Archive for February, 2007
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This is part two of a guest post is from Marilyn Hawkins of Hawkins & Company PR. In part one, she listed 1 – 10. Here she rounds out the 25 qualities that will set you apart in the PR industry. If you’re serious about the public relations business, you can never settle for beingjust an average professional. Here are 25 ways to shine – waaaayyy beyond the solid list of tactical skills and basic attributes you may have acquired already. There are probably 2,500 qualities of a great public relations practitioner, but I’ll only tick off the top one percent. Are these in any particular order? Nope. They’re just as random and chaotic as the average PR pro’s typical workday. So, what do you have to do – or be – in order to walk on water? 11. Tolerant of contradictory points of view. You must be able to... Continue Reading
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This guest post is from Marilyn Hawkins of Hawkins & Company PR. She offers 25 qualities that will set you apart in the PR industry. If you’re serious about the public relations business, you can never settle for beingjust an average professional. Here are 25 ways to shine – waaaayyy beyond the solid list of tactical skills and basic attributes you may have acquired already. There are probably 2,500 qualities of a great public relations practitioner, but I’ll only tick off the top one percent. Are these in any particular order? Nope. They’re just as random and chaotic as the average PR pro’s typical workday. So, what do you have to do – or be – in order to walk on water? 1. Ethical. ‘Nuff said. If you’re not a fundamentally ethical person, public relations is not the career path for you. In order to act ethically, you need to... Continue Reading
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A paddle (or paddling): group of ducks.Portland Paddle: a group of PR Ducks who travel to Portland for informational/mock interviews with professionals in agency, corporate and nonprofit public relations work. In the spirit of preparing for Portland Paddle, this is the first in a series of posts to help my students, specifically, prepare for the Portland Paddle. But to provide tips for anyone getting ready for a job search.First up… the resume. Five tips: 1. Start with the basics. There are basic rules that everyone needs to follow. Former Slacker offers these mind blowing tips like: proof-read and follow basic resume formatting guidelines. Some of the author’s tips are personal preference (for example, some firewalls will block unsolicited attachments), but the point is really that you need to know what your resume-receiver prefers. The Washington Post also had a great article this week, specifically for communication jobs. Maryann Haggarty offers... Continue Reading
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Starbucks has been cheering about its ability to create 50,000 drink combinations for a while. I went to the Web site today to check the balance on a gift card and saw this fun little game that lets you tell the world about “your drink.” If you login at 10 a.m. PST there are a limited number of free t-shirts that Starbucks is giving away created by designer Mychael Knight (a Project Runway contestant, season 3). If you don’t get a T, you can still download desktop wallpaper (which I didn’t do…) or take a screenshot to put on your blog (which I did…). A Web site can no longer function well if it’s just a “brochure on steroids.” Companies of all sizes have to look for ways to provide fresh content (try blogging, providing articles, updating your newsroom) and increase interactivity (case in point: Starbucks). People must have a... Continue Reading
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Guest blog post from Amy Ziari, University of Oregon ’06. It’s nearly been one year since I graduated from UO, and for those of you who think that Information Gathering was just a huge pain in the you-know-what, I’m a testament to the fact that it may be one of the most useful classes you will take at the UO in preparation for your career. A huge part of my job is research: Market research, competitive analysis, industry news tracking, research on reporters, research on industry players…the list literally goes on and on. When research is required, I’m your gal. Wait, you may say, I want to work in PR, not be a research analyst! But let’s get real: We are in the news business. Our job is to understand what’s going on in our client’s industry, know where the stories are, know what reporters write about, know the messaging... Continue Reading
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I am launching a new feature on PRos in Training this week. What Would You Do? (or WWYD for short!) Take a look at the following news item and give me your best public relations advice. Up this week – The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the UofO was taken to task by the Pappas Group, a consulting group based in Connecticut. From The Register Guard: The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon lacks a clear sense of mission and has suffered from a fragmented staff and inadequate oversight, a private consultant’s report says. The Jan. 30 report by Alceste Pappas, president of Pappas Consulting Group of Connecticut, was released this week. The university hired Pappas last year to evaluate the museum; she issued a similarly critical report about the Oregon Bach Festival last year. The 43-page report on the Schnitzer paints a picture of... Continue Reading
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Erin Caldwell, a recent graduate and employee at Edelman attributes her hire at the agency in large part, to her PR blog. Here, at the Forward Blog (see the blogroll, it’s a great one for students!), she talks about the importance of understanding new media for new graduates. At Allen Hall PR, our student-run PR agency at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication, my AE, Michelle Pera, and I talked about blogging specifically – giving students a step by step to get started.I credit Nedra at Spare Change for being my “seed blog.” I’m sure I was searching for social marketing for a presentation I was giving to the United Way Success by Six leadership team and came across her blog. She’s has a great blogroll. And the rest, as they say, is history. I’ve always been a little nerdy, but I know lots of students resist.... Continue Reading
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Crisis guru Jonathan Bernstein, will be joining my PR Campaigns class this Thursday to talk about the Matt Bandy case specifically and using the Web to fight crisis generally. To get you up to speed on this case, here are a few posts:The Matt Bandy Story: Justice4Matt.comThe 20/20 StoryClassically Liberal: They couldn’t win in court, so they smear a teen in the press (2/10/07)My post on the topicFox News story from 1/28/07 Looking forward to our chat, Jonathan.... Permalink
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It’s usually about this time of the year that seniors start panicking, er, I mean, thinking about their future after graduation. I’ve come across a couple of good posts today for students figuring out where they want to go with their career (and how): Forward 10: Ways to Effortlessly Network for Business and PleasureThe new professionals at Forward offer some great tips for networking – a necessary part of not only the job search, but a public relations career. Informational Interviews…Should you ask for one?I’ve always encouraged students to set up informational interviews (sorry, Heather!). I really appreciate this perspective and think that it really adds more value to events that the University of Oregon School of Journalism sponsors like the Portland Paddle (structured informational interviews for advertising and PR students). And the portfolio reviews with professionals that I arrange at the end of the PR Campaigns class.... Permalink
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Communication Overtones: Corporate PR 101: A Primer for Companies Interested in Social Media Kami presented to my class via teleconference this evening. Huge thanks to Kami for staying up late with us. As students head into their careers, they’ll certainly face these issues and now have a clearer road map to follow.... Permalink
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