New Partnership Engages Students

A new partnership with Ketchum, Inc., a global communication firm, began with SOC’s participation in Mindfire, a crowd sourcing tool for students to share ideas in response to the agency’s  campaigns. Brian Keenan, Ketchum’s Open Innovation Center project leader, invited SOC students to submit their creative responses to real challenges facing clients.  Each month three to four challenges are posted for students to propose marketing or outreach campaigns. In exchange for their contributions, SOC students are offered career coaching, personalized training, job alerts and prizes.

AU SOC was selected by Ketchum to join a cadre of other schools around the country (i.e. Boston University, Syracuse, Yale, Duke, Johns Hopkins) in collective online brainstorming. The launch of AU’s Mindfire program was co-sponsored by the Public Communication division, SOC’s PRSSA chapter and the Graduate Leadership Council. Public Communication professor and associate division director Pallavi Kumar, formerly vice president/account supervisor in Ketchum's healthcare practice in New York is leading this strategic effort for SOC.

From Professor Pallavi Kumar:

"I am really excited to have the opportunity to bring Mindfire to our students. Not only does Mindfire give students the chance to respond to real-world client challenges and use their strategic and creative skills, it also gives them the chance to gain experience online. For students who can't fit an internship into their schedule or who are trying to gain experience to land an internship, it is innovative programs like this that are great partnerships for SOC. I am really thrilled that Ketchum has selected AU as a partner."