SCSU’s Mass Comm Grad Students Make Waves in the Blogosphere

5 Mass Comm grad students blog regularly

A group of graduate students in the Mass Communications program at St. Cloud State are showcasing their talents on the blogosphere. Here are links and descriptions of their blogs:

Mike Doyle: “The Hockey Hair All”
http://hockeyhairall.com/
Mike Doyle is a former Husky Hockey player and current color commentator for Husky Productions. Covering everything under the hair, the “hockey hair all” primarily offers Doyle’s expert opinion on the St. Cloud State Division I hockey team.

Chris Duffy: “Duffy’s Drivel”
https://duffysdrivel.wordpress.com/
After four years as a television news reporter and one year in marketing, Chris Duffy is now in his final semester of graduate school at St. Cloud State and is also the news director at KVSC-FM. “Duffy’s Drivel” is a blog about the evolving world of communication through Duffy’s eyes.

 Rachael Jahr: “The Sweet Life of Rachael”
http://rmjahr.wordpress.com/
Also in her final semester of graduate school at SCSU, Rachael Jahr’s “Sweet Life of Rachael” emphasizes her interest in public relations and incorporates a mix of interesting book reviews.

Ryan Ruud: “Pulling Strings”
http://ryanruud.wordpress.com/
When he’s not taking graduate courses at SCSU, Ruud is working full time as the social media guru for W3i in Sartell. Ruud’s blog, “Pulling Strings” provides exceptional information and advice about social media.

Eric Wheeler
http://wheelerblogs.com/
Also in his final semester, Eric Wheeler is the social media whiz for KVSC. “WheelerBlogs” opens a discussion on trends in social media and public relations, but also encompasses Wheeler’s other interests like advertising, photography, marketing and traveling.

SCSU Mass Comm student and chapter take top honors at Society of Professional Journalists Conference

Kevin Hurd was the winner of a Sigma Delta Chi Award from the Society of Professional Journalists. The Sigma Delta Chi Awards date back to 1932, when the Society first honored six individuals for contributions to journalism. The current program began in 1939, when the organization awarded the first Distinguished Service Awards. The awards recognize the best in professional journalism in categories covering print, radio, television, newsletters, art/graphics, online and research from across the United States. Kevin Hurd did a piece entitled “Cash, Credit and Saving while in College.” It is a 30 minute story that looks at the need for young people to be smart with their money from the perspectives of an economist, local bankers and peers. The piece was judged best among radio stations in 101+ size cities across the United Sates in the Radio Documentaries category. It aired on KVSC-FM in 2009. The Society of Professional Journalists is the nation’s largest journalism organization dedicated to encouraging the free practice of journalism.

Kevin Hurd with SPJ's Sigma Delta Chi Award for radio documentary.

For the 2nd year in a row, the SCSU chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists was named the best student chapter in the region. The award is given to a student chapter each year among chapters in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Members of the SCSU chapter of the SPJ traveled to the SPJ National Convention in Las Vegas, NV in October to receive the award.

SCSU MC Students pictured (l to r) Arum Yang, Kevin Hurd, Nick Lenz and Jennifer Austin.

Event Organizer ‘Thrilled’ to have SCSU at Festival in D.C.

Today is my first day at our nation’s capital to cover the country’s first national science and engineering festival.

Larry Bock, Organizer of the USA Science & Engineering Festival, says he’s ‘thrilled’ to have St. Cloud State among the 75 leading science and engineering universities represented at this weekend’s expo.

The goal of the festival is to get young people excited about science. As an entrepreneur, Bock says his companies often have trouble finding qualified Americans to fill advanced science and engineering positions. As a result, he says, many of the jobs go to other countries.

“We believe society gets what it celebrates. We celebrate Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan, and we generate a lot of Britney Spears’ and Lindsay Lohan’s. But we don’t celebrate science and engineering, so why not have a pinnacle event once a year to celebrate it?” said Bock.

About ten students and staff of St. Cloud State will arrive in Washington, D.C. on Friday. SCSU will have a booth set up on the national mall, which is expected to attract more than one million visitors throughout the weekend. The theme of SCSU’s booth is wind power.

-Chris Duffy, SCSU Graduate Student of Mass Communications

STUDENT BLOG: Keegan Shoutz and “The Graduation Balancing Act”

Keegan Shoutz is a graduating senior at St. Cloud State University majoring in Public Relations. He is also the president of SCSU'S Public Relations Student Society of America .

reposted from a March 16th post on Keegan’s blog.

As a soon-to-be graduate, or something of the sort (I am walking for graduation in May but have one online class to take until August) I have been finding it extremely hard to balance my school and professional life lately. Don’t get too excited for me yet, I haven’t landed a glamorous job in public relations that would make any student jealous–I’m working on it though.

As of right now I am trying my best to stay connected to the professional world that is happening all around me by utilizing my media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. (No longer calling it social media after listening to Sarah Evans’ # journchat discussion with CNN’s Dermot Waters). I have also job shadowed at a few agencies in Minneapolis, one being the infamous Weber Shandwick and the other being a smaller but just as stellar agency called Fast Horse, both of which were extremely useful learning and networking opportunities.

I also got the opportunity to meet more professionals when St. Cloud State University’s Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) chapter participated in  the Minnesota Public Relations Society of America’s Pro-Am Day and traveled to Chicago to tour a number of agencies. Getting to know professionals on a more personal level and experiencing their everyday lives was a great opportunity to learn the inside scoop on all things PR.

If you haven’t check them out, I have also done guest blogs posts for PRBreakfastclub and Fast Horse Inc.

STUDENT BLOG: Diversity Drives SCSU Mass Comm Student

What having a diverse film means to me as a St. Cloud State student.

Student Blog

By: Bruce Meyers

Student Blogger: Bruce Meyers is a senior at St. Cloud State University

I think it is important that we as individuals recognize that no two people are alike; therefore no peoples experience with diversity is the same. Diversity simply means: differing from one another. With that said, I realize that I may be different from others and a gay person or a racial minority may be different from me.However, these differences aren’t bad.