Abby Ecker currently serves as the Connecting Director at The Journey Church in Newark, Del. Before coming into her role at The Journey, she spent a year and half as the public relations coordinator for ATI Physical Therapy’s East Coast division and developed and implemented the company’s progressive social media strategy. A 2012 graduate of the University of Delaware with a B.A. in Mass Communications, Abby served as the president of PRSSA-UD from 2010 through 2012 and led a team to present at the 2011 PRSSA National Conference.

Her work experience includes internships at the Delaware House of Representatives Democratic Caucus, Inside Out Creative Agency, Autism Delaware, American Cancer Society, and the Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union. Forever a student of the digital age, Abby actively contributes to a variety of online publications about social media and public relations, and her work has been featured in USA Today College, Pitching Notes, Get Busy Media, the PRSSA National blog, and Start Networking Today. Abby is currently No. 5 on Jeremy Pepper’s “Future PR Pros To Watch” list and was recognized as one of the ”Top 100 Twitter Account Every Job Seeker Needs To Follow” by Youtern.com. In 2011, she received the PRSA National Government and Public Affairs Grant and was named a “Woman of Promise” by UD’s Office of Equity and Inclusion. Abby is currently serving her second term of the PRSA Delaware Board of Directors.

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May 2012

I currently work at The Journey as our Connecting and Church Development Director.

As our Connecting Director, I oversee all areas that deal with connecting people to The Journey. One of my main roles is communication and branding; I oversee all of our website and digital content writing, as well as social media strategy, management, and content development. From a leadership perspective, I oversee our small groups ministry, hospitality team, follow-up team, care team, and missions. On a regular day, I am working hard to empower and develop leaders in those key areas.

I absolutely love long-distance running, so they may be surprised to know I didn’t run at all up until about two years ago! I started training for my first half marathon in January 2012 and completed it five months later. In 2013, I took the plunge and finished my first full marathon. It’s definitely a new hobby for me, but I love it!

I don’t think I can say enough great things about UD! I absolutely loved my time as a student. I was able to blend a variety of classroom learning, undergraduate research, and real-world internships to graduate well-rounded and ready for the job search. I had a few great professors who took a personal interest in me and really mentored me throughout my years at UD.

Get real world experience! It’s so important to go into the real world with a resume full of internships and related activities. UD offers great resources through the COMM Department and Career Services, but don’t feel limited. Go out and pursue what you want to do, and you’ll be surprised how many potential employers would love to have you as an intern or volunteer.

Professor Bartoo shared so many important tidbits of wisdom with me in my time at UD, but one of the most important things she ever taught me was the difference between being assertive and being aggressive. I’m naturally a more passive person, but I also have a strong interest and love for leadership. Sometimes those two can be at odds with each other, but Professor Bartoo really showed me how to passionately pursue what I want while still being myself.

I have to give just one?! It’s tough, but I think I’d have to go with attending the Joe Biden rally in October 2008. Biden, who was Delaware’s senior Senator at the time, came to UD four days before the presidential election for a rally. While I was walking through security, I had someone from the Secret Service stop me and ask if I would want to stand up on stage with now-Vice President Biden. Um, yes! I love political communication, so being at UD in 2008 was such an exciting time. Between having one former Blue Hen acting as campaign manager for President Obama and another for Sen. McCain, as well as Biden running as VP, Delaware was really the “epicenter” of politics!

Again, it’s hard to choose just one…but it’s pretty hard to beat Professor Dee’s rap from Media Law!

I just might! Thankfully I am still local, so I love being able to pop in and out of UD whenever I can.