Public relations class profiled on newscast

This semester, students in the Public Relations Campaigns class will put their best foot forward and design campaigns to attract tourists to Montgomery County and the surrounding area.

WSLS 10 in Roanoke profiled the project in a newscast on Feb. 18.

"I don’t really view this course as a class," said Associate Professor of Communication Courtney Bosworth. "This is a job for them. If you can get more people coming in, you can get the economic turnover."

Students will work with Lisa Bleakley, director of the Montgomery Tourism Development Council, on their projects. Bleakley presented the challenge to the students earlier this month: prepare a tri-county campaign to increase tourism for the counties of Montgomery, Pulaski and Giles, with a focus on agritourism.

"Part of the reason people love our area is those beautiful scenic vistas that we offer," Bleakley said. "We can't leave out what is at our heart and soul, and that is those rural landscapes."

The students will work in teams over the course of the spring semester to develop their campaigns. The students will conduct research, form budgets, compile weekly reports and, at the end of the course, offer a professional presentation of their public relations campaigns.

Final presentations will be held during the second week of May. Teams will present their public relations campaign plans to Bleakley, Bosworth, the tourism board and local media.