Elyse Hammett (center) with students and faculty who attended the PRSSA meeting
By Tyler Busch
In late January PRSSA and the Communication Arts Department had the privilege of inviting Elyse Hammett to speak to students (in-person) about her Public Relations career and how she got to where she is today. Hammett is currently Vice President of Marketing and Communications for the Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta. CFGA is a non-profit organization (the second largest non-profit in Georgia) that works to make Atlanta more equitable for all its residents. It gives out grants to various non-profits, scholarships, and other impactful means to close the economic divide in Metro Atlanta.
Hammett has been in the PR industry for over 30 years and has been at CFGA for eight years. At first glance you would never guess her challenging upbringing (with many twists and turns) would bring her to where she is in her career. Through the instability she was able to leave high school early and received a full-ride scholarship to Emory University.
In her first presentation she spoke about the $100,000 PR Pyramid. The format coming from the gameshow “$100,000 Pyramid” included real-life scenarios that a selected student picked to discuss. All the real-life scenarios were scenarios she has been in before and how these problems were addressed. One of the categories picked was about the pandemic. She stated, “I nor anyone else at the beginning of the pandemic knew what ZOOM was, let alone how to use it.” Saying it was an adjustment was an understatement. At the time, CFGA was making sure that families had access to the internet (whether free or reduced), assisted those in need of finding work, among other important needs.
Her second presentation was about campaigns. Here she talked about the 10 Step Communication Plan for PR. Those steps include: determine goals, know your target audience, give your audience objectives, strategies, tactics, plan activities, self-evaluation, materials, creating a budget, and utilizing a timetable and task list to keep project progressing. It was mentioned several times that it is key to know your audience/client through research. The more you know about your audience/client, the more effective your service will be to them.
In her last session with PRSSA, Hammett talked about the importance of internships (doing multiple if you can), joining PRSA, the upcoming Georgia PRSA annual conference, as well as answering questions from students. She spoke about scholarships and job postings that can be found on the PRSA website and recommended getting a Certificate in Public Relations. She also mentioned that anyone in the PR industry is eligible to become an accredited PR professional (APR) after you have been in the profession for a few years.
After going to all her sessions, I along with my fellow piers learned about more resources PRSA/PRSSA offers when it comes to finding internships or permanent jobs. I also took away that it doesn’t matter how you start; you are in full control of your destiny. In other words, you can do a lot with little. The PR industry is so vast, meaning it’s highly likely there is a sector just for you. Not many other industries can say that, and by getting certified in the industry, it will open more doors for you. I can say I learned something new, unique, and beneficial from each session.