The Beat Goes On

Doesn't seem possible, but another school year has come and gone, and the University of Oregon chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America continues to grow and thrive. Thanks to student leadership teams that have increasingly stepped up since the global pandemic nearly decimated UO PRSSA in 2020-21, the beat goes on.

Starting off the school year with a trip to Washington, D.C. for the 2025 PRSA/PRSSA International Conference, the team spent time hearing keynote speakers like Lauren Graham, award-winning actress, producer and New York Times bestselling author, and Tina Beaty, Chief Brand and Marketing Officer for the Society for Human Resource Management.

In addition to individual breakout sessions and panel discussions, socials and networking activities, UO PRSSA members had time to tour the nation's capital. Then in November, members participated in a professional development tour in Portland by visiting Gard Public Relations and Wieden+ Kennedy, both top rated agencies in the City of Roses.

Over the years, I have toured some outstanding advertising and public relations agencies in cities like New York, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia, Seattle, Denver, Phoenix and more, but the Wieden+Kennedy tour was a first for me. All I can say is "big wow." The agency is -- in a word -- unique.

Best known for its work with Nike, Wieden+Kennedy is one of the largest independently owned agencies in the world and has developed campaigns for many other recognizable brands like Starbucks, Coca-Cola, ESPN, Honda, Microsoft, Miller Brewing and Procter & Gamble, among others. The employees we met on tour at W+K truly love their jobs.

In February, UO PRSSA journeyed south for another professional development tour to "Baghdad by the Bay," as San Francisco humorist Herb Caen called it, touring agencies like Weber Shandwick and We Communications, and visiting Oracle Park, home of the Giants, in addition to a skull session with the unimitable Gerard Corbett, APR, Fellow PRSA.

UO PRSSA had a busy April, with both the Pacific NW CommCon, sponsored by PRSA Oregon and PRSA Puget Sound, and UO PRSSA's Meet the PRos event in Eugene. UO PRSSA and Allen Hall Public Relations both played critical roles at CommCon, held this year at UO Portland, providing both logistical support and panelists for breakout sessions.

A highlight of the CommCon was a breakout session on "Meet Your Audience: Gen Z" featuring UO SOJC students (from left) Madison Price, Denali Williams, Allie Geraci-Novy and Sam Rinaldi, and moderated by Jonathan Yost, MA, APR, APIO (right). The well-attended session offered the opportunity for an enlightening peek into Gen Z perspectives.

The session featured an engaging discussion that allayed many Gen Z stereotypes and misconceptions. On the premise that Gen Z is lazy: "Lazy? No. Anxious? Yes." On the notion that Gen Z is not taken seriously: "We're smarter than we look." On where they get their news: "Substack, Instagram, podcasters and influencers, and if interested, (they) follow up."

On what's important: "Want to be able to use skills in a fast-paced, collaborative environment." "Work/life balance. (We) want to be able to leave work at work" "Authenticity is important. When it comes to polished messaging versus real people, real people is more valuable" to Gen Z. "Not impressed with titles." And finally, "Hire us!"

Later in April, UO PRSSA sponsored a "Meet the PRos" Allen Hall, a panelist event with professionals from AIRBNB, Wieden+Kennedy, Columbia Sportswear, Rula Mental Health and Comcast. Tip of the fedora to an outstanding 2025-26 UO PRSSA executive team (clockwise, from bottom left): Tessa, Harry, Grace, Jade, Madison and Ellie.

Scaling The Summit

As the 2026 Northwest Communicators Conference celebrated its 30th year, it's safe to say that this year's event, sponsored by PRSA Oregon and PRSA Puget Sound, was one of the best ever. A tip of the fedora to to Allen Hall Public Relations, the UO School of Journalism and Communication's in-house public relations agency directed by faculty advisor Kelli Matthews, for its stellar efforts in helping make the conference a success.

