Author: Heather Sliwinski

Call for volunteers! PRSA New Professionals Section recruiting for 2013 Executive Committee

Heather Sliwinski 3 Comments

Can anyone believe 2013 is almost upon us? At the New Professionals Section, we are gearing up for another outstanding year of professional development and networking opportunities for our members. However, we can’t make that happen without the dedicated and enthusiatic Executive Committee volunteers we elect every year–here’s where you come in.

If you’re looking to get more involved in Section, gain exposure in the industry and network with new and seasoned professionals alike, it’s time you filled out our volunteer interest form. Select New Professionals Section, and you’re on your way. We have a number of open positions that are sure to match your interests.

Today is the last day to express your interest–so don’t wait! Still not convinced? Hear from a few of our current Executive Committee members about the value of joining our team:

Serving as this year’s chair has been a very rewarding experience! I’ve been able to connect with other new professionals from around the country and strengthen my leadership and organizational skills. There are many opportunities for Section members to volunteer while advancing their careers. I’m very proud of what the Section has been able to do for our members and excited to see what’s in store for the future!–Leah Moon, Section chair

The experience I’ve gained as a member of the Executive Committee is priceless. It’s not only a great resume builder, but it’s also fun to work with other young professionals across the country. From having the opportunity to plan a nationwide New Professionals Week to networking with all of our great speakers, it’s the perfect place for a young PR professional.–Elizabeth Rhoads Greenaway, programming director and Section chair-elect

Serving on the Committee has been an enjoyable and rewarding experience. It provided great opportunities to network nationally with new and established professionals and taught me more about social media, strategy and career advancement. In addition to planning programming with my co-chair and the team,  I also really enjoyed contributing to the newsletter and assisting with social media. Overall, I would recommend getting more involved to anyone who is interested and capable. It’s been one of my best decisions.–Brendan Hughes, programming co-chair

Serving as the diversity chair on the Committee provided me the opportunity to act as a liaison between National Diversity Committee. I got to dabble in tweet chats, blogs, newsletters and even the “Diversity Dimensions” column in PRSA Tactics. If my term taught me anything, it’s that you’re never too young to voice your opinions, concerns and viewpoints in the industry–it’s what we need more of to make progress in our profession, and the Committee was an excellent platform to do that.–Carolina Madrid, diversity chair

After being active locally and nationally in PRSSA throughout college, I was so excited to begin my career and get active in PRSA. I am so glad to have made the decision to join the New Professionals Section and work with colleagues in similar career stages to help create an engaging, beneficial experience for members. I’ve learned so much from my colleagues on the Committee and from fellow Section members about how to advance my PR career, and I’m looking forward to more service in PRSA.–Nick Lucido, PRSSA liaison

Being the PRSSA Liaison the past two years has been a great experience! It has allowed me to reach out to students across the country and bridge their foundation to PRSA after graduation.–Alyssa Bronikowski, PRSSA liaison

I’ve enjoyed getting to welcome new members to our Section, especially being able to meet up with a few every so often. It’s a great network to be a part of!–Whitney Gray, membership co-chair

As co-editor of the newsletter, I’ve enjoyed this past year working on the Committee. I’ve made friends, learned a lot and enjoyed the inclusiveness and support with my ideas and suggestions. If given, this is an opportunity everyone should take!–Jamela Wintons, newsletter co-editor

Volunteering with Section was a great way to network and meet other PR pros! Working on the blog team taught the value of time management, teamwork and communication–all important skills for any PR career. If you are thinking about volunteering with PRSA, do it! Build your portfolio and get hands on experience.–Zaneta Chuniq Inpower, blog co-chair

The opportunities provided by Committee keep me coming back again and again. Serving as the blog co-chair has opened up my network to other new professionals, as well as more experienced members in the industry, across the country. The teamwork and enthusiasm among Committee members is unmatched, and volunteering really allows you to make an impact in Section. Not only do I get to live my passion for writing, editing and social media, but I get to give back to PRSA. Volunteering on the Committee has been one of the best career decisions I’ve made.–Heather Sliwinski, blog co-chair

The deadline is today–so don’t delay! Fill out the form today and get proactive in your career and PRSA.

Volunteers must be PRSA and New Professionals Section members.

