Waiting to Tell your Story

Sometimes I feel like it is so important to get a story out as fast as I can. We always feel like something has to be said in order to handle a situation. But what about that helpful hint my mom used to tell me all the time. “Think beofre you speak.” As practitioners, it is our job to represent the company we work for and act as a correspondent between the company and their publics. I would agree that most PR practitioners try to focus on the positives about the person or company they are representing. I am currently interning at a school in Savannah and I know from personal experience, that with every piece of literature I create, I have to present the overall “idea” of Savannah Christian Preparatory School. I have to write in a way that people can really get a good sense of who SCPS is and what they stand for. I recently was faced with a situation where a statement needed to be provided to the media about an issue. Because the situation was kind of sticky, and people’s perceptions of SCPS could have been altered by the statement released by the paper, it was important for us to choose our words and timing carefully. We ended up waiting to talk to the media. I don’t think that waiting for the smoke to clear before you release a statement is unethical. I actually think more people should try it. It seems like we get so anxious to hear the latest gossip that we sometimes forget about the legitimacy of the story. I think waiting is a public relations practice that is totally ethical in most situations and is a smart tactic to use.

Kell on Earth

Public relations has always been a profession that is constantly being portrayed as all fun, no work type of job. Television shows and movies often depict PR practitioners sipping cocktails at lavish parties and jumping to the front of the line at the newest nightclubs. When the famous HBO series, Sex in the City, came out in the nineties, everyone was wishing they had Samantha’s life.

This spring I became a huge fan of Kell on Earth. I think this show does a great job at accurately portraying the public relations profession. It’s not all fun and games in Kelly Catrone’s office. During one particular episode, the people working at People’s Revolution were working on getting ready for a fashion show that was coming up. One girl was making sure the guest list was in order and ready to use at the show for placing people in their seats. Unfortunately, as technology often does, her computer was not working properly and therefore making her guest list and seating chart all messed up. The office was completely crazy trying to figure out a way to have the list but also look professional and like they had everything under control. At the actual fashion show a few of Kelly’s employees worked out front helping guests to their seats and kicking crashers out while Kelly was backstage with the designer making sure the right media was getting interviews with the designer. Because so many crashers came to the event, the people at the check in desk were having trouble getting everyone seated that needed to see the show.

After just being recently fired from their last client because the client was unsatisfied with the way check-in ran at their fashion show a week earlier, Kelly was very eager to make this fashion show a success. One scene from the show shows Kelly’s interns stuffing gift bags for all of the media which was supposed to be an enticement to come to the fashion show. Unfortunately, the interns were not completing the task the way Kelly wanted it to be completed so she had to stuff the gift bags herself. This scene was important because we learn in class that “bribing” the media is not something professionals do but obviously this does happen in the practice. It’s also important to note that because Kelly was fired by her last client, it is not only crucial for her to please this client for financial reasons but for her business’s reputation in the fashion industry.

I love this show and I wish I could work for Kelly!!

Graduation is Almost Here!! What’s Next?

This coming Saturday I will be walking across that stage at the stadium and turning my tassel. As exciting as this day is, what will I do next? So apparently, I don’t know if you have heard or not but jobs are hard to come by. As my college days are over, will I be able to procure that dream job that a college degree is supposed to provide? Recently I have been on the job hunt. It is clear that the idea of job hunting has changed. Longer is it a matter of just finding a job. Today’s hunt includes telling the company you want to work at why they NEED you. A friend told me yesterday that looking for a job is no longer reactive its productive. It’s something you have to do with excitement and persistence. The challenge isn’t with finding the job, it’s with convincing that employer that it is worth their time and money to hire you!

As I continue on my job hunt, I am looking less for that dream job and more for just a place that will hire me. Are my public relations skills that I have paid so much money to attain really going to utilized? I hope so, but for now it looks like I may have to settle fore whatever comes available. Maybe this will be a way for me to attain more skills and get a more well-balanced background rather than just solely PR.

Shadow and Learn More

Recently, I shadowed a public relations practitioner for a school assignment. The task was to find a PR professional, spend four hours with them during their work day and learn about what they do at the job. This was an experience that I feel helped me more than any of the research reports I was asked to do or final exams I was assigned to complete. Actually seeing a professional do their job taught me what it really takes to work in the public relations world.

