By Mahinaz Saad
DUBAI – The Middle East Public Relations Association student chapter at Zayed University hosted the MEPRA Roadshow Event on Jan. 27. The purpose of this event was to introduce students at the College of Communication and Media Sciences to MEPRA and inform them about the MEPRA student chapter program with the MEPRA industry association along with the benefits that arise by being a member of it (see http://www.mepra.org/students/).
The event was accompanied by two high profile guest speakers, Hend Al Otaiba, Media Affairs advisor at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Sabrina De Palma, executive director at MEPRA. The event began by an informative introduction delivered by Al Otaiba, in which she spoke about the parent organization MEPRA and gave students a brief history of the organization.
De Palma later followed by explaining to students the structure of MEPRA’s executive board. De Palma highlighted the role of MEPRA’s strategy board, which serves as an advisory body to the organization. She further discussed the different agency members involved with MEPRA and then gave a detailed description to students on how they can connect with MEPRA for future internships and jobs.
De Palma further explained to CCMS students the numerous benefits that arise with being a member of the MEPRA student chapter at ZU. She revealed how internships and work placements usually look like at MEPRA. She then described to students the type of work that they will be expected to perform as interns and how interning at the region’s leading industry body for public relations can open doors to work experience, employment, growing their network and building their knowledge.
This was then followed by an interactive Q&A session with the students, in which Al Otaiba and De Palma addressed students’ questions about MEPRA and shared with CCMS students their personal past experiences in the field and expertise.
The event was organized by the MEPRA student chapter at ZU under the supervision of Dr. Noela Michael. It attracted many CCMS students who were all eager to learn more about MEPRA.
About the author: Mahinaz Saad is a contributing writer for Zajel. She is studying Integrated Strategic Communication in the College of Communication and Media Sciences at Zayed University in Dubai. Mahinaz has been a recipient of the Dean’s List, an award for students with a GPA above 3.5, since she joined ZU in Fall 2016. Mahinaz is also a member of CCMS Honor Society that recognizes students for academic excellence and a member of the Middle East Public Relations Association chapter at ZU.
This story was originally published on Feb. 7, 2019. It was re-uploaded on Jan. 4, 2021.
