LoopedIn Co. meets regularly to plan upcoming work. (Photo by Aneesh Clinton Dsouza/DePaul Student Photo Agency)For Melissa Sarmiento-Alvarez, the work she’s proudest of so far with
LoopedIn Collective is a set of social media posts created for their first client. Set to upbeat music, one video features students touring an investment firm’s office and networking with staff there. The video earned thousands of views on
Instagram.“It was really fun to actually see the engagement coming in with the social content we were producing,” says Sarmiento-Alvarez, a graduate public relations student.
Developed under the guidance of Nur Uysal, director of the Center for Communication Engagement in the College of Communication, LoopedIn Co. is a public relations and communication agency run by students. Through the agency, students create campaigns, branding, audience research and more for clients with a social mission.
Their first client was the Summer Investment Challenge, a free college-immersion experience at the Driehaus College of Business for high school students interested in careers in finance.
“Our stories got a lot of engagement, a lot of buzz,” Sarmiento-Alvarez says. She’ll serve as agency director starting in winter quarter.
Through LoopedIn Co., students apply skills and knowledge they’re developing in the classroom to real-world client work. Clients benefit from the unique perspectives of students and research insights powered by the Center for Communication Engagement.
“LoopedIn Co. pairs student creativity with faculty mentorship and the center’s analytics resources,” Uysal says. “The agency helps clients connect with contemporary audiences in authentic, data-driven ways. We empower partners to tell their stories with purpose while cultivating the next generation of socially conscious, research-informed communicators.”
Uysal and Leti Couto, an assistant professor in public relations and advertising, serve as faculty advisors. Around 20 undergraduate and graduate students participate in the agency, including four student directors.
Students interested in joining the team can sign up using the form on the agency’s website. Couto and Uysal are developing a course for next fall so students can earn course credit for their work.
Community organizations, nonprofits and DePaul units with a social mission can inquire about partnerships on the agency’s website.
Building skills for future careers, while doing good
This quarter, Sasha London and her colleagues completed a website and social media audit for LoopedIn Co.’s client MONDHA. The nonprofit organization is a community partner of DePaul’s Steans Center that works with vulnerable communities in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
London, a sophomore public relations and advertising major, led a team that analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of MONDHA’s website, while another LoopedIn team looked at social channels and how well they engaged key audiences. The teams also compared its site with other similar nonprofits to generate recommendations to improve visuals, storytelling and more.
The work helped London build skills she wouldn’t have been able to develop in the classroom and is a great talking point for interviews with potential employers.
“This experience has gotten me extremely excited to enter the workforce but also made me more confident in myself and my skills,” she says.
Part of what makes LoopedIn Co. unique is that it aims to serve clients with a social mission. London says this also drives interest from students to join the agency.
“There’s a heart to it,” London says. “That's why so many people want to be part of LoopedIn. They want to feel good and make a difference in the world.”