PRos in Training

Author: Kelli Matthews

  • Guest Post: Surviving a Dull Economy

    This guest post is from Anthony Cain (’06), currently an account executive at Staccato Design in Portland, Oregon. He posted this as a Facebook note and has graciously agreed to let me share it with you here. Want to connect with Anthony? You can find him on Facebook or via email at: anthony(at)staccatodesign.com

    After hearing countless tales of unemployment woes and an overall industry hiring freeze, that I feel it is important to reach out to those who may be losing hope of finding that golden job.

    Those of us who are lucky enough to be employed during these slow financial times want you to know it hasn’t always come easy. Most of us have had jobs and left jobs, but overall, we have all had to keep motivated and keep believing in our chances of finding that perfect fit. Its all in how you market yourself. Since most of you are graduates of the University of Oregon, you should know- the industry wants you! I have found that a degree from the UO, especially in Business or Journalism, will get you far.

    Just keep submitting those resumes. Keep leveraging those contacts, both students and faculty alike. Set up informational meetings. Take an executive to coffee. Believe me, it’s all we drink!

    Finally, never give up! You should always be networking! I will list a few helpful organizations that could potentially assist you in finding that great job. I will also tag a few industry ‘insiders’ that may have some helpful insight.

    www.prsa.org
    www.marketingpower.com
    www.aiga.org

    Good luck!

  • Twitter-Rama: Why You Should Join In

    Twitter, the microblogging tool, is becoming increasingly important for PR students and young professionals. The smart people are already on Twitter and building their brand, creating relationships and gaining knowledge. But if you’re not and you’re thinking about it. Here are my favorite posts.

    Robert French from Auburn University asked his Twitter network recently what value they find in participating. The responses tended to fall in a handful of categories:

    • networking
    • following news
    • finding breaking stories (before MSM gets them)
    • opportunity to meet people you’d not have a chance to meet, otherwise
    • connecting with the industry
    • discovering new trends/ideas
    • experimenting with new tools
    • finding internships/jobs
    • news organizations use Twitter to find leads

    You can see all the tweets here.

    All of those things are true for me! But twitter is not valuable unless you participate and build a network that extends beyond your circle of friends. So to get started:

    1. Sign up at Twitter.com
    2. Create a username that resembles your actual name.
    3. Include your actual name in your profile
    4. Create a short bio that indicates your a PR student or a recent grad working (or looking) in PR. This will give you an instant “in” with most professionals. Without exception, PR pros are nice people and will follow you back, answer your questions and interact with you. (For those PRos who are reading, you better be nice, follow back, answer questions an interact!)
    5. Upload a personal avatar. A photo is great, but just don’t use the generic Twitter avatar.
    6. Have 10 – 15 tweets. Talk about what you’re doing, find an interesting link or news story to share, discuss an assignment.

    David Meerman Scott has probably the best post on twitter and personal branding. Do what he says.

    Other tips:

    So jump in! You can find me @kmatthews.

  • Slow Linky Love: Some Recent Favorites

    I’ve been a little slow getting these out this term. Mostly because I am not teaching the class for which I normally do these for. But there have been some great posts recently worth sharing, so here we go!

    Getting Started With Event Planning, Experential Marketing (Culpwrit)

    Twitter Tools for Community and Communication Professionals (PR 2.0)

    Advice for Graduating College Students (Research Goddess)

    2008 Forrester Groundswell Awards Winners (Forrester)

    New 2008 Technographics Data Reveals Rapid Growth in Adoption (Forrester)

    Bad Pitch Outrage (Bad Pitch Blog)

    A Trillion in Iraq (Made to Stick)

    What Consumers Really Think of Green PR (Catching Flack)

    The “Real Me” Online (Socially Minded)

    Seven Personal Branding Tips for College Students (Personal Branding Blog)

    Photo via Flickr br JSpace3

  • Need Help Understanding the Financial Crisis?

    I know I do. I was lucky enough to catch the episode The Giant Pool of Money on This American Life a while back when it first aired. That helped. A lot. I’ve found some other resources that you might find helpful.

    This is important stuff. Take a couple of hours and educate yourself.

    This American Life

    Do you have any helpful resources that have aided your understanding? Have you been ignoring this financial crisis? Why is this important for PR people?

