Our visit to Alice PR provided me a valuable learning experience that gave me insights into the world of public relations. I was able to gain a clearer understanding of what working at a PR firm might look like which was something I had struggled to picture before as a PR major. After the visit it was clear to me that I can have a PR career where I truly make a difference.

One of the highlights was a group activity that boosted my confidence in contributing ideas for campaigns. Before, I often doubted myself and hesitated to speak up, but working with others made me realize that my thoughts matter and that every voice should be included. This experience encouraged me to be more engaged and confident in discussions moving forward.

Most importantly, Alice PR changed how I view ethical public relations. It’s not just about following rules but about creating an environment of respect, honesty, and inclusion. This has inspired me to embrace ethical values and active participation as I pursue my future in PR.

Today’s trip to Alice PR was incredibly engaging and solidified the type of work I want to do after graduating. Throughout my many different attempts at choosing a career path, one thing has remained consistent: I want to help people. With its clientele primarily consisting of non-profits, Alice PR does exactly that.

As someone who is not in PR, this meeting was very insightful. My main takeaway from our speakers was the importance of giving back to people. Over the past few years, Alice PR has held two main events that revolved around doing so: Alice Asks and Alice Academy for Activists. Alice Asks was an event series meant to give access to expert speakers, covering topics such as “AI: A Force of Good or Evil?”. Alice Academy for Activists was a three day bootcamp for aspiring activists in Dublin, free of charge. In giving back to people, you are practice corporate social responsibility, a main topic of our class.

I also learned that the best social media practice for non-profits simply comes down to resources. Being that I want to go into social media, this was very important to me. Although I am actively learning, I tend to struggle with messaging, but this point helped me remember that sometimes you have to look at who is around you. There is power in human testimonials.

We spent some time doing a group activity where we had to create an advocacy campaign for our given issue. I learned a lot about what an advocacy campaign can look like, but I’d love to learn more about how they come to fruition.

I really enjoyed our time at Alice PR and hearing about their advocacy work for clients. Niamh Breathnach, Maisie Lynch, and Emma Walsh from Alice PR were great presenters, and I learned a lot! 

One thing I learned was Alice PR’s commitment to its community. The agency held a bootcamp for aspiring activists called Alice Academy for Activists. Over the course of three days, 21 activists learned about media relations, social media, fundraising, and more. The camp was completely free for participants and made Alice PR a leader in activism and advocacy. 

Another thing I learned about was Alice Asks, a series of guest speaker events for clients and friends to further their learning. Some previous topics include ethics, AI, and women in leadership. It is incredible way for the agency to bring clients up-to-speed on current topics and trends. 

The third thing I learned was the importance of relationships with journalists. Alice PR was tasked with earning media coverage for a campaign with Ruhama and the Gaelic Athletic Association. Maisie had a previous relationship with a few journalists she pitched to, and she earned a good amount of coverage from just those journalists she knew.  

Understanding your audience was interesting to me. In the campaign above, the target audience was men ages 18-35, and Maisie does not fall into that demographic. In our campaign exercise, my group created a campaign for men in their 30s and 40s. We relied heavily on research about our audience to figure out what strategies would work best.  

I also found it interesting that Maisie had to explain the importance of the Game Changers campaign to journalists with a sports beat because it was not an issue they covered directly. Maisie did a great job explaining how she pitched the campaign to sports journalists.  

I still have questions about measuring the long-term results of a campaign and how audience sentiment changes.

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.

Although I am not a Public Relations major and at times have trouble with the most rudimentary aspects of PR, I found the conversation incredibly engaging and was able to ask questions based on my own experiences in what I have found to be a very welcoming environment. 

Firstly, I found out how Public Relations handles hate speech on social media. Sometimes they are able to block or report individuals for comments but sometimes they are not able to censor anything. It depends on the organization or client they are working for and their own protocol. 

Furthermore, I did not know the intricacies of dealing with news and media outlets. How close Public Relations works with this sector and how vital media is for a campaign and brand image.

Continuing, I learned the term DEI is not as politicized in Ireland as it is in the U.S. This struck me as surprising as this is such a hot debate that is currently ongoing.

I also found the local athletic organizations led by towns that make up the GAA very interesting. Having such a small community and then keeping that community and players in the same place where they are born is very special. This is compared to football players in the U.S who often change teams off and on and move to different cities. 

I also found their initiative with Game Changers a beautiful show of solidarity to combat gender inequality in collaboration with the sports realm.  

To wrap up, I would like to learn more about the collaboration that happens between Public Relations and News / Media. Since I am looking to go into Media, having this knowledge I feel could help in my chosen field.

Today’s visit to Alice PR was my favorite business trip so far. I really enjoyed learning more about strategy and media relations in their campaigns. Over the summer I interned for a non-profit adoption agency, Adoptions From The Heart, where I learned a lot about media relations and what goes into planning an event. Hearing how an out-of-house agency collaborates with non-profits gave me a fresh perspective.

Learning about the Ruhama Game Changer campaign was really cool to learn more about. This campaign took place at a GAA game with the goal to educate both younger and older men, as well as policy makers on the awareness on gender, domestic and sexual based violence. Hosting this campaign at such a popular sporting event was a powerful way to challenge social and cultural norms surrounding violence and raise awareness, for particularly, among young men.

The activity that we did towards the end of the meeting. It was so fun and engaging and allowed us to brainstorm advocacy campaign ideas within small, medium and large time frames. I felt like this activity really gave me, and specifically all of the public relations students, an opportunity to show their skills in creating impactful campaign concepts.

At the Alice PR firm today we had the opportunity to learn from Niamh Breathnach, Maisie Lynch, and Emma Walsh about what it is like to run a PR company from the standpoint of activism and advocacy. With Alice’s clientele being mainly made up of not-for-profits, charities, and Irish agencies, a majority of their work revolves around activism and touches on various subsections of human rights. 

