Reflections on an amazing year of learning

It’s hard to believe that another group of students – our biggest ever graduating class – has started their field placements already.  It just seems like yesterday that we were in the CCC courtyard at the welcome corn roast getting to know each other.  Now, close to 50 new communications professionals are transitioning from the classroom to real world after an amazing year.  Capping off our excitement is news that two student groups have won ACE Awards from the Canadian Public Relations Society! We’ll know whether they’re gold, silver and bronze when we attend the annual Gala Awards Evening, always  one of the highlights of the year for Toronto’s PR community.   In our books, our students have all achieved Gold! We’re very proud of them.

We’re often asked about what makes our program so special. What differentiates us from the competition. We always say “speak to our students and graduates – they are our best ambassadors.”  To that end, we’d like to share some thoughts on the year gone by from selected student blogs. Click on the excerpt to read the full post.

From Mike Giardino:

 

 

 

 

 

 

From Jill Angelstad

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From Shahroz Hassanzadeh

 

 

 

 

 

From Will Pennell

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike, Jill, Shahroz and Will will join their classmates for Convocation in June 2012 as they receive their Ontario Graduate Certificate in Corporate Communications & Public Relations.   Prior to graduation, they are completing their 8 week field placements: Mike at Apex Public Relations; Jill at Flip Publicity; Shahroz at the Toronto Argonauts; and Will at Redbrick Communications.

Student Event: Showtime Shaker

Join us at Showtime Shaker for an evening of movies, music and martinis for a magnificent organization!

Come out and enjoy our mini-movie marathon on Thursday, April 12 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. while enjoying delicious martinis and popcorn.

Showtime Shaker takes place at the recently restored Projection Booth theatre at 1035 Gerrard Street East, just five minutes away from Centennial College’s Centre for Creative Communications. Free street parking is available after 6 p.m.

The event supports Extend-A-Family (EAF), a not-for-profit organization that works with families who have children with disabilities. EAF strives to build relationships in the community and connect with host families. Proceeds will go towards their summer camp program.

Tickets are $15, which includes short films and a feature martini or beverage of choice. Live music will entertain you between films and great raffle prizes will help us raise extra funds for this great charity. Additional food from the Grinder Café is available for low-cost.

E-mail eafshowtimeshaker@gmail.com for tickets or Tweet @showtimeshaker

 

Big Bicycle Birthday Bash

On Wednesday, April 4, Corporate Communications and Public Relations students at Centennial College will host a fundraising event called Big Bicycle Birthday Bash to support My First Wheels, a local charitable organization.

Taking place at the Harbourfront Community Centre, the event will raise both funds and awareness for this very special charity. The theme is a birthday party for adults, which will include games, prizes and other surprises! The event will run from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. with tickets priced at $12. Like any memorable birthday party, we’ll have awesome decorations, a piñata and event a cupcake-decorating station.

My First Wheels is a charity with a mission to give every child the chance to own a bike. Launched in 2009, the charity has provided more than 200 bikes to underprivileged children in the Toronto area. As a grassroots organization, the charity relies only on donations from individuals and businesses. Please visit My First Wheels for additional information on the charity.

To purchase tickets, please contact Rebecca Russell at 647-845-4243 or ccprcentennial@gmail.com

 

Student Event: Books are FUNdamental!

Are you a parent with kids? Want to give back to a great organization that provides books and literacy assistance for children in low-income Toronto neighbourhoods! If so, join Centennial College’s Corporate Communications & Public Relations students for a free event to benefit The Children’s Book Bank on Saturday, April 14 from 12 noon to 2 p.m.

Enjoy an afternoon of bookmark-making, caricature sketching, face painting and story-telling with your children at Playful Grounds café located at 605 College Street. There will be a raffle draw for some fantastic prizes from some of Toronto’s premier organizations, including the AGO, Growing Baby, A Different Booklist and more. We’ll also provide a light lunch for the children and snacks are available for purchase from the café!

Parents are encouraged to donate a gently used children’s book or make a monetary donation toward the cause. All proceeds and donated books from the event go to The Children’s Book Bank!

