professional development

professional development event…Navigating the PR terrain

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Mary Beth WestNext week, on Wednesday, September 30, Mary Beth West will be telling new PR pros how to generate opportunity and avoid common mistakes in the teleseminar, Navigating the Terrain of Your First Professional Years.

Mary Beth West currently manages her own public relations consulting firm near Knocksville, Tenn., and she has been very active in PRSSA and PRSA, including being a co-founder of this New Professionals of PRSA Section!

We asked Mary Beth some questions about herself and her upcoming teleseminar. Check out this Q&A, and to hear more, register for Navigating the Terrain of Your First Professional Years. (Keep in mind, you must register ASAP if you want to phone-in to the live event!)

1. You are one of the founders of the New Professionals Section. What motivated you to try to start a new section?

PRSA’s member demographics had shifted somewhat younger in the 1990s to early 2000s. The Society needed a section that served the immediate needs of new public relations professionals — whether they were younger 20-somethings coming straight out of undergraduate public relations programs or individuals who were switching careers with perhaps 10 or more years of experience under their belt in another profession. Beyond the demographic opportunity, it was very important to create a place within PRSA that could serve the needs of these new professionals and enable them to utilize their own skills and insights. It needed to be a self-directed group to create leadership opportunities, professional development, and networking that spoke to their interests and changing needs. Helping set the initial course for New Professionals has been one of the most rewarding volunteer tasks of my PRSA involvement.

2. How did you go from PR newbie to starting your own consulting firm?

I was lucky to start my career in the agency business, interning in school and later working for both small firms in mid-size markets to a large agency in New York. The diversity of experience and exposure to so many different companies and organizations was an excellent eye-opener on what the possibilities and opportunities are in the field.
In terms of how I transitioned from my early years in the business to ultimately owning my own firm . . . I guess the key to it is that I not only embrace change but also thrive on it. I never like to get into a comfort zone with what I’m doing professionally, because to me, it quickly turns into a rut. I’m always seeking out challenges because I genuinely enjoy them and relish the opportunities they offer to become better at my work. And to be self-employed, you have to have that energy and that ability to face ever-changing circumstances.

3. One of the things you’ll discuss is a “three-year career plan”. Why is such a thing helpful/important for new pros?

As they say, if you don’t plan on going anywhere in particular, you’re sure to get there fast! While a new pro’s first years in the public relations field may be a time for exploration and not being sure what the immediate future holds, it’s important to ask oneself some challenging questions that will lead you to where you ultimately want to be. Only then can you begin creating a definitive plan for how to get from Point A to Point B.

For example, what kind of work do you truly enjoy and get personal satisfaction from doing (beyond getting a paycheck)? What are the work-reward values that mean most to you? What industry or organizational sector is most fascinating to you and where you see the most potential for you to utilize your interests, talents and skill sets? Once you’ve answered these and similar questions, you can start mapping out the experience you need to start accumulating, the networking/professional relationships you need to start building, and the types of companies or organizations you need to start researching for near-term job opportunities.

4. What do you think is one of the most challenging aspects of being a new pro, and how do you think it can be overcome?

In terms of strategic skills, PR pros must always maintain an acute understanding and sensibility about how their stock-in-trade–building communications, relationships and reputations–impacts the overall success of their clients or employers, particularly in financial terms to generate revenue and mitigate expense. Only then can you really achieve resonance between what your employer/client needs from you and what you have to offer. Sometimes, professionals in our field are expert technicians in the tools and tactics of our profession but are lousy at translating the value of those tactics into a real business strategy that is designed to make money for the company or otherwise achieve a very critical business objective. And until you have the capability of connecting those dots on your own, your career progression will be limited.

Regarding the more tactical skills, the thing I see lacking too often is attention to detail. Cutting corners just doesn’t work in this business. There is often an entire mindset or attitude that goes with that tendency, and it’s generally revealed readily in many different ways, such as a person’s writing style (short on clarity and rife with errors), verbal communications style (a lot of “you know”s and “like”s), and even the way they present themselves (lack of eye contact, a lazy handshake and a bit-too-casual dress code). My advice: Sweat the small stuff. It’s often the little things that either solidify good impressions or send them packing.