  • My Life is an Open Book

    My Life is an Open Book

    I made this comment at “Meet the Faculty,” a class brand new graduate students take to learn about faculty expertise in the school for things like thesis and dissertation committees. The discussion was around using social media in classes and specifically how I use these tools to facilitate discussions and relationships between students and myself.

    My core point was this: If you don’t want people to know about some facet of your life either a) don’t do it or b) don’t put it online. Your online “life” is an extension of your personal brand, for lack of a better phrase. If I put it online, then I’m ok with you knowing that bit of information and it’s in sync with my professional and academic “image.”

    If you can’t be transparent, I tell clients, then you need to make changes in the way that you do business.

    I think there’s this part of some students that feels like social networks should afford some sort of privacy – that facebook is a social space to share experiences and memories and not for potential employers (or professors) to get info about you. I’ve talked before about this orientation. I guess I hate to be the party pooper – but um… too bad.

    So, while my life is probably more open to students than some would be comfortable with, for me, it’s ok. I enjoy sharing my life with my students (past, present and future) and my colleagues. But my digital footprint is well scripted and the parts of my life I choose to share with all my “friends” and “followers,” including students, is very intentional. It’s not fake – it’s intentional.

    Anyone who follows me online in any venue (facebook, twitter or this blog) can be assured that you’re getting the real me. It’s the same me you get in a class, or a meeting or as an old friend. But you don’t get to know things about me that I choose to keep private.

    What do you think? If you’re a student, do you enjoy connecting with professors online? If you’re a prof, what do you think?

  • Teaching Them to Fish…

    Between Professors Tiffany Gallicano, Tom Hagley, and myself, we’ve required well over 100 students to start a blog in Advanced PR Writing. I don’t feel like doing math right this minute, so that number will have to do as an estimate.

    Over the two years we’ve done this, most students see it as a requirement and then move on once the term is over, but a few students have really taken to it and continued to blog well after the final grades were entered. I know this isn’t a comprehensive list (please tell me if you’re still blogging and I missed you!), but here’s a go at rounding up the talented young professionals (and Duck alums) still active in the blogosphere:

    UPDATES (You knew I’d forget some):

    Check out these talented folks and let them know you’re listening.

    Did I miss you? Let me know!

  • Name Your Media

    In class this week, we were talking about where we’d send a PSA and media kit as part of a campaign to increase voter registration in our local community (Eugene, Oregon). It was a pretty casual discussion, but it brought up an important topic:

    Regardless of your “market,” you must be an avid media consumer. You must know and understand how the media work. You must consume local media, the key national media and relevant trade and consumer media. You must be able to name, off the top of your head, the media that matter to you and your work.

    There are two points I’d like to make about this.

    The first is that even if you don’t enjoy reading the local paper or catching the evening news or (gasp!) listening to NPR – it’s your job in PR to know that the media’s agenda is and how your client or organization fits. This is a vague requirement, but an important one. You may have heard recently that Ms. Palin has been ridiculed for not being able to name a single media outlet from which she gets information. While you’re not likely to have the opportunity to fumble an interview with Katie Couric, it should be just as embarrassing for you if you can’t answer this basic question.

    The second point is more directly related to your future work in PR and specifically, media relations. I would estimate in those campaigns that I’ve worked on with a media relations component, the top tier list of media was no more than about 10 or 15 outlets. These were the media that we focused on as being the most important strategically.

    You must know these media inside and out, backwards and forwards. Pitching your top tier media takes research (and more research!) and preparation and you should be working to build long term relationships. This means that you really get to know these outlets and yes, even be able to name them off the top of your head.

    Test yourself with an easy question: Can you name every local media outlet in your city?

  • A Little Linky Love in the Rain

    We’ve survived week one in the University of Oregon School of Journalism & Communication. The rain has arrived and there are quite a few great posts to share. Take a look.

    Just Relax: Questions That Make Interviews More Conversational
    Meg Roberts shares a list of questions for you to ask in interviews. Starting a conversation in an interview can be tough, but having a list of questions will help you get a better feel for the company and ensure it’s a good fit for you.

    Twitter as a Tool for College Students
    Robert French at Auburn University share ideas that he gleaned from asking the “why bother?” question to his Twitter community. Be sure to click on the link to show all the responses Robert got via Twitter.