Matthew Marcial, Chief Executive Officer of the Public Relations Society of America based in New York, kicked off the conference with an overview of what's been happening -- and what's to come -- with PRSA as an international organization serving the communications community. What's changing, he noted, was an increased effort to becoming "trusted advisors to leadership" and "an ethical compass in a complex environment."

The strategy now, he said, is to align communications with business outcomes, anticipate risks earlier and influence leadership decisions. Addressing the "trust gap," execution still matters and precision is needed over volume: "Audiences are skeptical and authenticity is required in bridging the chasm between words and actions.

Held at the University of Oregon's Portland Campus, Marcial also addressed the state of the society. The focus areas, he noted are "revenue, retention and recruitment." Challenges facing the society include the economic environment, competition and perception gaps, but "passion of membership" will drive the society to new heights as it goes virtual with its lease on 120 Wall Street expiring in February 2027.

The 2026 Northwest CommCon featured compelling keynote speakers like Elizabeth Edwards speaking on "AI and the New Trust Economy," Pulitzer Prize Winner Nigel Jaquiss from the Oregon Journalism Project, Katie Garcia of the Logos Institute speaking on "What You Can Do to Reverse Marginalization of the PR Profession," and Mark Mohammadpour, APR, Fellow PRSA on "Leading with Empathy in the PR Profession."

Two sessions stood out for me. Katie Garcia's premise that "we don’t (necessarily) deserve a seat the table where decisions are made. We have to earn that seat at the table" resonated; and University of Oregon student comments in "Meet Your Audience: Gen Z." "Company culture and authenticity are important; beware of companies that lack vision or who fail to acknowledge employees. We're smarter than we look."

Going Up?

On May 22, the UO Chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America returned to Portland for another action-packed professional development tour before the end of the school year in June. Our first stop in the City of Roses was Maxwell Public Relations, an independent, woman-owned brand communications agency, where we were joined by my colleague Dianne Danowski Smith, APR, Fellow PRSA.

Maxwell PR, located in the Lair Hill neighborhood, works with consumer brands to help strengthen local economies, such as the City of Astoria, while nurturing human connection and opportunity. To my great delight, the agency's presentation was facilitated by Maxwell PR Account Director Jessica Lee, a former student in my public relations classes at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication.

Next up was We Communications, a global communications and integrated marketing agency locate in the Pearl District. Packing too many of us at once into the elevator, the car jerked abruptly, then stopped, so two of us exited quickly and took the stairs. Meanwhile, the rest of our group remained stuck in place for about 20 minutes until help arrived. Yet as you can see, nobody panicked during "The Great Elevator Caper."

Once our full cohort was in place, the We Communications team provided a comprehensive interactive session focused on describing their work with national and international clients with emphasis on the intersection of technology and humanity.  Much to my surprise, the We Communications team in Portland also included several former students and advisees, including Sophie Ey, Megan Connor and Daphne Martin.

At the end of the day, it was yet another fabulous UO PRSSA professional development tour thanks to the professionals at Maxwell PR and We Communications, with a tip of the fedora to Shaelyn Ross and Riley Severino for coordinating the junket to Portland. The last UO PRSSA trip of the year was the perfect complement to the group's trip to New York City in February. Thanks to all the professionals we've seen in 2024-25, and despite "The Great Elevator Caper," these aspiring public relations professionals have no place to go but up!

Meet The PRos

"Just say yes, even if you don't think you're ready." That was the consensus opinion among panelists from a variety of agencies and organizations at the "Meet the PRofessionals" event sponsored by the University of Oregon Chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America on April 23-24.

Panelists included four former students from my classes in the public relations sequence at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication, including Hannah Smith (Gard Communications), Justin Hanes (Amazon), Jennifer Foss (Intel Corporation) and Aaron Grossman (Portland Trailblazers).

Hosted and coordinated by UO PRSSA Events Director Tessa Campbell and President Jillian Gray, panelists offered lively responses to questions posed by Tessa and Jill, and spoke of their professional journeys as a circuitous route following years of networking and "trial and error."