Seven Things to Do in San Francisco while at PRSA International Conference

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PRSA International Conference 2012The 2012 PRSA International Conference is finally here! While we know you’re thrilled to absorb the breadth of PR knowledge from within the Marriott Marquis, it would be a shame if you didn’t make the time to explore some nearby gems of San Francisco. Here are some favorites for locals and tourists, newcomers and regulars. Enjoy!

Embarcadero

A five-minute walk from the hotel is San Francisco’s Eastern waterfront known as the Embarcadero. Here you’ll find the picturesque Ferry Building Marketplace, a showcase for local farmers, artisan producers and independently-owned and operated food businesses. Take a walk down one of the piers for a beautiful view of San Francisco.

Fisherman’s Wharf

Take the F light rail around Embarcadero to Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco’s waterfront community. Here you’ll find shops, eateries, museums and even seals. Make sure to pick up some clam chowder at the seafood stations – a true San Francisco tradition.

Union Square

Did I hear you want to shop? You will leave your heart and your wallet in San Francisco’s Union Square District.  The best names in fashion, including the newly-opened Japanese retailer UNIQLO and three H&Ms are available in this insanely modish shopping quarter.

Indoor and outdoor shopping line with North Beach

Just north of the Financial District is San Francisco’s historic North Beach District, also known as Little Italy. Arguably home of the Bay Area’s best slice of pizza, North Beach also hosts a variety of bars, coffee shops, Italian restaurants and the gorgeous Washington Square Park, facing Saints Peter and Paul Church.

Chinatown

Tucked in between Union Square and North Beach is the largest Chinatown outside of Asia and one of the city’s most popular tourist attractions. Lined with hundreds of souvenir shops and restaurants, this Chinatown is true to San Francisco’s more than 30 percent Asian American make-up.

Castro District

You can also take the F Market Street car or catch an L, M, K or T MUNI train (not to be mistaken for BART) down to Castro Street. You’ll emerge in one of the gayest and most diverse spots in America, if not the world: “The Castro.” Pride flags, brunch spots and adult stores sprinkle this vibrant community close to the heart of many San Franciscans.

Local Edition

I had to make a special section for one of my favorite spots in the city – that’s how awesome it is. If the name doesn’t already give it away, this subterranean bar on Market Street will appeal to your inner journo. Dimly lit and plastered in San Francisco newspaper archives, Local Edition is seated beneath the historical Hearst Building and offers a variety of classic and contemporary specialty drinks.

 

Carolina Madrid is the diversity chair for the PRSA New Professionals Section.

Back to PR School: Experts to Follow for Continuing Your Education

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Career expert Peter Weddle advises job seekers to always work on their career fitness. We expect it of ourselves and so do our employers. Just because new professionals are no longer in school, doesn’t mean you can’t take some time this fall to go back to PR school and learn more about the burgeoning industry to which we belong.  

To be a successful public relations practitioner you need to know everything from social media, search engine optimization, reputation management, marketing and more. But how can you be all things to all people?

The Internet is a never-ending resource for newsletters and blogs to help you (and to help build Klout scores!). Many industry experts will place their presentations on Slideshare. The following are my favorite newsletters and experts to follow: 