I was fortunate enough to shadow at a very prominent business in Savannah, Georgia called Great Dane Trailers. Great Dance specializes in selling large tracker trailer trucks to companies such as Wal-Mart, Target and many different grocery stores around the country. Great Dane Trailers obviously would not be the first company that comes to mind when someone thinks about public relations, however I found that a great deal of PR goes into the day to day events that take place at Great Dane. The professional that I specifically shadowed under was Brittany Banks, the Special Events Coordinator. Her position is hired under the Marketing Department at Great Dane, however her job is definitely a public relations position.

Brittany showed me how she plans events for Great Dane and markets their brand. I learned so much about what she does at her job and also learned about teh interworkings of a business office and workplace dynamics. I think this was a great experience and one that I will remember and refer back to in the future.

Is my voice being heard?

Throughout the duration of my senior seminar class, we talked a lot about ethics and the ethical issues with public relations. The stories we are bombarded with are filled with personal agendas and propaganda. Every time I sit down to watch the news, it’s obvious to me that someone, someone far away from me, decided what I should think about that night.

What I find even scarier than the fact that we can’t go a day without being influenced by media, is that the media can pretty much send out any messages they want to. What are these messages? Well, I think most media seeks shock factor. I think they (they- meaning television reporters, journalists, tabloid writers, new paper columnists, etc.) wish to present the juiciest stories they can find, whether it be true or false.   An audience will always be present and ready with incredible gullibility. It’s as if people automatically believe anything that is in print or spoken on television. Take for example the ridiculous tabloids in the grocery store line. No matter how audacious they are, people continue to buy and read these filthy magazines believing every last word.  Do we as a society have any say in what we believe these days? Or are we programmed to think a certain way?

I just recently finished reading George Orwell’s book 1984 and honestly don’t think Orwell was far off with his story of a society brainwashed by an elite group of people. To a certain extent, I feel our society is headed in that direction. When you watch the news or read a newspaper do you usually hear the opinions of “Nancy from down the street” or “average Joe, the mail man?”  No. You hear from people in higher positions in society.  This thing we Americans believe in called freedom of speech is a crock in my opinion. Yes, you can say what you wish, but can you be heard?

Learn from my mistake…

I would like to share with all of you my little itty bitty mistake that I recently made at my internship. Actually, it wasn’t a little itty bitty mistake.. it was a BIG one and I have worried and worried about it for weeks now!

I am currently interning at a private school in Savannah. One of my recent tasks was to write up a press release and send it to all the usual Savannah media. So, I did just that. I wrote up a good press release and included some photos of the students and sent it out to all the media that my supervisor suggested. I made sure my email was perfect, no spelling errors or typos. I sized the photos and made sure they looked their very best. I even made sure that the press release layout was absolutely flawless.. header, footer, logo, everything. I was very proud of myself. So I go home that Friday feeling like I was a really great intern. Well, one thing I failed to think about was the fact that I had emailed all the media on my school email rather than my Georgia Southern email. This was fine except that.. I rarely check my school website. THIS IS WHAT YOU SHOULD NOT DO. If your internship sets you up an email account, CHECK IT!!! I probably checked it about five days after the press releases were sent out and when I did, one of the newspapers had emailed me twice about identifying the students in the photos. Because I failed to respond in a timely fashion, our story didn’t get printed and I looked like a dummy and a slacker.

Lesson learned: ALWAYS check your email.

Launch your career using LinkedIn

Recently I attended the Career Services workshop that focused on the social networking site, LinkedIn. This workshop was very informative and showed me a lot of the advantages that LinkedIn can provide to professionals looking to interact with other people in their field, especially recently graduated college students. Before attending the workshop, I did have a LinkedIn account however, I was not very active in using the site. Through this workshop, I was able to see how LinkedIn can really make a difference in my search for a job. Everyone knows how hard it is to find a job during these hard economic times. Being a part of the LinkedIn community, me and other college graduates can really get ahead of the game. I’ve been told for most of my life that it’s more about WHO you know rather than WHAT you know. This workshop proved this theory to be even more. LinkedIn provides an arena for people to meet other professionals and get their names out there for people to see. LinkedIn is also a great tool to use to get people looking at you and your resume. Sometimes it can be awkward to ask a complete stranger for information concerning a particular job. But on LinkedIn you can comfortably meet and interact with people in your profession and not feel weird about talking to strangers about your career. I also learned that LinkedIn is good to use if you are looking to apply for a job at a certain business or organization. A LinkedIn account can be just the ticket to get your foot in the door and stand out above the rest of the job candidates. If you connect with people that already work at the company, they may see your profile and resume and put in a good word at the next work meeting, or say that they have seen your profile on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is also a good way to show future employers that you are up with the times. In today’s business world, social media is everything! Showing employers that you are actively involved in social networking sites, like LinkedIn, you are giving employers just one more reason why you would be a better candidate for the job than someone else.

