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Every Product Has a Story

Students in the Valenti-Wolff Startup are positioning some of the most cutting-edge new research emerging from the University of Houston.

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Imagine a class where students are not graded on assignments or tests. There are no lectures to prepare for or quizzes to take. Instead, they are evaluated by their responses to actual, real world encounters.

At the Valenti School of Communication, undergraduate and graduate students with an interest in public relations can take such a course. It is one of our most sought-after classes: an advanced practicum course called Strategic Communication Applications or, more commonly, The Valenti-Wolff Startup.

Dr. Jennifer Vardeman-Winter introduces Valenti students, who are preparing Wolff clients to present at trade shows.

Photo 1: Dr. Jennifer Vardeman-Winter introduces Valenti students, who are preparing Wolff clients to present at trade shows.

During this multi-semester class, students develop their craft in a realistic, yet supervised, environment. They support their “clients,” who are students at the Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship.

The entrepreneurship students work to bring inventions by University of Houston researchers to market. They are charged with determining which inventions are viable enough to produce and building teams (or companies) around them. The newly formed startups then “hire” students from the Valenti-Wolff Startup as their public relations agency.

The Valenti students’ primary responsibility is to convey the product’s message in the most compelling way. Most are communication majors with a concentration in Public Relations, so they understand how to disseminate the products’ message to the public through different media and communication avenues.

Telling the story through public relations.
Through this collaboration, Wolff students and Valenti students are bringing some of the most innovative and cutting-edge research from the University of Houston to market – from a new type of windshield wiper fluid that easily cleans skyscrapers and jets to a special camera lens that can attach to any mobile device to make studying specimen easier in elementary classrooms.

Katie Dykstra, a student in the Valenti-Wolff Startup class, is working to promote a “smart” cement material. It was developed by a University of Houston civil engineering researcher to make offshore drilling safer. Dykstra’s job is to work closely with her client team to make sure she actively portrays the story of the product.

Focusing on the product’s story is what the Valenti students are trained to do. Dr. Jennifer Vardeman-Winter, the director of Graduate Studies at the Valenti School of Communication, co-leads the class with professor Priscilla Tinsley. Dr. Vardeman-Winter believes that every product begins as a blank canvas with a unique story to tell – no matter what market or industry it is from.

“It is our job as the public relations agency to tell the story of that product. Even if it is not the most glamorous product, it still has a story to tell. Whether it’s medicine, oil, gas, optometry or construction management, communication is alive in each one,” Dr. Vardeman-Winter said as she described the creative process behind each product’s conception.

Photo 2

The unique challenges of this course.
Unsurprisingly, this course presents its own unique challenges. “The most difficult aspect about this course is that, unlike most classes where you adhere to deadlines, it requires full-on constant attention,” said Dykstra when describing the challenges. “You cannot put off work until the due date. One of the keys to success in this class is maintaining a relationship with your client. There is no due date for that.”

Still, the Valenti students do not shy away from these challenges. “Maintaining connections to the clients is a tough barrier in this course, however it is the actuality of this job in the real world,” Dr. Vardeman-Winter said. She pointed out that sometimes “clients aren’t really responsive. Some are too busy and some don’t really understand the value of the public relations agency, making it difficult to connect. The challenges [the students] are facing in this course are ultimately preparing them for the real world.”

These challenges mold the students into excellent critical thinkers. According to Dr. Vardeman-Winter, “This course embraces a lot of valuable experiences that can be transitioned into real life applications. The ability to solve problems is a skill that will take you far in life.”

Preparing students for success. At the Valenti School of Communication, we measure success by allowing students to not only learn from a class but also apply it into the world around them. The Valenti-Wolff Startup does this and highlights the unique experience that the Valenti School of Communication at the University of Houston has to offer.

By Krystel Johnson