Valerie Kinney ’00, the director of communications for Auntie Anne’s Inc., will be teaching the Advanced Public Relations course for the communications department at Elizabethtown College during the spring 2014 semester. Kinney decided to teach this course as an adjunct professor because she sees it as a great opportunity to give back to her alma mater and share her knowledge and experience with students who might work in similar positions in the future. The Advanced Public Relations course is going to stem from the communications theories and practices that students already know, and Kinney will teach how to apply them specifically to a public relations professional’s career.
“We will accomplish this by analyzing and evaluating public relations case studies from diverse industries,” Kinney said. As a part of this course, students will also have the opportunity to make strategies for actual clients and see how public relations is involved in achieving the goals of an organization.
Kinney wants students to gain an understanding of public relations as a management function that requires helping an organization or company consider all aspects of the business and also needs the fostering of strong relationships with stakeholders through using intentional communications avenues. “In preparing for graduation and securing a job in the industry, it is critical for students to understand how the discipline of public relations is much more than the tactics of writing news releases, producing company newsletters, hosting special events and managing the corporate social media channels,” Kinney said.
The benefit of having Kinney teach this course is that students will have validation that the scenarios and case studies they examine and work through have real relevance for a public relations professional. Kinney is also performing public relations tactics, which allows her to provide insight and talk about the latest trends in the career.
Kinney graduated from Etown in 2000 with a degree in communications and a concentration in public relations. She also minored in professional writing at Etown and, almost 10 years later, Kinney went on to earn her master’s degree in communications management at Syracuse University. She previously taught a digital writing course for seniors at Millersville University in the fall semester of 2012.
Kinney also worked for Pavone, an advertising and public relations firm located in Harrisburg, Pa. She has worked for Auntie Anne’s in several different communications positions over the past 10 years. “As the director of communications for Auntie Anne’s Inc., I oversee the strategic communications activities for the disciplines of public relations, websites, social media, corporate communications and customer relations,” Kinney said. Kinney discovered Auntie Anne’s through a social event, where she met a member of the company’s creative services team in an attempt to market the advertising and public relations firm in which she was employed. Three years later, she interviewed for a position at Auntie Anne’s and the firm also pitched marketing projects for Auntie Anne’s.
“Auntie Anne’s Inc. is the franchisor of the world’s largest hand-rolled soft pretzel chain, consisting of 1,400 stores around the world,” Kinney said. She further explained that, “In addition to its franchising business, Auntie Anne’s is also a manufacturer of gourmet fundraising products. Schools and other non-profit community groups can raise money for their organization by working with one of the many fundraising distributors throughout the country.”
