Prize recognises passion and public relations pioneer

The prize, named in honour of RMIT's first full-time Senior Lecturer and Course Coordinator in Public Relations, is awarded annually to the PR student who produces the best thesis in their final year.

Ms Allardice received her prize at the PRIA's recent annual Women in PR forum. The forum also raised money for The Social Studio, an organisation that trains people from refugee and migrant backgrounds in fashion design, retail and hospitality.

The winning thesis examined the perceptions of key stakeholders towards blogs published in the humanitarian sector.

"I wanted to look at the phenomenon of humanitarian blogging from every perspective, to see how it might be both attractive as a channel of communication with distinct advantages, but also to contrast this with the views of an online audience and the organisations employing the aid workers," Ms Allardice said.

In her acceptance speech, Ms Allardice said she felt very privileged and proud to be part of a profession that supported the community.

Phillipa Brear, RMIT Undergraduate PR Program Director, said the award not only honoured a pioneer of PR education, Merle Howard, it also celebrated the achievements of potential industry leaders, such as Ms Allardice.

"Research sits at the heart of PR and professional communication," Ms Brear said.

"Our students build their research skills throughout their studies, and we work with them so they have the confidence and creativity to apply those skills to issues about which they are passionate. This project is a great example of this.

"Our final-year research project is the capstone of our degree, and the variety and quality of our final year students' work highlights the diverse and complex field of PR.

"Ms Allardice's project focuses on the not-for-profit sectors and social media, both topics that resonate with PR industry thought leadership and current scholarship.

"No doubt this is one reason this project was so compelling to the judges."

Students from RMIT's Industrial Design and Interior Design programs teamed with the Social Studio, last year, to develop pop-up shops that enable garments to be sold from key urban spaces.

The University also works with the organisation to provide clothing production training.

Merle Howard Prize recipient Zoe Allardice with her aunt Julie Allardice (left), Undergraduate PR Program Director Phillipa Brear and lecturer Caroline van de Pol.

The Social Studio mobile store, designed by RMIT students. Photo by Raphael Kilpatrick.

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