What is your title and company name?
Senior Communications Coordinator, University of Central Florida
Give a brief explanation of your job.
I proactively pitch and respond to media with a focus on promoting research and technology that UCF faculty and students produce. My “clients” include the College of Medicine, College of Sciences, College of Engineering and Computer Science and the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences among others. I assist in facilitating national and local television and print press visits to UCF such as NBC Nightly News, NPR Science Friday and the Chronicle of Higher Education. I also assist in crisis management and work with other partners in the community and across the university on a variety of media and public relations projects.
How many years have you been a part of FPRA? Why did you join?
I joined FPRA in 2008, two years after I switched careers from journalism to public relations. I wanted to get my feet wet before joining a professional organization.
What was your favorite FPRA event?
Tough. I’ve enjoyed every event I’ve attended. But the best must be the 2013 FPRA state conference. It was the first time I attended the conference and I really enjoyed the seminars and meeting members from across the state. I was also thrilled to see so many members of the Space Coast and Orlando chapters win awards. I live on the Space Coast and know many members in that chapter and I work and call many Orlando chapter members friends.
Tell us about an exciting achievement (personal or professional).
Best achievement so far, has been working with NBC Nightly News during a five year process to tell the story of UCF’s College of Medicine. The first year’s efforts lead to a piece on the evening news that showcased some of our first few students and their dreams of becoming doctors. They were gambling on a brand new and then unproven medical school. Through continued communication with NBC, four years later the same crew and reporter came back and produced a new story focused on the students’ journey. They highlighted what role UCF played in their success of landing at some pretty prestigious residency programs where they will continue to live their dreams of providing the best medical care possible. Their gamble paid off and, today, UCF’s medical school has more than proven itself on a national stage. The two very favorable pieces aired on the evening news to millions of households across the nation.
Tell us something people may not know about you.
When I was in third grade, my school principal called my parents at the beginning of the year claiming I had an issue distinguishing fact from fiction. Why? Because when I turned in an essay on “What did you do on your summer vacation?” I wrote about being caught in the middle of a gun battle. When the teacher said I couldn’t possibly, I argued with her. So my poor parents had to go in to see the principal. Well, the principal was quite embarrassed to find out I had traveled to El Salvador with my mother to visit relatives. The country was in the middle of a very bloody civil war and we had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. We had to hunker down for several hours before we could leave. It is still a very vivid memory. The experience helped me when I started my journalism career as police reporter in California. Police officers were impressed that the rookie reporter didn’t run in a panic the first time she heard multiple shots fired.
Contact info:
Zenaida.kotala@ucf.edu
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