Speaker presenting ‘Understanding global PR’

Speaker presenting ‘Understanding global PR’

Kara Alaimo. Courtesy GVSU

A local college is hosting an author and professor on Monday who’s worked in PR for the United Nations and the Obama administration.

Grand Valley State University said Kara Alaimo — assistant professor of journalism, media studies and public relations at Hofstra University in Long Island, New York — will present "Understanding global PR" at 6 p.m. in the Loosemore Auditorium on GVSU’s downtown campus.

The presentation is free and open to the public.

The event is part of GVSU’s APR Speaker Series, which is hosted once a semester by the advertising and public relations program.

Global PR

Alaimo will discuss her book, “Pitch, Tweet or Engage on the Street: How to Practice Global Public Relations and Strategic Communications.”

The book is based on interviews with senior PR professionals in 31 countries. It breaks the world into 10 cultural groups and explains how to adapt public relations strategies, tactics and messages to be appropriate for each of them.

Alaimo’s background

Before becoming a professor, Alaimo served as head of communications for the U.N. secretary-general’s High Level Panel on the Post 2015 Development Agenda — a group of heads of state and thinkers who wrote the world’s plan for ending poverty.

She was appointed by former President Barack Obama as spokesperson for international affairs in the U.S. Treasury Department, where she communicated the administration’s global economic diplomacy initiatives.

Alaimo was also Jim Kim’s media adviser during his successful 2012 campaign for the World Bank Presidency.

GVSU

Grand Valley State University’s main campus is situated on 1,322 acres in Allendale. Its Robert C. Pew Campus is in downtown Grand Rapids.

The school, founded in 1960, offers 88 undergraduate degrees and 37 graduate degrees.

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Rachel Watson was a Grand Rapids Business Journal/Grand Rapids Magazine staff reporter who most recently covered food and beverage, agriculture, economic development, manufacturing, small business and startups, banking and finance, human resources, and DEI. She also was associate digital editor for grbj.com and grmag.com.