Before taking Communications Capping during the Fall 2017 semester I was anxious for and dreading the entire experience. Capping courses within the Marist curriculum are taken during a student’s senior year. Each capping course requires its students to complete a project encompassing their education. As a public relations major with a concentration in advertising I had heard horror stories of sleepless nights, brutal research and group members that didn’t get along with one another associated with capping. So my goal from the beginning was to get out of capping in one piece. Well, not only did I thankfully get through the course, but I also ended up in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the 2018 Broadcast Education Association Conference from April 7-10. BEA is a premiere international academic organization with a mission to “educate for tomorrow’s media.” I had never heard of this organization nor the conference until I completed my capping course. Myself and my two group members, Samantha Ketelsen and Nicolette Muro, conducted our capping research on a topic we were passionate about: Instagram Influencers. From there, we refined our capping project to cover how these niche influencers rise to power and gain credibility on the popular social media outlet. Our final project tapped into audience perception, how Instagram can serve as a platform for these influencers to establish their careers, and how brands leverage these same influencers for their credibility. We worked on each part of the process together every week to ensure our results, work, and presentation were credible and properly formatted by scholarly standards. The semester-long effort was difficult, but proved to be well worth our time. At the end of the semester, our professor, Dr. Wenjing Xie, noticed our hard work and recommended we submit our final project to the annual BEA Conference. After reading up on BEA we were star struck and flattered. We didn’t think all of us attending and presenting at the conference would be a reality until this spring semester when we were accepted. Our iPhone group chat blew up with messages of excitement the day we were accepted as we realized we had received a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to present for hundreds of academics. We knew we had to make the trip to Las Vegas regardless of the cost and stress associated with missing two days of classes. The three of us went through a step-by-step process to acquire grant money for our trip. We had to complete an application provided by the School of Communication & Arts, which was then reviewed by the Dean, Dr. Lyn Lepre. Once Dr. Lepre accepted our application we brought it to other Marist administrators for final review. We received the grant and used it to cover our flight expenses. We soon found ourselves at JFK International Airport at 6 a.m. boarding a direct flight to Las Vegas. Before we knew it we were unpacking our luggage at The Mirage, roaming the Strip and eating at In-N-Out Burger. We saw all the touristy sites in Las Vegas like Caesars Palace and also sat in on conference seminars at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort. We were fortunate enough to see Dr. Lepre present her research on the prevalence of and exposure to diversity in Netflix original programming and other shows on streaming services. On the final day of the conference we presented our findings on Instagram Influencers during a breakout session. The presentation was capping style; a poster session where students discussed their research with professors, graduate students, and other conference attendees as they stopped by our table. My group and I came prepared and were able to dive into our research and answer complex questions. Capping turned into a rewarding experience because of this opportunity to travel, learn more about my field of study, and present my research. The trip was a perfect balance of leisure and academically enriching experiences. I realized how work that I do in the classroom can open doors that internships and jobs may not necessarily unlock. I made best friends along the way and developed a newfound appreciation for my academic track. Overall, the only thing I would change is the return date on my plane ticket. Las Vegas still has my heart, and I still haven’t quite returned to New York yet.
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