Getting the Most Out of PRSA International Conference: 4 Tips for New Pros

Heather Sliwinski 1 Comment

So, you’ve registered for the PRSA 2011 International Conference. Now what? All you need to do is pack and relax, right? Well, maybe. This year’s conference is going to rock! Most likely, you’ll leave with a few business cards in hand and, most importantly, the tools and knowledge necessary to take your career to the next level. But, there is much work to be done.

Here are a few tips for new PR pros to help get the most out of conference:

  • Plan your schedule– the International Conference is jam packed with sessions, and it may be hard to choose which ones to attend. By planning ahead, you’ll be able to enjoy the conference more. Look for sessions that relate to your everyday job and ones that might challenge you. As a new PR pro, you may want to consider sessions like “How to Pitch to Overworked Journalists and Harried Bloggers and Come Out Unscathed” or “The Personal Branding Project – Crafting Your Identity.” Sessions like these will help hone your craft and position you to the right audiences, especially if you are looking for a job.
  • Network, network, network – so much of what we do is about creating and retaining relationships with key media and stakeholders. It’s only fitting that in order to excel in this field, we need to make connections with other professionals. You never know where your next job offer will come from, and you never know who might become your mentor. So, don’t be shy–introduce yourself to someone new at each session you attend! A must-attend networking event is the opening-night reception hosted by PRSA Orlando (shameless plug). The reception will be a great way to kick off the conference with other industry professionals from across the country. Other must-attend events include the PRSA Connections Networking Luncheon and the PRSA and Inside PR Tweetup by the lazy river. (Yes. You read that right. There is a lazy river at the hotel. Let’s do this!) 
  • Enjoy Orlando – conference isn’t all work and no play. There will be plenty of time to soak up some sun or venture off property to explore the other side to Orlando.
  • Follow up with your connections – be sure to send personal notes to all the connections you make at conference. You’ll want to keep in touch. In fact, when you get a business card from someone, write a note on the back of the card about what you talked about or where you met them to help jog your memory later.

So, pack your bags and trek on down to Orlando. The awesomeness that is the PRSA International Conference starts in a few short days. Who’s ready for some PR fun in the sun? 

Christina Morton is on the PRSA Orlando Regional Chapter Host Committee. She is an account executive specializing in social media for CBR Public Relations in Maitland, Fla.

Save the Date: New Professionals Week 2011

Diahnn Henderson 1 Comment

I love planning events for the New Pros especially when it’s a national weeklong event celebrating young professionals! You can never have enough young professionals in your Chapter; after all, they are the future.

This year, during November 14-18, we will host our very first New Professionals Week. This week was designed to celebrate young professionals, but also to help connect young PR pros with their local PRSA chapter.

Who’s invited? Everyone. We’re encouraging everyone who’s interested in this week to get involved! PRSA New Pros National will support your local event via guest blog posts and social media channels.

How can I get involved? If you interested in contributing to our blog, contact blog co-chairs, Heather Sliwinski and Diahnn Henderson. For events, visit our website and download a fact sheet and an event registration form. This website will be the hub for all events held during New Pros week. Once registration forms are submitted, you’ll be able to see a list of events on our website, promoting local events.

We understand that not everyone may have a budget to host an event this year. For those of you who have tight budgets, here are a few budget friendly ways to participate:

  1. Host a private showing of a PRSA New Pros webinar. During New Pros Week, we feature a webinar on a topic of interest for new pros. We anticipate the webinar will be held in the afternoon on Wednesday, Nov. 16 available for purchase (only $35 for New Pros Section members) to host a private showing – invite local new pros to an office, bring a bag lunch and have a discussion after the presentation. The playback will also be available for purchase and our guest speaker can be reached throughout the week for questions via Twitter.
  2.  Host a New Pros focused PRSA Chapter meeting. What topics are particularly interesting to young professionals? What issues are they concerned with during their first few years as a PR professional? Schedule a Chapter meeting during this week and cover one of these topic(s) and/or issue(s).
  3. Participate in New Pros week via our social networks and blog. Follow our hashtag #NPWeek to join the coast-to-coast virtual networking. We’re always looking for a fresh, new perspective on any aspect of PR for our blog; consider drafting a post about your Chapter’s local new pros group, or your personal experience as a new pro.Elizabeth Rhoads

It’s going to be great week of celebrating young professionals. If you have any questions about getting involved, please email me .

