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Edition 2 of comms case study competition, RiseUp PR + launched with 6 national colleges, prize money doubled: A PRmoment, Hill and Knowlton initiative

Edition 2 of the case study competition RiseUp PR + for 2024 has been launched with 6 national colleges, this is an initiative of PRmoment and Hill and Knowlton in India. These include IIMC Delhi, St Joseph's College Bangalore and Jagran Lakecity University Bhopal.

Bashar AlKadhi: Young talent is purpose driven

 Speaking at the formal launch in December, Bashar AlKadhi, chief executive officer, of Hill & Knowlton EMEAx (Continental Europe, Nordics, Middle East, Turkey, India, Africa), announced that the prize money is being doubled this year to Rs. 150,000 from Edition 1.

AlKadhi added, "People always ask me what keeps you awake at night, and it's talent. And it's the right talent coming into the industry. Earlier we talked about being energised by young talent. They are very different from when we grew up. They are purpose-led and digitally savvy. And that's, that's amazing that they bring this. But also you've got to mix that with the right attitude. Especially in our business, we always talk about PR as a team game. So how can you be a team player, but also with a winning mentality? So combining all this, to bring in that type of talent through initiatives like this, it's amazing. And we're so happy to be involved with it."

Abhishek Gulyani: The response has been great in year 2 of RiseUP PR+

Abhishek Gulyani, CEO, of Hill and Knowlton in India said, "RiseUp PR +  Edition 2 will give communication students the chance to explore and apply the latest thinking and tools in PR, equipping them with practical skills and knowledge to excel in the field of public relations. The PR profession is evolving very rapidly  and through RiseUp we hope to be able to empower communication students to gain a hands-on understanding of what their work will be like once they enter the job market."

Paarul Chand, editor, of PRmoment India felt that "RiseUp will empower PR students to establish a solid foundation for their future work. By creating case studies, they will have the opportunity to apply critical thinking skills to solve real-world brand challenges, preparing them for the demands of the PR industry."

RiseUp Edition 2 formal launch 

The launch event was attended by winners of RiseUp+ Edition 1, mentors and jury for Edition 2, and professors and directors from participating colleges. 

The competition has a unique two-step process. The participants received hands-on guidance about how to construct a campaign plan (in response to a case study) from a stellar list of mentors drawn from inside and outside the communications industry.

Team RiseUp PR+

Snapshot of the launch, December 2023 

Winning team from Edition 1 (standing): Jahanvee Achantani, Mansha Pant. Also seen (L-R) Amrita Sarna, Ritu Bararia and Bhavya Sharma
Diksha Verma, Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Mrinall Dey, MobiKwik with Bhavya Sharma, Urban Company
Dr Anubhuti Yadav, IIMC Delhi
Shubhangi Mehta, Soroco
Jasrita Dhir, Karkinos Healthcare with Kulveen Trehan-GGSIU
Apeksha Mishra, PolicyBazaar


The RiseUp+ Edition 2 Colleges, Mentor Panel and Jury

One 3-member team from each of the following 6 national participating colleges are taking part in the first edition of RiseUP PR + 2024.  

Participating Colleges 

IIMC Delhi, Delhi 
School of COmmunications & REputation, Mumbai
Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University
Jagran Lakecity University Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh

St. Joseph's College, Bangalore

Christ University, Bangalore


The RiseUp PR + 2024 mentors are:

Heena Kanal, Sr. vice president & head corporate communications & archives, Cipla

Aditee Dutta, manager of communications and policy, Azure Power

Amrita Sarna, communications lead, Unilever International

Varghese Thomas, chief communications officer, Greaves Cotton Limited

Seema Siddiqui, director of communications, Microsoft India

Diksha Verma, PR and communications specialist, Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Bhavya Sharma, director - communications & ESG, Urban Company

Shubhangi Mehta, Global Channels marketing leader, Soroco

Bhavna Imran, communications leader - South Asia, Corteva Agriscience

Jasrita Dhir, director of marketing and communications, Karkinos Healthcare

Mrinall Dey, vice president & head - PR & Corporate Communications, MobiKwik

Apeksha Mishra, head of corporate communications & content at Policybazaar.com

The RiseUp PR+ Jury 

Jury co-chair: Nandini Chatterjee, chief marketing & communications Officer, PwC India

Jury co-chair: Abhishek Gulyani, CEO, Hill and Knowlton Strategies India

Siddharth Vinayak Patankar, chief creative office, Acko 

Sujit Patil, vice president and head - corporate brand and communications, Godrej Industries Limited and Associate Companies

Gayatri Rath, international markets communications, GE Aerospace

Rohit Dubey, vice president - corporate communications & advocacy, Jio

Roopa Nagaraju, head of marketing and public relations, Veolia Water Technologies & Solutions

Deepa Dey, head communication & sustainability, nutrition and special projects, Hindustan Unilever Limited

Neeta Linz, general manager, LG Electronics

Multi-stakeholder PR talent programme 

The jury will pick the top 3 winners, with the top winning team receiving Rs. 150,000/- in prize money. 

This unites India's professional PR circuit: Moushumi Dutt

Moushumi Dutt, RiseUP PR+2024 director said, "RiseUP PR+, as the title conveys, is a step taken in the right direction to raise and give the next gen of communication professionals, a close and unique opportunity to experience the real world of practices in PR. The support from the best and the brightest PR and comms professionals as mentors and jury, adds serious credibility to the program".

Dutt added, "This initiative from PRmoment and Hill and Knowlton will, I hope, give all the new and fresh upcoming PR professionals a taste of what makes this space an exciting function which has good career prospects. This is why the role of our mentors and our jury is very important and all their guidance tips and a few tricks will indeed be the biggest takeaway for all our participants who have come on board for the first edition of this contest. It is about time that we raise the participation of our very diverse and hugely talented PR resources, RiseUP PR+ is the very first step taken in the right direction."

The final winners will be announced in early March.

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