PUC Represents at the Society of Adventist Communicators Conference

The Society of Adventist Communicators Conference (SAC) is three days of engaging keynotes, workshops, performances, and networking sessions. They also have local media tours, Sabbath afternoon activities, and amazing food. 

This year, SAC was from Oct. 19-21 in Springfield, Massachusetts. It has been several years since PUC has been able to attend this conference, outside of attending virtually during COVID.

General sessions consisted of a TechTalk with Bryant Taylor, a keynote address by industry professional Erin Byrne, and an evening with filmmaker Martin Doblmeier (documentary on the Sabbath). There is an awards ceremony for students and professionals, but PUC unfortunately had to miss the event. Some of the workshop offerings included:

Participants attended the main sessions and the workshops. Students also had a lot of time to connect with industry professionals and companies for potential internships and jobs after graduation. PUC's communication department hopes to submit student and faculty work for the awards next year. Communication professionals (students, faculty, and staff from marketing departments) are welcome to submit to journalists, marketing professionals, podcasters, etc. It is a great way to connect and showcase PUC.

Communication student Anna Ramos had the opportunity to attend the conference for the first time. “I was able to gain new insights into the work done by different communication departments,” said Ramos. “After hearing from the panelists and speakers at the conference, I realized how much Adventist communicators can do and how much work is still ahead of us. It was really inspiring to see all the possibilities we have as communicators.”

Tara Hargrove, chair of PUC’s communication department, shared that one of the conference's highlights was bringing in the Sabbath with a big room full of professionals singing praise together. "That isn’t something you get at most professional conferences," said Hargrove. “It was cool to discover many job opportunities, both within our Adventist organizations and beyond, where our students are using the skills they’ve acquired,” she said. 

It's been over six years since Tara attended the Society of Adventist Communicators Conference. She forgot how important it is to connect with other people who share your same passions and are using their gifts in so many interesting and impactful ways. She loved hearing about the various ways communicators impact the world and sharing their faith in the space in which God has placed them.