Bryon Riesch: Communicating with People who are Disabled

Bryon Riesch came to our Tactics II class to discuss with us how to communicate professionally and appropriately to people who are disabled. Riesch has held different jobs throughout his career by working at Northwestern Mutual, R & R Insurance and founded the Bryon Riesch Foundation Fund.  Through all of these different jobs he has not let his disability stop him from achieving greatness.

When Riesch was a freshman at Marquette University he got into an accident and ended up becoming a C5 Quadriplegic. What this means is that Riesch broke his back down to his 5 vertebrate therefore he has no use of his wrists and fingers but can feel his toes. Riesch has pushed through his new disability to be able to graduate from Marquette University with a double major in Marketing and Information Technology.

Riesch spoke to the class with a great amount of poise and passion by being so open to any questions that our class through at him.  He was brutally honest about what he struggles with in his daily life.  Riesch explained to use how he just like a regular person when it comes to loving to go to sporting events and just having a beer with his friends.  His amazing sense of humor and depiction of what a day in his world is like was remarkable.

The people who have supported Riesch through his hard times of being in the hospital for 3 months are the people who Riesch is so grateful for having in his life.  He was so thankful to have the wonderful people of Goodwill be able to assistant him when finding a job in addition to his wonderful family. Riesch wants to be a person that helps others which is why he created the Byron Riesch Paralysis Fund. His organization was created in 2001 and had a large golf outing that raised over $100,000. There is now a run/walk every year and to date the organization has raised over $2 million.  The organization has donated $1 million to the Wisconsin Medical College for funding to find ways to help people with disabilities.

The overall message that Riesch wanted to provide to our class was that people with disabilities are people too.  They want to talk to you and don’t be afraid to ask them if they need help.  People with disabilities want to feel independent within their own world, which is generally their main struggle but they know that they will need special assistance when it comes to some things.

If you would like to be a part of the Byron Riesch Paralysis Fund please access the website at http://www.brpf.org/ to learn more.  Also don’t forget to follow the fund on Facebook.

Trish Skram-PR Professional

Hello Everyone,

This week in my public relations class we had the privledge of having in a wonderful speaker Trish Skram.  Trish is the public relations and media specialist at Mercy Health Care in Janesville, WI.   Skram is a University of Wisconsin – Whitewater alumni who majored in Public Relations and Marketing, and has taken all of Ann Knabe’s wonderful life long lessons of public relations to good use in the field.  Trish was hired after and internship with Mercy when she was a junior in college, she believes that internships are crucial in helping decide what area of public relations one is interested in.

Skram is  a professional blogger for the Janesville Gazette along with having her own website http://www.trishskram.com. Skram has listed reasons about why social media & blogging strategies are grow your network, help to better the public relations/communication industry, and talk about what she knows and loves. Her insight into how to get attention driven to your own blog and what are some good topics for us to write about such as young professionals in the public relations world today. Skram gave us wonderful examples of how to get our blogs out there by using Facebook and Twitter (@TrishSkram).

I enjoyed Skram’s wonderful enthusiasm, energy, and passion that she holds for her job at Mercy.  It’s clear why she’s so successful at her job at Mercy and as a professional blogger.

Have a great day!

Becky

@bekaroo166

Amy Paul-Excellent Pr Student

Hello Everyone,

With these first few weeks of school being back in public relations world we are all very excited to be hearing about hopefully joining the public relations world in the next few months.  I’ve known Amy Paul for over a year by being a part of PRSSA on Whitewater campus. When Paul came to speak to our Tactics II class she came with a great deal of energy and excitement when speaking about her new job.   Paul graduated Whitewater in Spring of 2011.

Although, it took her a few months to guarantee a job after college she is now happy and working at the Milwaukee County Executive in the public relations field.  Paul’s job consists of social media management, press release/media advisor, monitor media coverage, plan major events, and constituent letters.  The main point of her job is to always be ready to manage whatever is thrown at her throughout her day.  If something negative is spoken about the County Executive, Paul is in charge of correcting the problem and find a solution.  When I asked Paul what her favorite part of her job,  she said that she enjoys how it is constantly busy, she’s able to multitask, and enjoys the fast pace that is provided to her. 

Amy gave great advice about how to be involved on campus through organizations such as PRSSA, where she was secretary, professional development chair, regional activity coordinator, and PRSSA 2010 National conference she attended. Paul believed that being a part of Whitewater’s PRSSA program created a great deal of networking availability and for her to acquire excellent writing experience. 

Social media is very important in the public relations world of today.  Paul was able to stress how important it was to keep updated on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and to update your own personal blog.  Having an online portfolio of all the work one does shoes that one is proficient in writing and has the skills to manage an internet site.

Having Amy Paul come to speak to our class was truly a great motivation for those of us graduating in the spring to start to get motivated to look for jobs.  Make sure to follow Paul @AP2005.

Have a great day!

Becky Courtney

@bekaroo166