LCC MA Public Relations student Jeremy Dickey has won first prize in the CIPR‘s new, annual Douglas Smith Award recognising outstanding student potential.
All entrants were asked to develop a PR campaign around the subject of genetically modified food crops, with the winner awarded a £1000 prize and a crystal trophy.
The award was established in memory of CIPR International founder and honorary patron Douglas Smith, with the ceremony held earlier this month at Manchester Metropolitan University.
Despite being personally opposed to GM foods, Jeremy put together a 25-page international communications plan for fictional genetically modified crop company ‘Good Crops Global’. The aim was to introduce a GM rice crop to a country of his choice: China.
We caught up with Jeremy to find out more.
Why did you choose to argue the opposite of what you personally believe?
I wanted to challenge myself. Too many times in life we choose the easier of two options. By challenging myself it helped me grow more as a future PR practitioner.
How did you feel when you were announced as the winner?
I was very excited! I was glad to see that my education has paid off and that influential people in the PR world deemed my work commendable.
And what are you working on at the moment?
I’m currently working on my dissertation which is looking at social media use during times of crisis.
Congratulations Jeremy!