The Head of Marketing and Corporate Communications at UBA Ghana Limited, Henry Nii Dottey, has urged Communication Studies students at the University of Professional Studies, Accra, to build strong relationships with media professionals in order to learn from their skills and experience.
Mr Dottey explained that having an extensive professional network was pivotal to the success of young professionals as well as their organizations.
He made these remarks during an interactive session with Public Relations students at the ‘Time With The Practitioners’ forum organised by the Communication Studies Students Association (ComSSA) and the Students Chapter Committee of the Institute of Public Relations (IPR) Ghana.
Speaking on the theme, “Building Strong Media Relationships for PR Success,” Mr. Dottey opined that the media plays an important role in brand building and it was imperative for students of Public Relations to connect with the right people in the industry.
Mr Dottey further stressed that the media is the wheel on which stories about the organizations run and the platform through which to “sell” any brand or organization.
On her part, the Transformational & Internal Communications Manager at Fanmilk Ghana Limited, Mrs Joyce Sakitey Ahiadome urged participants to take internal communications seriously, emphasizing that it was essential to the growth of every organization.
Mrs Sakitey, who was engaging students on the topic “How to Leverage Internal Communications for Organizational Success,” explained that internal publics are as important as external PR, adding that effective internal communication drives organizations.
Mrs Ahiadome further observed that when staff are highly informed about the operations of the organisation, they drive the brand to higher heights through their word-of-mouth testimonies.
The Ag. Dean of the Faculty of Information, Technology and Communication Studies, Dr. Emmanuel Selase Asamoah, in his closing remarks thanked IPR Ghana for the initiative to bring together students to equip them with the requisite knowledge in a bid to make them industry-ready.
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He thus appealed to the IPR to organize more such fora, saying: “I would like to plead with IPR to organize boot camps of this nature to train students in some entrepreneurial ventures to equip them to stand on their feet after school.”
President of ComSSA, Mr Mark Ofosu Asirifi expressed his appreciation to IPR for collaborating with the students body to make the programme a success.
“I believe this is a great opportunity for many of us here, especially the Level 400 students as we prepare to hit the job markets,” he said. “This session will definitely redefine our interests and insights about our career choices.”
The ‘Time With The Practitioners’ series is an annual event that seeks to provide an opportunity for communication students to learn, network and be educated on the prospects and challenges of practising communications in the corporate world.
This year’s event served as a platform for students to interact and gain knowledge about the profession from already practising professionals.
Aside students from UPSA, the event was also attended by students from other institutions including the Ghana Institute of Journalism, Pentecost University College, Wisconsin International University, Islamic University and the African University College of Communication.