{"id":37848,"date":"2023-11-30T17:34:58","date_gmt":"2023-11-30T22:34:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/?post_type=bu-article&#038;p=37848"},"modified":"2023-12-01T13:18:20","modified_gmt":"2023-12-01T18:18:20","slug":"redefining-the-college-all-nighter","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/articles\/redefining-the-college-all-nighter\/","title":{"rendered":"Redefining the College All-Nighter"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin bu-blocks-block-editorial-leadin is-style-default has-media has-media-focus-center-middle\">\n\t\t<div class=\"container-lockup\">\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-leadin-media\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"2000\" height=\"1125\" src=\"\/com\/files\/2023\/11\/comtalk-pro-bono-banner.jpg\" class=\"\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/11\/comtalk-pro-bono-banner.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/11\/comtalk-pro-bono-banner-636x358.jpg 636w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/11\/comtalk-pro-bono-banner-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/11\/comtalk-pro-bono-banner-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/11\/comtalk-pro-bono-banner-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/11\/comtalk-pro-bono-banner-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/11\/comtalk-pro-bono-banner-992x558.jpg 992w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/11\/comtalk-pro-bono-banner-1500x844.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/11\/comtalk-pro-bono-banner-1920x1080.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/11\/comtalk-pro-bono-banner-1984x1116.jpg 1984w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/11\/comtalk-pro-bono-banner-1628x916.jpg 1628w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/11\/comtalk-pro-bono-banner-1600x900.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/11\/comtalk-pro-bono-banner-1366x768.jpg 1366w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/11\/comtalk-pro-bono-banner-1280x720.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/11\/comtalk-pro-bono-banner-854x480.jpg 854w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin-caption wp-prepress-component-caption\">PRLab students, working on behalf of their non-profit client BalletRox, start their initial background research. Eighty-eight students in five PRLab PRoBono teams produced 1,350 hours of work (with a market value of $147,350) during the overnight event. Photos by Derek Palmer.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-inner\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"head\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRedefining the College All-Nighter\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"deck\">Public relations students donate expertise, sleep for good causes at annual PRoBono event<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-categories\">\n\t\t\t<ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/category\/public-relations\/\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPublic Relations\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/category\/student-work\/\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStudent Work\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-date\">November 30, 2023<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-credits\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul data-credit-type=\"By\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/authors\/mara-sassoon\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMara Sassoon\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-share js-bu-prepress-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-action\"><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t<div style=\"display:none;\">\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-share-tools\">\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-share-tools-inner js-prepress-component-share-tools\">\n\t\t<h4>Share<\/h4>\n\t\t<p class=\"wp-prepress-component-share-tools-article-title\">Redefining the College All-Nighter<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-share-tools-article-link\">\n\t\t\t<div>\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" value=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/articles\/redefining-the-college-all-nighter\/\" readonly>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<label>\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Copy URL:<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"js-prepress-component-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span>Copy<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t<\/label>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">At 6 p.m. on November 3, more than 80 students gathered in a COM classroom. They were getting ready to pull an all-nighter\u2014for a good cause. It was COM\u2019s annual <a href=\"https:\/\/www.prlabbu.com\/services-9\">PRoBono<\/a> event, in which students work until 10 a.m. the next day to create and present PR materials for nonprofit clients. Established in 2013, the event is run by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.prlabbu.com\/\">PRLab<\/a>, COM\u2019s student-staffed PR agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOne of the things that\u2019s exciting about this event is there\u2019s no prerequisite\u2014any student at the university can participate,\u201d says <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/profile\/amy-shanler\/\">Amy Shanler<\/a>, an associate professor of the practice in public relations and associate chair of the Department of Mass Communication, Advertising and Public Relations. \u201cThey get a hands-on look at what it is to do public relations and communications for an organization.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Shanler (CAS\u201996, COM\u201996,\u201904), a codirector of PRLab, says that when she joined COM\u2019s faculty in 2013, the then-president of PRLab proposed holding the PRoBono event. \u201cI just have a very entrepreneurial attitude when it comes to PRLab, so I said, let\u2019s do it, let\u2019s make it happen.\u201d That first year, the event was held on the last day of classes for the fall semester and lasted a full 24 hours. \u201cStudents finished class, and instead of going out, they came into COM and stayed overnight. It was incredible. I think by 4 or 5 a.m., we were watching <em>Grease<\/em> because we were just <em>done<\/em>. We decided 24 hours is too long,\u201d Shanler says. Since then, it has evolved to run annually each fall, for 16 hours overnight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-style-teal-background-right\"><p>Yes, it\u2019s a fun night for the students. But why are we doing this? We\u2019re doing this for our community. We\u2019re doing this to empower them.<\/p><cite>Amy Shanler<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>This year, Mia Parker, director of events for PRLab, organized the entire program, from securing clients and sponsors, to recruiting student participants to planning how the rooms used for the evening should be set up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPRoBono is kind of like an overnight marathon,\u201d says Parker (\u201924). This year, teams of students met with five local nonprofit clients\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/theballetrox.org\/\">BalletRox<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.givingtheglam.org\/\">Giving the Glam<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.graccboston.org\/\">Greater Roxbury Arts &amp; Cultural Center<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mattapoisettmuseum.org\/\">Mattapoisett Museum<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rosekennedygreenway.org\/overview\/\">Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy<\/a>\u2014to create content that met each organization\u2019s needs. The work students produce includes social media materials, campaign strategies, flyers, newsletters, media lists and pitch drafts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The night began with opening remarks from Parker, COM Dean Mariette DiChristina and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/profile\/edward-downes\/\">Edward Downes<\/a>, an associate professor of public relations. Then students had dinner catered by Otto Pizza before sitting down to meet with their clients and get to work. Throughout the night, there were breaks for games and raffles with prizes from Ben &amp; Jerry\u2019s and Barnes &amp; Noble at BU to keep students engaged, as well as a nap room for those who wanted to recharge.