Mr Dudley Sirisena, the Chairman of Araliya Group of Companies was invited for a guest lecture on the topic of ‘Entrepreneurship, Use of Media and Public Relations’ by the Department of Mass Communication, University of Kelaniya. The guest lecture was arranged as a partial requirement for the subject of Media Entrepreneurship in the Postgraduate Diploma in Public Relations and Media Management course and it was held January 14, 2024, at the Auditorium of Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya. As one of the leading and successful self-made entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka, Mr Sirisena shared his immense knowledge and experience among the students of Postgraduate Diploma in Public Relations and Media Management and the undergraduates of the Department of Mass Communication.
While sharing his life story of becoming the Chairman of Araliya Group of companies, Mr Sirisena highlighted the specific skills and strategies he learnt and developed throughout his journey to become a successful, self-made entrepreneur in the country. He was humble enough to reveal both the successes and failures he faced in his life journey and the lessons he learnt from his failures. He further explained how the quality of his products and services and the positive public relations he and his companies maintain with the public enable him to remain as a stable entrepreneur despite allocating large proportions on advertising campaigns.
After the speech of Mr Sirisena, the floor was opened for a Questions and Answers session. The Q & A session that was unfolded for about one hour became interactive as several interesting questions were raised by the audience and Mr Sirisena further shared his knowledge and experience with the audience while responding to those questions. The overall event became a success as the audience expressed their satisfaction at gaining insights from a business mogul who started his business journey from an odd job that paid him only Rs. 5.00.