Elizabeth Rhoads
PRSA New Professionals Section Programming Chair

Professional Development Brown Bag: Exploring Post-Graduate Options in PR

Heather Sliwinski Leave a comment

Is graduate school something you’ve considered? If so, will you choose MBA or Masters? What about getting your APR? Where does it all fit in? Do you start right after you graduate from college or after you’ve been working a couple years? For some it’s obvious, if you’re more in line with a business field, you’ll go for the MBA, but what about the rest of us? Our next Brown Bag, “Exploring Post-Graduate Options in Public Relations”, should help answer some of your questions!

We have the opportunity to hear from a panel of three guests: Arthur Yann (APR), Meg Kane (Masters) and Heather Read (MBA). Each of them comes from a different industry and will shed some light on their career and education path.

The Brown Bag will be held on Friday, September 23 from 2-3 pm. Remember, it’s free for PRSSA and New Pros Section members! Register here.

Arthur Yann, APR is vice president, public relations, at PRSA. In his 20+ years of New York agency experience, Yann has launched and revitalized consumer and business products, developed national and local media relations strategies, managed corporate reputations and crises and built brands. Yann holds a journalism degree from Ohio University.

Meg Kane is currently an account supervisor for Brian Communications in Philadelphia, Penn. She holds a Masters degree in Strategic Public Relations and Political Rhetoric from the University of Maryland. Kane has worked on the agency side of public relations for more than five years, working with brands such as Tastykake and the Philadelphia Orchestra Association. Additionally, Kane served as the director of public relations for Mount Saint Joseph Academy as well an adjunct professor of communication at La Salle University.

Heather Read, MBA is an award-winning specialist in strategic communications and has 14 years of experience in business-to-business and technology PR and marketing. Read is currently public affairs program manager at DuPont, managing social media as it relates to issues and crisis communications. Previously, Read was the senior director of communications at Afilias. She holds a MBA from Temple University’s Fox School of Business and and is a certified Six Sigma Green Belt.

PRSA’s Proposed 2012 Dues Increase By Sarah Siewert

Diahnn Henderson 4 Comments

By now you may have heard the news that, after 10 years without a dues increase, PRSA’s Board of Directors will be introducing a motion at this year’s Leadership Assembly at International Conference in Oct. to raise the cost of PRSA membership. As your chair, I would like to get your feedback so I can best represent our Section when voting on this important matter –please read the rationale and what this means for us below. I look forward to your feedback.

The rationale

This blog post, written by PRSA Treasurer Philip Tate, APR, announces the proposed increase and presents the rationale behind it. In his post, Philip explains why the increase is necessary; details the cost-control and revenue generation steps that were taken in an attempt to avoid an increase; and previews the type of Member benefits that the dues increase is intended to provide for you and for all PRSA members.

What this means for New Pros

First, it’s important to note that associate memberships will NOT be impacted by the dues increase motion. Associate memberships will remain in the same price structure:

    • PRSSA member who graduated within the past two years or a graduate student: $60
    • Graduate students: $60
    • Less than one year of experience in public relations (NOT a former PRSSA member): $115
    • With one to two years of experience in public relations (NOT a former PRSSA member): $155

If you are a Section member with two or more years of experience, you WILL be impacted by the dues increase. If the motion is passed, general memberships will change by $30 annually:

    • Current annual membership fee for general members: $225
    • Proposed annual membership fee for general members: $255

If APPROVED, PRSA National is considering offering all Webinars for FREE to PRSA member. This represents nearly $2,000 in annual savings for members who participate in one PRSA webinar per month. In addition, passage of the dues increase will allow PRSA to implement loyalty marketing programs based on member involvement. This means you will receive even more value for your PRSA membership, just by being an active member.