What I gathered during our meeting was yet another change in perspective, or rather, a shift, from viewing PR through the lens of a consumer-based business to what PR looks like for charities or not for profits. Rather than handling consumer grievances or company scandals, Alice PR’s angle is one of magnifying a voice or maximizing outreach towards people  who may be lacking critical resources due to societal pitfalls or unfortunate life circumstances. This is not PR for the sake of protecting image but PR for the sake of protecting persons. To see what this really means, we were given a rundown of their case study with the Irish charity Ruhama and their campaign entitled “Game Changer” advocating for the education and protection of sexual and gender-based violence. This project in particular was in collaboration with the Gaelic Athletic Association making it larger in scale than what Alice PR is used to. It was highly successful and a win for Alice overall.

I was also intrigued by their Alice Academy for Activists bootcamp as it is something I have never seen or heard of before. To foster not only community between inspired individuals seeking to improve their communities, but equip them with resources to grow as activists through a multi-day camp is ingenious and important work. Especially as Naimh mentioned this program was largely a response to and stricken by the recent climate surrounding diversity, Equity, and Inclusion frameworks also known as DEI.

Our visit to AIB and Goodbody Clearstream, was nothing short of exciting, informative, and insightful. I felt immediately welcomed into their workspace, and was excited to learn more about how the two organizations approached sustainability. Paul Kelly, Katie Heston, and John McGeown, all spoke on different categories of expertise. Despite a contrast in topics, each piece that was spoken all weaved together to convey their passions about working in and creating a greener future for the brand.

Paul had truly allowed me to understand just how different EU regulations and standards are compared to the U.S.’, but that should not come as a surprise. “I may walk slowly, but I never walk backwards,” a quote from Abraham Lincoln that Paul shared with us during the Q&A. This quote is significant because it supports AIB and Goodbody Clearstreams’ cause: To fully transition to green energy by 2030, and to become net zero by 2050. 

Now, these promised dates are not here to fill a quota. I believed this was the case, as I remembered just how many organizations practice greenhushing (avoiding discussion of their sustainability efforts). My perception indeed shifted, and I came to realize that AIB and Goodbody Clearstream were entirely committed to meeting those target dates. 

To put things in perspective, it was mentioned by Paul that you would get fined billions of dollars from the EU if you did not meet your promises on being carbon neutral/net zero by your set date. However, Katie mentioned how their environmental efforts were not fueled by the possibility of having to owe the EU large sums of money by not accomplishing their sustainability goals, but fueled by the true change it would bring to the quality of life for everything, and everyone. 

I found it interesting how their efforts in investigating their subcontractors are so precise and careful. It is a thorough search for any signs of ethical implications like child labor. I thought this was absolutely amazing, and I have never heard of this effort being made from any other brand/organization. AIB and Goodbody Clearstream prioritizes the wellbeing of their consumers, employees, and of course, the environment. 

I hope to learn more about how EU regulations and standards can shift overtime, especially with influences from the U.S. government. I would also like to know more about the role of banks in the context of sustainability and green initiatives. AIB and Goodbody Clearstream made it crystal clear early on that they would be involved in every step of the processes of their companies becoming net zero. This was truly inspiring, and I cannot wait for the future of their success in sustainability, becoming fully committed to green energy, and becoming net zero.

• Kelly Chhuor

Three things that I thought was interesting was that there are some impacts and consequences for not achieving the net zero commission by 2030. It’s a concept that not many people may not know and that includes me. Secondly, I did assume that businesses have to maintain a balance on how much they share with the public such as their progress toward sustainability. But after today’s meeting, I learned that being transparent with your progress and letting the people understand it, is the best business practice, even during a downfall moment. Lastly, learning about rooftops spaces in Dublin. I wasn’t aware that it’s a big thing in Dublin. I think it just shows how committed they are to the environment and sustainability by having gardens and bees on the rooftops. 

During today’s meeting I noticed a strong commitment to the community. They highlight the society and community as their top priority. Most societies hold a discrimination against autistic individuals so I was amazed to see in their slide that they included autistic individuals as part of their priorities. During the meeting, Katie mentioned if they had to choose between reputation or their support to the community. They will choose the support of the community over their reputation which I thought was interesting.  

Overall, a concept that I would like to learn more about is their progress toward net zero commission by 2030. The due date is a little over four years. And especially since they highlight being transparent as the best business practices, it would be interesting to see some examples of their media. 

Today we had, in my opinion, our most intimidating business visit yet. As we walked in and received our visitor passes and walked into the conference room, I had no idea what to expect, but I walked out feeling more inspired than ever to integrate sustainability into my future career.

Paul started off the presentation by discussing three lenses to sustainability: how it works for property lending, how to give advice, and our role as corporate. My main takeaway from Paul was the importance of working with customers. He explained that it’s like trying to pace another runner in competitive running. In other words, you have to work alongside your customers rather than being more sustainable and expecting them to simply follow.

Katie continued the discussion by explaining Clearbody Clear Stream’s approach to corporate sustainability. She explained to us double materiality. This essentially means that corporations must decide what is important to them, as well as what is important to the planet and society.

John brought the meeting to a close by discussing Allied Irish Bank’s future sustainability goals. I found out the importance of supporting a better society at entry level and how to do so.

I found it fascinating how strong sustainability initiatives are in Ireland compared to the United States, yet how Ireland is considered to be behind compared to the rest of Europe in terms of sustainability. I also found it interesting how strongly corporate sustainability is enforced in Ireland.

I’d like to learn more about how I can bring this newfound knowledge of corporate sustainability into my career, as this visit helped me understand how businesses integrate it rather than just what it is.