Marshall University’s Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) had its first event of the semester, “Q&A with PRSSA” Thursday in the John Deaver Drinko Library.
Dave Lavender, features reporter for the Herald-Dispatch, was the event guest speaker, who spoke about his experience working in media and his interactions with public relations affiliates.
“I write entertainment for the Herald-Dispatch, and I also write general features that are kind of lifestyle features,” Lavender said. “I kind of cast a wide angle lens on Huntington and the community at large. We do a little bit of travel, a wide range of art, music, and dance and I’m always interviewing people that are coming into town.”
Lavender told students he did not always get to write about things he enjoyed, in fact when he first started at the Herald-Dispatch, he had to cover county government and eventually moved up to become a features reporter.
“It’s exciting to get to interview people in our community and to get to learn more about whatever art they do,” Lavender said. “I don’t care if they are famous or not, some of the best people I’ve interviewed have been like a quilter or someone who has done something really cool.”
Additionally, Lavender worked five different internships before his first job to learn his craft. His internships varied from writing for radio, television, magazines, the newspaper and he wrote his own book, “Dave Trippin.”
“The advice I would give to students is to get as much experience as you can, this is a really fun field whether you are in PR or journalism,” Lavender said. “I would tell students to get out there and experience things, because in a classroom you can only do but so much, but as you find out, if you go out into the community and cover anything really, it really hones your people skills.”
PRSSA hosts the Q&A series to bring in professionals in the PR, broadcast and print medias who can help students get a feel of what life in their field is like outside of school.

Darius Booker, PRSSA president, said the organization helps students prepare for what is to come.
“We are an organization that prepares PR students and other students on campus for the future,” Booker said. “We host different kinds of workshops to prepare ourselves and we plan out real life campaigns, which is why PRSSA is a great organization to be a part of.”
Booker said PRSSA provides a lot of opportunities for students after they graduate college.
“It gives you the opportunity to network with other people and it can help you get a job, land internship opportunities and provides chances for scholarships,” Booker said. “Also, you can attend regional and national conferences and get the chance to meet other students that are in PRSSA across the country.”
Booker said there will be more Q&A sessions in the future with a variety of guest speakers in the news media field.
Nichole Henderson can be contacted at [email protected].