PR and Advertising: In Action and Practice

PR and Advertising: In Action and Practice

The department of Journalism and Mass Communication of the IIS (deemed to be University) organised a six days workshop on the topic of 'PR and Advertising: in Action and Practice', from November 23^rd to 28^th, 2020. The purpose of this workshop was to provide a better understanding and on-field knowledge from experienced professionals to students aspiring to enter the field of PR and advertising.

Several esteemed field professionals were invited to be an expert in various sessions during the workshop. Shri Sudhir Gore, Ms. Anindita Sinha, Ms. Pratibha Singh, Mr. Ramendra Sharma and Shri. Nishant Verma were the guest speakers. In this six-day long workshop, students were exposed to different aspects of Public relations and advertising as each speaker presented the session with their unique experience.

On first day of the workshop i.e. 23^rd November, a session on the topic 'Media Relations and Writing' was organised with Shri Sudhir Gore, as the key-note speaker. Shri Sudhir Gore is a respected media professional and holds an editorial experience across digital and print media for over three decades. Throughout his career he has worked with several esteemed media houses like, Dainik Jagran, Dainik Bhaskar, India Today and The Times of India. Shri. Gore emphasised on the importance of media relations with a practical knowledge of the field, he also discussed about the significance of perspective and practices to undertake for being a good writer. The session was interactive with students asking questions and Sudhir answering all the questions.

On the second day of the workshop i.e. 24^th November, the session revolved around the topic ‘Corporate Communications’ with Ms. Anindita Sinha as the key-note speaker. Ms. Anindita Sinha is an esteemed Public Relations professional with an experience of over three decades. She has worked with the Airport Authority of India, as P.R. representative of Airports like Mumbai and Hyderabad, currently she is positioned as the Head of Corporate Communications, L&T Metro Rail, Hyderabad. Ms. Sinha discussed the importance of personality development, mastering the art and science of Crisis Communication and Role of an Internal Relations professional, along with social media as an emerging medium of communication. Throughout the session, Ms. Sinha shared her learning and personal experiences with the students, and stressed on the idea of “Being a brand is to Create one”.

On third day of the workshop i.e. 25^th November, the session focussed on the topic ‘Organising Press Conferences’ with Shri Sudhir Gore as the key-note speaker. Shri. Gore complied all the necessary aspects of press conferences in his presentation and stressed on practical learning of the students. Objectives, conduction, preparation and follow-up of press conferences were discussed during the session. The session ended on an active and interactive note with a moot-press conference with the students.

The fourth day i.e. 26^th November was dedicated to Advertising with Ms. Pratibha Singh as the key-note speaker of the session. Ms. Singh discussed ‘Ideation and Advertising Planning’ with the basics of advertising in the discussion. Further, the topic ‘Planning of an Advertising Campaign’ was distributed into different steps and briefly presented. Throughout the session Ms. Singh focussed on a practical learning experience of the students by analysing a case study from her own campaign for ‘Dainik Bhaskar’. The session was made interactive through dedicating a Q & A round after each topic.

On the fifth day i.e. 27^th November, the topic of the session was ‘Crisis Communication' with Mr. Ramendra Kumar as the key-note speaker. Mr. Ramendra Kumar is an experienced Public Relation professional as well as an award-winning Children’s book writer. Apart from many recognitions, he was felicitated by the writers and publishers of Sri Lanka for his significant contribution to children’s literature, in December 2017. He was also conferred the ‘Hall of Fame’ award by Public Relations Council of India (PRCI) in March 2020. Mr. Kumar practically approached the topic while discussing various theoretical aspects of the job and critically analysing various case studies; he briefly discussed the New Age Media, functioning and sustaining in a corporate set-up. The session was interactive with an assertive exchange of thought between students and the speaker. He also shared his personal experiences and teaching incidents during his career in PR.

On the Sixth and last day of the workshop, Shri. Nishant Verma was invited as the key-note speaker and the session revolved around ‘Social Media for Creative Campaigns’. Shri. Verma is a well-respected corporate communication, corporate affairs and event management professional with over 10 years of experience. Shri. Nishant Verma focussed on making it an informative and interactive session. He spoke about the importance of campaigning and the power of mass communication with the help of various examples and case studies. He briefly shared his experience of working and the challenges he has faced in his career.

Over 50 students from all batches of the department were a part of the workshop. The students actively participated in all the sessions and were keen to learn more about the field.