Prof. Dr Thomas Pleil
Short profile
Thomas Pleil has many years of experience in journalism, PR agencies and PR management at a
university. At Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences, he has built up the online communication course (B.Sc.). He is speaker of the board of directors of the Institute for Communication and Media (ikum) and the dkmi. In R&D, he is involved in the Mittelstand-Digital Zentrum Zukunftskultur (SME Digital Centre Future Culture) and the project System Innovation for Sustainable Development and is co-founder of the Steinbeis Transfer Centre flux.
about the person
2022 - 2025
Medium-Sized Digital Centre Future Culture
Sub-project: Communication culture
Funding Organisation: Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection
Project Management Organisation: German Aerospace Center e.V. (DLR)
2018 - 2022
Mittelstand 4.0- Competence Centre Communication
Sub-project: Corporate communication
Funding Organisation: Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy /
Project executing agency: German Aerospace Center e.V. (DLR)
Funding programme: ICT applications in the economy,
Funding area: SME 4.0 - Competence Centres
2018 - 2021
ALL in the digital transformation
Funded by: Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs
Project executing agency: Gesellschaft für soziale Unternehmensberatung
mbH (gsub)
Funding programme: Federal Programme for Sustainable Enterprises
and administrations in the digital transformation (EXP)
2018 - 2022
System Development for Sustainable Development (s:ne)
Sub-task within the framework of the project's innovation platform
Funding Organisation: Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
Funding programme: Innovative University
2015 - 2018
Mittelstand 4.0- Agency Communication
Sub-project: Service-oriented online marketing
Funding Organisation: Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy
Project executing agency: German Aerospace Center e.V. (DLR)
Funding programme: Mittelstand 4.0
Lectures
2022
- Transformative PR: Workshop as part of the Darmstadt Days of Transformation (in March 2022).
- Online PR: Digitalisation as a driver for change. Master's programme Communication Management, Lucerne School of Business (in March and September 2022)
2021
- Online PR: Digitisation as a driver for change. Master's degree in Communication
Management, Lucerne School of Business (in March and September 2021). - Typology of sustainability communication: Agency workshop (December 2021)
2020
- Communicating sustainably. Research, study and public communication. Action days Enlightenment 2.0 of the Association of German Scientists (VDW), University of Passau (in June 2020, video recording).
- Online PR: Digitalisation as a driver for change. Master's programme Communication Management, Lucerne School of Business (in March and September 2020).
- Networked Campaigning. Mobilizing in the age of transformation (mit Pia Sue Helferich und Lars Rademacher), BledCom 27th International Public Relations Research Symposium, Bled in
Slowenien, Juli 2020
2019
- Networked Campaigning: Mobilisation Campaigns under the Conditions of the Great Transformation (with Pia Sue Helferich and Lars Rademacher). 3rd Annual Conference of the Network Critical Communication Studies, Leipzig (in November 2019).
- PR in and for society: transformative and empowering? (with Sandra Müller). 3rd Annual Conference of the Critical Communication Studies Network, Leipzig (in November 2019).
- Online PR: Digitalisation as a driver for change. Master's programme Communication Management, Lucerne School of Lucerne (in March and October 2019).
- Fit im Netz. Round table of associations, Darmstadt (in August 2019).
- Social Media for SMEs, Lampertheim (in March 2019)
- Online communication for founders. Business start-up fair Aufschwung/BMWi, Frankfurt a.M. (in February 2019)
2018
- Digital Communication and Leadership. 5th Dillingen Head Teachers' Congress - Leadership, Education, Digitalisation (in April 2018)
- Between dialogue and targeting. Observations on online communication. University of the Police, Münster (in April 2018).
