In a record-breaking research year for the VCU School of Mass Communications, seven refereed papers and nine researchers are invited to present at the 15^th annual International Public Relations Research Conference (IPRRC).

IPRRC is one of the premiere international research conferences in the field of strategic communications.  In the past, VCU faculty have won two Top Paper Awards.  This year, the number of papers and level of faculty research collaborations have excelled even further.

“VCU should be very excited,” said Dr. Don Stacks, Director of IPRRC and Director of Public Relations Graduate Studies at the University of Miami.

A variety of strategic communication topics, such as digital health communication, internal communication, public relations professional standards, and new crisis communication models, will be presented and discussed by VCU scholars.  This research team is powered by faculty members from all sequences within the School of Mass Communications – advertising, journalism, and public relations – as well as graduate students from the Media, Art, and Text Ph.D. program and the School of Social Work.

Click here to see the list of VCU Mass Comm presentations.

The IPRRC has created a unique conference model combining members of the scholarly and professional communities in which presenters have about 15 minutes to discuss their research.

“This conference is like speed dating for research,” said Stacks. “What we’ve done is create a culture where people have four 15-minute time slots to present their research. We’re trying to break out of the academic bit about literature review, and instead we’re trying to get to the executive summary of what’s really going on.”

One of the main reasons researchers choose to submit their papers to IPRRC is that this conference attracts international members from both the scholarly and professional communities, offering researchers a variety of feedback.

“The nice thing about this conference is you’re not presenting on a panel, but instead you’re speaking to groups of people, and the audience keeps changing, keeping it fresh,” said Dr. Marcus Messner, journalism professor and one of the conference presenters representing VCU. “It’s really neat because you get a lot of feedback on your paper, and it just feels like a family atmosphere.”

The School of Mass Communications is also bringing one of the international scholars to Miami all the way from Macau, China. Dr. Ernest Martin is a VCU public relations professor who has been teaching students in China over the past few years. Once Martin received news that his paper was accepted and was invited to present at the IPRRC, he decided it was finally time to make a trip back home.

“The IPRRC has long been the outstanding scholarly venue to get critical feedback on your research. It also presents scholarly research that industry professionals always watch,” said Martin. “My current research continues to evolve, and I want feedback and suggestions to take it to the next level. I look forward to not only hearing everyone’s papers but also seeing colleagues I have missed while being away in China.”

According to Melissa Dodd, the IPRRC coordinator, each year the conference receives more and more applications, making it difficult to have a paper accepted.

“We always expect a VCU presence at the conference, but this year they did great,” said Dodd. “For them to have this many papers accepted is huge. I can say this year was the most competitive year yet, which is another reason VCU should be so excited about the number of papers accepted.”