To: Dorothy Bland, Kim Keller, Larry Powell, Brittany McElroy and Stephanie Garza

From: Mayborn PR Professional Ryann Armstrong

Date: Nov. 28, 2023

Subject: Mayborn information session for Ray Braswell High School students

When and Where

The Mayborn School of Journalism will visit Ray Braswell High School on Dec. 8 to discuss the

many opportunities our department offers. The event will start at 9 a.m. and end at 10 a.m., so

please be in the front office by 8:45 a.m. We will all meet there and walk to the auditorium

together.

Event Rundown

The event will begin with a quick welcome message and introduction from Ray Braswell’s

principal, DeCorian Hailey. We will then move on to speeches from each of you in the order

provided in the agenda below. The event will end with a Q&A session with the students, so

please be prepared to answer any questions they may have.

We expect a turnout of around 175 students, so this is an excellent opportunity to recruit some

bright, capable young minds.

Directions to Ray Braswell High School from Sycamore Hall

● Head east on West Hickory Street for 1100 feet

● Turn left onto Avenue C and drive for one mile

● Turn right on West University Drive and continue on that road for 13 miles

● Turn right onto Navo Road for 0.2 miles

● Turn into the parking lot of Ray Braswell High School

Hello, everyone. I’m so excited to be here and see all of your fresh faces. I am Professor Keller, and I am going to talk to you all about public relations.

Who here has heard of P-R? (PAUSE, LOOK FOR HANDS) That’s great! So, basically, P-R is all about creating relationships between the organization and groups of people. We do a lot of different things, but the center of the job is communication. If you are good at making friends and talking to people, you might be a good fit for P-R. If you’re good at smoothing things over with your parents and getting away with things you probably shouldn’t, you’re perfect for P-R.

So, before I started teaching, I worked a bunch of different jobs. I did medical photography and worked at a nonprofit. But eventually, I worked for FedEx’s P-R department. It’s there that I learned the valuable skills that I pass on to my students.

Enough about me, does anyone here like to talk? Maybe too much? (LAUGH, LOOK AROUND FOR HANDS, CHOOSE A STUDENT TO CONNECT WITH)

Okay, my talker, what’s your name? (WAIT FOR RESPONSE) So (INSERT NAME), who’s your favorite celebrity? (WAIT FOR RESPONSE) Yep, she has a public relations manager. Pretty much everyone in the public eye has a P-R representative behind them.

Alright, (INSERT NAME) one more question. What is your favorite shoe brand? Yep, it has a P-R team managing its relationship with you. So, anyway, the point I’m getting at is public relations is almost always present. Companies and individuals need people like me to manage their relationships with each other and with you. 

I’ve been talking a lot about communication, but there’s a lot more to P-R than just verbal communication. That’s part of it, sure, but we also have to be good with writing, media, social media, and a bunch of other things. Now, this is where y’all have me beat. I’m old. I don’t know how to use all the new social media, and I don’t keep up with the latest trends. Y’all have had phones basically your whole lives and know how and what to post on everything. Honestly, I’m jealous.

P-R is a field in which you can use all that knowledge about Charli D’Amelio’s (DAH-meal-ee-oh) latest dance or Selena Gomez’s latest feud with Hailey Bieber to your advantage. You can take the information that your parents think is useless and use it to make money. Sounds pretty great, right?

Alright, so now that everyone wants in, let’s talk school. At U-N-T, we offer a program where you get your degree in journalism with a focus in P-R. That means you get to explore journalism a little bit and get better at writing while learning the skills you need to succeed in your career.

Now, it is by no means an easy degree. You have to be dedicated to improving your skills, and I’m going to be honest with you all: I can be kind of a tough grader. But I can guarantee that by the time you walk across that stage at graduation, you will be a professional in the field.

How can I guarantee that, you ask? Well, I have a story for you. One of my ex-students, Valerie (VAL-err-ee), is graduating in December and already has two jobs fighting over her. She worked hard in my classes, and I taught her everything she needed to be awesome. And that’s just one of my ex-students. I have tons of kids all across the world thriving in the profession.

Another cool thing that really sets our P-R department at U-N-T apart from the others is our hands-on opportunities. So, we all think of college as sitting in classes listening to boring professors like me talk. You know the (CHARLIE BROWN TEACHER IMPRESSION). Well, we actually have a student-run agency at Mayborn.

So you get actual experience with real clients before graduating. You do the same things that you’ll do in the field, but with a mentor helping you out when you need it.