Attendee Aislyn Morrill commented on LinkedIn: "I said 'yes' to showing up alone, to talking with strangers, to learning something new. As I started talking to other attendees, I found common ground -- people who also care about helping others, working with nonprofits and showing up as their best selves."

"Because of that, I gained valuable insights, grew my network and met people I genuinely connected with," Aislyn continued. "This experience gave me clarity, connections and confidence." Day 2 of the event offered another opportunity for students to connect with professionals in a more informal setting.

A "tour de force" from PRSA Oregon, including (from left) Andrea Watson, APR, Jonathan Yost, APR, Stacy Moe-Kean, APR, and Kelliann Amico, APR, Fellow PRSA, ventured down from Portland for the day to help out, and another former student of mine, Ann (A.wordsmith) Smith, joined us for the session.

Year Of Karma

Is it fate, kismet or just an interesting coincidence that GonzoPR's annual year-in-review marks the 500th blog post since initiating this forum in 2008? According to astrologers, numerologists and those in touch with the ethereal plane, 2024 translates into a year of karma because of its association with the number 8. Karma, of course, can be both good and bad, and we've certainly had plenty of both over the past 12 months.

January's post featured some of my best photography for 2023, including shots of the second blue moon in August, a rare event known as a lunar perigee, or supermoon, taken with my Canon EOS 60D utilizing a 70-200 millimeter zoom lens to catch the full moon at its closest point to the Earth. Another favorite was my shot of UO PRSSA on its first professional development tour in Seattle (below) since before the pandemic.

As winter morphed into spring, we witnessed the waning months of the Pac-12 Conference, a collection of west coast institutions of higher learning that had been conference members since 1916. Blame Big TV and a feeble NCAA for its demise. We also suffered the loss of a beloved colleague at the UO School of Journalism and Communication, Ralph "Pete" Peterson, one of many part time instructors in "the bullpen."

In April, the Aldo Leopold Society gathered at the Owl Conservatory for a reunion of former wilderness rangers and trail dogs. In May, we celebrated the publication of my second memoir, Wilderness Strangers: Adventures in Shangri-la with a reading and discussion at Tsunami Books in Eugene attended by more than 50 friends and former colleagues and students from my days as a public relations practitioner and educator.

Also in May, those of us near the 45th parallel had the good fortune to observe the northern lights due to unusual solar storms. In late May, I joined UO PRSSA for another professional development tour in Seattle, where we had the opportunity to visit Starbucks Headquarter, the Seattle Kraken hockey team, Edelman Public Relations, The Fearey Group and Raffetto Herman Strategic Public Relations

As spring waned, we said good-bye to my college chum, fellow newspaper reporter and public relations practitioner, Jeff Foreman. "Mr. Duke," as I called him, weathered Parkison's supranucear palsy with great patience and good humor. He was a fighter. We continued to meet to consummate our annual bet on Duck football, usually at Bier Stein. Jeff’s mind and wit remained as sharp as ever. He was a friend indeed.

Prior to the summer solstice, we concluded our labyrinthine

journey through the complex and torturous process of securing the contents of our brother's storage locker in Portland's Pearl District following his passing in May, 2023 after a brief illness. Later in the summer, lightning strikes ignited forest fires uncomfortably close to the Owl Conservatory. State and federal firefighters quelled the blaze quickly.

As autumn began, I attended professional gatherings in my role on the PRSA Oregon board of directors: the PRSA CommCon held annually in Portland, and the PRSA Leadership Assembly in Anaheim, California during the PRSA International Conference. It was refreshing to reconnect with longtime colleagues (above) from near and far, along with students from the UO Chaper of the Public Relations Student Society of America (below).

In November, karma took a stark turn as Americans inexplicably elected a convicted felon as president, spawning the return of a popular series known as Rude Notes From The Field, an unfiltered review of the fear and loathing coming from this savage journey into the heart of the American Dream, where GonzoPR's far flung team of crackerjack reporters will skewer the Pointless Man and his demonic minions. Stay tuned.