5. What are tips or information are you most excited about sharing during the teleseminar?

Like Generation X–which I am part of and in the 1990s was conveniently termed the “slacker” generation right as I entered the profession–I think Generation Y often gets a bad rap with the whole “trophy kids” and “helicopter parents” attributions. That imagery can lead some employers and supervisors to make automatic negative assumptions about younger new professionals before they have had a chance to prove themselves. I’ll address that issue and how new professionals can overcome it in a workplace.

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MARY BETH WEST will be presenting Navigating the Terrain of Your First Professional Years: Generate new opportunities for yourself while avoiding common mistakes on Wednesday, September 30. For more information and to register, go to the event site.

professional development event… social media and networking in Atlanta (Sept. 24)

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Ben Garrett will be presenting at the New Pros networking event in Atlanta.

Next week, Thursday September 24, the New Professionals of PRSA will host an in-person networking event–Honing your Social Media Skills. The event will be held at the Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant in Midtown Atlanta Georgia. Our featured speaker, Ben Garrett , is the Executive Producer for On the Scene Productions, a digital media company specializing in video, but before he went digital Ben spent time in broadcast journalism and PR.

Ben has been good enough to give us a sneak peak into next week’s event. Check out this Q&A, and meet Ben and your peers at Honing your social media skills while networking with New Pros in Atlanta. (Keep in mind, you must register within the next few days if you’d like to attend!)

1. Can you describe your experience in broadcast journalism and public relations?

I worked in local and network TV for 14 years before turning to electronic public relations (where I’ve now spent 16 years). Ironically, I started off in print. I was editor of my high school paper and also in college, but an internship at a newspaper convinced me to switch to broadcast journalist–more money, with the added bonus that you don’t have to know how to spell. I was a TV news anchor and reporter at a number of local TV stations, and on the network level as a producer, I worked at Lifetime and CNBC networks in their infancy, as well as a brief stint as a medical producer for NBC’s TODAY Show.

2. You moved from PR and broadcast to being executive producer at a digital media company. How did you become so interested in digital media?

The Chicago TV production company I was working for was purchased by a dot-com. So suddenly we were a digital media company. But the reality was the reason they purchased us was because we were innovating doing TV on the web. We built the first health network for the fledgling Microsoft Network, and were one of the first to do video webcasts. At this point in history, everyone had dial-up, there was no broadband and very few people had e-mail, forget social media, it didn’t exist. But basically the web is just another medium to deliver video, and we’re just as focused on mobile phones now as a delivery device.

3. How has your background in PR and journalism helped you in your role at the digital media company?

My background in TV news has prepared me to be a video storyteller. Once you learn to tell a story in pictures, it can be applied to any visual medium, whether it’s an out-of-home network, digital signage, the web, or your mobile phone. The medium isn’t as important as the storytelling. The only consideration for any visual medium is that if you’re doing something in High Definition for a big screen, you will likely have to make some adaptations to tell that story on a small screen, i.e., your iPhone. Some of the same elements that make a story newsworthy can be applied to making a video “viral”–but viral videos are really more about entertainment value, not journalism.

4. What do you think are the greatest challenges facing the public relations world with respect to social media?

Initially, the greatest challenge for PR was transparency. It’s very important to be honest and transparent about who you are and who you represent. I think we’re addressing that as a profession. Now, the biggest challenge I hear about is ROI–return on investment, and also a new term “ROE”–return on engagement, since social media is about engagement more so than just generating impressions. How do we measure what we’re doing and if its even worthwhile? No one has really been able to put a true value on that yet. At the same time, measurement or no measurement, social media isn’t going away and it can’t be ignored as a tactic. And because social media is about two way communications, that’s a new development, because so much of PR is about communicating one way to a mass audience. Now it’s about one-on-one conversations. It’s a different game now that we’re getting real time feedback from consumers. Communities in social media expect a real time response, and from real people, not an automated response. It’s forcing everyone to re-think their mission, their staffing and their response time 24/7.

5. You’ll be presenting at the PRSA New Pros Atlanta networking event. What information are you most excited to share with new professionals?

