The statewide Community College Public Relations Organization (CCPRO) is a professional development and service organization that seeks to promote excellence in California’s community college public relations and related professions. The organization serves as a central resource of information and provides counsel and assistance relating to the advancement of community colleges statewide and the professional growth of its members.
President’s Message
Ever wish you could stop the world mid-spin and take a breather – for an hour, a day, a year?
As communications and marketing professionals, our jobs are expanding so rapidly that it sometimes seems we are on the verge of losing control, of falling hopelessly behind. If only we could hit pause so that we could develop our skills off the clock, and have the time and space to think.
Alas, stopping time is one feat that the Community College Public Relations Organization (CCPRO forshort) cannot help you with. What CCPRO can do is plug you into a close-knit community of professionals from all over the state of California who are dealing with the same challenges, the same frustrations, the same constraints and opportunities that you are.
In short, we are a family.
Six years ago, when I left journalism for the new world of community college marketing, my forward-thinking supervisor at the time immediately sent me to the CCPRO conference in Sacramento.
I was just six weeks into my new career, and felt I was still flailing about in the dark. But at that memorable CCPRO conference, I met many others who had traveled a similar path. I began to get my bearings. For the first time, the thought occurred to me: “Maybe I can do this job.”
I’ve come a long way. But you can’t stand still in this business. The enrollment crisis posed by COVID-19, the “new normal” expectations for virtual events and livestreams, and the emergence of artificial intelligence tools continue to stretch us every day.
CCPRO can help.
At our annual conference in April and at our virtual regional meet-ups all year long, you can stay up to date on industry tools and trends. You can connect with colleagues and learn about their best practices. You can learn how to be a better advocate for marketing initiatives on your own campus. More than anything, you can make a friend or two or twenty. And that friend just might be the colleague you lean on when things get tough.
We can’t stop the world mid-spin. What we can do is provide a little time, a little space, and a lot of camaraderie and support, to help keep you on your feet.
That’s what CCPRO is all about. Won’t you join us?