goal of finding a cure for paralysis through providing funding for research. The research done has not only benefited those with paralysis, but those with neurological disorders such as Alzheimer and Parkinson disease as well. To date the foundation has raised over $1,500,000 through different events such as run and walks or golf outings. Visit the BRPF Facebook page or join the BRPF group on LinkedIn for more information and updates on current events.

Riesch explained that the process of accepting this overwhelming change involves learning how to do the things you did a certain way before in a whole different way, losing friends that you thought you had while gaining new ones, and taking on the enormous amount of expenses that will accompany having a disability. It was surprising to me how much of a positive and humorous individual Riesch was, especially considering his circumstance. It was very inspiring to know that someone who has faced such hard times could overcome them by making a difference in the lives of others. Riesch was definitely a motivational speaker in the sense that he portrayed the message that nothing is impossible if you put your mind to it. He went on to express to us that everyone has their own disability, and that even though they’re sometimes not visible it is important to learn how to overcome and deal with that disability to be happy in life.

As Riesch talked about his life before and after the accident, he was able to relate to us as well as help the class better understand from a standpoint of a person with a disability. In doing so he gave us some advice to use when communicating with people with disabilities. Some of these tips included not staring, introducing self just as would with anyone else, talking to the person directly, not the caregiver, don’t necessarily avoid contact, but actually engage in conversation, and asking if the person with a disability needs help before helping. Some of these pieces of advice seem like common sense, but I think we can all relate that sometimes it is hard to communicate because of lack of awareness in a situation.

If you have any questions or would like to learn more about Riesch’s experience, connect with him on LinkedIn.

A True Social Media and PR Gal

We had the privilege of having Trish Skram, an expert on social media and PR come to our Tactics II class on Tuesday. She was not only informative and helpful, but also optimistic about what the future holds for social media and what we can do with it. Skram is a social media specialist and PR manager for all three markets in Mercy Health Care System in Janesville. She also is the owner of the "PRGal" brand which launched in 2008. "PRGal" is a professional blog for the Janesville Gazette newspaper, the largest media source within Walworth County. Skram decided to originally create this professional blog in order to set herself apart from other professionals; she ended up really loving it and decided to keep up with it even though she has secured a career with Mercy Medical. Check out her blog at http://www.trishskram.com/ where you can learn about her passions and opinions on social media and PR related topics happening in the news today.

Skram also graduated from UW-Whitewater in 2008, but her story was a little different than the typical one you hear from successful PR graduates. We constantly hear “experience, experience, experience” is the most important part in eventually landing a PR job. That we need as many internships as we can get to gain experience in order to set ourselves apart from others. But Skram actually only had one internship in which she displayed loyalty and did a really great job so that she could keep moving up in the business. Skram represented an exception to today's rule, by showing that there are other ways in which you can be successful.

Skram had very insightful goals and ways in which she went about her blogging. Her strategy was to grow her network and better the PR Industry. She told herself that it would be a way to talk about what she knows and loves and if it doesn't provide just that, then to not write about it. She is very passionate about social media and new strategies in PR and loves the fact that her blogging allows her to grow from other's reactions and input about the blog.

Skram stressed how important it is to blog these days, and the benefits of doing so. By blogging, one is able to establish expertise, grow their network, help keyword search ranking, and generate content as a place for people to engage and learn from others. She also said that it is crucial to use Facebook for own personal branding to promote your blog and self. Check her out on Facebook to see how she linked her blog to Facebook to keep her audience updated. http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Trish-Skram-PR-Gal/316376597089

Not only does Skram use Facebook to promote her blog, but also twitter. She is always tweeting and giving little insights and links to her blogs. Follow her on twitter to see what all her buzz is about @TrishSkram

If you would like to get connected to gain further insight about social media, contact Trish Skram at trishskram@gmail.com

Professional Connections and Getting a PR Job

Amy Paul graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in May of 2011 with a degree in Public Relations.  In her first years at Whitewater, she studied Music and Business.  She then decided to change to Public Relations her fourth year and in hindsight is happy she did so.  Amy currently does PR for the Milwaukee County Executive’s Office.  Her duties include updating Facebook and Twitter, writing press releases, media advisories, and constituent letters.  She also monitors media coverage and is the website manager. Amy said that although her working hours are 8am-5pm, it never stops there.  She is always putting in time outside of the office.  Planning events was not one of the expectations that was required of her when first obtaining this position, but Amy ended up planning one of the biggest events in Milwaukee County this September.  She planned the “Never Forget” September 11^th event that took place at the War Memorial by Lake Michigan.  Amy had one month to put this memorable event together.  She was in charge of everything ranging from reaching out to the media, to designing the logo, to organizing catering. After all of her hard work it must have been worth it, because the turnout was astonishing.  Compared to an average of 100 people in past years, this year 400 people attended.

Amy is definitely a perfect example of what a successful PR graduate is.  She stressed that she got where she is today because of her many internships, involvement in PRSSA, networking, and a lot of hard work.  Amy had a total of four internships throughout her college experience. That in itself is very impressive.  She started out at Children’s Hospital as a fundraising intern, was a brand ambassador for Qdoba, a communications intern for the Milwaukee Admirals, and planned events for UW-Whitewater Alumni through the Development Office.  It was very apparent that Amy’s true passion is in sports, particularly hockey. She talked a lot about her internship with the Milwaukee Admirals and said that it was an awesome experience. She said that it was a lot of work, but that she always went the extra mile to gain experience.  This internship included writing game stories, designing and managing the photo website, and the social media.  She said that during all the games she worked, she was typically at the Bradley Center from noon to 1am.  The internship was unpaid, so all that she was doing was because she truly enjoyed it and wanted to be there.  All of her internships were actually unpaid, so it meant having to work normal jobs on top of the internships.  This is where the hard work came in.  She said a lot of times she felt like she had no social life, but it was important in order to get where she wanted in the future.

