PRSA New Pros

Coming Soon: New Professionals Week 2013

Heather Sliwinski Leave a comment

New Professionals WeekI love planning events for the New Professionals Section, especially when they involve a national week-long event celebrating young professionals! You can never have enough young professionals in your Chapter; after all, they are the future.

This year, during November 11-15, we will host our third annual 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 anyone who’s interested in this week to get involved! PRSA New Pros National Executive Committee will support your local event via guest blog posts and social media channels.

How can you get involved? To help plan events in your local Chapter, 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. If you are interested in contributing to our blog to promote your Chapter NPWeek event, contact blog co-chairs, Heather Sliwinski and Keri Cook.

We understand that not every Chapter 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 New Pros webinar. During New Pros Week, we feature a national webinar on a topic of interest for new pros. We anticipate the webinar will be held in the afternoon on Monday, Nov. 11. 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 through PRSA’s on-demand service, and our guest speaker can be reached throughout the week for questions via Twitter.
  2. Host a New Pros-focused 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. You could even schedule a Twitter chat or tweet-up for new pros in your area to meet via social, and then take it off-line! 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.

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

Elizabeth GreenawayElizabeth Greenaway
PRSA New Professionals Chair

September Twitter Chat Highlights: Modern PR Ethics

Heather Sliwinski Leave a comment

Twitter Chat Highlights: Modern PR EthicsWe’d like to thank everyone who participated in the September #NPPRSA Twitter chat as part of PRSA’s Ethics Month.

Specifically, we’d like to thank special guest for the month, PRSA’s Board of Ethics and Professional Standards [BEPS].  Join us again on October 10 at 9 p.m. EST for the next #NPPRSA Twitter chat.

Review highlights of the chat below.

What did you learn from the September chat? How do you make sure your brand is remaining ethical despite the addition of paid placements in social and digital media? How do you confront situations where ethical values may be at risk?

Lauren RosenbaumLauren Rosenbaum is the public relations director at BrickPixel, a web design and marketing consultancy. She is the co-founder of Soversity, a public relations and digital marketing company. Rosenbaum is also one of the volunteer coordinators for PRSA Houston Chapter’s PR Day 2013. You can connect with her on Google+, LinkedIn and Twitter.

June Twitter Chat Highlights: Harnessing Data and Measurement for PR Success

Heather Sliwinski Leave a comment

We’d like to thank everyone who participated in the June #NPPRSA Twitter chat.

Specifically, we’d like to thank our special guest for the month Shonali Burke, ABC. Shonali is CEO of Shonali Burke Consulting and founder of the #measurepr Twitter chat. You can read more of Shonali’s insights on PR measurement and data on her blog Waxing UnLyrical.

Join us again on July 11 at 9 p.m. EST for the next #NPPRSA Twitter chat. The July chat will feature special guest Deirdre Breakenridge, author of “Putting the Public Back in Public Relations” — our June Summer Book Club selection.

Review highlights of the June chat below. What did you learn from the June chat? How do you harness the power of data and measurement to help your business reach its goals? With which departments must PR work closely to integrate and analyze measurement goals that will add value to the entire business?

 

Amy BishopAmy Bishop works in digital marketing and public relations for digitalrelevance, a content marketing and digital PR agency. She is the social media chair for the PRSA New Professionals Section. Bishop is also a contributing member of Dachis Group’s Social Business Council. You can connect with her on Google+, LinkedIn or Twitter.

Summer Book Club: June Selection–Putting the Public Back in Public Relations

Heather Sliwinski 5 Comments

Just because summer will officially begin this month and vacations take center stage doesn’t mean we should all take a break from learning. June starts our annual Summer Book Club on the PRSA New Professionals Section blog, and the first book selection has been made!

When you’re on your way to the beach or sitting in the car or plane, make sure you grab or download a copy of “Putting the Public Back in Public Relations” by Deirdre Breakenridge and Brian Solis. At the end of the month, we’ll have a recap of the book along with discussion around the key takeaways. You may even see these topics appear in our monthly #NPPRSA Twitter chat!

See how Amazon.com describes “Putting the Public Back in Public Relations”:

Forget the “pitch”: Yesterday’s PR techniques just don’t work anymore. That’s the bad news. Here’s the great news: Social Media and Web 2.0 offer you an unprecedented opportunity to make PR work better than ever before. This book shows how to reinvent PR around two-way conversations, bring the “public” back into public relations and get results that traditional PR people can only dream about. Drawing on their unparalleled experience making Social Media work for business, PR 2.0.com’s Brian Solis and industry leader Deirdre Breakenridge show how to transform the way you think, plan, prioritize, and deliver PR services. You’ll learn powerful new ways to build the relationships that matter, and reach a new generation of influencers…leverage platforms ranging from Twitter to Facebook…truly embed yourself in the communities that are shaping the future. Best of all, you won’t just learn how to add value in the Web 2.0 world: You’ll learn how to prove how new, intelligent, and socially rooted PR will transform your organization into a proactive, participatory communication powerhouse that is in touch and informed with its community of stakeholders.

