Deadlines approaching for 2016 Grady College Study Abroad and Field Study programs

Students at the Cannes Film Festival Study Abroad Program

Grady College prides itself in offering one-of-a-kind opportunities that not only enrich students’ lives but also set them apart in their fields.  Global study programs in China, Croatia, France and Prague and domestic field studies in Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York City and Washington, D.C., strengthen students’ portfolios and provide them with a critical understanding of the global scope of Journalism and Mass Communication.

“Study abroad gives students the opportunity to stretch outside the boundaries of what feels comfortable to them… they do things that they didn’t even know were possible,” said Kelly Meyer, Distance Learning Coordinator at Grady College.  “It sets the tone for them to keep taking big steps all the way through [their careers].”

Completed applications for the following international Grady programs are due by Friday, Jan. 15, 2016:

•   Cannes Film Festival Study Abroad Program

•   Cannes Lions Advertising Study Abroad Program

•   Choose China Advertising and Public Relations Program

•   Travel Writing Journalism in Prague or Croatia

Meyer will be on hand at the UGA Spring Education Abroad Fair on Jan. 20, 2016, from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Tate Student Center, where she will accept applications for wait lists.

Interviews with applicants for international programs will begin Jan. 19, and selected students will be notified by the first week of February.

In addition to the Grady global programs, students can earn Grady course credit through Grady@Oxford (apply by Friday, Jan. 22, 2016) and Environmental Journalism at UGA Costa Rica (apply by Saturday, March 20, 2016).

Students interested in applying for one of the following Grady domestic field study opportunities need to submit their applications by Friday, Feb. 5, 2016:

•   Grady@DC

•   Grady@LA

•   Grady@NYC

•   Summer at the Circus

Interviews with applicants for domestic field study programs will start Feb. 8 and students will be notified about decisions by late February.

At this time, Grady@DC and Grady@LA are only open to Grady students.  All other programs will consider applicants who are non-Grady majors, as well.

Students selected to participate in a Grady study abroad or field study program must attend a group welcome and orientation March 2 at 3:30 p.m. in Studio 100, as well as several individual program breakout meetings in preparation for travel.

For additional information or questions, email Kelly Meyer, kellym22@uga.edu.

Author: Stephanie Moreno, s.moreno@uga.edu

Contact: Kelly Meyer, kellym22@uga.edu

50 @ 5: Grady program takes 50 students to Cannes Lions in year five

In summer 2014, 50 UGA students spent three weeks in southern France attending the Cannes Lions Festival as part of a unique study abroad program. It is the fifth consecutive year students attended Cannes Lions as part of the UGA program. The study abroad has expanded rapidly since the first group of 14 students attended in 2010.

Students meet Richard Edelman

Speaker highlights and sightings included Bono, David Hasselhoff, Rob Lowe, Courtney Love, and Sir Patrick Stewart among many others. Themes included empowering women in the profession—Facebook’s Susan Sandberg was there, content marketing, and research about Millennials. Students visited the Google Sandbox, and attended interactive Tech Talks, Forums, Workshops, and Master Classes. Over 60 seminars featuring the world’s most influential marketers and media executives from Facebook, Twitter, Proctor & Gamble, Heineken, BBDO, and Saatchi and Saatchi, among many others.

Exclusive Guest Speakers
This year’s special guests included an exclusive set of professionals who shared their insights directly with the students. They included:

• Gale Anne Hurd, Executive Producer, Walking Dead
• Armando Iannucci, Series Creator, Veep
• Suzy Deering, CEO, Moxie
• Brian Wong, CEO, Kiip
• Fred Cook and Ellen Ryan Mardiks, Golin

Students in the program mixed and mingled with leaders in the brand, media and agency business. Several students were offered internships or positions while attending the festival.

Highlights
Similar to previous years, highlights included yacht parties, scuba excursions, and day trips to Nice, Antibes, Eze and Monaco. Two students groups won “Canned” lions for their class-centered campaigns for forthcoming Netflix Original Series developed during the program.

Hanging with Pinterest's Ben Silbermann

Health Lions
Special this year, students attended the first ever Health Lions held two days before Cannes Lions. Students met David Nutter, Game of Thrones director. They also heard about the promise new life-saving innovations and practices in healthcare marketing. And they were moved by amazing work employed by India’s Lifebuoy (Unilever) team.

UGA Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies Dr. Jeff Springston participated in this year’s program. He taught a special about health communication and previewed Health Lions for the students.

Cannes Lions Study Abroad Program

Students earn six hours of upper-level academic credit from the University of Georgia. Although most of this year’s 50 students attend UGA, the program is open to students from any accredited university.

"Game of Thrones" director David Nutter

The program is co-directed by Drs. Tom Reichert and Nate Kohn, professors in UGA’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. Students interested in next year’s program are encouraged to visit the website for information about deadlines and the application process (or contact Kelly Meyer: kellym22@uga.edu for program details).

