WVU Reed College of Media alumnus Jeff Geisler returned to campus to host an advertising and public relations agency simulation that was open to all majors and local high school students and sponsored by the WVU Chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA).
Throughout his career, Geisler (BSJ, 1993) has held various brand and marketing leadership positions with such companies as McCann Erickson, BBH New York, Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, and Saatchi & Saatchi. Currently, he is working for Super Serious, a creative studio founded by actor and host Terry Crews, which promotes brands through entertainment projects, including commercials, television programs and movies.
Geisler addresses the group. Photo by Maddie Stratos.
Earlier this year, Geisler contacted Dean Diana Martinelli about engaging with students in a way that would help them better understand how an agency setting operates. Martinelli connected him with Associate Professor Geah Pressgrove, program chair for Advertising and Public Relations and PRSSA advisor. Together, Geisler and Pressgrove developed a full-day immersive agency simulation that was open to students from any year and any major at no cost. The workshop was also available to local high school students who had expressed an interest in the College of Media’s Advertising and Public Relations program.
“I had a great experience here [at WVU] and I’ve always liked giving back to the school,” Geisler said. “As my career has moved forward, I’ve realized there are things that happen in the real world and in real life that you can’t really replicate easily in a scholastic environment. I wanted to create something that would show a different side in terms of how things really operate sometimes when you’re working at an agency or company, or even the client side of a company.”
More than 30 students ranging from high school seniors to graduate students and from majors including advertising, journalism, public relations and marketing communications pre-registered for the agency simulation. Held at the WVU Media Innovation Center Nov. 10, the event began with Geisler’s opening remarks and an overview of how the simulation would work; then the students separated into five different teams to begin the first challenge.
Geisler and the agency simulation attendees gather for a photo at the conclusion of the event. Photo by Maddie Stratos.
Throughout the exercise, an hour represented one quarter of a business year and the students in each group served as a company’s management team. During each of the four quarters, Geisler presented a scenario based on challenges he has experienced throughout his career. As the teams worked through the scenarios, Geisler also sporadically announced disruptions based on real world scenarios, including bad press, employees getting sick during projects and unexpected resignations.
“It was really helpful to realize that even though this was a simulation, in just a few years we could be making these types of decisions for real agencies,” said freshman Hannah Cutright. “I had no idea what agency life was like and had been curious if this was something I would want to take to the next level with a career. I learned so much about how an agency operates and public relations skills in general, and it definitely brought me closer to a decision about which area of PR I want to go into.”
At the end of the event, the five groups came back together to present their solutions. Geisler provided insights, and the students shared feedback with one another.
“I was excited that the teams did not all come to the same conclusions, and it spurred discussion as far as the way people are thinking about solving issues,” Geisler said. “I think when you can do that, you learn from each other; so I think there are some things that I learned as well about how maybe I can structure this differently and advance this some more [in the future], but I am happy with the way it turned out.”
Geisler is already planning for a new and improved version of the simulation to be offered in future semesters. Alumni interested in engaging with students, speaking to a class or collaborating on an event should contact Erica Lindsay at erica.lindsay@mail.wvu.edu or 304-293-7016.