Upping Your Game

"Elevate Your Communications Playbook" was the theme of the PRSA 2024 NW Communicators Conference held at Portland State University on September 19-20. The two-day conference featured keynote speakers, breakout sessions and roundtable discussions focusing on the latest case studies and trends in public relations research and evaluation, strategy and tactics, and storytelling in communicating with target audiences.

Topics ranged from the broad (strategic pianning, reputation management and research and evaluation) to the specific (marketing, employee relations, writing, and media relations). Keynote speakers addressed measuring trust in the world of artificial intelligence and empowering businesses and their employees to create a culture of well-being. Sponsors included The Oregonian Media Group, UO SOJC, TTHM.COM and PSU.

Back To The Future

Everybody loves a good comeback story. Yet to experience a comeback, you must have weathered a setback.

 

At the 2018 PRSA International Conference, the University of Oregon PRSSA Chapter, the oldest in the Pacific Northwest since its founding by UO Associate Professor Jack Ewan in 1972, was as strong as ever.

 

At the conference, UO PRSSA accepted PRSA’s Certification for Education in Public Relations on behalf of the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication from PRSA Chair Anthony D’Angelo and Chair-elect Debra Peterson at the PRSSA Champions breakfast. Life was good.

 

Lily Gordon (above, left), UO PRSSA Chapter President for 2018-19, reported that by the end of fall quarter, the chapter had 75 active, dues-paying members, with 24 members participating on the events and communications committees.

“Average chapter meeting attendance increased by 25 percent during the fall quarter of 2018 compared to the previous year,” said Gordon, “and we launched a new website that was more user-friendly and featured career resources and video content. For 2019, we anticipated expanding our Seattle professional development tour to include a networking function with the PRSA Puget Sound Chapter.”

 

The next year, UO PRSSA ramped up for another record-breaking year after riding the wave of success inspired by previous executive teams, with no signs of slowing down.

 

But then, COVID-19 made its way to America, affecting institutions and organizations everywhere. UO PRSSA was no exception to the difficulties and challenges during this period. 

 

In 2019-20, Amelia Bennett served as Chapter President for UO PRSSA. She recalls that the pandemic presented myriad issues in continuing to support members.

“Fearful of the unknown, we transitioned our meetings to Zoom,” said Bennett, “and as a team, we relied on each other to remain optimistic about the future as we passed the baton to the next leadership team.”  

 

As classes continued online, University of Oregon student groups, if they even met at all, utilized virtual methods to connect with one another through Zoom and FaceTime. The first year of the pandemic proved to be the most difficult of times, and the challenges continued into the 2020-21 school year.

 

After two years of pandemic shutdowns, UO PRSSA membership numbers practically fell off the map, dwindling from over 75 in 2018 to only five in 2022. The low water mark for the chapter came in spring 2021, when only six candidates applied for five leadership positions for the 2021-2022 school year.

 

UO PRSSA had lost its momentum, but then leadership found new ways to accomplish their stated goals, according to 2021-22 Chapter President Madilyne Nguyen-Acosta.

“When the pandemic hit, we had to get creative with programming for our chapter” said Nguyen-Acosta. “Despite the challenges of navigating a virtual landscape for the first time in class, and also with our extracurricular activities, we made the most of our circumstances.”

 

The UO PRSSA executive team, taking advantage of the virtual environment to expand its reach, and understanding that members often seek public relations positions in Seattle, Portland, and Los Angeles, introduced the West Coast Connection: a collaborative, virtual speed networking event hosted by PRSSA chapters from University of Oregon, University of Washington, and University of Southern California.

 

“The event was a success in expanding networks for our members both horizontally and vertically.” concluded Nguyen-Acosta.

 

By spring 2021, the UO PRSSA team acknowledged that while they couldn’t turn back the hands of time, they could pivot in rebuilding their chapter by modeling approaches that professionals across the U.S. had begun to implement, according to 2021-22 President Ellie Shalvarjian.

