BCE Partners with Grammy Winner Joelle James for Museum of Ice Cream Showcase
A team of Emerson students got a taste of working in a PR and marketing consultancy, when they partnered with Joelle James, a Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter. The collaboration culminated in a release party for James’ iSCREAM Scoop 2 EP, held at the Museum of Ice Cream in Boston.
The team of students worked as creative partners to James as part of their group project in Viral Ventures: Business of Power, Influence & Attention. They supported pre-production, experiential concept development, PR and marketing strategy, content creation, and campaign rollout planning.
“I loved it,” said Alondra Morales ’26. “My strength is leadership, and having a real client will help me in the real world with real responsibilities when I’m getting paid.”
In addition to working with James on the Museum of Ice Cream release party, the Emerson team reached out to the proprietor of the Frosty Ice Cream Truck, and created a special event in which James handed out free ice cream at her alma mater, Berklee College of Music, and outside of Emerson’s Little Building earlier in December.
Morales said the experience of working on this project helped hone her skills and build her resume– and even led to an internship. Her role in activating the Frosty Ice Cream truck event helped her secure a PR internship with Real Media Group, where she is expecting to work directly with their brand client Más Latino.
“[The Frosty event] was an idea [Joelle] told us about in our first meeting. She said she loved Frosty,” said Morales. “I called Frosty’s CEO Frank Sacchetti to pitch the idea to work together. He loved the idea. I made one pitch and pitched it well.”
Kelsey Smith ’26, who was also part of the Emerson team, said she enjoyed the real-world experience of the class, not just working with a hypothetical client.
“[I learned that] not everything goes to plan,” she said. “It’s knowing you have to pivot and be okay with that.”
James said she was impressed with the entire Emerson team. “The Emerson College students were undeniable ‘Cultural Coders’ who gave me one of the best creative experiences of my life,” she said. “Their impactful energy and ideologies impressed me so much that I want to enroll back into college for my masters. I think I found the perfect place to do so.”
Executive-in-Residence in Business of Creative Enterprises Jae Williams ’08, MA ’16, who teaches this Viral Ventures class, said it was important for students to be able to see the culmination of their semester come to life at the Museum of Ice Cream event.
“We often get caught up in theory, but having the experience to make a client’s dreams and ambitions come to life is more than just a test or exam,” he said. “And the students get to see their hard work pay off.”
Categories
