By John Boccacino '03
When Phil Nardone ’82 was learning the tricks of the public relations trade at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, he confidently envisioned a bright future working for a PR agency.
Thanks to hard work and a passion for telling the stories of his clients, Nardone made that vision a reality. He was the youngest vice president and general manager in Hill & Knowlton’s history, was chief operating officer of Victor Costa, and served as vice president for public relations at Neiman Marcus.
Opening his own agency
Fulfilling a lifelong dream, Nardone founded PAN Communications, an award-winning integrated marketing and public relations agency, in 1995. PAN has offices in Boston, New York City, San Francisco, and Orlando. Nardone and his associates serve clients of all sizes, from startups to publicly-traded multinational corporations.
“I’ve always been passionate and I’ve always been a leader, and those are the two things an entrepreneur needs in order to succeed,” says Nardone. “Even in those early years, I loved it. I wasn’t nervous, uptight, or worried about money. I knew that I would eventually succeed.”
Nardone’s career got off to an inauspicious start, as his first job after graduation was as an administrative assistant with a public relations agency. Through his work ethic and determination to succeed, Nardone eventually rose to vice president and general manager at Hill & Knowlton, a prestigious global PR and integrated communications agency.
Establishing the PAN Portal
Now, Nardone is doing his part to help future generations of SU graduates. An adjunct in the Newhouse School’s public relations department, Nardone knows the pressure students are under to create eye-catching portfolios. To assist those students, Nardone devised the PAN Portal, a new ePortfolio program. It is required in the capstone classes for both the undergraduate and residential master’s programs, and is an essential tool for landing that first PR job.
This spring, Nardone helped to create the PAN Portal Wall of Fame in Newhouse II, consisting of two large interactive kiosks displaying the best ePortfolios from the previous semester.
“I’m proud of my work with the PAN portfolio, which helps prepare students in their senior year with a job-ready electronic portfolio,” says Nardone, 58, who teaches a class advising senior public relations majors on their ePortfolios and what employers desire from aspiring job seekers.
Bringing in professional colleagues for mentoring
Each semester, Nardone brings in professionals from PAN Communications to review the students’ ePortfolios while offering tips and pointers that will hopefully lead to post-graduation employment.
Nardone has earned numerous awards during his decorated career, including PR News naming him PR Trainer/Educator of the Year in 2016 for his work with Newhouse. In April, PAN was named a finalist by Holmes Report as the Tech Agency of the Year
“Like many alumni, I bleed Orange and I’m passionate about Syracuse University,” says Nardone, whose generous donation when Newhouse III was built resulted in a doorway on the Waverly Ave. side of the building being named the “PAN Portal.”
“My younger son, Christopher ’13, went to Newhouse, and there was no question for me that when the time came, I would give back to the University, both financially and with my time.”
The “win-win” of working with SU students
The opportunity to teach is valuable not only for the students, but for Nardone, who takes pride in hiring Syracuse alumni to work for him at PAN Communications.
“Public relations agencies are all about the people, and through my teaching at SU, I’m fortunate to have 15-week interviews where I can really get to know these students,” says Nardone. “Syracuse students are really bright and passionate, they know what they want, and they have a drive to succeed. That’s why I hire Orange alumni.”
We love telling the stories of Syracuse University’s outstanding alumni. If you have a great story you’d like us to share, email John Boccacino ’03 at jmboccac@syr.edu.