By: Cameron Pellegrino '27
Prior to the opening of the Integrative Learning Center’s doors and before UMass Journalism created a concentration in public relations, Hilary Allard ‘90 and Brittney Feudo ‘14 strolled the pathways at UMass. On Monday, Dec. 1, the pair returned as speakers as a part of the UMass Journalism Alumni Series. They spoke to current PR students about their careers and gave advice on how to break through into the industry.
When Feudo was a student, an open field sat where the ILC now lies. As a reporter for the Massachusetts Daily Collegian and a participant in various other forms of student media, she recalls recording a quidditch match on the same land and putting together a news package about it. Now, she’s blown away by the resources available to UMass Journalism students.
“I cannot believe how gorgeous [the ILC] is — the facilities, the production value, the technology, I am so jealous that this wasn’t here for me because I would’ve been all over that broadcast studio,” Feudo said.
Bartlett Hall used to be the host of the Journalism Department before the ILC was constructed. The pair recalls participating in journalism activities in the older building, which was built in 1959-60, and Allard even remembers using electric typewriters before personal laptops.
For Allard, the practical writing skills she learned in journalism have been the most useful asset to her career. Though her degree is in journalism and she now works in PR, writing is such an important part of both professions. That can also be said about most industries, making good writing a hot commodity in the job search.
“You can’t put a value on the ability just to crank something out effectively and quickly,” Allard said. “It’s such a translatable skill whether you’re doing journalism, or PR or another profession, it’s really essential to anyone’s professional development. Really grateful for the experience here, even though it wasn’t a time of technology, it was a time of getting some great practical skills.”
Feudo and Allard work for The Castle Group, a certified women-owned business. The agency was founded in 1996 on the belief that “public relations and events are the most powerful and credible messaging and motivational tools.” Their headquarters is located in Boston, but they’ve expanded to Atlanta and Maui as well.
The duo focused their talk around the idea of thought leadership, which at its simplest, is to be seen. The idea may not sound complex, but the work that goes into it is quite the opposite. During their lecture, they mentioned that it’s not much different from any relationship between two people in life, in that everyone wants to be understood and heard. That’s what drives thought leadership and that’s what any good PR professional should aim to provide.
They constantly preached the importance of networking to get ahead and make strides towards working in the field. That, of course, isn’t a PR-specific recommendation either. A growing trend between UMass Journalism’s guest speakers has been not fearing cold emailing and reaching out to people in coveted positions to speak with them and search for opportunities.
Another fundamental part of both PR and journalism in general is being aware of your surroundings. Both Feudo and Allard stressed the importance of understanding what’s going on around them in their quest to produce the best possible results for their clients.
“On a social level, what are people talking about?” Feudo said. “It’s not always what’s in the headlines, but it’s just what’s impacting day-to-day people. I think that goes such a long way in seeing what is of interest to our clients in their industries.”