About

Pariss Coleman, 22, is a Charlotte, NC native and is a recent graduate of East Carolina University. She earned a degree in communication with an emphasis in public relations and minored in psychology. Coleman is now studying interactive media to earn a master of science degree from Quinnipiac University.

During her undergraduate career, Coleman volunteered in the community, interned with a Fortune 500 company and was involved in the Public Relations Student Society of America. As a freshmen, Coleman began working at the Gray Art Galley on campus. She was later offered a position to serve as a resident adviser during her sophomore year and continued to volunteer at the Gray Art Gallery throughout her time at ECU.

Coleman was an active member of PRSSA for four years. She started out as a general member and worked her way up and became president of the ECU Chapter during her senior year. While in PRSSA, she worked with the first East Carolina Film Festival, coordinated a committee that donated over 25 gift boxes for Operation Christmas Child, was published in the PRactioner (ECU’s PRSSA bi-annual publication), helped facilitate annual High School Media Workshops and spoke at department graduations. Coleman’s greatest accomplishment was hosting “A PR Life is the Life for Me: A Guide to Becoming Successful in the Professional World” in February of 2011. It was the ECU’s Chapter of PRSSA’s first regional activity and the entire organization worked together to plan and promote the event to schools all over the country in just five months. ECU was one of eleven schools chosen that semester to host a regional activity.

In addition to campus involvement, Coleman gain knowledge outside of the classroom through internships. She interned with CBS Radio and got the opportunity to work with V101.9, Power 98 and Kiss 95.1. As an intern, Coleman helped promote meet and greets, local events and concerts. Coleman also used her marketing skills for her second internship with Proctor and Gamble.

Coleman worked for P&G as a Facebook fanpage editor for seven month and was later promoted as a campus ambassador. She created videos for the page, conducted online discussions, planned campus events, and blogged about college related topics for students. In 2010, Coleman was invited to the Kid’s Choice Awards along with four other Facebook fanpage editors for her work and gaining significant numbers to the ReadyU fanpage.

Public Relations, marketing, social media and writing are some of Coleman’s strengths. Public speaking is also something that she has worked on and continues to work and improve. She was a member of Toastmaster’s during her undergraduate career and gained more experience in public speaking as well as leadership, as a Student Leadership Assistant. During her senior year, she worked as an SLA at the Center for Student Leadership at ECU. She gave leadership presentations to students, planned leadership events and presented at the 2010 Women in Leadership Development Conference.

As a graduate student, Coleman is currently learning more about media production, writing for interactive media, social media and blogging as she works to obtain her master’s degree in Interactive Media. She hopes to further her career in public relations upon completion of the program in 2013.