Several College of Communication and Information students had the opportunity to travel to Atlanta with the Tombras School of Advertising and Public Relations to visit multiple professional industries and get a first-hand look at how their degrees are used in the real world. Students visited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Omnicom Group, American Express, Weber Shadwick, GoTo Foods (formerly known as Focus Brands), and Edelman to learn about communication opportunities at each organization. What was unique to this trip compared to others is that many of the industry leaders they met with were CCI alumni.
Rohit Gunti is a second-year PhD student at CCI and an instructor for the School of Information Sciences. He was asked to attend as a chaperone and says the trip was beneficial for him as both a teacher and student. During their time at Weber Shadwick, Gunti spoke with Executive Vice President and General Manager Melissa Golden.
“She usually has interactions with the data scientists. So since data sciences are from my field, I asked her some questions regarding the data, security, web scraping, and all that,” he said.
Gunti said that he loves teaching and being able to do research with his PhD. He added that, although he would like to continue to work in academics after graduation, this trip to Atlanta opened his eyes to the many industry opportunities that involve information sciences.
Gunti made sure to ask each company about possible internship opportunities for his students, as well.
University of Tennessee, Knoxville alumnus, Jacob Smith (‘22), is an associate of client experience at Weber Shandwick. He was one of several UT alumni who met with the students during their trip.
“The students were able to hear from some of our experts in the industry and hear case studies on some of our clients, such as Mars and James Hardy. The students had a roundtable with all of our associates and asked questions about our work, what it takes to thrive in an agency, and how to navigate the transition from university to work,” he said.
Smith says his time at UT helped build the foundational tools to help him land his current role.
“My professors at UT made sure that we were well-equipped to work well as members of a team. This is one of the biggest aspects of being successful in my current role as I have to learn how to manage working relationships across different time zones and teams,” he said.
Since graduating in 2022, Smith has worked with Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Jameson Irish Whiskey, and more.
Angelina Gonzalez is a senior at the Tombras School and a first-generation college student. Her family came to the United States from Mexico when she was twelve years old. She said growing up she never thought she would have the opportunity to attend a university until she heard about the Tennessee Promise her junior year of high school.
She attended Pellissippi State Community College for two years before transferring to UT.
Once on UT’s campus, Gonzalez wanted to take every opportunity to learn about the communications field both in the classroom and through hands-on experiences. She says—thanks to scholarship opportunities—she has already been on two other trips with the Tombras School. Gonzalez said every trip has been unique and she has learned something new about the communications industry each time. Her first trip was to Memphis.
“Going on that first Memphis trip, I did not know what to expect, did not know what to do, what to say, not even what to wear,” she laughed.
Gonzalez said, although her first trip was quite a learning curve for her, she understood certain terminology and job descriptions thanks to her professors and their teachings.
Now that she has more experience and a better understanding of the industry, Gonzalez says the Atlanta trip was one of the best yet.
“It was very enlightening because I was able to go to companies and understand what it is that they’re doing, what they’re offering, how they go about their culture, and all the different aspects of a company,” she said.
Gonzalez said one of her favorite stops was at Edelman where she learned a lot about their crisis management team.
As she begins to enter the job field she said she’s learned it’s important to understand that where you start may not be in the same field you want to be, but it’s a stepping stone to your dream position.
“Every single place that we went to, and something that I have noticed in general, is that you may get a job in one role and then eventually transition into something else. The good thing about that is that you can find out what you like and don’t like and gain skills along the way,” she explained.
Melodi Erdogan Brown (‘15) is a brand public relations manager at GoTo Foods, which was another business CCI students were able to visit while in Atlanta.
At UT, Brown was part of the School of Journalism and Media and quickly got involved with student organizations such as The Daily Beacon.
“I was a writer for my first semester. Then I became the arts and entertainment editor. I elevated to managing editor my sophomore year pretty quickly because I just enjoyed how working at The Daily Beacon allowed me to practice the skills and curriculum that I was learning in my classes. The Daily Beacon allowed me to get out of my shell and get bylines and headlines into an actual publication, which was building my resume while I was still in school,” she said.
Brown said that being a part of student organizations and making connections with UT alumni helped her get multiple freelance opportunities and ultimately helped her land her first full-time position in Atlanta after college.
In her current role on the Brand PR Team, Brown manages consumer PR for McAlister’s Deli, Moe’s Southwest Grill, and Schlotzsky’s to help create brand awareness and drive relevance. During the Tombras School’s trip, Brown spoke to students about what she does on a daily basis.
“Overall, it was nice speaking to them and explaining to them how impactful and how visible the QSR (quick-service restaurant) space can be and how that essentially can drive our business value as a PR function for the company. We are constantly looking to vet different opportunities from activations to partnerships with talent, to collaborations with other brands in the space, to collaborations with brands that aren’t in the space, and kind of help build our brand awareness and relevance by bringing those opportunities to the table for the brands that we are working with,” Brown explained.
Brown said she’s glad she had the opportunity to connect with students from her alma mater and wants to help them reach their goals in the industry as many did for her.
“I’m always championing Tennessee students. Having that connection is exciting and it’s something I wanted to get back to as well,” she said.
