J&PR reconnects with alumni in Seattle, San Diego
Posted on December 1, 2017 at 12:00 PM
Over the past 13 years, 351 Chico State students have attended site visits to meet alumni working at 77 different companies in California, Oregon and New York.
With a growing number of alumni working in Seattle, two J&PR faculty recently took their own field trip north to build program connections and seek advice about potential changes to the program.
Department Chair Susan Wiesinger and PR Professional-in-Residence Debra Johnson flew to Seattle in September, connecting with a range of alumni working for tech-forward companies such as Microsoft, GeekWire, Zulily, Eddie Bauer, WE Worldwide, Focal PLLC, Starbucks, Nintendo and Amazon.
“Alumni feedback is important because they can inform current students of key skill sets they think grads will need in the current workplace,” Johnson said.
The program offers site visits to its students at least once a semester, where they commonly meet with alumni in the Sacramento and San Francisco Bay Area and tour their company offices.
J&PR would like to expand the site visits to other states and southern California, because hundreds of J&PR alumni currently work outside of Northern California, Johnson said.
Wiesinger and Johnson’s alumni relations trip could lead to potential site visits to Seattle and guest speakers for upcoming semesters.
The pair got a general feel for lodging and transportation options, as well as hosting a meet-and-greet for alumni in Belltown.
One area of particular appeal for Seattle is the number of alumni working in tech-related industries. This mirrors a technological focus that has been growing within J&PR for some time.
The idea is not to teach particular technology or software, but to adapt current J&PR learning goals to meet the needs of a world focused on information communication technologies, such as social media and mobile devices.
This means the program remains focused on its key skillset (researching, interviewing, writing, editing, visual storytelling and strategy), as well as its core values (ethics, diversity and inclusion, professionalism and free speech).
“Whatever we do – or don’t do – from a curriculum standpoint has an impact on degree value for our alumni,”
“We wanted some perspective on whether or not we were headed in the right direction.”
J&PR alumni connected and reconnected with in Seattle include:
Kristi Barnes (News, Karascene Consulting)
Todd Bishop (1996, MKTG, GeekWire)
Mary Camarata (1989, News, Amazon)
Bill Cox (1996, PR, Microsoft)
Valerie (Banks) Danna (PR consulting)
Kathleen Hagan (1999, PR, Hilton)
Lacey (Heather Williams) Hein (2002, PR, Concur Solutions)
Lauren Houchin (2006, News, Expedia)
David Hufford (1993, PR, Microsoft)
Matt Kiser (2007, News, WTFJHT)
Stacia Lay (1996, news, Focal Law)
Travis Martin (2016, PR, Pacific Office Automation)
Casey McGee (2000, PR, Microsoft)
Mary (McMahon) McGuane (1996, News, Microsoft)
Brittany (Comas) Reano (2013, News, Zulily)
Alisha Valavanis (2000, PR, Seattle Storm)
Ian Waldron (2011, PR, Davis Law Group)
Jorie Westley (2010, PR, 2010, PR, Eddie Bauer)
Matt Wolpin (2006, PR, Juniper Networks)
Kjerstin Wood (2012, news, The Millionair Club Charity)
Baret Yahn (2016, PR, WE Communications)
Kristen Zabaglo (2005, PR, Starbucks)
Alumni Meet-and-Greet in San Diego
Some 2,773 Chico State students have graduated with journalism degrees since 1968. Of those, 81 percent make their homes in California, with 67 percent living south of San Francisco.
Fresh off the experience of an alumni meet-and-greet in Seattle, faculty from Chico State J&PR made their way south in November 2017 to engage with alumni in San Diego.
Debra Johnson and Janell Bauer initially planned the trip around a social media conference, but were able to connect with 20 or so alumni in the area in advance and meet with many at a J&PR reception they hosted at The Smoking Gun.
J&PR alumni connected and reconnected with in San Diego include:
Amber Albrecht (2007, PR, Sempra Energy)
Christine (Amorose) Merrill (2009, PR, Gimlet Media)
Josselin Basaldu (2008, PR, Vitro)
Elizabeth Bowen (2014, PR, Pacific San Diego Magazine)
Meghan Brown (2011, News, 10Fold Communications)
Allison Hahn (2016, PR, Houzz)
Shelby Hudak (2013, PR, Havas Formula)
Amber (Whiteside) Masciorini (2013, PR, Main Path Marketing)
Michelle McIntosh (2010, PR, MeringCarson)
Severine Michl (2011, PR, Holiday Inn Oceanside)
Juan Mejia (2012, News, OVRStream)
Jennifer Moreno (2011, News, Online Concoctions)
Naubil Oropeza (2011, PR, Casual Fridays)
Ernesto Rivera (2015, News, Southwestern College)
Marisa Schwimmer (2007, PR, Destination Concepts)
Becky Vickers (2010, PR, Houzz)
Paul Daniel Wilkie (2012, PR, Havas Formula)
Heather (Wilson) El Guindy (2012, PR, UFC Gym)
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By Roxanna Necoechea