The agency is called AgenZ (A-jen-ZEE), and the students create everything. You’ll learn how to do research, produce content, and work with clients. This opportunity is something that is unique to U-N-T and really sets our students apart. If you participate in this program, you’re pretty much guaranteed a job after graduation.

Finally, we are always looking for students with different backgrounds. U-N-T is one of the most diverse campuses in America, and with P-R, diversity is crucial. We represent our audience, so our different backgrounds help us understand eachother and cater to our people. If you’re Black, Hispanic or Asian, you will be a valuable asset in P-R, and people will seek you out.

So, who’s ready to enter your public relations era? (LAUGH) You guys are the future, and public relations is thriving right now. It is definitely one of those careers that is never going away.

Apps for the Masses

123 Sample Avenue

Dallas, Texas 76203

940-555-1212

Media Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Ryann Armstrong Director of Public Relations

ryannarmstrong@my.unt.edu

A new app connects hairstylists and customers

(DALLAS, Texas- Feb. 17, 2023) HairAnywhere, a new app created to assist clients with finding highly rated stylists who can fit their needs, will be released on Feb. 27 by Apps for the Masses.

The app, which is compatible with both iOS and Android systems, will have information on more than 1.2 million hairstylists nationwide. Because many stylists do not have their own websites, this app will give them an outlet to display photos of their work and provide ratings from third-party review sites. “Before this app, we relied on word-of-mouth to get clients,” said Barbra Banks, a hairstylist in Denton. “Now we have somewhere to actually show off our work, but also somewhere the bad eggs can be exposed.”

-more

Add 1

HairAnywhere has a search function in which users can filter searches based on information such as location, cost and services. The search results utilize a ranking system based on reviews from sites like Yelp, with the most qualified, highly reviewed hairdressers at the top of the page.

“This app will be easy to use and aesthetically pleasing,” said Director of Research and Development for Apps for the Masses Mark Yusef.

Clients can make appointments through the app, making it a convenient tool for both stylists and their customers.

About Apps for the Masses: Apps for the Masses is a Dallas-based company founded in 2015. The company’s team of 25 employees works with software development programs such as Java and Flutter to create quality apps compatible with iOS and Android programs. Learn more about Apps for the Masses at www.Apps4theMasses.com.

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For class use only. 

Ryann Armstong

Abide Women’s Health Services

Communications Director

2612 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd

Dallas, Texas, 75215

972-474-6311

 Two nonprofits partner to honor Black History Month on social media

March of Dimes and Abide collaborate for an educational social media campaign

(DALLAS, Texas- Nov. 2, 2023) Throughout February, Abide Women’s Health Services will partner with March of Dimes in a social media takeover to inform the public about Black maternal struggles. 

March of Dimes works to help kids with medical issues have a happy and healthy life with the required treatments. Therefore, they align perfectly with Abide’s mission to help babies and children. 

“We are incredibly grateful to have this opportunity,” said the CEO of March for Dimes, Elizabeth Cherot. “To think of the amount of families and children that this partnership could help is crazy.” 

The collaboration event will consist of a daily post on March of Dimes’ Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, informing followers about the inequities that Black mothers face. It will provide publicity to both organizations as well as educate the public on the crucial topic and spark conversation by implementing the hashtag #Blackmothersmovement under each post. 

“A lot of people have no idea what Black women face with healthcare,” said Cessilye Smith, CEO of Abide Women’s Health. “Collaborating with a nonprofit as big as March of Dimes, we may be able to bring some real change to that awareness.” 

With this collaboration, March of Dimes will help to potentially provide vital information to families and mothers with no other way to receive it. 

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About Abide: 

Abide Women’s Health Services exists to improve birth outcomes in communities with the lowest quality of care. They work to combat disparities in Black maternal and infant health. According to data from March of Dimes, Black women are 3-4x more likely than white women to die from pregnancy-related causes, even when these causes are preventable. Black parents and their children deserve justice. That’s why Abide Women’s Health Services exists. Visit https://www.abidewomen.org/about to learn more about the organization. 

About March for Dimes:

March for Dimes’ mission is to lead the fight for the health of all moms and babies. Their goals are to end preventable maternal health risks and deaths, end preventable preterm birth and infant death and close the health equity gap. The U.S. remains among the most dangerous developed nations for childbirth, especially for families of color. Through research, programs and advocacy, March of Dimes supporters enable us to be there for parents throughout their pregnancies. Learn more about the organization at https://www.marchofdimes.org/about-us/mission.