I’ll be reading on my Kindle with you. We hope you join us for another lively discussion on the New Pros blog this summer!

 

Heather SliwinskiHeather Sliwinski is an account executive at KemperLesnik, a Chicago-based public relations agency, providing media relations and social media services to a variety of B2B clients. She has held positions in marketing and event planning for corporations, nonprofits and higher education. She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communications with an emphasis in strategic communications from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Sliwinski is the blog co-chair and chair-elect for the PRSA New Professionals Section. Feel free to connect with her on LinkedIn or Twitter.

Networking Defined: Three Tips to Stay Connected

Heather Sliwinski Leave a comment

Networking is easy to define, but can be difficult to practice on an ongoing basis, especially when starting a new job with new responsibilities and demands on your time. You don’t want to lose the network you’ve worked hard to build, and you also want to create a stronger one. These simple steps will strengthen your connection pull and help to remain in touch with key industry professionals.

Discover connections through professional organizations

Professional organizations have a variety of resources available to help you meet new professionals and keep in touch with those you already know.

PRSA New Professionals Section

Even though PRSA New Pros only hosts in-person events during New Professionals Week in November, there are plenty of ways to get involved and connect with new professionals through:

Social media

  • Comment and post questions on PRSA New Pros’ social media pages: blog, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
  • Participate in monthly #NPPRSA Twitter chats
  • Attend a webinar

Member directory

  • Reach out to others in your PR industry or location through our Section members-only directory. For example, I met with a PRSA New Pros member in Chicago for lunch, and she’s in government PR. In such a niche industry, she can connect with others across the U.S. with a similar profession or interest by using the directory.

PRSA New Pros Executive Committee

  • PRSA New Pros has 15 Executive Committee members who live and work across the nation, from New York City to San Francisco. We are extremely involved in Section and in PRSA as a whole and are always willing to connect with our members. Reach out to any of us here.

PRSA Professional Interest Sections

  • PRSA New Pros is one of 14 PRSA Interest Sections. Take advantage of other PRSA Sections, especially if one matches the PR industry where your interests lie.

PRSA Local Chapters

There are more than 120 local chapters of PRSA. Find the one closest to you and see how you can get involved in a face-to-face setting. This participation could include :

  • Networking events
  • Breakfasts, luncheons and/or happy hours
  • Workshops and webinars
  • Social media and discussion opportunities

For more on this subject, check out the blog post by Brandi Boatner, “Powering Partnerships through Local Leadership as a New Professional.”

Establish bonds with first, second and third degree connections

Connect with Co-workers

Look for mentorship programs, sports teams, happy hours, volunteering opportunities, young professional groups and planning committees to establish ties with co-workers outside of the usual work setting.

If your company doesn’t offer many ways to get involved, seek out co-workers you admire as mentors. Ask them to grab coffee or lunch outside of work.

Utilize LinkedIn and Twitter

Similar to PRSA New Pros’ directory, you can research and connect with professionals in your field through social media. Find companies and groups to follow, engage in discussions and build networks with professionals all across the world.

Search through companies for professionals with whom you share a connection. Ask for introductions and expand your reach to connections outside of your own circle.

Keep in regular communication for mutual benefit

Take a look back at your network and ask yourself, “From whom can I continue to learn and whom can I help learn and grow professionally?” Make sure to not lose touch with those professionals.

Hold on to their information

Save their business card and add the date you met and a small tidbit about the person or the conversation you had to the back of the card. Once you reconnect, you will have a reference point to continue the conversation.

Keep in Touch

Now that you’ve put the tools in place to know what to say, put them to use.

Virtually

  • If you haven’t already, connect with them on LinkedIn (with a personalized message!) and follow them on Twitter.
  • Every few weeks or months, follow up with them. Email, tweet or send a LinkedIn message with an article you think they might find interesting, with great news to share about a project/client or to congratulate them on a new job or professional success. Also, saving emails is a great way to keep tabs on the last conversations you’ve had with your connections. Tools like Contactually can help you organize the inbox overload with tasks and reminders to follow up with your network.

Face-to-face

  • Once every few months, try to meet up for coffee, lunch or drinks. Ask questions, but also share what you’ve learned so far as a professional.

PR is a small world. Once connected to a few professionals, you’re just a few degrees away to hundreds of other professionals.

Creating connections and keeping your network strong can help you tremendously along your career path. As a bonus, some of those connections can turn into the some of your closest friends and mentors.

How do you define networking? What types of networking techniques have or haven’t worked for you to connect and keep in touch?

 

 

Nicole BersaniNicole Bersani is an assistant account executive at Social@Ogilvy, where she works on social media for six global brands. She graduated from Ohio University in June 2012 with a degree in journalism/public relations. Bersani is the membership co-chair for the PRSA New Professionals Section.