Community Highlights: Meet Dan Farkas of PassPR

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dan Farkas.

Hi Dan, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Professional Wearer of Many Hats isn’t something you can put on a LinkedIn profile, but it may be the best way to describe me.

I’m a Professor of Strategic Communication at Ohio University, where I teach research, strategy, content creation, measurement, and analytics courses.

I’m also a business owner when not chasing late homework or his two kids. My latest venture is Pass PR, which empowers teams to advance their passion projects through strategic communication.

In a former life, I earned more than 20 awards for his work in television news in Iowa, Michigan, and Tennessee. My work appeared on CNN, MSNBC, and SI.com.

I got out of TV after marrying my wife Melanie, who also worked in TV. I’m not sure we had a day off together the first six months we were married. As she interviewed for a job in Ohio, I got a call about a potential lead for PR work in the area. It was a sign that it was time to move to the next chapter.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
No ride is smooth.

People say transitioning from TV to PR is easy. It’s not. There are nuances you can’t appreciate until you find yourself in that situation. The same is true with teaching.

My wife was also a saint as I started my blend of higher education and professional practice. I remember getting up to feed my 5-month old, then driving 90 minutes to Athens for class. I have no clue how I made that work in the beginning, but I’m glad I did.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about PassPR ?
I empower teams to communicate with confidence and impact.

Why am I different? I bridge the gap.

There’s what employers want, what students want to learn, and what higher education needs to provide. Too often, there’s a lack of overlap in these three areas. PassPR was created to bridge this gap between higher education and real-world experience, empowering participants to create meaningful work as part of their professional development.

I’ve always been encouraged to practice what I teach outside of class. This enables me to combine he best practices from higher education and the modern realities of our working world. The outcomes help people better share their stories to diverse people in diverse places.

Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Get reps. It’s the only way to get better. If you can’t get those reps at work, find a non-profit or volunteer opportuntiy to get that experience.

Swap out fall for fail. The best experiences happen when you make a mistake, learn from it, and move forward. Nobody is perfect on a first attempt.

Network. Network. Network some more.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://passpr.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danfarkasinteractive/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@passpr/shorts
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/show/6DfuCrKLiAcqKOFghdK4iF?si=c43f9b2d102f4e5a