Student Lens: PRIMA NYC Agency Crawl Recap

PRIMA Agency President Melania Mammano offers a recap of the group’s recent agency crawl in New York City.

The PRIMA Agency Crawl was a fruitful and impactful learning experience for 10 Fisher students who aspire to go into marketing and communications in their lives after Fisher. Throughout the trip to New York City, which took place March 21-24, we learned so much from PR professionals in various capacities.

We began by meeting with Natan Edelsburg, the first ever Muckrack employee and chief partnerships officer, who gave us many valuable insights about the benefits of the database as well as the future of AI in public relations. Our next stop was to visit the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) to speak with Publications Director John Elsasser and CEO and Founder of the Museum of Public Relations Shelley Spector. There, we looked through archives at the museum (special thanks to our advisor, Melissa Greco Lopes, for these first two connections!) During this visit, we learned so much about the history of representation in the media.

We also met with David Montague, promotions director at iHeart Media, who kindly gave us a tour of the incredible studio they have in the city. We learned a lot about the ins and outs of radio production, media promotion, and saw some of the exact spots where A-list celebrities are highlighted and interviewed! We even had a live sighting of radio work in real time. This stop was my personal favorite because of how personable and approachable David and the other employees were. Later that night, we spoke to the talented (and recent!) Fisher alum, Joe Morrell, about his freelancing and recent work at Farm To People, giving us invaluable tips about personal branding. He was very transparent and personable, which made us feel very comfortable asking him questions. The last agency we met with was Caro where we gained insights into working in a boutique-type creative studio from Founder Caroline McKay and Creative Director McCall Miles.

The planning that went into this trip was also beneficial in teaching me logistics and professional networking when reaching out to businesses to arrange a student visit. I want to thank PRIMA’s Director of Finance Paige Lasher who handled all the finances and communication with the Student Government Association before, during, and after the trip. She and I both worked hard to make sure that we visited agencies that captured several areas of PR while also making sure the group had time to explore the Big Apple.

As the president of PRIMA, I am grateful to reflect on this fun, jam-packed experience. Everyone on this trip was so eager to learn and when I saw it play into action, I felt fortunate to bring such an energetic group. I cannot wait for next year’s agency crawl!