Richter7 Names Public Relations Student of the Year
USU student William Don Wortley was recently named Richter7’s 2008 Public Relations Student of the Year. Wortley said receiving this award was quite an honor and he was very excited.
Richter7, a Salt Lake-based public relations agency, recognizes one university student each year who demonstrates superior skill in communication and public relations by giving them an award of $1,000, said Abigail Clinger, Richter7 public relations representative.
“This is a great opportunity for us to further Utah students’ education,” said Tim Brown, Richter7 partner. “The PR Student of the Year award gives future professionals first-hand expereince as they prepare to enter the public relations field.”
This scholarship is open to students pursuing a degree or career relating to public relations. Although Wortley is an economics major at USU, his interest is in communications and he will soon work towards a master’s degree in Integrated Marketing and Communications at Northwestern University, Clinger said.
The award contenders were asked to create a hypothetical public relations plan for The Canyons ski resort. The goal was to provide strategies that would help increase the yearly lift ticket sales by 20 percent.
Wortley said he did a lot of research on the The Canyons Ski Resort and the public relations industry in order to formulate his plan, and tried to apply what Richter7 wanted with what he had learned. He then developed an idea and came up with a creative plan.
“I took everything as far as I could on my own, so if they chose my proposal they could have started to work on it that afternoon,” Wortley said.
Wortley went above and beyond what they expected, being thorough and doing a lot of research, making both the oral presentation and written case study phenomenal, Clinger said.
“USU does a great job preparing USU students and teaching them how to utilize their resources,” Clinger said. “That says something about USU’s educational system. USU has really stood out to us.”
The Student of the Year award began in order to recognize public relations students and give them the opportunity to gain real-world exposure in the field, Clinger said. When determining the student of the year, Richter7 looked at the students’ speaking skills, organization, supporting materials, detailed research and creativity, Clinger said.
Wortley said he took the competition seriously because the real world is not like school – if you want to be successful, you have to strive to do the best and be the best in whatever you do. Start now being professional by doing all assigments as though they were for your job, do more than just get the ‘A,’ Wortley said.
Public relations students can better prepare themselves for the workforce by seeking guidance from professors, building a portfolio, seeking out internships and improving their writing skills, Clinger said.
“Winning this award is a tribute to how USU competes among Utah schools,” Wortley said. “It reflects on the caliber of academic professionalism here.”
USU is one of the finest institutions in Utah, Wortley said. A USU graduate student can compete neck to neck with a student from any other university for a job, with the full intention of getting it, he said.
-monica.swapp@aggiemail.usu.edu