New professionals have entered our profession during a major downturn in the economy and at a time when the profession is re-inventing itself. Bad times actually present the best opportunities for advancement. I want to tell them they’ve picked a great career but I also want to give them the benefit of my experience. While it’s almost impossible to learn from someone else’s mistakes, I hope I have made enough for all of them! A lot of people are calling the rise of social media Web 2.0. I was around for Web 1.0, and hopefully some of those lessons still apply. A lot of the things we talked about for Web 1.0 are now only possible with Web 2.0. What’s Web 3.0 going to be? They may be the ones to build it!

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BEN GARRETT will present at “Honing your social media skills while networking with New Professionals in Atlanta”, a New Professionals of PRSA networking event. The event will be from 6 to8PM on Thursday, September 24. Registration is required by Monday, September 21. For more information and to register, go to the event site.

professional development event…How to Break in to International PR (Sept. 16)

New Professionals PR Blog 1 Comment

Did you think you had to curb your wanderlust and settle down before you could enter the public relations field? International PR is one way you can feed your interest in travel and culture while still getting a paycheck doing the public relations work you enjoy; but how can you, a new public relations professional, tap into the international PR scene?

Next week, the International Public Relations Section of PRSA is hosting a teleseminar specifically designed to help PR newbies get a foot in the international door. Jim Holtje (Senior Manager of Leadership Communications for Siemens Corp) and three others will share their Tips to Breaking into International PR on Wednesday September 16.

Holtje was kind enough to give us a preview of his experience in international PR, including how he started on the international track and what advice he’d give newbies who want to break in. If you’d like to hear more about international PR and how to break in, register for the teleseminar–Oh, and don’t put it off for too long; if you want to dial in to the live event, you’ll need to register by this Friday!

How did you break into international PR?

I began studying foreign languages in middle school and continued through high school and college. In college, I traveled a lot to Europe, taking advantage of cheap student airfares, Eurail passes, sometimes sleeping on friends’ floors to save money. I had also gotten some practical journalism skills working as the features editor at New York University’s student newspaper, The Washington Square News, and worked on a PBS television program. After NYU, I got my M.A. at Columbia University in international affairs and economics. At first, I wanted to work for the State Department but ended up in a private sector career.

My professional career started out in international political consulting working on a 1992 presidential campaign in South Korea. I then worked for a number of PR agencies and consultancies doing international PR for Chrysler, DaimlerChrysler, Wal-Mart, Eli Lilly, Deloitte, Deutsche Post, and others in Washington, D.C. and New York. I started working at Siemens USA seven years ago including a three-year stint at the Munich headquarters as the chief English-language speechwriter. As far as international goes, I absolutely love it. I can’t imagine doing anything else!

What skills are especially important in international PR?

Most international PR pros are often generalists who have a tremendous passion for the world beyond their immediate borders. That passion could come from previous travels or living overseas or just plain “wanderlust.” Either way, they enjoy working and dealing with the world beyond their immediate horizons.

Personally, I think the skills that count most include foreign language ability; hard-core PR skills, including writing and pitching; as well as empathy for others who are not always like you culturally or linguistically. Last but not least, flexibility and patience. You have to be ready to roll with the punches in the international arena. International PR is not always seamless or easy. A lot can get “lost in translation.” But that’s the challenge—and for me, that’s what makes the work eternally interesting.

What’s a typical day when you work in international public relations?

There probably is no “typical” day. A lot depends on where you’re working and whom you’re working for. For example, when I worked as a speechwriter at Siemens’ global headquarters in Germany, we had to write speeches for our CEO to deliver in China, India, Brazil, Egypt, Russia, etc.

That meant quickly getting up to speed on our businesses there, plus learning what would work—or not work—culturally. You constantly have to strike a balance between what your core corporate message is while keeping in mind what foreign audiences are looking for or expect.

Typical? Not likely. Fascinating? Always.

What are you most excited about talking about during the Sept 16 telesem?

I’m excited that we have such great guests from the corporate, agency, and not-for-profit worlds who can give New Pros some real-world advice about international PR. Real world advice–not theory. This is especially valuable in a down economy when people are looking for ways to distinguish themselves in a tough marketplace.

