Author: bcamen

The Diary of a New Professional in the Corporate World by Brandi Boatner

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You think you know, but you have no idea. This is the diary of a new PR professional working in the corporate world.

Working at the world’s largest technology company (Fortune #14) in New York is a dream come true. I’ve always been interested in pursing a career in corporate public relations and am so blessed to work in an industry I am very passionate about.

Currently, I am an external relations professional in Global Business Services at IBM recently hired in January 2010. IBM is the world’s largest technology company with more than 400,000 employees in over 170 countries that deliver the IBM brand experience daily to audiences both internal and external. My role and responsibilities includes working with IBM’s external audiences such as journalists, influencers, stakeholders, brand advocates and analysts. The IBM work environment is truly inspiring as I am surrounded by the best and most brilliant people in technology and communications.

My duties involve executing social media strategies for our C-suite study programs, promoting and supporting the IBM Institute for Business Value and thought leadership and generating awareness of the field of analytics. Although media relations is a part of my job duties, as a new hire (only 4 months on the job) I have not had the opportunity to pitch mainstream media but am confident I will within the next month.

Media relations is simply one portion of activities that is highly significant to PR especially within a corporation the size of IBM but there is also reputation management, employee communications, market and social insights as well as community and change management.

Practicing corporate public relations at such a large organization like IBM can be challenging because of the sheer size of the company. However, much to my surprise, no day is the same. As IBM celebrates its 100 year anniversary next year, our company and our brand constantly deals with external audiences. Moreover, it is also nice that IBM fully understands the importance and value of public relations to the organization and utilizes PR in all business functions.

Additionally, I feel my education and advance degree have prepared me well for a career in corporate PR because it gave me the skills to be a critical thinker and a real global view on the industry. Understanding communication theory has given me a wonderful roadmap as to why people behave the way they do. Additionally, marketing classes offered me great insights in to overall communication strategic planning.

I would encourage anyone who wishes to pursue a career in corporate PR with a mid-large size global firm to take some business classes in economics, general business and international marketing. In my graduate studies most of my electives were in international marketing. It also helps to learn a language.

In order to succeed in this particular field you must have great writing skills, language skills, editing skills, business acumen, the ability to think critically, and understand how a global integrated enterprise works.

My advice to PR graduates looking for jobs this year and next year is look into trendy up and coming practice areas like corporate social responsibility and social media jobs that focus on strategy. Also, use social media for your job search but have an integrated approach- not just use only one social media channel or tool. Remember, finding the job is not all about you (although we often think it is), it’s really about timing. When budgets, planning and the company has a dedicated space for the valuable assets you possess, they will let you know. In the meantime, do your homework and know timing is everything.

Brandi Boatner is an External Relations Professional at IBM and have 8+ years of experience in the PR industry.

FREE Event! Going Pro: Taking Your Social Media Skills to the Business Setting

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As new PR pros we are familiar and comfortable with using social media tools. But we also understand that it’s not all about knowing how to post a Facebook or Twitter update. How can we reach audiences in a way that delivers results, and proves the business value of social media? What’s the best way to authentically engage with customers, clients and key influencers?

During our free brown bag teleseminar next Friday, Sept. 10 at noon EST, we will explore how to effectively leverage our fluency in social media into online business communications.

Scott StrattenOur presenter Scott Stratten, or @unmarketing as his more than 60,000 Twitter followers know him, is a leading expert in viral, social, and authentic marketing which he calls “un-marketing.” His recent Tweet-a-thon raised more than $16,000 for child hunger, in less than 12 hours. One of his viral marketing movies was chosen by the Chicago Bears as their biggest motivator toward their Super Bowl run a few years ago, while another made their client more than $5 million in seven days. Scott has recently appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Mashable.com, USA Today, CNN.com and Fast Company.

In true social media fashion, Scott and I did a 140-character interview on Twitter to preview his upcoming presentation.

@ssiewert: How do you define “un-marketing” and how is it different from marketing in the traditional sense?

@unmarketing: UnMarketing is building relationships with your marketplace so when they have a need to buy, they choose you without hesitation

@ssiewert: What is social currency?

@unmarketing: It’s what you invest into a social media platform. Your time, knowledge, emotion. The more you give, the more you get

@ssiewert: How can young pros/Gen Y apply their years of personal experience online to achieve business objectives?

@unmarketing: You have the advantage, since you’re already online. Be yourself, have an opinion but also be humble. You don’t know everything yet 🙂

@ssiewert: What’s your #1 piece of advice for successfully engaging with audiences online?

@unmarketing: Consistent conversation presence. Meaning, it needs to be habitual and engaging. Not just speaking sporadically.

@ssiewert: What new SM trend or tool are you most excited about?

@unmarketing: To be honest, we need to look at how to do “now” better, instead of what’s next. Stop looking at bright shiny objects (I do this too much)

@ssiewert: Your new book, UnMarketing, releases soon. What inspired you to write it and what can we expect to learn?

