Bateman Team: Working ‘Unidas’
Competing in the Biggest Competition for PR Students
Group photo of the 2025 Bateman Team during our final on-campus event, the Round Table Debate. Left to Right: Sara Cardenas, Lucia Bianchi, Karolina Rios, Karla Virgen, and Arely Ocampo Bartolo.
The moment I first heard about the Bateman Case Study Competition, I knew I wanted to be part of California State University, Long Beach’s Bateman team.
Now that I’ve completed this experience (one not many students go through), I want to share what the Bateman Competition is really like. This competition deserves more attention from PR students because it’s fun, challenging, intense, and incredibly rewarding.
What is the Bateman Case Study Competition?
The Bateman Case Study Competition was launched in 1973 by the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA). It's a national challenge that pushes teams from different PRSSA chapters to research, plan, implement and evaluate an entire public relations campaign for a real client.
As PRSSA describes it, the competition “gives you an opportunity to apply your classroom education and internship experiences to create and implement a full public relations campaign.”
This year’s client was EveryLibrary, a political action committee that advocates for public libraries and fights against book bans.
The Application Process
Every fall semester, our Bateman Team faculty advisor Krista Coriaty interviews applicants individually and selects five to six students. She builds the team with roles in mind, such as researcher, writer, media relations lead, social media manager or team leader.
When I found out I had been chosen for the 2025 team, I was beyond excited. I couldn’t wait to meet my team members: Team Lead and Head of Social Media: Sara Cardenas, Head of Research Karolina Rios, Head of Event Management Arely Ocampo Bartolo and Head of Media Relations Lucia Bianchi. Together, we committed our time and energy to the campaign from November 2024 to March 2025.
Group photo of the 2025 Bateman Team during our final on-campus event, the Round Table Debate. Left to Right: Sara Cardenas, Lucia Bianchi, Karolina Rios, Karla Virgen, and Arely Ocampo Bartolo.
The Campaign Process
1. Research:
We began our research right away. Learning about EveryLibrary’s mission helped us define the problem we needed to address. Our secondary research included articles about library advocacy, statistics on book bans and insights on voter behavior. This information laid the foundation for our campaign. We followed with our own primary research through surveys, focus groups and interviews.
We discovered that many people in our community care about library advocacy, but aren’t sure how to take action. Our survey even helped introduce EveryLibrary to many of the respondents.
2. Planning:
One of the most difficult parts of planning was choosing a name for our campaign. We wanted something culturally relevant that aligned with our mission. We landed on Libros Unidos LB, signifying our mission to unite for books. The Spanish name also honored the large Latino community in Long Beach, which also reflects our own team.
From there, we developed a list of tactics, including events, social media content and media outreach, with a primary focus on CSU Long Beach students.
3. Implementation
I’ll never forget the dates: Feb.1 to March 3. This one-month period was our implementation phase. In that time, we hosted multiple events, sent out press releases to hundreds of journalists, posted on social media nearly every day, and launched our campaign website. We were also able to secure multiple media placements, including coverage in the Long Beach Current and Calo News.
4. Evaluation and Submission
Our comprehensive campaign packet detailed every step we took and included 55 pages of strategy, execution, results, and a lengthy appendix. Once finalized, we submitted our work to PRSSA for judging..
The waiting period was nerve-wracking but exciting. Although we weren’t selected as finalists in the competition, we received an honorable mention and generous notes from the judges. Being part of the top nine was incredibly validating, especially after working so hard to make the packet as perfect as possible. The honorable mention made me feel proud of our work and inspired me to keep growing as a student.
Left: Cover page of our 55-page long campaign packet.
Right: A sheet from our custom Lotería game showing how each item is a banned book in the U.S.
My Experience and What I Learned
This competition wasn’t easy. It felt like having a part-time job layered on top of being a full-time student, working an actual job, serving as vice president of PRSSA Long Beach, and handling everything else life throws at you.
Each of my team members had packed schedules, which made it tough to meet regularly and run weekly events, but we pushed through. A lot of my heart went into this campaign, and I don’t regret it one bit.
What I Gained:
Teamwork Skills
Our team functioned like a real agency. We collaborated, compromised, and supported each other even when tensions were high. My communication skills were strengthened and I earned incredible bonds with my teammates.
“There were stressful days, but we laughed a lot, too. That’s what got us through it,” said Karolina Rios, head of research for the 2025 Bateman Team.
Professional Growth
Even though the work was tough, we had fun. Creating a bilingual campaign focused on college students gave us freedom to get creative. We designed a banned book version of the traditional Lotería game and even gave away a tattoo at one of our events. I also practiced pitching ideas to potential partners and the public, which helped me grow as a PR practitioner.
A sheet from our custom Lotería game showing how each item is a banned book in the U.S.
Adaptability
This semester brought unexpected personal challenges, but Bateman taught me how to pivot, stay focused and accomplish what once felt impossible. Our Faculty Advisor Krista Coriaty and Professional Advisor Shani Crooks gave us valuable guidance along the way, too.
Why You Should Apply
Not many apply, but I recommend the Bateman Team to any PR majors taking upper-division courses.
A few reasons why you should consider it:
It challenges you to grow.
It’s real-world experience you won’t get in many other classes.
It looks impressive on your resume.
It teaches you how to collaborate under pressure.
Even if you don’t join the team, you can still show support. Attending events or following the campaign on social media goes a long way. Every past Bateman Team member can agree that feeling support from our peers makes a difference.
Conclusion
Despite the challenges, I walked away from the Bateman Competition a better PR practitioner. I’m proud of the campaign we created, the team I worked with and the decision I made to apply.
I can’t wait to see what the future CSU Long Beach Bateman teams create and I hope more students take the opportunity to apply.
Karla Virgen
Public Relations Major, Fall 2025
