
Seventeen ASU Cronkite PR Lab students met with IABC Phoenix members Tuesday, April 12, to present what they are learning and doing in the PR Lab this semester.
The PR Lab students work two full days in the lab during the semester and are assigned real client projects. Lisa Schmidtke is the director and professor for the PR Lab.
To be eligible to work in the PR Lab, students must have completed prerequisite courses and be a junior, senior or graduate student.

Schmidtke said they work with external clients, such as the Phoenix Suns, Yubico and a pharmaceutical company in New York. These clients are retained for one or two semesters.
This semester, the PR Lab has 31 students enrolled. The students work in small teams and are assigned a client. They have 16 weeks to plan a strategy and execute the plan. The PR Lab students have won many industry awards in the past for their work. All the seniors in this year’s class have already been offered jobs when they graduate.
IABC Phoenix members were also given a tour of the ASU Cronkite sports news and news labs and the digital audiences lab. The tour also included seeing where Arizona PBS broadcasts.