Since the announcement that Betsy Plank–PRSSA’s godmother, adviser, champion and friend–passed away Sunday, there have been some beautiful memories posted about the kind of person Betsy was. I remember meeting Betsy at the PRSSA 2008 National Conference in Detroit. At that point, I really had no idea what a big deal she was. Now, I wish I would have been able to express my gratitude for how much she’s done for PRSSA.

In exactly one week, my term begins as PRSSA National President, and this includes board service on the Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations. To be around people Betsy inspired is more than an honor for me; it’s the start of career commitment to mentorship and service in the profession I believe in.

This also means my term will be the first National Committee without Betsy around. What I’ve come to discover in the past several days is while she won’t be around, her legacy will. She was an incredible and passionate leader with unparalleled industry awards, yet she remained humble through her dedication to inspiring future generations of leaders.

Looking forward in our profession, I see evidence of Betsy’s influence in so many current and future leaders. While I many not have been one of her direct beneficiaries, her mentees and colleagues have been instrumental in my young career. Brandi and Rebecca, who have been putting up with me for a long time, have helped me grow into the leader I am today. My Edelman career (which began one year ago on Wednesday!) started because of a scholarship in Daniel Edelman’s name; Betsy used to work with him. And the countless people who have answered my crazy e-mails, phone calls and lunch meetings can be credited with most of the good decisions I’ve ever made.

So, as we mourn the loss of an incredible, dynamic and passionate leader, we should also be thinking about how we all can best carry on the torch. To quote Betsy’s Distinguished Service Award acceptance speech, “Public relations education needs and deserves more such responsible angels.” For those of us who she inspired, both directly and indirectly, I hope we can carry on Betsy’s legacy.

Though I don’t consider myself a lucky person, I really landed the jackpot nearly one year ago when I applied for and received the Daniel J. Edelman/PRSSA award. The award contains a monetary scholarship as well as a three-month internship in one of Edelman‘s U.S. offices. For a broke college kid, that’s pretty much the best thing anyone could ever ask for.

As it’s the season for the application, I wanted to offer some advice for those hoping to apply. By no means it is a particularly difficult application, yet there are many ways to separate yourself from other applicants. The most important thing to remember is that you’re only as qualified for the award as you believe you are. Confidence is key and it should show in your application. What are you waiting for? Get your application together!

Here are my tips:

Think internship over award

While the Edelman generously offers some cash for the award, don’t get distracted by the dough. Consider this an internship application more than anything else. That means submitting your best work, meeting the deadline and being prepared for a phone interview if you land in the top.

Your portfolio should have a lot of depth

The award requires you to submit 10 samples of your best public relations work. That means 10 of your best and most diverse work samples. Don’t just include press releases and media advisories; make sure to include your digital work, bi-lined articles, brochures, event summaries… you name it. If you need some more advice on constructing a portfolio, I recommend you check out Karen Russell’s post. Whatever you submit, make sure it is clean, organized and navigable.

Demonstrate the Edelman values

If you’re going to apply, make sure you show in your application that you demonstrate the Edelman values. I’ll let you do your own research on these, but I will say Edelman folks take these values very seriously and demonstrate them in their work. You can be one step ahead if you show similar values.

Apply

Yes, I said it. Do the work and submit your application; you won’t regret it. At the very least, you will have your portfolio put together for future applications. If you win, Edelman is a phenomenal place to work and launch your career, so take advantage of the opportunity.

More advice

In addition to my advice, I’ve compiled some links and posts that will be of great interest to anyone considering applying. Check them out:

• More information and the award application can be found here.
• Meg Roberts, the 2008 runner-up of the award, writes about her experience in the application process. Her advice: just apply already. Also, take note of the comments in the post.
• I interviewed Heather Crowley, a recruitment specialist from Edelman in Chicago, for the PRSSA Blog this summer. She offers some advice for future and current interns, and it’s definitely worth a read if you are planning on joining the company.
• This interview with Natasha Avery, senior recruitment manager for Edelman’s western region, goes into some great detail about how to land a job with Edelman. Key takeaways from this post will definitely help you in the application process.
• CEO Richard Edelman writes 6 A.M., a blog about public relations trends and insights. Make sure to read the blog, as well as other public relations news sources and blogs, to be a knowledgeable citizen in the industry.

*For the purposes of full disclosure, I am currently employed by Edelman.

As I continue to transition in my new position with Edelman, one thing I’m already finding is I don’t have as much time in the day to peruse news articles and share them via Twitter, Friendfeed, etc. Trust me, I know this is a good thing. Technically, this is my first 40-hour per week gig; for the past couple of years, I’ve always balanced jobs and internships with classes, so I’m used moving around all day.

So, in an effort to continue to share what I feel is relevant to future and current PR pros, I’m going to try something new. I’m going to bookmark a couple articles per day via delicious and automatically post these to this blog. You can check out this feature here.

You know I love feedback, so let me know what you think. I’m here to help, and I hope this will be another tool that will accomplish that.

Besides moving out of East Lansing and complaining about the whole thing, I’ve been up to some pretty cool things. With classes finished for the semester, I’m starting to get my summer plans in order. Part of this is making the move to Chicago, and this will be my first summer away from East Lansing since I started at Michigan State University. I’ll also be starting an internship with Edelman in their digital group, as well as starting my National PRSSA position. In the interest of being open and transparent, you’ll probably be seeing more about the following:

I just moved out of my house last week. While I’ve lived here, the house has been broken into, we’ve had sewage problems, our kitchen has been remodeled and we had unwanted pets (never figured out what the scratches in the walls were), among other things. Even though the house was literally falling apart, I’m going to miss this place and mostly the front porch.

Recently, I was elected National Vice President of Professional Development by PRSSA at the National Assembly in New Orleans. In that position, I’ll be blogging at the PRSSA Blog, supporting student-run firms across the country and some other pretty cool things. I’ll also be traveling to Scottsdale in June with the other National Committee members to plan for the upcoming year and get things going. Here’s a picture of the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 National Committees:

Also, I’m going to be moving to Chicago for the summer and interning with Edelman Digital. I’m starting right after Memorial Day and I can’t wait. The team has a blog and I hope you check it out. Below is a picture of where I’ll be for the summer.

So, what’s the future of this blog? Because I’m blogging at a few other places, I probably will only have time for one post per week. I’ve covered a lot of “tips” for PR students, and I hope to discuss issues we’ll be facing and how to addresses them in addition to more posts about the industry. Thanks for reading and I hope you keep up with me.