  • Lee Odden (TopRank Online Marketing) – SEO is not just about finding the keywords that yield the most traffic. SEO is about using relevant content to attract your specific audience. Temper this in with social media and its rapidly changing venue and you need expert advice to stay ahead of the curve and to keep impressing the boss. TopRank Online Marketing produces an e-newsletter chock full of guidance and success stories written by Odden. When your employer asks you to write web content or an SEO-optimized press release, Odden is the man you want to follow on Twitter. Subscribe to TopRank’s e-newsletter, and your knowledge will soar.
  • Deirdre Breakenridge – If you haven’t been asked already, it’s only a matter of time before your employer expects you to write a social media plan. You will need to know how to set goals and use the best tactics (measurable ones) to best help you meet those goals. Following Breakenridge on Twitter and seeing what she’s pinning on Pinterest is a great start. When you are on a job interview, you want to show your potential boss you can hit the ground running. You may even consider doing a mini social media plan for the interview. You will stand above the crowd.
  • Peter Weddle and Weddle’s E-newsletter – To survive in the workforce today, being qualified is not enough. You need to be what Weddle calls a “career activist”. A recruiter, HR consultant and business CEO turned author and commentator, weddle knows what it takes to keep growing in the field. His favorite term is “work strong”. Subscribe to his e-newsletter and you’ll not only learn as a job seeker, you’ll gain knowledge from an employer perspective as well. One of his many books, Recognizing Richard Rabbit will change how you think about your current and future career.
  • Recruiting Trends – My dear friend and expert recruiter Sandy Charet of Charet & Associates always mentions the very difficult job recruiters have. They not only have to review resumes sent their way, but also need to constantly comb through LinkedIn to find the best “passive job seekers”. They are completely overworked and need to process a voluminous number of job orders within superhuman deadlines. A recent study showed that recruiters decide within six seconds whether a resume winds up in the “yes” or “no” pile. Therefore, it’s key to understand where recruiters are coming from. If you understand the pressure they are under, it will change how you approach them when following up after they have sent you on a job interview.
  • FINS Newsletter – While the advice may not be tailored directly to public relations, there’s a multitude of career and resume advice on this Dow Jones career and employment website. Their topics have universal appeal regardless of your career specialty. It is one of the best places to read about writing your career story, the 25 toughest companies for interviews and facing feedback from your employer.
  • Mashable – If you are just beginning in your career, you want to know who the heavy hitters are in making news and headlines. Mashable not only covers major technology trendsetters, it will help you show potential employers that you’re fully up-to-date understanding the challenges in the business world.

While the list of resources is always growing, consider following these experts:

  • Eric Schwartzman – With Schwartzman, you learn about social media from A to Z. His knowledge will take you from the beginning of setting up your Twitter account to blogging and expertly tagging your digital content.
  • Dawn Edmiston – Recruiters not only want to know about your resume – they will research your professional online presence. Dawn is an expert resource. The most critical resource you have is your own branding. Dawn will help you take ownership of this.
  • Sandy Charet – We all know how important LinkedIn is to recruiters. You want to present the most professional and complete profile possible. Charet knows all the ins and outs of working with LinkedIn. 
  • Brian Solis – His conversation prism will graphically show you all the facets to social media. When setting up a social media plan, you need to know which tactics will work the best. However, how many of us really know all the forms of social media out there? Solis gives the best starting point by displaying all or at least most of the available forms.
  • Andrea Nierenberg –Networking is key to your career survival, but how do you approach someone? What do you do if you’re an introvert? How do I really use the “give to get” principle? Nierenberg’s thoughts and insights will help you network with results.

We also hope that you will read the 70+ articles on PRSA Jobcenter. Having a full range of job advice and resources will ensure a very long and very happy career.

 

Richard Spector is the manager of client services at PRSA.

Professional Development Brown Bag: “Strategists are Made, Not Born: How to Grow into a Strategist, not a Tactician” with Roger Friedensen, APR

Heather Sliwinski 3 Comments

PR = positive relationships.

At some point in our educational or professional career, we’ve all heard it, and it’s true. In my young professional career, each of my positions has involved some sort of relationship building. So what?

Becoming a master of relationship building should be at the top of your priority list. Grow into a counselor, not a tactician. Building a successful career isn’t just about tactical skills. It’s about becoming a counselor who can build trusting relationships, gain the confidence of management quickly and reliably and provide the high-level counsel executives want – and for which they’ll pay top dollar.

Industry veterans will share tips and techniques they’ve used to develop dozens of high-performing strategic counselors. You will:

  • Learn proven ways to develop as a strategic counselor.
  • Acquire insights that characterize the best strategists.
  • Learn how top counselors set themselves apart.

This New Professionals Section Brown Bag will be held on Monday, Sept. 10 from 1 to 2 p.m. EST. Remember, it’s free for PRSSA and New Pros Section members! Register here.

Roger Friedensen, APR, president and CEO of Forge Communications in Raleigh, N.C., will host a conversation on becoming a top-tier strategist. For more than 25 years, Friedensen has built an impressive career in public relations, crisis communications, brand management and strategic communications consulting.

 

Elizabeth RhoadsElizabeth Rhoads Greenaway serves the PRSA New Professionals Section Executive Committee as programming director and chair-elect.