“We learned how to take our meetings from fully remote to hybrid to in-person,” said Shalvarjian, “but another wave of COVID cancelled our first in-person professional development tour in over two years, so we continued to rely on the practicality of the West Coast Connection.”

 

But the issues facing UO PRSSA were far more significant than the pandemic. Internal processes concerning budgeting had changed dramatically and support systems for the chapter were in flux. For example, instead of writing checks to become members of UO PRSSA, an electronic portal process through the PRSSA website had been instituted.

Yet a clear resurgence would develop in the 2022-23 school year. That previous spring, UO saw a 100 percent increase in the number of members interested in leadership positions, from five to ten. Momentum, however modest, was building, and an enthusiastic new leadership team was in place.

 

While working to address the electronic portal process, UO PRSSA received a timely assist from Public Relations Society of America Headquarters in New York. Senior Vice President of Programs Jeneen Garcia appealed to the PRSA Foundation to help fund membership dues for the new UO PRSSA executive team, providing a jumpstart for the school year.

The energy of the new team was palpable, with bold visions for the upcoming school year, including a trip to the PRSA/PRSSA International Conference in Dallas, Texas. Unfortunately, the group didn’t quite have its sea legs yet when negotiating internal policies and procedures within the University of Oregon, and the effort fell short.

 

So the group pivoted strategically and focused on providing professional development tours for members in Seattle, Portland and Eugene. With each tour, the leadership team learned valuable skills for providing meaningful and transformative experiences for growing membership. 

 

“Not only did students finally get the opportunity to engage face-to-face with an expansive network of PR professionals,” said 2022-2023 Vice President Megan O’Keefe, “but we witnessed beautiful friendships growing between our members that I believe played a vital role in restoring the group’s spirit.” 

 

The 2023-24 UO PRSSA immediately began to build upon the success from the previous year, and the leadership team, led by 2023-2024 President Karrigen Hansen, attended the PRSA/PRSSA International Conference in Nashville, the group’s first ICON since 2018-19.

“Attending ICON in Nashville for the first time in five years bonded our team and allowed our chapter to ignite the passion projects we hadn’t seen for a while,” said Hanson. “Back in Oregon, our numbers grew to the point that we were able to curate a guest speaker series and professional development workshops that truly benefited our members. Even outside Allen Hall, our executive team worked diligently in nurturing and continuing to grow the chapter.” 

 

“For example, we worked with PRSA Oregon in collaborating with other PRSSA chapters like George Fox University,” continued Hanson. “More specifically, we learned the ins and outs of what it takes to finance a club.  Beyond that, we were determined to advocate for ourselves as an organization that should be taken seriously.”  

 

Much like the phoenix, the immortal bird from Greek mythology that cyclically regenerates, UO PRSSA is now back to its former position of strength and vitality. Thanks to the diligent efforts of student leaders and their mentors, the recovery was gradual but steady and consistent. These students literally willed UO PRSSA to succeed while emerging from the pandemic.

 

“It’s been gratifying to witness their perseverance, and continued growth to their former position of strength,” said UO PRSSA Professional Advisor John Mitchell, APR, Fellow PRSA.

As for the future, current UO PRSSA Chapter President Jillian Gray said the future is bright and 2024-25 is shaping up to be an exciting year for members.

 

“Last year, we had more applicants than ever for our executive board,” Gray noted, “and full classrooms packed with eager members ready to learn from inspiring guest speakers from companies like Dreamworks, Starbucks L’Oreal, Edelman, Airbnb, Dutch Bros, and Allison."

 

“There’s real energy in our chapter right now,” Gray continued. “We have an incredible team leading our chapter and more members than ever attending meetings, with new faces each week. We’re also in the process of planning robust professional development tours in cities like Seattle and Portland.” 

 

Indeed, these Ducks appear to have risen from the ashes.

Editor's Note: 2024-25 UO PRSSA President Jillian Gray, (below, right) contributed to this article.