With all of the internships, jobs, and class, Amy still found time to be involved on campus.  She was the secretary of PRSSA from May of 2010 to May of 2011, was the Insight editor for the PRSSA newsletter from November of 2009 to May of 2011, and coordinated the PRSSA Regional Activity where 75 people from the region attended.

Her own steps to getting where she is today demonstrated what it takes to be successful.  She recommended taking the unpaid internship because those can be the most beneficial.  She said that although we might all have our own specific idea of what we want to do with PR, to be open-minded.   To make the most out of every opportunity, ask for more experience if feel that we aren’t gaining all of the experience we want, and most importantly to not give up, because although the process can be frustrating, it can be very rewarding in the end. 

Because Amy is a recent graduate and has had a wide range of experiences, it makes it easy for her to relate and connect with PR students.  Amy gave the option of helping students if they need advice.  Amy can be reached at http://www.amypaul.webs.com/, Amy.Paul@MilwCnty.com, and on twitter @AP2005.

The PR Student

The Updated PR Student

Hey Everyone! My name is Jessica Scharhag and I am in my fourth year at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. I will finish my college degree with a major in Arts and Communications with an emphasis in Public Relations and a minor in Psychology. I am a new addition to the Arts and Communications program and plan on attending UW-Whitewater for a total of five years. This fall I will be involved with the PRSSA organization to gain hands on experience in Public Relations. I will also be working for the Milwaukee Admirals as a promotions/marketing intern. During my college career, I have been all over the board, trying different majors in hopes of finding my ideal occupation. Ranging from Social Work, to Public Relations, to Education, and back to Public Relations, I feel as though I am very well rounded. Despite the changes in majors, I have always known that I wanted a minor in Psychology, simply because I love learning how people “work”. In midst of my search I have found that my ideal job must include working with people on a daily basis. My true passion is connecting with people and working with them to make sure that they are achieving/receiving full enjoyment out of life. Whether it is teaching someone something new, helping someone with a problem, or just simply making someone more comfortable, gives me true happiness. I especially like working with kids, and feel that my internship with the Milwaukee Admirals will fulfill this passion. I am extremely excited about this opportunity with the Admirals because eventually I would like to be involved in planning events dealing with sports, music, and children.

Reflections of UW-Whitewater Alumni Videos

Watching the video interviews of public relations UW-Whitewater Alumni really helped me learn more about what it means to be in the public relations field. A consistent theme that I heard throughout the videos was that every day is different working in public relations. I think that this is huge because students need to realize this in order to be prepared for what is coming their way. There were three individuals that specifically sparked my interest because of their advice, interests, or the company they work for.

Once of these individuals was Jennifer Dooley, the owner of Dooley and Associates. Jennifer was truly inspiring because she directly took what she learned from public relations and marketing at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and made her own business helping other business to grow. She stressed along with others that networking is the most important thing that you can do because sometimes it's not about what you do, but who you know. To watch the full interview with Jennifer, visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMHSAAnhLsg.

Another individual that was very interesting to me was Lynnette Hulgan, the owner of Essential Details, LLC. She started off at the bottom working as an assistant Banquet Manager and worked her way up to running her own event planning business. I was especially interested in what Lynnette's job entailed because event planning has always been an interest of mine. One of the things she stressed was that you have to have the basic knowledge of what makes an event before you can be a planner for it. Meaning sometimes you have to work at the bottom to be able to get to the top and do your job well. For more information about Lynnette Hulgan visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax1agT4OOHc.

The third individual that I could relate to was Cassandra Sura, the public relations coordinator at Memorial Healthcare. She was very involved in PRSSA and had numerous positions in the organization during her time at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. I liked that her job consisted of not only being in the office, but being out on site working with people as well. Her advice to students was to be passionate and dedicated to whatever you do and you will be successful. It was easy to see that Cassandra was just that. To learn more about Cassandra visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_rIR3EDxPM.

The PR Student

Hey Everyone! My name is Jessica Scharhag and I will be starting my fourth year at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. I will finish my college degree with a major in Arts and Communications with an emphasis in Public Relations and a minor in Psychology. I am a new addition to the Arts and Communications program and plan on attending UW-Whitewater for a total of five years. This fall I plan on joining the PRSSA organization to gain hands on experience with Public Relations. During my college career, I have been all over the board, trying different majors in hopes of finding my ideal occupation. Ranging from Social Work, to Public Relations, to Education, and back to Public Relations, I feel as though I am very well rounded. Despite the changes in majors, I have always known that I wanted a minor in psychology, simply because I love learning how people “work”. In midst of my search I have found that my ideal job must include working with people on a daily basis. My true passion is connecting with people and working with them to make sure that they are achieving/receiving full enjoyment out of life. Whether it is teaching someone something new, helping someone with a problem, or just simply making someone more comfortable, gives me true fulfillment in my day. I especially like working with kids, and have thought for quite awhile that I would like to plan different events for Children’s Hospital, while actually being there to witness and work the event as well.