Posted on No Comments on The Week in Review

The Week in Review

Speech Team Update

The JMU Speech Team had their most productive weekend of competition to date this past weekend on the campus of George Mason University.  Twelve teams representing 7 different states joined JMU at the Virginia is for Lovers tournament hosted by our team and the George Mason Speech team, including: Pacific University (Oregon), University of Florida, University of Akron (Ohio), Seton Hall University (New Jersey), Sarah Lawrence College (New York), and St. Joseph’s University (Pennsylvania).  The JMU team finished in 2nd place and Zach Healy (Sr, SCOM/SMAD) was overall top speaker.  The individual results are as follows:

Shelby Akins (Sr, SCOM) 2nd Communication Analysis (QUALLED), 5TH Informative Speaking, 6th Prose Interpretation

Jessie Bur (Jr, Eng/SMAD) 1st Impromptu Speaking, 1st Persuasive Speaking (QUALLED), 6th Poetry Interpretation, 5th TOP SPEAKER

Zach Healy (Sr, SCOM/SMAD) 1st Duo Interpretation, 2nd Informative Speaking (QUALLED), 2nd Poetry Interpretation (QUALLED), 1st Prose Interpretation (QUALLED), OVERALL TOP SPEAKER

Katie Lese (Sr, SCOM) 4th Dramatic Interpretation, 1st Duo Interpretation, 2nd Prose Interpretation (QUALLED)

Nathan Selove (Fr, THEA) 1st After Dinner Speaking (QUALLED)

Kendrick Smith (Soph, SPAN) 2nd Program Oral Interpretation (QUALLED)

In order to qualify an event for the National Individual Event Tournament (NIET) a student must compete in at least three tournament final rounds and their placings in the final round must equal a total of 8 or less.  The JMU team now has 6 members qualified (the most we have ever had qualified this early in the season) for the NIET to be held in Tempe, AZ at Arizona State University in April.

The team, coached by Lee Mayfield and Alyssa Reid,  travels next to West Chester University in Pennsylvania.

Family Weekend

IMG_0802

Family weekend was a great success and thankfully the weather stayed nice! If you have pictures from family weekend that you would like to add, please email Dr. Isaac Woo (woocw@jmu.edu) or Chelsea Legendre (legendcj@dukes.jmu.edu).

Upcoming Events

PRSSA Agency Visit

PRSSA is taking their first trip of the year to D.C. to visit different PR agencies today. The organization will be taking a bus up to D.C. and have the opportunity to meet with PR professionals. Then there will be an alumni networking event to conclude the trip.

IABC Meeting

SCOM’s newest organization, the International Association of Business Communications, will be having one more meeting prior to their elections. Elections will be held in November and if you are interested in running for a position, you will not want to miss these meetings! Contact Dr. Heather Carmack at carmachj@jmu.edu for more information.

Next Meeting: October 17th

Time: 6:30 PM-7:30 PM

Posted on No Comments on Winning SCOM Teams and Returning Alumni

Winning SCOM Teams and Returning Alumni

This week, people in SCOM hosted and participated in many events. Here is the week in review:

SCOM Speech Team

The senior members of the JMU Speech Team traveled to San Marcos, TX to compete in the Hill Country Swing hosted by The University of Texas at Austin and Texas State University.  Both days of competition found the team competing against 13 teams from across 5 states including; Rice University, Texas A&M, Doane College, Colorado College, LSU,  among others.  With only ten events in the tournament the first day’s competition found 7 of the 10 events from JMU in the final rounds of competition and 6 events in finals the second day of competition.  The individual results are as follows:

Day 1 (September 21)

  • Shelby Akins (Sr, SCOM) 6th place Informative Speaking, 4th place Communication Analysis
  • Zach Healy (Sr, SCOM/SMAD) 3rd place Informative Speaking, 3rd place Poetry Interpretation
  • Katie Lese (Sr, SCOM) 2nd place Informative Speaking, Champion Prose Interpretation, 4th place Dramatic Interpretation, 2nd Overall Top Speaker

The team finished 2nd Overall Top Team to UT-Austin (a team of 33 members)

Day 2 (September 22)

  • Shelby Akins  Champion Communication Analysis
  • Zach Healy  Champion Prose Interpretation, 3rd place Duo Interpretation
  • Katie Lese  2nd place Informative Speaking, 3rd place Duo Interpretation, 3rd Dramatic Interpretation

The team finished 4th overall on day two

For the weekend, JMU was recognized as the 2nd Top Team and Katie Lese was recognized as the 2nd Overall Top Speaker, Zach Healy was recognized as the 3rd Top Speaker, and Shelby Akins was recognized as the 10th Top Speaker out of over 130 competitors. If you have any of these amazing students in your classes please thank them for the job they have done representing our program and JMU.

The team next travels to Lynchburg University this weekend to compete in the Liberty University/SNAFU Swing Tournament.

 

Alumni Visit to Campus

Brian Hrubick ('11, Fleishman-Hillard) and Kara Frank ('12. Adfero Group) speaks at PRSSA meeting on Monday.
Brian Hrubick (’11, Fleishman-Hillard) and Kara Frank (’12. Adfero Group) speaks at PRSSA meeting on Monday.

 

Brian Hrubik (’11, Fleishman-Hillard) and Kara Frank (’12, Adfero Group) visited the campus on Monday. They had a guest lecture at the SCOM 261, PR Technique I: Written class of Dr. Janell Bauer and spoke with members of PRSSA JMU Chapter at their weekly meeting.

After teaching digital strategies in PR writing at Dr. Bauer’s class, Brian and Kara gave job advice and shared their work experiences as young public relations professionals at the PRSSA meeting.

We always appreciate our alumni coming back to the campus and support SCOM students. Thank you, Brian and Kara!!

 

 

 

 

Debate Team Contributes for I-Week.

On Tuesday September 24, 2013 the Office of International Programs and Madison Debate Society sponsored a public debate on the topic: Resolved: U.S. warrantless wiretapping has done more harm than good for society.

Please visit the JMU Debate team blog to read more detail and check the video here.

JMU official twitter also recognized this event.

debate team recognition

 

 

 

 

 

If you have any events or activities of SCOM to share, please send information to Dr. Isaac Woo (woocw@jmu.edu) or Chelsea Legendre (legendcj@dukes.jmu.edu) or Tweet us @JMUSCOM.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted on No Comments on [Blog Post] PRSSA National Conference

[Blog Post] PRSSA National Conference

From October 12-16, 2012, five members from James Madison University’s Public Relations Student Society of America, including myself, headed to San Francisco, California to enhance their professional development and network with public relations professionals at the PRSSA National Conference. Speakers came from all over the country hosting professional sessions on various PR related topics such as pitching, media training, sports PR and the importance of social media.

JMU PRSSA’s professional development coordinator, Angela Scibilia, said that the conference was a “really unique opportunity to meet and network with students from all over the country and exchange ideas to improve our organization and our careers in public relations.”

Students also had the opportunity to meet and network with many agencies around the country while representing their chapter and university. “I absolutely loved the atmosphere in San Francisco. We had the opportunity to make great networking connections with both students and professionals in the field,” says Melissa Peale, Secretary of JMU PRSSA.

The SCOM has six organizations to help enhance your education and kickstart your career. Joining one of these organizations allows students to become involved in leadership positions and help build your pre-professional career.

What are some other benefits of joining pre-professional organizations? Share your comments below.