Advertising and Public Relations Students Practice Real-World Communication Consulting for McDonald Observatory

AUSTIN, Texas - July 22, 2008 - This summer, undergraduate students in Advertising and Public Relations consulted the McDonald Observatory on communication strategies as part of the "Integrated Communications Campaigns" course taught by Department of Advertising Assistant Professor Yongjun Sung.

The students were divided into six groups - each forming a fictional advertising agency - consulting the Observatory, a research unit of The University of Texas at Austin and one of the world's leading centers for astronomical research, teaching, and public education and outreach. The Observatory is affiliated with The University of Texas at Austin Department of Astronomy in the College of Natural Sciences.

McDonald Observatory personnel met with the student teams in June to describe communication goals and to answer the questions. In early July, the groups presented their recommendations to a group of Observatory representatives.

Some of the recommendations included more closely identifying the Observatory as part of The University of Texas at Austin; creating a new logo for the Department of Astronomy; using new media, such as social networking tools, blogging, and video; improving the search-engine ranking of the Department of Astronomy's online content; and various strategies for bolstering membership in Friends of McDonald Observatory.

The clear winner, a group called "Stellar Communications," went the extra mile by requesting an extra meeting with the Education and Outreach Office in Austin to gather detailed information, and by sending a student on a trip to McDonald Observatory to observe public tours, star parties, and other events to get a complete picture of the Observatory's outreach activities.

The Stellar Communications group included public relations majors Chelsey Northern (project manager), Erin Mallory (promotions director), Traci Thurmond (public relations director), Stuart Moss (marketing director), Luisa Barbaczy (creative director), Nicole Maxwell (account planner), and Ashley Kaplan (account planner).