TASTE will bring together students in the Media, Communications and Journalism (MCJ) department with industry professionals on Wednesday.
“Take a student to eat” (TASTE) is presented by the Fresno Advertising Federation (FAF) and coordinated by students in the public relations campaign class (MCJ 159S).
Students shadow professionals in the field and have the opportunity to gather for a meal.
“There are many people working in advertising, public relations and media that stood where students are standing now,” said Cynthia Fidel, a publicity agent for FAF. “We want to see our work carry on, and the best way to do it is support students and give them the opportunity to learn from professionals in their field.”
TASTE involves students being paired up with a mentor, meeting their mentor at their place of business in the morning, learning from their mentor and experiencing what the job is like, and then sitting down to lunch with them at Pardini’s Catering and Banquets.
“The event is open to all media, communications and journalism students and students from the graphic design option,” said Jose Diaz, director of operations for TASTE. “This year, in order to make the event more available to students, we decided open it up to students from all years.”
Each student may have a different experience as they will have a different mentors.
“We have professionals from various places in Fresno. We have people from the Jeffrey Scott Agency, JP Marketing, Cumulus [Media], Univision and many more places,” Diaz said. “Obviously a mentor working in broadcast journalism is doing different things than a mentor working in public relations. In the end, what really matters is what the student puts into the event. If they go in ready to impress with résumé in hand, then TASTE will be more beneficial to them…”
TASTE is from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and students have already been signed up and paired with mentors.
“Networking is important for graduating students. Knowing the right people and making a good impression on them can help students find a job after graduation,” Diaz said. “It’s not a 100 percent guarantee that students will find the perfect job after school but they can increase their chances by going out, meeting new people and showing them what they’re good at.”