This workshop helped show me that LinkedIn can REALLY make a difference in my job search. Utilizing social networks, such as LinkedIn, I am not only able to meet other public relations professionals, but I am also able to show public relations professionals who I am and what talents I have to offer. I thought this was a great workshop and one that everyone should attend. I was able to get some very valuable information that will help me be more active in the LinkedIn network. After attending this workshop, I am not more motivated to upload my resume and personal information to my LinkedIn account and meet public relations professionals that may be able to help me in my job search!

A New Generation of Parents

As a soon-to-be public relations professionals, it is important for us to recognize the differences in audience members in today’s society. Much of what we do as practitioners is convey messages to the public. That “public” is made up of certain groups of people who we must understand in order for our message to reach and resonate with them. Several years ago, if a public relations campaign wished to target parents, it wouldn’t have focused on technology. However, “times they are a changin” and so are today’s parents!

I recently read an article talking about Generation Xers becoming parents. Kids from the late 80’s and early 90’s are now starting to have children of their own and are somewhat different than what you might have once thought of as a parent. These Gen. X parents are techo-savy and up with the trend of social media. The article discussed how schools are having to change the way they disperse information because of this new wave of web-moms and dads. Parents now-a-days are very concerned with what is going on in their child’s life and during the school. However, instead of waiting around for that parent teacher conference or the PTA meeting at the end of the month, these parents are taking matters in their own hands and seeking out this information online. School webpages, teacher blogs, Facebook even Twitter are all being utilized by today’s schools to get the word out to parents.

Currently, I am interning at a private school in Savannah and I know first hand how important social media has become to the school and to parents. Part of my job at my internship is to post short news articles and pictures on the school website. Teachers are also using blogs to post activities and information for their students. It’s not about the bulletin board anymore..it’s all about the web!

This just goes to show that what we are learning in class is true. There is no such thing as the general public and these audience groups are always changing. As PR professionals, we need to really know who we are trying to target and where they get their information.

“You’re Just an Intern”

Currently, I am interning at a private school in Savannah with their Director of Marketing and Public Relations. I have found, through my time as an intern, that it can be a hard task to take on, especially while you are still taking classes. I work with a great group of people and under a fabulous supervisor, but I’m here to tell ya.. interning can still be tough. Here are some tips I think will help you during your internship:

1.) Don’t be afraid to ask questions. That is what you are there for. When I first started interning, I was terrified to ask my supervisor anything. I didn’t want to annoy her or seem like I didn’t know what to do. Let’s face it, we have taken all these classes, learned all kinds of things, but learning it in a classroom and actually doing it in a real-life setting are two totally different things. Ask questions.. you will learn lots.

2.) Be excited.. or at least pretend. Show the people you work with that you are excited to be there and appreciative of the opportunity. Sometimes I find myself thinking about how much work it is and how little pay it is (uh huh NONE) and thinking that it’s not a worthwhile experience. But it is; I am learning so much and getting so much experience. Do your work and do it with a smile!

3.) Take on extra tasks. I know.. I know.. This seems nearly impossible, especially when you are taking college courses too. But even asking for just little things to do can make a big difference in the way your co-workers and supervisor thinks about you! At least put the word out there that you are willing to do extra work!

4.) Open your eyes and ears!! Interning gives you the opportunity to learn so much information. Pay attention to what is going on around you. Listen to what people say. And watch how people interact and handle situations in and out of the office. Even if someone isn’t really in your area of work, pay attention to them too. You never know what you can learn!

5.) Enjoy your time as “just the intern.” This is your opportunity to learn a lot and have very little to worry about. Although I value my internship experience and try my very hardest, I also look at it as a stakes free situation. Basically, if I mess up, it’s not like I am going to get fired. Interns make mistakes and it doesn’t cost them the job. People realize and take into account that you are learning. Have fun interning and learn all that you can!

Informational Interview Recap

I had the pleasure of talking to Wendi Patrick, the Director of Marketing and Public Relations at Savannah Christian Preparatory School. Wendi earned her degree from Georgia Southern University in Early Childhood Education. After graduating college she began teaching Kindergarten at SCPS. When the Headmaster of the school decided to add a public relations position, Wendi was selected for the job!