Anita Larsen at Unilever; Robin Kim at Burson-Marsteller in London; and Blair Palese in Australia who used to head Greenpeace PR in London; all bring practical experience to the table that New Pros can benefit from. I’m looking forward to a very lively discussion and to participants getting some real value from the experience.

My hope is that it that the teleseminar ends up changing a few career. It will be well worth the hour investment.

What advice do you have for new pros who are interested in breaking into international PR?

The panelists on September 16 will have their own tips. Here’s a sneak peak at mine:

1) Travel. It can change your life.
2) If you’re already in PR and working at an agency, seek out either foreign clients or large American clients with operations overseas. Large global PR agencies also have opportunities overseas.
3) If you work for a foreign corporation, look for ways to work at the company’s overseas headquarters. If you work for an American multinational, find ways to work at their foreign affiliates.
4) If you’ve haven’t already learned a foreign language, give it a try. If you already speak one, improve your skills. You don’t have to be perfect, but you should at least make an effort.
5) Don’t neglect your core PR skills: writing, pitching, problem solving.
6) My advice no matter what you do in PR: Network, network, network…

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JIM HOLTJE will be one of the panelists during “Stand out in a down economy: Tips for breaking into international pr”, a PRSA teleseminar. The event will be 1 hour long, mid-day Wednesday, September 16. For more information and to register, go to the event site.

your pr career… 10 Steps to Starting a Local New Pros PR Group by Crystal Olig

New Professionals PR Blog 1 Comment

Our first years in public relations can vary from enlightening and fun to intimidating and tough. Our peers in PR quickly become our best resources, providing a relationship-based connection to the industry.

By starting a New Pros group for your local PRSA Chapter, you’ll be able to share your passion for PR, be a leader in the chapter, and grow your personal network of connected, smart, and helpful peers—who won’t mind if you occasionally geek out about AP style, social media, or the coolest new blogger in the city.

Starting a local New Pros group takes some work, but it is not as hard as it sounds. This 10-step roadmap spells out exactly how you can get there.

Find New Professionals in Your Area

1. Build a base of new PR professionals.

Associate members, recent graduates, and current internship programs are rife with new PR pros eager to build professional skills and connections. Get email addresses, Twitter handles, phone numbers, and LinkedIn or Facebook info and connect with new pros in multiple ways.

2. Expand your base of new PR professionals through referrals.

Build an active referral program. At every live event, ask new pros for connections to their peers. Challenge each attendee to bring a friend or industry peer. Engage new pros on Twitter; then use your network to create a “re-tweet” trail for event postings and resource links. Use Facebook to actively invite others to events, engaging them pre- and post-event. Use word-of-mouth to help bring in new people.

Reach Out

3. Create a consistent outreach plan.

Choose a primary New Pros communication tool, such as a list-serv or Facebook page. Train new pros where to go first for group information, and stay in front of busy professionals by using secondary resources like an online chapter calendar, weekly e-blasts, and oral announcements before other PRSA events. Reminders are key. Follow this schedule and contact members one month, then one week, and then one day out.

4.  Don’t assume—Ask what new professionals in your area need.

You can discover what your members are interested in using a short and sweet questionnaire. A quick Survey Monkey quiz can do the trick also. For example, you can ask new pros to rank interests, such as these:
•    Career building advice
•    Connection to a mentor figure
•    Gen Y workplace issues/generational differences
•    Hard skill development, i.e. pitching practice, social media strategy
•    Informal socializing
•    Meeting the media
•    Networking with more seasoned pros
•    Sharing experiences in comfortable peer-to-peer environment
•    Soft skill development, i.e. time or information management

Plan and Engage

5. Plan hybrid new professionals events.

Many young pros want to socialize, but need an academic incentive to compete against a crowded social calendar. In Phoenix, we created the “Happy Hour+” program, hosting informal education opportunities for the first 15-20 minutes of the event, followed by networking. Examples include a “Top 10” tips presentation on focused topics, roundtables on hot button issues, or quick Q&A sessions with PRSA board members or notable leaders.

