The first session is an introduction to the course. We will review the syllabus, the course content and the semester project. Along the way, we will learn about all of you as each semester is different and a function of who's in the class. Hopefully all of your questions will be answered so we can get off to a fast start.

Review Chapter 1 overview of RACE model with focus on R (Research) Steps 1-3 #1 Analyzing the Situation, #2 Analyzing the Organization, # Analyzing the Publics

Overview last class activity identifying an organization/business/person and finding some issue or opportunity which needs to be addressed (impact/importance). Introduce the main activities which PR professionals engage and apply those to the project. NEW action - use ChatGPT to review your teams understanding of the 'issue/opportunity' and then consider which activity is likely most relevant for the situation you identified...and again ask Chat GPT for her opinion.

Week 4 Quiz to test what we've covered so far and to assess what to expect on Midterm. Introduction of the semester project 'PR in Practice' by APRA Board Member, Rosta Stary. Select Teams and assign teams to mentors. Homework is to reach out to mentors to set up first meeting to learn about subject firm/organization and begin project.

Discuss what has been done to initiate first meeting. Best practices in sending e-mails: Meaningful subject, proper greeting - only use first names when invited to (Czech's are formal by default). Then intro stating purpose for the email and actions requested (e.g. face to face meeting to introduce the project and get subject assigned, including suggested meeting availability of the team - but always defer to them asking when THEY are available), relevant background on team members with contact information. Finally, each team needs to create a communication and document/content sharing plan. (Google Docs, or whatever, shared with me...and keeping all critical information in the same folder...with sharing access rights based on the document - just us, your team and the mentor, maybe the team -mentor - client ). Review the slides to better consider publics (from our quick intro today). Activated stakeholders who have shared interests. Be sure when you're meeting with your mentors that you think about the target (persona's in marketing terms...public in PR terms)