Eryn Gorang '14 provided the winning idea for a big hotel chain's business challenge.
The Mindfire Challenge is a program developed by Ketchum (an international public relations agency with offices in 70 countries) in which college students throughout the United States and abroad submit ideas to help solve the business challenges of different Ketchum clients.
Gorang´s idea was selected as the best this month. and, as a reward, she will receive a $150 gift certificate from the client sponsoring the challenge.
Because of confidentiality issues, details about the client or the idea cannot be disclosed, but it dealt with a new campaign of a renowned hotel chain.
“I am very pleased because Eryn’s idea took in consideration the characteristics of the client, the goals involved in the campaign, the target publics and the time available,” said Communications assistant professor Vanessa Bravo, who taught the section of Strategic Writing in which Gorang was enrolled.
Bravo added that students have benefitted from participating in the Mindfire program by realizing the type of business challenges that a leading public relations agency like Ketchum manages for its big clients.
“It gives them real-life insights and experiences about what public practitioners do, including the planning process and the brainstorming,” Bravo said.
Gorang is a Human Services major with minors in Communications and African-American/African Studies.
Mindfire was recently named 2012 PR Product of the Year by the Holmes Report. Fortune 500 clients participating in this initiative include FedEx, IKEA, Frito-Lay, Wendy’s, Hertz, Mattel and Nokia, among others.