@unmarketing: Years of frustration with hypocritical marketers, marketing the way they hate to be marketed to. This is the opposite 🙂

Next Friday grab your lunch, invite some peers to share your phone line and join us for an engaging open discussion. This session is free for New Professionals Section members and PRSSA members. Register now.

Intro To Series… Healthcare PR by Heather Sliwinski

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If I were a betting woman, I’d say my experience as a new professional in the healthcare industry is similar to other New Pros’ positions out there. The skills we use are generally the same—they are just applied in a different way.

The daily life of a New Pro is quite different than that of a student, or even an intern. The transition can be challenging. Working for a small, growing drug testing laboratory, I was given a great deal of responsibility early on that spanned all areas of communications. One minute I was designing our two quarterly newsletters and the next I was producing and hosting an educational video series for the Web. From day one, I was pushing past my limits and gaining responsibilities to which no company had ever entrusted me as an unpaid intern. I was dabbling in design, communications, event planning and management. If I had to sum up my biggest responsibilities into a brief job description, it would look something like this:

Design: I create and edit all promotional materials, including brochures, direct mailings and quarterly newsletters, for current and potential clients.

Exhibit coordination: I manage our attendance at over 30 conference exhibitions, working with conference sponsors and third-party vendors, as well as representing the company at a number of conferences myself.

Team leader: I coordinate larger marketing projects with third-party firms that have included the overhaul of our website, identity package and overall brand image.

Writing and editing: I write and edit copy for promotional materials, the website and our two quarterly newsletters.

What’s more important than a list of my duties, I think, is an overview of the skills expected from me on a daily basis:

Self-starter: The training wheels are off now. Gone are the days of endless small tasks at an internship or syllabi from professors. In my position, I am expected take a lead role and tackle projects before they are assigned to me, as well as bring new ideas to the table. Make suggestions, take risks, make mistakes and try again. A positive energy and willingness to participate and learn outweigh any ideas that don’t pan out.

Flexibility, multi-tasker: As I stated earlier, my position covers all areas of marketing and beyond. In the current economy, not only does a New Pro have to be flexible on what area of PR or advertising they want to work in, but they have to be willing to change direction at a moment’s notice. Companies want someone who can work well under pressure and don’t get frazzled when their typical routine (if you even have one) is disrupted. I don’t know how many times a week a printer will break down or a colleague needs a promotional piece by tomorrow, and I have to drop what I’m working on and tend to the urgent matter. It’s all part of the fun in PR.

Fast learner: To be honest, my undergrad self never would have guessed that I’d be working for a drug testing laboratory after graduation. I’ve never been that big of a science buff. USDTL didn’t expect me to know the ins and outs of the industry before they hired me, but they did expect me to be open-minded and capable at picking up knowledge quickly. Today, I am able to communicate to current and potential clients our wide range of services and the science behind them. Being a fast learner goes hand-in-hand with being a self-starter. When I come up with new projects for the marketing department, that often results in me diving head first into software I’ve never seen or a social media outlet I’ve never used. To achieve our goals in a timely fashion, I have to pick those up sooner rather than later. And, with the world of PR and technology changing at a rapid pace, there is always a new PR tactic with which to familiarize myself. I frequently attend workshops and seminars, including those provided by PRSA, to continue my professional education.

So, the only question left is, how does working in the healthcare industry differ from other areas of PR?

I can truly say that working in healthcare has been more rewarding than any other position I’ve held. What I do on a daily basis directly affects the health and lives of others. If selling just one more drug test aided in the treatment of one newborn, it’s all worthwhile, isn’t it? Healthcare may be tied with the unknown right now, but the uncertainty has opened up opportunities for great impact. Working for a lab may not be as glamorous as a “Mad Men” agency setting or working PR for an entertainment giant, but your clients and colleagues are passionate about what they do, and I consider that a privilege for any professional in the work force today.

Heather Sliwinski is the marketing communications manager at United States Drug Testing Laboratories, a forensic laboratory providing alcohol and drug testing services to hospitals, government agencies, social services and drug treatment programs. Before joining the USDTL team, Sliwinski graduated from University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2008 with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Mass Communications and a Certificate in Business. She has held positions with a nonprofit, a Fortune 100 company, and her university. Sliwinski is a member of PRSA National and Chicago Chapter, as well as the New Professionals and Health Academy Sections. Feel free to connect with her at Sliwinski@uwalumni.com or find her on LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/in/heathersliwinski

Intro to Series… Corporate Consumer PR by Kelly Misevich

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In Corporate Consumer PR we may not work on client projects in the way PR agencies do, but we have no shortage of work to do for our customers, consumers, employees, stakeholders and other function areas within our organizations. A typical day can range from working on media relations, developing internal employee communications, fostering brand awareness through community events, issues management, and promoting corporate philanthropic programs.

