Member Spotlight

MEET PRSA AUSTIN CHAPTER MEMBER: COLTON WRIGHT

NAME: Colton Wright

CURRENT LIVELIHOOD:  I am an assistant account executive with Weber Shandwick and more specifically I help with grasssroots initiatives with the U.S. Army.

CHILDHOOD AMBITION: I really wanted to be a French horn soloist in high school but set my sights on playing in an orchestra for a bigger city since the demand for solo performing French horn artists isn't really high. I entered undergrad as a music performance major but two semesters later I realized that career prospects in the music field aren't very lucrative for the amount of time and money dedicated during undergrad. I stopped pursuing music and decided to major in a much more lucrative field: journalism. All joking aside, journalism has really served me well in my career today.

DRAW TO THE COMMUNICATIONS FIELD: I love the variety of the field and various ways organizations and people send and receive messages. I wanted to pursue a career that wouldn't stagnate; communications is an evolving field that has endless opportunities to pursue and study. Even in the gritty details of the day to day there's a golden nugget to be found.

HOMETOWN:  I am from Euless, Texas, in between Dallas and Fort Worth. I went to undergrad in Waco where I lived for four years. Now, I'm in Austin!

MOST MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE AS A COMMUNICATIONS PROFESSIONAL:  My most memorable experience definitely has to be working on the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, going on right now! As one of the Army's biggest community outreach initiatives, we started working on this project in August and we won't finish until January 7. This experience has definitely taught me a few lessons in organization, attention to detail, accountability.

RECOMMENDED READS: Professionally: Journalistics (blog.journalistics.com), PR at Sunrise (worob.com) both are great to see what's happening in the PR world. Personally: For some laughs out loud, The Bloggess (TheBloggess.com).

FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT AUSTIN AND FAVORITE AUSTIN RESTAURANTS: For my more active days I love to kayak Town Lake or take my wonderful chocolate Lab to Red Bud Isle during the warmer months. Since moving to Austin eight months ago, I've discovered Backspace, great Italian, order the meatballs; Rob + Rosi; The Clay Pot, make a reservation and request the basement, you will not regret it!; and for some amazing sushi, visit Top Chef contestant, Tyson Cole, at Uchi! If you're in a trailer food kind of mood, go to Torchy's Tacos for dinner and finish up with Holy Cacao for dessert.