Intro to Employee Communications PR

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A growing specialty in the world of public relations is employee communication. Positions with this area as the primary focus are found most often in large organizations, where the employee base is large and diverse. More importantly, these positions exist when leadership fully understands how employee engagement correlates with an organization’s success or failure. In a sense, employees are the organization, so it is hard to imagine a more critical stakeholder group.

Describing a day in the life of an employee communications specialist doesn’t sound difficult until you sit down and start to write. Why? Because every day is so different from the next. Let me begin by telling you, briefly, about our organization.

DuPont Pioneer is in the production agriculture industry—specifically, crop seed genetics. Headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, where the business began in 1926, Pioneer now has more than 12,500 full-time employees working in more than 90 countries around the world. Acquired by DuPont in 1999, Pioneer is part of a science company that is more than 200 years old and focused on using science to help solve global challenges related to food, energy and protection.

Since joining Pioneer five years ago, I have enjoyed being part of a very exciting and rapidly growing business. One of the biggest “plusses” had been the value placed on employee communication by our president.

I lead a terrific team of four professionals, each of whom has a full plate of specific responsibilities related to our global employee audience.

So what is my typical day like?

Because each day is so different, I am going to take some liberty with my assignment and tell you instead what a typical week includes. And since it is Friday morning, I am simply going to look back at the week that is now coming to a close. Keep in mind that my role involves more managerial duties than others on the team. (Read: Lots of meetings!)

Monday: 

  • Global teleconference to review the Pioneer Communications planning calendar
  • Met with Pioneer intranet manager to review process to secure outsourced help with online publishing
  • Consulting appointment with Web Services staff to set up Team Site for Global DuPont Public Affairs task team that I am leading
  • Attended Lunch-and-Learn meeting to hear two renowned journalists/authors discuss looming global crisis: hunger
  • Attended final presentation by our summer intern
  • Met with two staff members to develop draft presentation for meeting next week with executive sponsors of the next-generation intranet steering team
  • Attended evening event related to work

Tuesday:

  • Met with Communications Leadership Team to discuss planning process and budgets for 2013
  • Web meeting with DuPont colleagues about intranet platform capabilities
  • Slogged through overflowing email inbox
  • Proofed documents as requested
  • Followed up on PRSA Employee Communications Section responsibilities; also on local PRSA Chapter responsibilities.

Wednesday:

  • Participated in web conference with DuPont colleagues to view demo of intranet site set up on SharePoint 2010 platform by another DuPont businesses
  • Summarized highlights of web conference and sent follow-up memo to appropriate Information Management staff at Pioneer
  • Met with new manager for employee online communities about metrics and dashboard options
  • Met with staff members to refine draft presentation for meeting next week with sponsors of the next-generation intranet steering team

Thursday:

  • Early meeting with next-generation intranet steering team
  • Left that meeting early to get to the first of two half-day training sessions with senior leaders, led by David Grossman of The Grossman Group (focus was internal communication of Pioneer strategy)
  • Talked with David over lunch about other work he is doing with Pioneer
  • Second training session with senior leaders

Friday:

  • Three goals today: write this blog post, follow up with members of task team I am leading for DuPont, and get out of the office in time to go to the Iowa State Fair. One down, two to go.

Young professionals who want to work in employee communications should:

  1. Polish their writing and presentation skills. You must be strong in both of these core skills.
  2. Get very familiar with intranet best practices, which are evolving even as I write this post.
  3. Take some business classes, and develop a basic understanding of today’s global economy. This knowledge will help you understand and converse more intelligently with your senior leaders, whose support is critical to your success.

 

Chris JensenChristine Jensen, APR, MBA, is the employee communications manager of DuPont Pioneer. Prior experience includes a position as an adjunct lecturer in public relations at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte and public relations/marketing management positions for a private college and several healthcare organizations, including Mayo Clinic, where she managed internal communication. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Grinnell College in Iowa and her Master of Business Administration from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. Jensen served for three years as a board member of the PRSA Charlotte Chapter and currently serves as accreditation chair for the PRSA Central Iowa Chapter and the chair of the PRSA Employee Communications Section. She was a charter member of the executive committee of the Section and chaired its first national conference in Chicago in 1996. The thoughts expressed in this blog post are entirely her own and do not reflect those of her employer.