Student Event: Who Do You Wannabe?

Spice up your life! Don’t you really, really, really wanna zig-a-zag ahh? We thought so! That’s why we’re throwing the biggest ‘90s throwback to hit Church Street in years. Join us on Monday, April 16, 2012 at 7 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom at The 519 Church Street Community Centre for a live show from Toronto’s own WANNABE Spice Girls Tribute Band.

The night will include:

• A beer and wine cash bar
• Candy bar
• $1 pizza slices
• Spice Girls costume contest
• Raffle prizes such as tickets to the Toronto Zoo, gift certificates and more
• A good uproarious time!

All proceeds go directly to The 519 Church Street Community Centre and tickets are only $15. The 519 is the hub of community life in Toronto’s diverse Church and Wellesley Village; it is dedicated to improving the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, transgender, two-spirit and queer (LGBTTQ) communities and their allies.

For more information, follow us on Twitter or contact us on Facebook.

Student Event: L.O.V.E. for Life

Every day kids across Canada are victims of violence. Leave Out Violence (LOVE) is a national charity that provides anti-violence programming for at-risk youth. On Monday, April 2, students from Centennial’s Corporate Communications & Public Relations program proudly present LOVE FOR LIFE, a young professional mixer to benefit LOVE. This charity event will be held at Victory Café between 7 p.m. and 9:3o p.m.  The evening features an address by Lana Feinstein, Executive Director of LOVE, a fantastic raffle with amazing prizes from great local businesses, a LOVE-inspired date auction and awe-inspiring magic tricks by master illusionist Rob Testa. Great tunes, cocktails and youth artwork on display are even more reasons to check out this event!

Tickets are $15, and 100 per cent of the proceeds will be used to support anti-violence programming at LOVE. For tickets, please email loveevent12@gmail.com.

Check out our event on Facebook or Twitter for more information @LOVEFORL1FE – use hashtag #loveforlifeevent

Let’s help victims of violence and teach them that care, patience, respect and love can be a part of their lives. Let’s Love for Life. Help us help youth.

Five PR skills you do learn at Centennial

CC&PR students with Centennial College President Ann Buller

Recently Gini Dietrich, one of the smartest PR practitioners working in the business, wrote a post for PR Daily called “5 PR skills you won’t learn in a classroom.”  The post looks at five specific skill sets that are essential for communicators, though often overlooked, or according to Gini, not taught. On a broader level, they reflect the growing importance of ensuring students studying PR and corporate communications understand business operations and how PR fits into the broader marketing spectrum within organizations.

Gini’s post made me stop and reflect on whether we’re teaching these skills in Centennial’s Corporate Communications & Public Relations program.  We are, in fact, and continue to strengthen these important areas both inside and outside the classroom.

The Business Dashboard.  Business for Corporate Communicators is a first semester course that ensures students understand how business operate and the role strategic communications places in its success.  We look at balance sheets when we talk about investor relations and make sure students understand the bottom line.  Looking to the future, we’re looking at partnerships with Centennial’s School of Business to complement what we’re teaching.

Traditional Marketing.  Centennial’s Corporate Communications & Public Relations program is part of an integrated Advertising and PR unit in the School of Communications, Media & Design at the Centre for Creative Communications.  We look at the interrelationship between marketing and PR, and how they work together.  Currently we’ve got post-grad advertising students working with CC&PR students in our Event Management class.

Budgeting and Forecasting.  In our Project Management and Communications Management courses, we look at budget management from several different perspectives.  Students forecast and build budgets from scratch in Event Management, part of our commitment to hands-on learning.  In Fall 2012 CC&PR students planned and executed nine special events that raised close to $13,000 – effective budgeting was key to their success.

Management and Leadership.  Centennial’s program works to create the confidence and leadership skills new communicators need.  From working in cross-functional teams to taking lead roles on projects, students get multiple opportunities to put what they’re learning to work.  We mandate all our students join CPRS or IABC and encourage them to volunteer so they can begin exercising management skills in the real world.  Plus, we have opportunities like our interactive marketing agency, TILT, where students get real agency experience and the opportunity to lead projects.

