2012 PROCEEDINGS - Public Relations Society of America

A University‟s PRSSA Chapter‟s Persona(s):
Assessing Publics to Create a Social Media Recruitment Strategy
Bonita Dostal Neff, Ph.D.
Valparaiso University
Bonita.neff@valpo.edu
Liz Freeman and Erika Wagner; Samuel Borden and Matt Butcher;
Tom Hauessler and Lauren Rubio
Undergraduate Students – Public Relations
Valparaiso University
Public Relations Student Society of America‘s chapters are under constant pressure to
retain and recruit new members. Yet the traditional approach using tactics, primarily publicity,
are not always effective approaches to building membership or retention. With the emergence of
social media, a nontraditional approach to communication brings other kinds of opportunities but
comes with some concerns: 1) for students, social media is primarily used for social reasons, not
professional, 2) students are limited in the number and type of social media experience
(primarily Facebook), 3) little or no experience in selecting social media platforms for
professional uses, and 4) little connection with public(s) in terms of creating a ―persona(s)‖
based on perceptions and/or awareness.
Three assessment approaches were designed to address the PRSSA communication
needs. Six students were selected to coordinate the study. Two PRSSA members were assigned
to each assessment area (PRSSA general, PRSSA officers, PRSSA student agency). Three very
different persona(s) emerged from the research. The framework used in the analysis was based
on David Scott‘s persona(s) outlined in The New Rules of Marketing and PR. Scott‘s critical
questions prompted planning, the execution phase, and the action stage. Each assessment yielded
a persona(s) that was named, a very powerful descriptor for the identification process.
Integrating the organizational public relationships (OPR) concept into the recruitment
efforts strengthened the students understanding of relationships. Incorporating the idea that
―social capital‖ is the outcome sought, provides more depth to the concept of relationships.
Finally, what is the ―identity‖ of PRSSA as an organization with multiple personas?
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