Thank You #PRStudChat

Yesterday I had the pleasure of serving as a guest student moderator for the #PRStudChat Career Day discussion. For those of you who don't know, #PRStudChat is a monthly Twitter chat for public relations students, professionals and educators--although since we've started trending, many questions about Puerto Rican "studs" have been raised by the general Twitter population.

I just wanted to express my sincere gratitude to the #PRStudChat community, especially Deirdre Breakenridge and Valerie Simon, who have made the chat such a success. I was really humbled by all of the support I received from #PRStudChat participants, some of which is highlighted above.

But really, I feel like I'm the one who should be giving thanks. Moderating was fairly easy because it is the discussion amongst all participants that keeps the chat going strong.

As a PR student I can say that we are truly lucky to have such a valuable resource at our fingertips. Many of the professionals often comment that they wish #PRStudChat was around when they were students, and it's true! How else can you instantly connect with public relations practitioners from across the nation and world? The opportunity to pick the brains of some of the most successful pros, educators and students in the industry [and in real-time] is priceless!

So thank you all for making #PRStudChat such a valuable resource. I hope you'll join in for next month's discussion, December 16 at noon EST.

For highlights and takeaways from past #PRStudChats, click here. You can also view a full transcript of Career Day here. You can follow me on Twitter at @AngelaHernandez.

My #PRStudChat Story

As president of the PRSSA chapter at Central Michigan University, I often answer various types of questions from members. Not too long ago one member came to me with the following question: "I'm still not sure public relations is the right field for me, how can I find out?" Aside from making a few recommendations, I decided to dig a little deeper. I came up with some questions that I thought would help shed light on this issue and began asking some PR pros for their responses. Before I knew it, a five-part interview series called "Is PR Right For Me?" was born.

To make a long story short, the series caught the attention of Deirdre Breakenridge and Valerie Simon, who came up with the idea of expanding it into a Twitter chat for PR students, educators and professionals. To date, we've held three successful sessions of #PRStudChat, and even made it as a Twitter trending topic last month!

I am honored to have been invited to serve as a guest student moderator for the next #PRStudChat session, scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 17 at noon EST. My role as guest moderator will be to facilitate discussion by introducing a series of questions for participants to respond to. This month #PRStudChat will have a special Career Day focus, with an exciting list of guest experts on hand to give their input. Be sure to check out Deirdre's recent post for more details on our guests and what kind of questions to expect this time around.

For those of you who have not participated in a Twitter chat before, have no worries. Check out some of Valerie's tips for more information on how to prepare and what to expect. Also, be sure to join the LinkedIn group to connect with other #PRStudChat participants and provide feedback for future sessions.

I personally have found #PRStudChat to be a great way to learn from PR people that I might not have otherwise connected with. For those of you who have participated in past sessions, I would like to thank you for making it such a valuable resource. If you haven't had a chance to join us yet, I hope to "see you" Nov. 17 at noon for #PRStudChat Career Day and for my debut as guest student moderator!

What's your #PRStudChat story? How has it helped you? What have you learned? Do you find it to be a valuable resource? What can be done to keep sessions creative and exciting?