Throwback Thursday – To commemorate the 10th year of SXTXState, each Thursday we’ll be featuring past participants in the project. Check back each Thursday until SXSW to find out what SXTXState alumni remember from their time with the project and what they are up to now.

Rebecca Silvas was just a graduate student not too long ago. She attended Texas State University and studied Mass Communications and concentrated in digital media as well as global media. During her last semester in school, in 2016, she was part of the SXTXState project. Though she hasn’t been out of school for very long, she has made a great start to her career. Her time at Texas State and the opportunity to be part of the SXTXState team all contributed to her success and the work ethic she has today.

While part of the SXTXState project, Rebecca had the position of content editor.

“I set the schedule, edited all the work, managed who will be posting and what (so that everything was not posted at the same time), checked in on everything, proofread, and made changes when needed.”

The greatest thing that she took away from SXSW was being a student around such great minds in different fields and to have stepped out of her comfort zone to meet people and network. Her favorite thing about the conference was working with her team.

“It was great to work on the team and to put our heads together and solve problems when they came. We covered for people when they couldn’t make it and worked closely with everyone and made great friends.”

Today, Rebecca works as the marketing and communications coordinator at KERA, a National Public Radio station that serves members throughout North Texas, located in Dallas. She works with a small profit team and does everything from social media to handling promotions to concert venues, writes promos for FM radio, and writes a lot of copy – social media, guidelines for employees, news content and story content. This is her first job out of college and she heard about it through her professor Cindy Royal, who is also the professor for the SXTXState project.

Rebecca says that the SXTXState project helped and impacted the work that she does today. The project enhanced her ability to handle a deadline driven field, juggle a lot of different things at once, manage her time wisely, and to get things done.

“Being aware of time and how I spend it, that’s something that I had to do at SXSW and I was able to talk about it at my interview. It’s something I have to deal with every day at my job.”

As a former Texas State graduate student and SXTXState team member, Rebecca left some last bit advice for those participating in the SXTXState project and SXSW conference this year:

• Keep to the schedule and get as much done as possible
• Plans change all the time, so get at least four or five additional interviews to have in case some fall through
• Make it easy on yourself by working ahead. That makes the SXSW experience a breeze by not having to get all the last-minute stories done.
• You plan it, you produce, and then you sell it.