- Digitalisation as a driver for change. Master's programme Communication Management, Lucerne School of Business (in March 2018)
- Online communication for young companies, Start-up fair Aufschwung/BMWi, Frankfurt a.M. (in February 2018)
- Corporate communication: basics and current developments. MBA programme Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt (in February 2018)
2017
- Thomas Pleil, Pia Sue Helferich, Lisa Benz: Putting Communication Students on the Drivers’ Seat – Methods for Informal Learning in PR Teaching – A Case Study, Euprera Congress London (in October 2017)
- Pia Sue Helferich, Thomas Pleil, Pio Fenton, Gearóid Ó Súilleabháin: Grounded Theory Methodology in Public Relations and Strategic Communication Research: A Meta Study, Euprera Congress London (in October 2017)
- Online PR. Master's programme Communication Management, Lucerne School of Business (in September 2017).
- Communication of tomorrow - What changes, what remains? 3rd Dialogue Forum Creative Brandenburg (in September 2017)
- Content Strategy and Technisation of Communication, Association of Public Insurers (in August 2017)
- Election Campaign, PR and Populism, Ev. Forum Hanau (in August 2017)
- Lateral entry into PR, ProPerson, Darmstadt (in June 2017)
- Online communication for SMEs and start-ups, Master's programme in Business Administration, Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences (in April 2017).
- Berchtesgadener Land im Social Web; Workshop (together with Pia Sue Helferich), Freilassing (in April 2017)
- How to deal with AfD, Facebook agitators and Co. Lecture and workshop; conference of public
relations officers within the church administration of the EKHN, Darmstadt (in March 2017). - Online PR. Master's programme Communication Management, Lucerne School of Business (in March 2017)
- eBusiness for young companies, start-up fair Aufschwung/BMWi, Frankfurt a.M. (in February 2017)
Organisation of events
2018 - 2022
Content Strategy Camp
2019
Wissbar19 - Science Barcamp of the Research Centre Digital Communication and Media Innovation, April 2019
2014
DGPuK Annual Conference Specialist Group PR and Organisational Communication, October 2014
Prizes and awards
Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences Science Award in the Transfer Category, Research Day 13.11.2018
2023
Szyszka, P. & Pleil T. (2023): Medienarbeit, in: Fröhlich, Romy; Röttger, Ulrike; Szyszka, Peter (eds.): Handbuch Public Relations, Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden (in preparation).
2022
Winkler, P. & Pleil, T. (2022): Online-PR. A Field of Application in Permanent Change, in: Röttger, Ulrike; Szyszka, Peter (Hg.): Handbuch Public Relations, Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden, 2022.
2021
Etter, M.; Winkler, P. & Pleil, T.: Public Relations for Social Media and Content Marketing, in: C.
Valentini (Ed). Public Relations (Handbooks of Communication Science, vol. 27). Berlin: De Gruyter Morton, 2021.
Pleil, T., Müller, S., Matusiak, L.: Public Relations in Transformative Research, in: Arbeitskreis.
Critical Communication Studies, Conference Proceedings, 2021.
2020
Pleil, T.; Bastian M.: Marketing und PR mit sozialen Medien, in: Schmidt, J.- H., Taddicken M.: Handbuch Soziale Medien. 2nd edition, Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden, 2020.
Helferich, P. S; Pleil, T.: Social Networks in Employee Communication. In: S. Einwiller et al. (eds.), Handbuch Mitarbeiterkommunikation, Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden, 2020.
Pleil, T.; Helferich, P. S.: Strategieentwicklung mit dem Triple- Diamond- Modell, in: Ruisinger, Dominik: Die digitale Kommunikationsstrategie, pp. 160-170, 2nd edition, Stuttgart: Schäffer Poeschel, 2020. No peer review.
Pleil, T.; Helferich, P. S.: The role of corporate communication in the digital transformation. In:Zerfaß, A.; Piwinger, M.; Röttger. U.: Handbuch Unternehmenskommunikation, Verlag Springer Gabler, 2020.
Stork, W.; Helferich, P. S. & Pleil, T.: Employees in the digital transformation - opportunities for work-integrated informal learning, pp. 35 - 70. In G. Richter (ed.), Learning in the digital transformation How work-integrated learning succeeds in company practice. Schäffer- Poeschel, 2020.