Observation Assessment #2:
Type of Observation: Conference call observation
Mentor: Leah Davies, Community Relations and Alumni Affairs Coordinator
Location: Home
Date: 3/1/18
Time: 3:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Assessment:
This was my first time on a conference call, and I think it was a great learning experience for me. Conference calls are a part of almost every job, so figuring out how to logistically get onto one and how they work will prove helpful in my future professional career. I also learned a lot about how planning a project of this scale works; not only was there Cowboys staff on the call, but also representatives from organizations helping plan the Character Playbook Gameshow on other fronts. Leah mentioned communicating with production designers who were drawing up sets, Arlington teachers whose students will be participating in the game show, and even potential Draftees. This taught me that PR is a connector, a department that brings jobs of many specialties together in collaboration on one product to further the good of the company.
There were a lot of considerations made that I would not have originally predicted, but they all made good sense once I heard them. Leah, leading the call, discussed a significant time and location change of the event in order to hopefully optimize media coverage. This made sense to me, as a large part of a PR professional’s job is to get media exposure for the company; hosting the event at a time and place convenient for the media would get more reporters there, and therefore more coverage. There was also talk of how to best relate the event back to Draft, which is the source of all the community events like this one. This resonated with me, as I tend to get caught up in planning little details, so refocusing on the big picture of the purpose of the event made me consider how I would approach such a task in the professional world. Leah also mentioned an exciting partnership with the Cowboys for this event as well as how this partnership would change the logistics of the event in order to reap its full benefits. If an organization teams up with a partner or sponsor in collaboration on a product, a PR professional would be charged with ensuring that everything goes smoothly and meets the partner’s needs as well as the host organizations.
A large portion of the call was dedicated to planning a schedule of events for the show- sample questions, timing split, who will be an emcee, etc. This portion was very interesting to hear, as there was lots of problem solving that occurred; for instance, the stage on which the show will occur has turned out to be smaller than expected, so some of the activities that the kids will be doing had to be changed to take up less space. I never thought that little considerations like this would be the job of someone in PR, but it is encouraging to know that I am entering into such a diverse industry.
Overall, I learned a lot from my first conference call, and it got me even more excited to work on my final product. Getting an inside look at how the world’s most valuable sports team plans NFL Draft events is truly an honor, and I consider myself blessed to be in the situation that I am.
