IWPA Hosts Girl Scouts in Chicago
On July 12, nearly 100 high school-aged Girl Scouts from across the United States, France, Germany and India attended the "Press Pass 200" lunch at Columbia College, co-sponsored by the Greater O'Hare Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America and IWPA, in cooperation with Chicago Women in Publishing.
Several mentors representing the three organizations met with the Scouts, answering questions and offering career advice.
"The girls were attentive and interested, and their enthusiasm was contagious. I thoroughly enjoyed the forum for fielding their questions and sharing my passion for PR," Natalie Scholberg, senior manager of corporate communications at PNC Mortgage in Vernon Hills said. "I explained that the qualities emphasized in Girl Scouts--like honesty and integrity--are fundamental to public relations. Our profession needs to encourage young people willing to embrace our code of ethics."
IWPA President Peggy Grillot, Web manager at the Society of Actuaries in Schaumburg, emphasized to the young women that networking with other professionals through organizations is a key to success in the communications field.
More than just a "press day," these young women were gathered for a two-week event focused on learning about careers in communications. Housed at Olivet Nazarene University in Kankakee, the girls' experience included lectures, special speakers, group projects (some were filming a video, others were staging a fashion show, some did a broadcast project) and the field trip to Columbia College.