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-photoessay wp-block-photoessay js-block-editorial-photoessay\"><div class=\"photo-row-thirds-1-2\">\n<div class=\"photo-1\"><div class=\"wp-block-photoessay-media\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"300\" height=\"450\" src=\"\/com\/files\/2023\/11\/probono-agenda.jpg\" alt=\"A sign posted on the wall outlining the agenda for PRLab's PRoBono event, which runs from 5:45 p.m. until 10:00 a.m. the following day.\" class=\"wp-image-37888\"\/><figcaption><p class=\"wp-block-photoessay-media-caption wp-prepress-component-caption\">PRoBono&#8217;s agenda includes hours of meetings, work, scheduled meals and even game breaks. <\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"photo-2\"><div class=\"wp-block-photoessay-media\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" src=\"\/com\/files\/2023\/11\/probono-client-intro.jpg\" alt=\"Two women stand at the front of a classroom in conversation with one another. One (at right) is holding a laptop.\" class=\"wp-image-37890\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/11\/probono-client-intro.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/11\/probono-client-intro-450x300.jpg 450w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><figcaption><p class=\"wp-block-photoessay-media-caption wp-prepress-component-caption\">Maristela Rapo (left), of client Giving the Glam, introduces her organization and its mission to Account Supervisor Audrey Tumbarello (COM &#8217;24).<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Shanler invited industry \u201ccoaches\u201d to come in on Saturday morning and give feedback to the teams before it was time for them to present their work to the clients and fellow student participants. Many BU alums served as coaches this year, including Yalun Sleczkowski (\u201918), a senior account executive at Racepoint Global; Seth Delisle (\u201923, CAS\u201923), a marketing coordinator for Jewish Family &amp; Children\u2019s Service of Greater Boston; Maya Vaidya (\u201917), a senior manager of institutional marketing at Fidelity Investments; and Cydney Goldberg (\u201901), founder and owner of Ellebridge, a marketing consulting company. Faculty members <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/profile\/michael-dodge\/\">Michael Dodge<\/a>, a COM lecturer, and Josef Blumenfeld, an adjunct professor, also assisted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Each client came to the event with specific requests. The Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy, for example, sought to increase engagement with its social media content that highlights winter events. They turned to the PRoBono students for help with developing a social media content calendar, a list of local influencers to potentially partner with to promote the Greenway and its winter events, and a list of media entities to reach out to and pitch story ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-photoessay wp-block-photoessay js-block-editorial-photoessay\"><div class=\"photo-row-fourths-2-2\">\n<div class=\"photo-2\"><div class=\"wp-block-photoessay-media\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" src=\"\/com\/files\/2023\/11\/probono-whiteboard.jpg\" alt=\"Woman writing on a white board in front of a group of peers.\" class=\"wp-image-37892\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/11\/probono-whiteboard.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/11\/probono-whiteboard-450x300.jpg 450w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><figcaption><p class=\"wp-block-photoessay-media-caption wp-prepress-component-caption\">Cecilia Cardenas (COM &#8217;24), who is the account director for client Giving the Glam, delegates various tasks to the team including social media, graphic design and copywriting.<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"photo-2\"><div class=\"wp-block-photoessay-media\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" src=\"\/com\/files\/2023\/11\/probono-discussion.jpg\" alt=\"Young man and woman in conversation while standing behind a desk.\" class=\"wp-image-37891\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/11\/probono-discussion.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/11\/probono-discussion-450x300.jpg 450w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><figcaption><p class=\"wp-block-photoessay-media-caption wp-prepress-component-caption\">Account Supervisor Zach Murray (COM &#8217;24) and graduate student Siru Chen (COM &#8217;24) discuss their client&#8217;s scope of work and before assigning tasks to PRoBono volunteers.<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Parker heard from many of the clients how grateful they were for the work the students produced. That, she says, made all of the effort to put PRoBono together worth it. \u201cTowards the end of the event, all of the presentations were going on at the same time, in different rooms. But I was able to go around and peek in on them, and just see how excited and happy all of the clients were. It was great to be able to see the impact we had.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-end-of-article\">Shanler was also moved by the gratitude the clients expressed. The client from the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy came over and gave her a hug. \u201cShe had tears in her eyes, and she was just so moved and so appreciative of what the students were able to give her,\u201d she says. \u201cTo me, that\u2019s really what it\u2019s all about. Yes, it\u2019s a fun night for the students. But why are we doing this? We\u2019re doing this for our community. We\u2019re doing this to empower them. We\u2019re doing this to free up some of their resources and mental space so that they can achieve their mission and do what it is that they need to do.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At 6 p.m. on November 3, more than 80 students gathered in a COM classroom. They were getting ready to&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1654,"featured_media":37868,"template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"categories":[17,876],"tags":[439,1406],"bu-publication":[],"discipline-type":[],"bu_edition":[],"media_type":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/37848"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1654"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/37848\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37899,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/37848\/revisions\/37899"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37848"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=37848"},{"taxonomy":"discipline-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/discipline-type?post=37848"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=37848"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=37848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}