I met Wendi last semester while I was enrolled in the PR Events class. I was so excited to talk with her about her job and the PR profession. She gave me some great insight into the PR world and some of the things she has seen and learned during her time as a public relations professional. Here are some of the questions Wendi answered during our interview:

1.) What’s a typical work week like?
“You have to see what’s coming ahead and make a plan for the things that need to be covered and what should be covered. You have to prioritize what should be focused on first and what can wait until later. Then it’s a matter of setting an agenda and a to-do list. As far as press releases go, I set up a schedule of what needs to be sent out immediately and what can wait for later in the week. Thursday, I start planning for the next week and what all needs to happen.”  Wendi also explained that she personally looks at what has happened in the last 30 day and what she thinks will happen in the next 30 days. This gives her an idea of what is news worthy and what she should set as top priority.

2.) Tell me about a project you worked on that you are especially proud of.
“I rarely look at something I’ve done and am completely pleased. I am very critical of my own work. One project I am proud of however is the Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) informational session. I had a clear message of who we are at SCPS and what our brand is. You could see who we are and people could feel who we are by the image we created at the convention. This was the first time we ever did this particular event and I thought it was a great success. We carried out an entire idea.”

3.) What do you do to keep current in the PR industry?
“I study magazines, newsletters, etc. I was just last week reading magazines from 6 years ago and comparing them to today’s magazines. I also have several peers in the same area of work that I speak with. I see where we came from to see where we are going. Also, talking to different age groups.” Wendi went on to say that she works with a team of people of all different age groups and that really helps her get different perspectives on things.

4.) What do you wish you would have known before starting your career in PR?
“I wish I would have known that social media was going to be so important. I would have started networking on social media sites sooner and given a lot more credence to social media. I still need to get better at it and utilize it more.”

5.) How important is writing in your career?
“I didn’t choose this, it chose me. When my school needed a public relations person, my principal said it would be a great choice for me because I am a great writer. Now however, I have less time to do what I would like to do. I’m a wordsmith, but with that you need time to edit. And sometimes I don’t have the time to do all that. But I do love writing and the process of picking just the right words to convey a message.”

6.) What three tips would you offer someone just starting out in PR?
1. You have to be passionate in what you are promoting, marketing. I can’t imagine publicly relating for something I didn’t fully believe in. 2. You have to have real connections and relations with people on the inside of your organization. When I chit chat with our teachers and parents I get the real pulse of the people that know us. 3. You have to have connections and relationships with people on the outside. I have friends that work for the media that I can talk to that I trust. They can help me craft my story.

7.) Did your education prepare you for working in PR?
No, my formal education did not. Other than my writing skills. My college writing teachers did prepare me for my Pr career but my college degree is in Early Childhood Education. What did prepare me were my good instincts. The instincts I used with my student’s parents when I taught Kindergarten. Also, I’ve had to teach myself what to do. I learn best in community. The non-profit world, volunteering, really taught me tons as well! You get to take on jobs you wouldn’t ever be able to take on professionally so you get great experience.

8.) How has PR changed since you entered the field?
“Social media has changed it. Instead of sending press releases out via fax or email, we tweet. Our school is slow to catch on to the social media trend but we are working to incorporate it more into our program. My hope is that the administration will eventually feel comfortable enough to use social media. It helps in so many ways and we can do so much with it but I do think, especially in the school setting, that rules need to be in place.” Wendi continued by saying how social media can not only help the administration and staff but also the parents and students. She said it is just going to take a while until everyone is comfortable with it and on board.

9.) When your company is hiring for an entry-level PR position, what makes a candidate stand out?
“For me, volunteer experience says a lot about a person. If you are really involved, especially with fund-raising, you are already utilizing your PR skills. People who are volunteering and in leadership positions especially stand out. Sometimes being in a Greek organization also looks good because they have philanthropy and its a good networking experience.”

10.) What has surprised you the most about working in PR?
“The thing that has surprised me the most while working in PR is that not everybody gets it. Not everyone understands the importance of good public relations. They don’t know how to do it. They don’t know how to seek out opportunities. To me, it’s instinctual, but there are so many people that don’t have that gut feeling about things. Not everyone understands how things sound. You can try to train and explain but I really think it’s either you get it or you don’t. It’s like being a gracious host. Some people just know how to throw great parties and invite people into their homes. They have the house spotless, the perfect food and they just know how to entertain guests in their home.  And then there are some people that just don’t know how to do that.

After talking to Wendi, I can honestly say, I was a little bit scared about graduating and getting a job in PR. Although everything she described sounded like me, I am a little bit afraid to enter into that kind of lifestyle voluntarily. I think Wendi really helped me see that preparation and planning are key to being successful, not only in public relations, but in life! No more procrastination for me.