Students met leaders at a TV station, a sports organization, a newspaper, a think tank, and at several production companies and public relations operations.
During the second week of class, the Communications Fellows visited WESH TV (an NBC-affiliate owned by Hearst), the Amway Center (headquarters of the Orlando Magic team), the Poynter Institute, the Orlando Sentinel, strategic communications agency Fry Hammond Barr, social marketing agency IZEA, and production studio IDEAS.
The week concluded at Disney World, first with a Friday visit to Disney’s Public Affairs department (which includes its communications team), and with a Saturday day of fun at Magic Kingdom.
“During the whole week, this group of students kept the energy high and asked smart, appropriate questions at the different venues we visited,” said Assistant Professor Vanessa Bravo. “They were well prepared and very disciplined, too.”
“We receive students frequently at the Sentinel, but the January visit from Elon students is our favorite, because these students ask very good questions,” said John Cutter, associate editor at the Orlando Sentinel.
The 13 students were accompanied in this trip by professor Bravo and by Ashley Pinney, associate director of corporate relations at the School of Communications, who coordinated the logistics of the trip along with professor Naeemah Clark, director of the Communications Fellows program.