Intern Spotlight: Taylor Tokarz

Advertising major Taylor Tokarz

Taylor Tokarz is a third year advertising major from Johns Creek, Ga.

What is your official intern title?

AdPR Turner Development Intern

What is your job as an intern/what duties do you perform?

My primary responsibility is to foster the relationship between AdPR students and alumni. I do this through on-campus networking events and fundraising initiatives.

How long have you been the intern?

May 2013 - Present

What is the most rewarding part of being the intern?

(I'll answer this is a somewhat roundabout way!) When I was a freshman I heard of upperclassmen landing internships at large, prestigious ad agencies and wondered how they got there. I thought, "How do I even put myself in a position to be competitive with my peers?" Now I know just how important connections are. There's a sense of camaraderie within the advertising/PR industry that lends a hand to networking; it's encouraging to see how much industry professionals are willing to help students. I love that I can play a small role in facilitating those connections between alumni and students.

What encouraged you to apply to Grady College?

I've always loved writing and typography, but I also wanted a business background. My mom worked for Ogilvy & Mather for a few years, and one of my older sisters was a Grady grad, so I knew a little about the ad industry. What really sold me on becoming an ad major was attending the Cannes Lion Ad Festival study abroad program.

What activities are you involved in at Grady/UGA/Athens?

For the past year I've been involved with TEDxUGA, an independently-organized TED event hosted by the New Media Institute (NMI). Last year I worked as a "speaker coach" and helped my assigned speakers - an alumnus and a student - shape their presentations, from content to visuals. This year I'm on the Steering Committee, which selects speakers for the TED event in March, and I've recently joined the Design Committee.

Outside of Grady, I play for the UGA Women's Club Soccer team and serve as Club President. Essentially, I serve as the liaison between the Women's Club Soccer team and UGA's Recreational Sports Division. This includes submitting weekly travel and update forms, planning each semester's game schedule, and responding to inquires about the team.

I also write for The Chapel Bell, a positive press publication at UGA. Our goal is to inspire others through creative, original articles.

What kinds of internships or work have you been involved in, and what were your responsibilities?

Last summer (2013) I interned with Susan Fonseca, Women@TheFrontier founder. As I had previously worked with her during TEDxUGA'13, we already had a great working relationship. She allowed me to explore the various internship roles, from "social media guru" to blog contributor.

What were the best parts of these experiences?

The best part of my time with Women@TheFrontier was the flexibility I was allowed; because I had the freedom to explore multiple roles, I quickly found out what I was passionate about.

What part of your Grady experience (classes, professors, etc.) has been helpful in your internship or work experiences?

By far the most influential experience I've had at UGA was my time at Grady's Cannes Lion study abroad program. Quite simply, it shaped how I view the advertising industry as a whole, revealing advertising's ability to positively impact the world. It was inspiring to see the incredible creative work - the stories you can tell in a sixty-second commercial, or a single print ad.

What advice would you give to someone who is considering pursuing an Ad/PR program?

In the words of Michael Patrick King, "Risk enthusiasm." Get involved. Get out of your comfort zone. Work hard.

What are your career goals and interests?

As of right now, I'm leaning more towards pursuing a creative career on the client side of the ad industry. I'd love to work in the entertainment industry, specifically for HBO.

Advertising students selected as winners of national poster contest

Advertising majors Margaret Hancock
and Tommy McConnell

Congratulations to Margaret Hancock and Tommy McConnell for having their poster entry selected for display at the 3 Percent Conference poster contest.

Both advertising majors, the duo first learned about the 3% Conference from Cindy Gallop, a speaker at the Cannes Lions Advertising Festival of Creativity in 2012, which Hancock attended through UGA's Cannes Lions Study Abroad program. The purpose of the conference is to promote female leadership in advertising and this year, there was a scholarship opportunity for students to submit a poster promoting the conference.

"When I first heard about the conference from Cindy Gallop in Cannes, I had no idea how disproportional the ratio of women to men was in Creative Leadership Positions. After more research, I was intrigued and appalled by the numbers. As a senior in college, hearing about this issue gets me fired up to graduate and take on the real world. I get inspired at the thought of having the opportunity to face these challenges head on and make changes for good," states Hancock.

Entries were submitted in teams of two. Hancock served as art director while McConnell took on a copy writing role. Thirty students (15 posters) were selected as winners and awarded the opportunity to attend the 3% Conference for free.

Poster created by Hancock
and McConnell

“It means so much that our entry was selected for the competition,” Hancock continues. “While Tommy and I had worked in the same groups on numerous occasions for in-class projects, we had not worked as a 2-person team before. But between our passion for advertising, and our interest in staying up to date and learning about issues and the ever-changing directions the industry is going, we worked really well together on this project. “

"We are really looking forward to the opportunity to represent Grady College and the University of Georgia at this innovative and exciting conference,” McConnell adds. “Like the conference promotes, it's not just an event, It's a movement. It's awesome that we get the opportunity to attend the 3% Conference as students."

Hancock and McConnell will be traveling to San Francisco, Ca. in October for the conference.