    Getting More Twitter Followers and Twittering for Business
    Julia Roy shares her 10-second rules for deciding if she should follow someone back on Twitter. If you are new to Twitter, take heed. Most people who Twitter would agree with Julia’s ideas about deciding if they should follow you back. A photo, a short bio that tells me who they are and a web link is the basic cost of admission.

    Beware the Charlatans
    Ugh… Todd Defren shares a story of an unethical SEO strategy and explains why I get these comments that say “I agree!” or “I just found your blog, it’s great!” without really saying much else. I never assumed it was an agency’s actual strategy. This post makes me sad.

    Facebook Profiles Can Be Used to Detect Narcissism
    A study, reported here in Science Daily talks about how researchers can identify narcissists from their “quantity over quality” approach to social networks (which reflects real life, too.)

    Social Networking Sites Viewed by Admissions Officers
    From Chicago Tribune. Okay, news flash!! People are looking at your social network profiles and making judgments about you based on them. And we’re not talking judgments like, “gosh, that dress isn’t your color” or “that beer bong doesn’t match your eyes.” We’re talking judgments like: “you can’t come to our college” or “we won’t hire you at our company.” Clean it up. I would argue that completely private profiles aren’t the answer, but that’s another blog post.

    Guest Post – On Being Shy
    Via Chris Brogan. I know students have a hard time with networking events. It’s not always because they are shy, necessarily, but it’s intimidating to think you need to hold your own with professionals. Great tips here.

    Photo via corbis. Duck colors, even!

  • Hey Newbies! Step Up to the Mic

    School’s back in session and we all survived week one. I know I have some new readers and I want to encourage anyone who has not to join PROpenMic. Seriously. All the cool kids are doing it.

    About PROpenMic:

    PROpenMic? A metaphor. Step up and speak your mind. Our goal is to be the social network for PR students, faculty and practitioners worldwide. We are ad free and nonprofit with an education focus. Already, we have members from over 40+ countries and 140+ universities worldwide. Meetup and share. From future internship & job searches to discussions about class projects and activities … PROpenMic is your network for connections and learning. Ultimately, the network is about you helping others. Our focus is to help students & faculty explore answers to their questions with a perspective from around the world. Enjoy!

  • When Work Gets in the Way

    When Work Gets in the Way

    I have so much empathy for students who have to work to make ends meet and pay for school.

    During my first year at the University of Oregon as an undergrad, I worked full time. I had worked full-time for about four years between high school and college. I sold cell phones and managed a retail store. It was hard. I didn’t want to work full-time, but I was paying my own way through school and had plenty of expenses, so there was no way around it.

    After the first year, I realized this situation wasn’t feasible if I wanted to get internships, be involved with PRSSA and succeed in my classes. Something had to give. I chose to move home with my parents, work part-time and seek public relations opportunities. But I know that’s a tough choice and not one that some students have.

    What if you have to work 25, 35 or 40 hours a week, go to school and you still want to get some hands-on experience before you graduate? Well, we already know you’re industrious, now you just need to be extra creative about beefing up your resume. Some tips:

    • Determine how many hours a week you have to invest in gaining some experience. Likely you’ll be volunteering (at least at first), so figure out where you can carve out three to five hours.
    • Ask around or find a nonprofit organization that has a mission that you believe in or a cause that you support. Connect with the executive director via a phone call or an email to ask if they need any public relations help – maybe write newsletter articles or send out press releases.
    • If the executive director thinks you’d be a good fit, find a time to meet and create a plan for what you will do, who you’ll report to, and realistic expectations about your time and abilities. Be proactive. Come in with ideas and focus on projects that will help you gain portfolio samples and build your skills. If you can take on a project from start to finish and be involved along the way, that’s golden!
    • You can also find “virtual opportunities” via Volunteer Match. On the home page, click “search for virtual opportunities” and then enter public relations as the keywords. If you try this option, I’d recommend either finding a local organization or a national one. I don’t think it would make sense, for example, to volunteer for an animal rescue in Okalahoma if you’re in Oregon and local animal rescues need your help.
    • Look for freelance writing and part-time paid internship positions. If you could make $10 or $12 an hour doing PR, maybe you could supplement or replace your retail or barista job. For those able to secure these types of positions, it was a matter of listening, networking and letting people know what their interests are. You never know what will come your way if you’re diligent.

    If you’ve had a creative volunteer or internship experience or you have other pieces of advice, leave them here! I’d love to hear your ideas.

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