TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Texas State is cranking out capable and intelligent professionals, and in an attempt to expedite their experience and provide the community with an affordable, needed service, Bobcat Promotions was born. The organization culls from the university’s many majors to provide custom-fit Media Strategist services to meet any company’s needs.
Chuck Kaufman has been around since the organization’s second year in operation and for 15 years total.
“The people who come to the workforce [after Bobcat Promotions], they usually become very employable,” Kaufman said. “They go on and do great things.”
Kaufman said the group started as a public relations group but has since expanded its offerings, including advertising, social media, journalism and videography, among other offerings.
“When the skill sets from everyone expanded, we opened it up. … We call ourselves a Media Strategist firm, instead of calling ourselves a PR firm. Now, all the students are not PR students,” Kaufman said. “We have people that maybe they need some help with advertising, maybe they need some help in creative areas or strategy, maybe they need someone to do additional storytelling… [such as] the journalistic kinds of things.”
Leah Gonsalves, Executive Director of Bobcat Promotions and a Public Relations student at TXST, added that the group is comprised of “all the best parts of mass media.”
In addition to their broad offerings, Bobcat Promotions also works with a wide range of client types.
“The clients have been healthcare clinics. There have been real estate projects or developments. The Blanco Vista up the road, we did some work for them. Of course, we seem to do a lot of work for restaurants,” Kaufman said.
Gonsalves added that they have also worked with Moon Street Media, which is a partnership between Bobcat Promotions and the Texas State theater department.
The firm is able to stay competitive by offering low prices.
“We keep our projects really, really affordable,” Kaufman said. “We don’t have to have overhead, so we don’t have a lot of expenses to cover.”
Gonsalves’ role involves being very hands-on with clients and providing direction to others in the organization.
“My role as the Executive Director would just be managing client relations. … I’m kind of like the manager, and I also manage our Exec[utive] Team,” Gonsalves said. “We’re focused on business development right now. That’s also part of my job, is to find businesses and campaign.”
Gonsalves initially got involved with Bobcat Promotions to exercise the skills she had learned in her major.
“I wanted to get involved in public relations, and I wanted to get real world experience,” Gonsalves said. “I just didn’t want to sit on the sidelines and watch everything go by. I started off as the director of web design my sophomore year, and then my junior year is when I transitioned to Executive Director, taking more of a managerial position.”
Gonsalves said Bobcat Promotions is looking to add more San Marcos businesses to their roster.
“Businesses that don’t have time to sit there and to come up with the whole campaign; that’s where we come in,” she said. “We help them amplify their voices and get [them] all the … attention they deserve.”
Learn more about Bobcat Promotions at bobcatpromotions.com.
