Seattle Soiree

For the second year in a row following a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the University of Oregon Chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America ventured north to Seattle for a professional development tour June 19-22. We visited three leading public relations agencies, Edelman, The Fearey Group and Raffetto Herman Communications Strategies.

We also toured two popular local enterprises, Starbucks and the Seattle Kraken. The photo above is what Starbucks looked like when I first wandered into the little shop in the early 1970s looking for orange spice tea, which was quite popular at the time. I also purchased some of their coffee beans. Today, Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse chain in the world.

The first stop on our whirlwind tours: Edelman Public Relations, a global firm with over 6,000 employees in 60 countries. Since the company's founding in 1952, Edelman remains an independent family-run agency. The firm's Seattle office sits atop the 24th floor of the Westlake Tower with stunning views of the waterfront skyline and Elliott Bay (below).

Next was a familiar stop for some of us, The Fearey Group, one of the top public relations firms based in Seattle. CEO/President Aaron Blank has been a great friend of UO PRSSA, hosting our group three times in the last seven years. Executive Vice-President Regan Sheehy and Account Coordinator Ryan Mudgett provide an overview of the agency and fielded questions.

For our final stop of the day, we visited Raffetto Herman Strategic Public Relations, located adjacent to Union Square near the Seattle Convention Center, where we saw UO SOJC grads Kristin Peixotto and Ruby Lewis, both loyal Ducks. Raffetto Herman Strategic Communications focuses primarily on clients in the fields of technology, healthcare and government.

Now four years out from the pandemic, when many started working remotely, all three agencies have reverted to a hybrid schedule of working in the office three days a week, and remotely the other two. The consensus: in the office, the human connection enhances mentoring, while remote schedules provide advantages for agencies spread across multiple time zones.

On Tuesday, UO PRSSA returned to Starbucks Headquarters after touring the facility in January, 2023. Starbucks' Jose Rivas provided a comprehensive tour of the facility, including a visit to the tasting room, where new brews are sampled and evaluated by their "tasting experts." Starbucks is widely acknowledged as initiating the "second wave of coffee culture" in this country.

As a student in the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication, I worked my way through college as a wilderness ranger for the U.S. Forest Service at Lake Wenatchee, about 100 miles from Seattle. We would venture to the Pike Place Market on occasion and visit Starbucks, which was basically a small shop tucked away in a corner.

In those days, Starbucks' biggest sellers were orange spice tea and coffee beans. At that time, they did not sell drinks. My, how times have changed. Today, Starbucks, a global enterprise with nearly 40,000 stores in 80 countries, sells hot and cold drinks, whole-bean coffee, expresso, caffe latte, full and loose tea leave, juices, frappuccino beverages and snacks.

Our final stop on the UO PRSSA professional development tour in Seattle was the offices and facility of the Seattle Kraken, the newest franchise in the National Hockey Association. The Kraken are wildly popular in this hockey-starved town, and became the first team to compete in Seattle since the Seattle Totems of the Western Hockey League played their last game in 1975.

Incredibly, the Seattle Kraken qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs in only their second year of existence. In 2023, the Kraken faced off against the Colorado Avalanche, upsetting the defending Stanley Cup champions in seven games. Touring the Kraken complex, we met Doug (above, throwing the "O"), a proud graduate of the University of Oregon.

In addition to continuing to learn about the practice and profession of public relations from professionals in the Seattle market, it was an opportunity to see the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of the city for those in attendance. Highlights included a trip to the fabled Pike Place Market, Belltown and the Space Needle, built for the 1962 World Fair.

For me, it was also a chance to visit some of my old haunts when I worked in my first public relations position on the Alpine Lakes Planning team for the U.S. Forest Service. Another highlight was reconnecting with former UO PRSSA President Lily Gordon (below, left), now working in public relations for the American Heart Association in Seattle.