Willingness to Learn New Things. Can we teach this in a classroom? I think we can and do – by encouraging our students to stretch themselves beyond what they think is possible.  By encouraging them to learn new skills. To take risks. And to commit themselves to lifelong learning.   It’s reflected in the work our students do and the discussions we have in class everyday.

 

Centennial student Martha Holmen reflects on CPRS CEO of the Year Luncheon

Martha Holmen

Centennial Corporate Communications & Public Relations students are active in both CPRS and IABC, the two professional associations for the communications industry.  In January, CC&PR student Martha Holmen attended the CPRS Toronto CEO of the Year luncheon, where Dr. Robert Bell, CEO of the University Health Network was this year’s honouree.

Martha recently wrote an article for the CPRS Toronto website reflecting on the luncheon and the insights Dr. Bell gave the PR practitioners present.  You can read Martha’s article here.

Explore the Centre for Creative Communications – Participate in interactive sessions & learn more about our programs

The Centre for Creative Communications is the home to Centennial’s School of Communications, Media and Design.  Affectionately known as the CCC, the centre is a bustling centre of creative energy that offers a broad range of post-graduate, diploma and advanced diploma programs in everything from journalism, book and magazine publishing to digital animation, children’s entertainment, fine arts and of course, corporate communications and public relations.

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On Sunday, January 12, 2012, the Centre is holding an Open House that will showcase the many programs offered through the school.  It runs from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and will feature a range of free interactive sessions including creative brainstorming, an Illustrator and PhotoShop workshop, open drawing event and a social media workshop led by Corporate Communications & Public Relations program coordinator Barry Waite.  The Social Media Workshop will focus on Twitter and blogging, and provide some quick and easy tips to quickly build an online presence.

Workshops take place between 12 noon and 1 p.m.

At 1:30 p.m. there will be Program Applicant Sessions for applicants interested in specific programs, including the post-graduate Corporate Communications & Public Relations program.

Join us on Sunday, January 15, 2012 to Explore Centennial!

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Centennial student events raise more than $12,500 for local charities!

Hands-on learning is key to the success of Centennial’s Corporate Communications and Public Relations program. Our students learn by doing from the moment they step foot into the Centre for Creative Communications.  Our Event Management course is the perfect example.  In the first week our students learn they’ll be executing a special event in small teams of four to six in less than 15 weeks.   Very quickly they come together and start putting to work all the skills they’re learning in all their courses.  The result – some stellar special events.

This year, Centennial’s CC&PR students staged nine distinct, entertaining and informative events ranging from an Ugly Holiday Sweater party that received national media coverage on CBC Radio to a beautifully serene yoga evening, to the program’s signature social media event, Talk is Cheap.

Each event benefited a local charity, many so small they have rely on volunteers and donations to keep going.  Together our students raised more than $12,500 for nine charities in the GTA!   Thanks go to Event Management instructors Vivian McCuaig and Holly Fraser for mentoring the students and helping them achieve greatness.

Here’s a list of the charities that are benefiting from the hard work of Centennial students:

• My First Wheels
• Inner City Angels
• Dress for Success
• Blessings in a Backback
• Dr. Roz’s Healing Centre
• National Advertising Benevolent Society
• Right to Play Canada
• Children’s Book Bank
• Breakfast Clubs of Canada

Here are some photos from the events:

The Pack Up HungerTeam (in support of Blessings in a Backpack)

The Bid for a Bike Team (in support of My First Wheels)

The EmPoweRCCPR Team with Centennial College president Ann Buller (in support of Dress for Success)

The Wine4NABS Team with Instructor Holly Fraser & Program Coordinator Barry Waite (in support of National Advertising Benevolent Society)

The Talk is Cheap Team (in support of Right to Play Canada)

Cheat for a Cause Team (in support of the Children's Book Bank)

 

Congratulations to Centennial’s Corporate Communications & Public Relations students on a job well done!