PRSA leader trains next generation of students for campaigns with writing, data and social media
Who knew social media and data analytics are key parts of an effective communications campaign?
That’s something Professor Joe Stabb teaches his students at the University of Tennessee’s Tombras School of Advertising and Public Relations in Knoxville.
His students get to learn from a PR leader who’s used his marketing communications skills to serve clients and companies across a ton of industries before stepping into the college classroom.
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Now, Professor Stabb brings that industry experience to help students prepare for careers in today’s evolving communications world.
Oh, and though he’s humble about it, Stabb brings more than 20 years of industry experience and over a decade of teaching, bringing a mix of academic insight and practical knowledge.
He’s not just scratching the surface in his courses.
At the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, he takes a deep dive into how analytics shape modern communications. His students learn how to evaluate campaigns, measure performance using real metrics, and understand why strong writing is still key to career growth upon graduation.
These are tools he’s actually used himself throughout his career.
Stabb’s background spans marketing communications, public relations, fundraising, business management, and leadership development. He’s taught a wide range of courses and is known for helping shape the next generation of PR professionals.
As a respected community leader in the field, he’s focused on helping students connect classroom lessons to the demands of today’s fast-paced and evolving industry.
EIN Presswire sat down with Stabb for an in-depth conversation about how PR curriculums nationwide have evolved, and why strong writing skills are still a must for every communications student. He also talked about his leadership role with the Knoxville chapter of the PRSA and more.
Q: Before stepping into the classroom, what kind of work did you do in the communications industry?
Before stepping into the classroom, I worked with a variety of organizations, including advertising and communication agencies, news media outlets, nonprofits, government agencies, health care organizations, manufacturing firms, and food and beverage companies. I had many roles that included public relations, advertising, digital communications, and website development and management. I grew professionally as a generalist who could easily support most efforts as needed.
Q: Press release writing and distribution have been key skills for PR students for years. In today’s fast-changing media landscape, how do press releases still play an important role in the field?
Press releases are still an important tool for communicators and for media relations. But this is not the only tool. This is not the only tactical tool. Press releases as a tool, partnered with other media relations tactics, can be very effective and helpful for journalists and media outlets.
Press release distribution and media pitching are skills that more students need to learn in the classroom to be effective at media relations upon graduation and entering the profession. This is sometimes difficult to do in a classroom where we are not actively calling or emailing journalists and media outlets to pitch news stories. I wish we could do this, but I am sure that the media professionals would find it very distracting.
Q: What’s it like serving as president of the PRSA Knoxville chapter in Tennessee, and how does that leadership role support your work with students or the local PR community?
It’s an honor to serve as president of the PRSA Volunteer Chapter in Knoxville, Tennessee. It’s also humbling to lead an organization of industry professionals, including peers, mentors, mentees and some of the best communicators I know.
Leadership roles like this are extremely beneficial to my work as an educator. It helps me to learn and grow professionally, maintain connections with the industry, and be visible as an educator. Any PRSA member I have ever met has always been willing, able, and a huge support to any student through connection and mentorship. These connections and professional networks can make a huge impact on a student’s professional trajectory or an aid in landing that first internship or job. I am very grateful to all the industry professionals who connect with me and our students and are willing to help when asked.
Q: Between your time in the classroom and your leadership roles in communications, how did your past experiences prepare you to thrive in both academic and professional PR spaces?
I have always had a passion and commitment to learning. I love to learn! Learning can be self-guided, formal classroom learning, or just exploring the mistakes we make and our bumps in the road to do better in the future. I have never won awards for my professional work, but I know that I can produce good, solid work that meets outcomes and objectives. I believe my passion for learning and commitment to continual self-improvement have best prepared me to thrive in both academic and professional public relations spaces. I try to instill this in my students. It is okay to make a mistake or fail, I have, but you need to figure out how and why so that you can do better in the future.
Q: You teach data and social media analytics, but PR is also all about creativity. How do you help students see that both are needed to build a strong campaign or tell a great story?
Data is king in business right now. Every decision that is made by an organization, for-profit or nonprofit, is backed by the data available to that organization. A good public relations or communications professional needs to be able to support decisions with data. This does not mean it diminishes the creativity that can happen. Data can also support creativity, new ideas, and inspire imagination. Data can help us to improve in many ways. I try to teach students that we can use data, just like any tool that is available, to improve and execute better work that will hopefully lead to better outcomes for our organizations.
I have always thought of public relations and other communication-related fields like both art and science. We need to be able to use both to be great professionals in our field. One can support the other.
Q: Back when I was in college, most of us took the usual courses like news writing and reporting as part of our journalism or communications programs. From your perspective, has the curriculum shifted in recent years, especially with the rise of AI and other emerging trends? If so, how?
Curriculum and courses are continually evolving. There are basic learning objectives that need to be accomplished with any course, but how we accomplish the learning objectives can change frequently.
Writing is still indicated as the number one skill for any person in a communication-related field. No one is born with a gene that just makes them a perfect writer. As humans, and as good communicators, we need to continually practice the skill of writing to keep improving our abilities. I have shown students some of my writing examples from when I took class over 20 years ago. Sometimes it is embarrassing too. I read some of the things that I wrote and cannot believe that I wrote in a certain style or made certain AP style errors. Twenty years later, I have had more time to practice and to improve my skills and abilities. I want them to see that at this point in their professional career, they may not be perfect, but you need to keep practicing.
Any technology is always going to be a disruptor in how we, as professional communicators, do good work. AI and current technological advances are not different to the history of technological advances. During my lifetime, we have seen the rise of the internet, the rise of social media, and now the rise of generative AI. Just as has been done before, the technology is used to help students gain experience and critical thinking skills to use the tools available. This is what everyone in the professional industry is doing and technology is changing and evolving quickly. We can mimic this in the classroom to give the current students better professional skills.