Dena Woerner, MA 2008

I held a BA in Marketing and background in Travel and Tourism before going to IPFW to earn a MA in Professional Communication.  After graduation, I was hired as the Communications Manager for the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism.  In this position, I am the direct supervisor of four travel writers located throughout the state, two photographers, an AV coordinator and an assistant.  I am the editor for all travel and tourism communication whether it be video, print, or electronic media.  I work with two agencies, CJRW for advertising and marketing, and Aristotle for our website—Arkansas.com.  I write key note speeches and addresses and am a primary media contact for the tourism department.  A few fun things I already encountered in this position are spending a couple weeks with the film crew of NHK (Japanese Public Broadcasting station) while they filmed a 90-minute documentary on agriculture and rice production in Arkansas, visiting and walking through the vineyards of Northern Arkansas, touring P. Allen Smith’s garden retreat at Moss Mountain, and an upcoming Carp fishing trip with the Discovery Channel UK.  You can check out Arkansas.com and Arkansasmediaroom.com to see what our communications team does.
 
There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t use something I learned from my classes at IPFW.  I often wondered if I would really use the theories, papers, case studies, and readings that I was exposed to while working on my degree.  I don’t have to wonder anymore.  One of the most challenging areas of my job is the management of a creative team which is located through the state of Arkansas.  The communication skills learned at IPFW are vital to my success in this position.  If I had to do it over again, I wouldn’t change a thing.  I am so glad that I chose Professional Communication as my primary discipline and that I had the excellent professors of IPFW instructing, encouraging and guiding me.  I would strongly recommend this program to anyone that wants to pursue a career in upper management and communication.

Dena Woerner
Communications Manager
Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism
phone 501-682-7606 fax  501-682-2523
1 Capitol Mall, Rm4A-900
Little Rock, AR  72201
www.arkansas.com