Rhonda Brauer spoke about her experience as a managing director at Burson-Marsteller Public Relations firm Tuesday, as part of a speaker series sponsored by the UCLA Media Center that aims to introduce students to media-related jobs.
“It’s a way to show students how to go from UCLA to the real world,” said Tom Plate, co-founder of the center and a professor of public affairs.
Brauer spoke about how she builds and launches brands globally, focusing on her successful campaigns for Old Navy and the Morongo Hotel in Palm Springs, among others.
Brauer said she also works with firms to fend off crises, like when a company she worked with faced an outbreak of mad cow disease in the United States.
Many students enrolled in Plate’s communications classes attended the event.
“I came for extra credit for my communications class, but I was very impressed by the lecture. I didn’t realize the scope of public relations,” said Amy Hu, a third-year communication studies student.
Plate cofounded the nonprofit UCLA Media Center two years ago to supplement the communication studies program.
“The speakers series connects people who are successful in fields in which they are interested in,” said Barry Sanders, co-founder of the center and a UCLA visiting professor.
Liz Chou, speaker series director and a fourth-year physiological sciences student, said the speaker series is a great way for students to access media-specific resources.
“The series is a great way for students to learn about internship opportunities and get questions answered from industry professionals in an intimate environment,” she said.
The center has hosted speakers in the past, but the fall series is the first consistent flow of speakers the center has sponsored. Previous lecturers have included Israeli journalist Yitzhak Ben Horin, the Wall Street Journal’s Peter Sanders and Liz Dennery Sanders, CEO of Dennery Marks Public Relations.
“We hope (the series) will inspire all students to pursue media-related fields they didn’t know about,” Plate said.
Karen Yu, a third-year communication studies student, said she thinks the speaker series has made her more prepared to enter the workforce.
“Listening to the speakers has helped me learn what will make me more competitive when I enter the communications field,” she said. “I plan to attend as many lectures as I can.”
Chou said she hopes the center will eventually be able to host speakers every Tuesday and Thursday.
The series currently focuses on journalism and public relations, but the directors hope to expand it to other media-related fields, Sanders said, such as market research and entertainment law.
Currently the lectures are limited to the first 50 students who RSVP to the media center Web site, but the center hopes to find a venue that can accommodate more students.
The fall series ends next Thursday with John Emshwiller, a Wall Street Journal reporter who broke the Enron story.
“Anybody can come to these events,” Chou said. “You can be a computer science major and come because you have an inkling to learn more about media.”