6. Initiate a matching program.

Many times both seasoned and new professionals are unwilling or unable to commit to a formal mentoring program, though it’s a frequently-mentioned need. A matching mechanism during the RSVP process for chapter-wide events allows new and seasoned professionals to be paired up for a one-time-only mentorship opportunity. If individuals make a great personal connection, it can develop into a more consistent mentorship relationship.

7. Deliver variety in programming.

Deliver events and topics that are varied. Don’t be afraid to crowd-source the next topic. Shifting physical locations for events, from local agencies to downtown pubs to suburban restaurants, helps spread the burden of drive time obstacles.

Keep this Advice in Mind

8. New professionals leaders must be visible and accessible.

Send at least two New Pros members to the regular PRSA events and host a New Pros table. Invite new professionals to join the table. This way the new pros will will have someone to sit with, ask questions of, and network with. As an added bonus, New Pros committee chairs get valuable visibility within the larger PRSA chapter.

9. Be time- and cost-conscious.

New pros encounter common barriers to developing a consistent tie with professional associations: Time and money. As an entry-level or junior employee, it’s hard for a new pro to request time off to attend daytime PRSA events. Plan events outside of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Events such as weekend brunches, happy hours, or coffee meet-ups might work better than lunch meetings. Many organizations are unable to assist with membership fees for junior pros, and entry level salaries don’t cover many extras. Be open to non-member attendance, and try to keep events free or under $5 (unless the fee covers the cost of food or drink).

10. Create a super committee.

To launch a New Pros group, you need a solid, diverse, and enthusiastic committee to share the workload. Start with four to five new pros from different areas of PR, including corporate, non-profit, and agency. The New Pros committee leader should have a strong tie to chapter leadership, whether through a designated board member contact, within a professional development cluster, or via the membership committee. Meet monthly in person or via conference call. Maintain a strong committee by respecting each person’s time, requiring accountability and responsiveness and consistently incorporating committee members’ input or ideas.

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CRYSTAL OLIG is the former Phoenix PRSA New Pros Committee Chair and is a current Central Ohio PRSA University Liaison committee member. She can be reached at crystal.a.olig[at]gmail.com or through @sparklegem on Twitter, linkedin.com/in/crystalaolig, or the whY genY blog.

your pr career… One Year Down, 60 More To Go! by Courtney Vaught

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As one of my co-workers said, 23 is not an envious age. You are trying to find your place in the workforce; you aren’t sure what you really want to do with your life; you have far too many awkward moments, and things are uncertain—especially in this economy.

Now you have at least one year of experience behind you. Whether you’re happy with your current company or thinking of moving on, take time to reflect on what you’ve accomplished. In doing so, you might get a better idea of where you want to go and how to get there.

I’d like to share some of the advice I received from a career consulting professional who’s been in the business for 25 years. His name is Jeff Vaught, but I call him Dad. (Don’t think I’m mentioning him just because he is family; he really does have some great insights into career development.)

Before you start thinking promotion or job search, first, ask yourself:

  • What are your professional goals?
  • Does your current position allow you to pursue your goals?

If you want to continue along the path you’re in currently, ask yourself:

  • What have you done to earn a promotion?
  • Can you handle the greater responsibility?
  • What added value will you bring?

If your employer is a little too comfortable with you in your current position and will not consider a promotion, then start looking elsewhere. Remember to stay stealthy during the search, and take extra precautions.

  • If posting your resume while employed, keep it confidential—don’t list the name of your current employer.
  • Don’t take calls during work unless it’s easy to do so—running out in the hall to talk on your cell phone is painfully obvious.
  • Don’t fall into the counter offer trap—if you’ve tried to negotiate a promotion with your employer and they didn’t listen to your concerns, don’t assume things will change if you stay

Do you have questions or concerns about where your career is headed? Do you have other suggestions to share? Leave comments!
We are all in the same boat and can always use the advice.

COURTNEY VAUGHT is a member-at-large of PRSA New Professionals Section. You can reach her at vaughtc20@gmail.com or @CourtV. If you have more in-depth career questions for her dad, Jeff Vaught, you can reach him at jejucoal78@msn.com.