As a non PR major, I am unsure if my future career will be in the field of personal relations or not. Yet, this past week has taught me more about the bailiwick of PR and corporate social responsibility than I have learned in my entire life. For a funny sidenote, a lady that I met on the plane ride back attempted to guess my major in college after having a lengthy conversation and she guessed PR! What I can take away from this week being amongst my mostly personal relations major’s classmates and being in business meetings where PR and sustainability seemed to be at the forefront of each presentation, I can confidently say that my acknowledgement towards PR as an essential business practice has been brought to life.
I was happy to able to hear from a wide variety of different businesses such as smaller firms like Alice PR or much bigger and global scale businesses like William Fry. I thought that the diversity amongst the different companies was a great insight into how differently yet similarly these companies were run. It was truly inspiring to hear each different companies devotion to ethical business practices, because, so many times you read about the evil and corruption that many major businesses take part in. It was refreshing to hear that these companies were devoted to sustainable business practices and were on board with excluding clients or suppliers if they were unable to meet/match their sustainable business model.
A certain “business trip” that we went on, which did not really feel business oriented at all was our class trip to Airfield Estate. I become completely engaged into the estate when learning about the rich history the land was apart of and felt necessarily engaged when learning of the daughters of the late family that once owned the property. It seems as if the estate is still working in the lines of the mission statement that was set by the two selfless sisters whom left the land to the city. This particular trip was a reminder to me that whatever I end up doing professionally, I want to feel proud of what the companies goal and mission is. I would want to be apart of something that contributes to the benefit of the community it is serving and the workers it is employing.
On Tuesday afternoon, after we visited Allied Irish Bank and toured the Little Museum of Dublin some classmates and I went to Lemon Jelly for late lunch. We were discussing our first assignment that was due that night and I realized that I could use that time alone to walk around a bit and find a quiet spot to write my assignment. And that I did.
I started my journey out of the hostel and over the bridge. I stopped into a few clothing and record stores but did not manage to buy anything. I stopped to pet a dog whose owner was living in Dublin but lived in the states up until 4 years ago. He was born and raised in Chicago and moved to Dublin after college for work. We chatted for a couple minutes, then I said goodbye to his dog. A greyhound sort of looking dog. I don’t know, I am horrible with dog breeds!
I then found a quiet sport on the river where a man was working in a refreshment stand. I bought a coke (my only one on the trip) and sat down to write my assignment. It took me maybe 45 minutes to write, and as I was finishing my last sip of my coke, a small child and their smaller sibling ran up to me. They were very hyper and charismatic yet did not say much. Not long after their father came up to me and apologized for his children’s antics. I assured him, there was absolutely no worry, and I found them quite amusing. He noticed my accent and asked where I was from. I told him “The Boston Area” because he was not too familiar with Rhode Island LOL. I told him about the class trip we were on and how much fun I was having and he seemed endeared that I was enjoying his home country. We parted ways, and I headed back to the hostel in preparation for dinner which was at a comedy show!
In all, I felt the miniscule time I spent alone out in Dublin was nice and refreshing. I didn’t mention that I also made a phone call to my grandmother who was very excited for me to go on this trip. So, that was a nice getaway to be able to do that.
We were introduced to multiple kinds of companies this past week who emphasized the importance of authenticity and sustainability over profits. Smaller firms like Alice PR and much bigger companies like William Fry both stressed the importance of choosing clients with good track records of CSR and turning away clients that have history of poor sustainability practices.
The Alice PR firm was a meeting that consisted of critical thought and good insight into genuine ethical advocacy for a more sustainable workplace. The speakers were evidently passionate about their message, and it was rubbing off on me as a learner. In the meeting, we learned about all the different ways this firm promotes ethical workplace relations. It seemed like the company’s sole mission was not to make maximum profit but instead to use their profits to further give back to the community(s) they serve. Niamh mentioned that as soon as their company grew in profits and prominence, they immediately were finding all sorts of ways to give back, because at Alice PR they truly believe in the benefit of giving back and spreading awareness to the community they serve. For example, they talked to us about their work with the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and how they worked alongside them to raise awareness about SA and gender violence. Raising awareness about topics such as those mentioned are not just essential to the growth of humanity but is also extremely important when speaking out and about such critical topics within a male dominated field. They made it known that half the battle of raising awareness is introducing those tough conversations into a world where those conversations are not happening enough. The partnership between the GAA and Alice PR was a massive success, as it reached 4.2 million viewers. Even though the GAA is involved with sports as a business, it is critical for them to be promoting common goodness to their masses, as sports can have massive influence on those involved.
The trip to Allied Irish Bank was not only extremely insightful, but it was very inspiring in a way. The crucialness of sustainability is apparent within the world of business, and immediate attention and thoughtfulness needs to be practiced and acted upon urgently from all companies around the world. My limited experience of being educated in the realm of sustainability; plus, my even more limited experience with being in such a professional setting as the meeting we attended, made for a unique morning of apprehensive learning. Going from not really knowing what CSR even meant two weeks ago, to being in a polished business setting learning from accomplished sustainability professionals, I feel extremely fortunate for being apart this program. Being reassured about some of the things we covered during online classes last week was my big takeaway of this meeting. Such as Katie Heston going over the importance of sticking to your business mission and your consumer wants and needs when taking sustainability actions into consideration. Or when John McGeown stressed the notion of creating and publicizing achievable sustainability goals. I alike Professor Ryan, found that the rugby slide that John McGeown shared was very interesting. Those moments of reassurance made me feel like I am truly now understanding the fundamentals of ethical sustainability and make me feel more comfortable sharing my modest knowledge of the subject.
Hello! My name is David Chase and I am a rising senior at Temple University. I am a Communication Studies major here at Klein, so I am taking this class as an elective. I am super excited to visit Dublin! I have been to the UK once before (Scotland), but never to Ireland. I didn’t go to Scotland too long ago, so I am interested to pick up on some of the differences and maybe similarities between the two neighboring countries.
I wasn’t very familiar with CSR before this week’s online classes. So I, for one, am glad that we had those meetings this week for me to feel more informed in the world of CSR. I am curious to find out what companies in Dublin focus their specific efforts on in the realm of corporate social responsibility and sustainability. I would like to imagine most companies out there are doing their part in contributing to environmental & social sustainability.
I am eager to get out there and meet my classmates, talk to locals, see different landmarks, and try new foods. I’m hoping Allie and Professor Ryan will be excited to share with us what they know about Dublin. I can’t wait to take some cool pictures and have a few pints at different pubs that intrigue me. Hopefully I can maybe catch a sporting event or perhaps some good music. Nevertheless, whatever we are doing out there will certainly be engaging and leave me wanting more time there!
Overall, I am going into this trip with a positive and open mindset, and can’t wait to touch down in Dublin!