As a corporate consumer PR professional, branding is key. We connect our brand with customers and consumers through strategic and creative media relations, community relations, and brand awareness programs. We also ensure that employees are engaged as brand ambassadors through the use of internal communications such as newsletters, intranet sites, and company-wide magazines. Teamwork, flexibility and enthusiasm for the brand you represent are extremely important in this industry.

Challenges in Corporate Consumer PR

Some of the challenges of the corporate consumer PR industry arise when dealing with the following areas:

  • Issues management: monitoring and researching political, economic and social environments for any potential threats to a brand
  • Crisis communications: developing clear messaging during an emergency, while ensuring timely delivery of information
  • Reputation management: ensuring trust, credibility and responsibility around a brand

Non-PR Activities to Consider

If you are considering a career in the corporate consumer sector of PR you might want to consider exploring some college courses that offer insight into other function areas within an organization, while giving you the opportunity to sharpen your communication skills. I’d recommend taking introductory courses in

  • business law
  • operations management
  • finance
  • human resources.

Kelly Misevich is a Public Affairs and Communications professional for the Midwest region of Coca-Cola Enterprises. Her four years of experience include internal communications, community relations, event planning, government relations, issues management and media relations. Kelly attended Georgia State University earning a B.B.A in Managerial Sciences.

Intro To Series… Travel & Tourism PR by Kay Maghan

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Public relations professionals in the travel and tourism industry can generally best describe what we do in four words…..“Never a dull moment.”

Opportunities in our world exist in a variety of “client” forms – hotels, resorts, attractions (think zoos, theme parks, water parks, museums, state/national parks, campgrounds, restaurants, etc.), airlines, cruise lines, spas, golf courses, public relations and advertising agencies, convention and visitors bureaus, state tourism offices…the list really is almost endless.  Our industry is everywhere – literally.  Every state in this nation has a tourism office, and most every community in those states wants to attract visitors.  The travel and tourism industry is one of the largest employers in the United States – 7.4 million Americans work in this industry.  Opportunities are not limited just to our country; tourism is an aspect of the economic makeup of just about every country in the world.

One of the things that makes travel and tourism public relations so rewarding is that no two days are ever the same – really.  You could be part of a public relations team or you could be the sole public relations person doing it all.  So if you like variety, changing scenarios and keeping on your toes, then welcome to our world!

From my experience, many public relations professionals in our industry really are masters of doing it all – writing/editing press releases, researching media, writing newsletters, pitching story ideas, responding to media inquiries, arranging media visits and/or events, working with film crews, and – most importantly – justifying our role to our company or client through measuring return on investment (ROI).  In our current economy, when we have seen public relations and marketing staffs being downsized, the public relations professional is juggling even more hats, including that of photographer and social media guru.  As an example of this expansion into “other” job duties, programming at the recent PRSA Travel & Tourism Section Conference (May 25 – 28, 2010) was heavily concentrated on social media and included a pre-conference “Boot Camp” on “doing it yourself” photography and video.

What came across loud and clear at this conference from both media speakers and industry peers is that the field of public relations is rapidly changing, just as the field of journalism is changing.  More journalists and PR professionals find themselves having to do more with less, and both groups see the fluid landscape of social media as one of the biggest areas about which they need to be solidly educated.  In addition, the growth of bloggers has expanded the audience that travel and tourism public relations professionals must target, and “citizen journalists” armed with cell phones that capture photos and video have thrown a big curve ball into crisis management plans.  But another message that came through at the conference is that personal relationships with the media (bloggers included) are just as important to the core of public relations as ever.

Students studying public relations would be well served to take classes in marketing and advertising, if such classes are not already built into their existing curriculum. Of special importance is a strong knowledge – either through academic courses or hands-on experience – of social media, both current and emerging.  FYI Fact: Be careful what you post about yourself; hiring managers use Google Search as a tool when researching job candidates. As always, being able to show on-the-job experience via internships is very important because it shows me, as the person hiring, that you have initiative and practical experience.  Remember, unpaid internships are just as good as paid on a résumé because experience is experience regardless of funding.

If you are currently studying public relations or are a new graduate on the job search, one of the best ways to decide if travel and tourism – or any other industry – is right for you is to schedule informational meetings with professionals in your area.  See if they would allow you to shadow them for a few hours; talk with them in-depth about what they do, what they like best about the industry, what classes or skills they look for when they are hiring, and so on. These meetings also help you build a professional network. FYI Fact: Treat such meetings as an interview (i.e. dress professionally) and be sure to send a written thank you email or card as a follow up.  If you do such small, but important things for us, we know you will do them for media if we hire you.

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Kay Maghan has 17 years of experience in PR. She  currently serves as Secretary of PRSA’s Travel & Tourism Section.