Input needed

Please take a moment to read the post and give us your feedback. I look forward to engaging with you through the comment section below, or through our Twitter ( @PRSANewPros) and Facebook (/PRSANewPros) accounts. You also may feel free to contact me directly at sarah.siewert@kemperlesnik.com.

Intro to Healthcare PR Part Two by Debbie Harvey, APR

Heather Sliwinski Leave a comment

Let me start by saying that growing up, I never considered myself to be a science nerd.  Science was never really something around which I foresaw my adult life revolving.  As a student, it stood for spilled chemicals in laboratories, confounding physics equations and the dissection of poor, defenseless organisms.  However, a turning point that perhaps, looking back nearly 20 years later, drove me toward the scientific side of public relations was the day my best friend and I had to make up a high school biology class after hours.

The assignment wound up being a horrendous but hilarious experience—we had to dissect a fetal pig, separating and marking each organ.  While we vacillated between bouts of laughing and gagging, the lab door opened and in walked our admissions director—and actor Martin Short!  He was filming in New York City and looking at our school for his daughter at the time.  He took one look at our messy “operating table,” our filthy lab coats and our horrified faces and said, smirking, “You two aren’t enjoying this too much, I see,” to which I responded, “Imagine how this pig feels!”  I was already lobbying for the rights of the patient at a young age.

But I digress. Suffice to say, the 15-year-old me did not prophecy that the 30-(ahem)-something-year-old version would spend her days researching countless medical conditions, reading scientific abstracts, meeting with advocacy organizations, developing social media programs and media training healthcare professionals and patients.  But that’s what I do nearly every day after catching up on the morning’s news about this ever-evolving industry. And, admittedly, I still love it.  So long as no one hands me a scalpel and a pig.

How Do You Define Healthcare PR?

I’ve come to find throughout my career that healthcare PR is somewhat undefinable, which is what makes it undeniably exciting.  Healthcare is a niche that is constantly changing, given legal and regulatory challenges in spaces like social media, coupled with the powerful changes that healthcare reform has – and will continue to have – for patients, healthcare professionals, advocacy and payors.  For me, PR wasn’t a hard career choice, as it’s the perfect confluence of strategizing, socializing, researching and writing. In fact, I’m pretty sure it found me.  The healthcare focus, though, was a happy accident, one that started as just a job but wound up becoming a fulfilling career. 

Like nothing else, healthcare PR provides the satisfaction of knowing you are helping people at the end of the day: helping patients better understand what a diagnosis may mean; helping patients and loved ones manage through life’s health challenges with tools and resources to be better informed and empowered; helping discover ways to jumpstart and facilitate meaningful conversations between patients and healthcare professionals that may not have been happening. Some of the most moving moments in my career have been when I’ve helped coordinate patient speaking opportunities at client headquarters, bringing together employees across multiple disciplines to hear first-hand how their work positively impacts people’s lives.  It’s a gratifying feeling to know that an idea you had, a meeting to which you contributed or a program you built went to helping people get better and feel better at the end of the day.

Your Career Roadmap

As a new professional, you may occasionally (or often) feel like a sponge, looking to soak up as much information as you can.  Healthcare PR offers an opportunity to never lose that feeling: continuous environmental, economic and societal changes make healthcare PR a rewarding challenge, and I would encourage you to learn more about it.  At GolinHarris, we often say healthcare PR is the art and science of blending clinical understanding and knowledge with best practices of consumer marketing.  But regardless of what area of PR you may choose to pursue, seek to be challenged every day.  Read industry publications.  Get more involved with PRSA and network.  Find a mentor.  Ask questions.  Don’t balk at “no.”  Learn and adjust.  And above all, have a good time doing your job. 

Debbie HarveyDebbie Harvey, MS, APR, is a senior vice president in healthcare at GolinHarris.  She holds a master’s degree from Northwestern University in integrated marketing communications and is president-elect of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Chicago Chapter.  A Big Apple native, she has learned to love the Windy City nearly as much. Follow her on Twitter, connect with her on Facebook, or email her at dharvey@golinharris.com.