Every year the Hofstra University chapter of Public Relation Student Society of America hosts an annual networking dinner event for students. Professionals from all different areas of PR are invited to come and network with Hofstra University’s communication students.
This year hosted 16 professionals that gave students different views of the employment opportunities they can explore in public relations. There were in-house communications specialists from Girl Scouts of America to large PR agencies such as Hunter and CooperKatz & Company.
The dinner was organized somewhat similar to a “speed-dating” event. Since there were so many professionals and students in attendance the students were given 15 minutes to network at their first table and eat. Then students were asked to transition to the next table every ten minutes. This way, students could meet as many professionals as possible.
The dinner provides a laid back environment for students to start making professional connections. This year Jamaican cuisine was served, a variation from the typical Italian food. Since the event was such a success pizza was also served to accommodate the large amount of students and professionals that attended.
In past years the networking event has had around 40 people in attendance. This year there were over 120 tickets sold. This was a massive improvement from past years. The event is typically held in the Hofstra University student center plaza rooms, but was moved to a larger venue Hof USA on the North side of campus.
To ease tension the students are given an informational session on how to network the day of the event. Speaker Judy Blume hosted this event and gave students various tips on how to dress and act at the professional event. Judy Blume is an adjunct public relations professor at Hofstra and has many years experience working in the industry.
This years networking dinner was themed “Find Your Match” focusing on puzzle décor. Puzzle pieces decorated the walls and tables of the venue. There was also an “Instagram” corner to give students a fun option to take photos at the event. Since PR has so much emphasis on social media this allowed students a fun option at the networking dinner.
Students are encouraged to participate in this event as many acquire internship and job opportunities from this event. Many of the PR professionals in attendance are actually Hofstra graduate students. Overall this years networking dinner turned out to be an enormous success and the Hofstra PRSSA chapter hopes to continue this success in years to come.
Listen to a podcast on the special events committee for this event here.