Michael Beadle is associate director of public relations at Ubisoft, a company he’s worked with for over 11 years. He has also worked for Golin and Nintendo of America. He earned his degree in journalism with an option in public relations at Chico State in 1996.

Beadle has helped to launch franchises including Assassin’s Creed, Red Steel and Just Dance, and has close relationships with video game, mainstream media and other strategic partners.

What do you do at Ubisoft?

I arrived at Ubisoft 11 years ago as a public relations manager and currently work as the associate director of public relations.

I provide PR strategy, key message and story development, campaign ideas, media relations strategy and media training for our programs and campaigns.

What aspects of your PR skill set have benefited you most in your day-to-day work experience?

Communications skills, including written, oral and interpersonal, have been instrumental in my success in public relations.

Having great ideas can be helpful but being able to write and pitch those ideas to colleagues, supervisors and clients in a clean, clear and compelling way is the true success metric.

Crafting a story idea, formulating crisis communication messaging or presenting your PR campaign all require the basic journalism and PR skills that are easy to learn but tough to master — like playing chess.

We hear the Chico State PR alumni network is strong and far-reaching. Is this true?

If it wasn’t for networking while attending Chico State, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be traveling the world, working in the video game industry and loving my fast-paced, ever-changing career in public relations.

I conducted an informational interview with Chico State PR alum Cynthia Oxley-Rudd and that landed me an internship at her PR agency in Los Angeles that then led to my first full-time job in PR.

This isn’t to say it’s only about ‘who you know,’ but it is to say that if you’re good and you make the right connections, it could lead to more opportunities.

Is there anything you’d like to share about your time at Chico State or in the PR department and how it has helped you in your career?

I shared this recently with J&PR’s Social Media Strategy class and I think it’s relevant for all students coming out of Chico State. Chico State still has a reputation for having a very “active” social scene. Making meaningful connections with a diverse and at times random group of people is a more valuable asset than you think.

The business world, like our social graph, is connected, multicultural and multinational. From the computer programmers working on the back end in Europe to the sales rep working on the front lines in Tokyo to the communications experts helping guide from behind the curtain in San Francisco, it’s about building bridges, collaborating and compromising while working hard and having fun along the way — not that unlike the Chico State experience. See what I did there?

So, enjoy your time at Chico State. Make new friends. Join a new club. Volunteer. You never know who might help you find that next best job 10 years from now!