BLACKSBURG, Va.— Maintaining old traditions has become a difficult task while having to navigate around a pandemic. However, that did not stop PRISM from engaging in their yearly visit with Altria Group, a Fortune 200 company.
This past month, PRISM reinforced their connection with Altria and hosted a successful virtual visit in place of their usual trip to their Richmond, Virginia office. The transition from in-person to virtual did not take away from the energy of the event.
“The Altria visit was by far one of our most engaging virtual visits that we have done!” said Puja Agnihotri, PRISM co-Chief Marketing Officer. “It was so cool to see our organization mix so seamlessly even in a virtual setting.”
One of the reasons for the event’s success was the attendance of Altria’s CEO Billy Gifford, the COO Jody Begley, and the CEO of Philip Morris USA Jon Moore. Mr. Gifford inspired PRISM as he spoke about the importance of creating and maintaining a positive work environment. They welcomed all ideas on how to continue to provide a healthy culture for current and future Altria employees.
“It was such an honor to have them listening in on our virtual visit. I know it made myself and the other PRISM members feel both excited and valued to have so many important attendees,” said PRISM’s co-Chief Marketing Officer Julia Palumbo.
Keeping engagement high in a virtual setting has proved challenging, however PRISM’s Executive Officers and Altria’s Morgan Beavers, Associate Specialist and alumna of both Virginia Tech and PRISM, rose to the occasion. On the agenda was an “Adulting Panel” of three Altria employees that provided useful tips on how to navigate the work world right out of college. To tear down that virtual barrier even further, break-out rooms were implemented for students to have a chance to get to know the Altria attendees. Following that was the main event: the “Shark Tank” pitches by various teams of PRISM members.
Carrie Lancaster, Jon Moore, Krista Rapatski, and Jody Begley played the role of the “sharks” during PRISM’s 2-3 minute presentations. In these presentations, students were encouraged to include any and all aspects they would like to see Altria implement with their new hires/interns. These suggestions included ways to promote diversity and inclusion and how to navigate online-internships. The panel of sharks were impressed with the creative input from each PRISM team and made it clear that they were excited to implement some of the incredible ideas.
“From hearing the students talk about their professional goals to exploring their ideas for new hires, my takeaways when I think about bringing new people into a team, especially Gen-Z, are numerous,” said Morgan Beavers, Associate Specialist at Altria and moderator of the virtual event.
PRISM is grateful to be able to continue their relationship with Altria and have opportunities to network with leaders in the industry as well as PRISM alumni who have gone on to successful careers.