During the fall 2019 semester, Professor Larry Litwin’s Topics in Communication Studies class (Introduction to Public Relations/Strategic Communication) heard from New York City-based veteran public relations practitioner Damira Bowles. She holds a master’s degree from New York University, and a master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Schiller International University in London.
Bowles is an account director with The Rosen Group concentrating in restaurant and hotel strategic communication and crisis communication.
“As a student looking to pursue a career in Public Relations, I found the Rosen Groups’ (New York City) exceptionally interesting and enlightening,” says Bowles. “There are so many different facets of PR and I have been involved in many of them from creating and sustaining relationships with clients, keeping up to date on the latest news and trends and writing news releases and much more.”
An example Damira gave about staying up to date on news that really stuck with the students was how she creatively got one of her clients on the news.
“There was a story trending about a man climbing the Trump Tower and while the event was still happening, the team at the Rosen Group was able to get the client (Outside Magazine) on live TV,” she says.
The interview focused on the kind of climbing gear the man was wearing and after the interview, Outside Magazine’s readership grew.
Damira Bowles’ talk covered helpful tips, various types of strategic communication and public relations, common myths, successful news release writing skills and how best to interact with clients. Hearing all of this from someone with her experience who has found success in the public relations profession was beneficial to Professor Litwin’s class.
Her personal and real-world examples helped put the responsibilities of someone who works in PR in perspective.
Contributed by Kaitlin Hurley