Students preparing for live chat with PR Professional Al Golin in Marist College Screening Room.
Who is Al Golin? Why is it a big deal he spoke to Marist Public Relation (PR) students? Al Golin is founder of global PR firm, Golin, whose clients range from Johnson & Johnson to McDonalds to Wal-mart. Golin PR has over 700 employees, 34 offices, and about $150 million in revenue. He is the PR King with over five decades worth of experience! This was a great opportunity for Marist PR Students to network and learn more about how a PR firm operates and treats their clients.
Marist Public Relations Student Society of America, PRSSA, & COM 347 were proud to host a live video chat over Skype with Golin for an hour on Sept. 17, 2014. This chat discussed PR ethics and trust. How important are these topics in Public Relations? More than you know! Golin is founder of the famous PR method, “trust bank”. This concept highlights the importance of creating a “trust bank” for saving deposits of good will to draw on as needed. Golin used his “trust bank” method with clients such as The Walt Disney Company, Toyota, and many others. Marist students who attended cherished Golin’s words of wisdom such as always having curiosity, never taking things for granted, and giving back to communities you care for. Furthermore, students had the opportunity to ask Golin tough questions concerning his mistakes and how they furthered him in the PR industry.
Other than asking Golin questions and interacting with the Marist community, the conversation was followed by PR practitioners, students, and professionals around the globe on Twitter through the hashtag, #MCOM347. Students were advised to Tweet highlights from the conversation. Here are some of my favorites:
Transparency makes for healthy action by companies- the media will pick up on everything, reminding us to stay ethical #MCOM347 #PRethics
— Briana Flynn (@brianajflynn) September 17, 2014
Al Golin keeps it real by reminding us that it is always important to have a Plan B for the future #GraduationAdvice #MCOM347
— Michelle Santos (@AMichelleSantos) September 17, 2014
“Do the unexpected. You may be wrong, but that’s okay. Take chances” – Al Golin #MCOM347 #MaristPRSSA
— Marist PRSSA (@MaristPRSSA) September 17, 2014
Mr. Al Golin
Photo Courtesy of golin.com
Marist PR students are ecstatic Golin took an hour out of his (probably very busy) day to talk to them! What else would you expect from Marist? A campus who brings guest speakers daily to talk about a variety of subjects, research, professional lifestyle, and more! Other guest speakers who visited Marist since the start of the semester include political author, Daniel Haujoks, political host, Steve Kornacki and more. The Marist community has the opportunity to engage and interact with professionals from around the nation and even the world.
