PRos in Training

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  • Guest Post: Big Agency 101, Part Two


    Andrea Nowack is an intern at Waggener Edstrom in Portland, Oregon. A recent University of Oregon graduate, she was also the PRSSA chapter president and a member of the student-run PR agency, Allen Hall Public Relations. This is the second of two posts. You can find the first here.

    My top tips for the agency job search:

    • First of all, spend some time thoroughly researching companies you want to apply to. A good place to start would be searching top PR firm lists in the cities you want to apply to and go from there. Another good resource is local PRSA Web sites- most of them have a list of agencies in the area.

    • Participate in an informational interview to get a feel for the company before you apply. They are low-stress and are a great way to gain insight into the company and interview process. Plus, afterward you will have a direct contact within the company.

    • Don’t forget to send thank you notes! And take the time to write them by hand.
    • When you’ve narrowed down which companies you want to apply to, it is best to prioritize them and send your resumes in that order. Also, many large agencies have an online application process, but submitting your resume via the web is the best way to get lost in the pile. I would suggest, in addition to submitting your application online, find out who you can personally send it to.
      For example, I made several contacts through PRSSA, so when it came time to apply for internships I had people I could directly send my resume to (ie, “Hi, I met you at [place] and am very interested in applying for an internship with your company! Here is my resume..” etc…) If you don’t have a direct contact with the company, though, or know someone who does, the next best thing would be to call the agency and ask who their HR contact might be.

      A week or so after you’ve submitted your application, follow up with the company by giving the HR person a quick phone call. This might help your resume surface to the top.

    • This may seem obvious, but make sure that you have relevant experience on your resume before you apply for an agency position. Now, when I say “experience,” I don’t mean “PR agency #1,” “PR agency #2,” etc… But you do have to show potential employers that you did more in college then just sit around and do homework all day.

      Even if there are no marketing or public relations jobs available in your area, there are several other ways to gain excellent experience. There are many marketing and PR jobs on college campuses even that will provide you with relevant experience that you can later apply to agency work.

      For example, I took a leadership role on Greek Life’s Panhellenic Council my sophomore year, which gave me a ton of exposure to PR related tasks and responsibilities. I also took an on-campus Ambassador position with a company called CampusPoint that also helped me learn the basics of PR. Another great place to look is local non-profit agencies, such as United Way.

      Getting involved in extracurricular activities (ie, a sorority, PRSSA, student-managed agency, etc.) and taking leadership roles within these organizations is another great place to start gaining relevant experience. Many campus organizations have a “PR director” position, or something to that effect. Although many of these roles aren’t direct PR jobs, you will still be able to learn useful public relations skills that you can bring up in interviews.

      Remember, it’s not about how much experience you have; it’s what you learned from that experience that you can turn around and apply to the position. For example, employers don’t want to hear that you took a class in college where you workd on a real PR account; they want to hear that you engaged in a media relations campaign that generated 7 neutral to positive pieces of coverage for a PR account in Kelli’s campaigns class, which helped you learn how to successfully plan and implement. So, even if you don’t have a lot of experience, you can still showcase what you do have in a way that makes you an attractive candidate for the position.

    • When you DO land that interview, make sure to spend a good chunk of time researching the company and coming up with a list of questions to ask. Oftentimes, interviewers will leave at least 15-20 minutes for you to ask questions. When the interviewer says, “do you have any other questions” and you respond “no,” you might as well kiss that company goodbye. (Yes, I do know by personal experience) ☹
    • It is helpful to have some work samples to show during an interview, such as a portfolio that showcases your experience. What I did in addition to taking my portfolio to interviews was assemble a leave behind folder to leave with everyone I interviewed with. The folder included a copy of my resume, a business card and 3 work samples. Just a little something for them to remember me by.
    • Be creative! At a conference last year, a professional told me that he landed his first agency job by sending prospective employers a “media kit” on himself- complete with a fact sheet, press release and bio. Although I wasn’t quite as creative, I thought it was a cool idea.

    • Last thing, show that you have a passion for what you do and that you will be an enthusiastic addition to the team. If you are confident in your ability to perform, it will come across in the interview process.


    All of these little things might help point you in the direction to landing a first job or internship. Just remember, if you’re constantly on top of your game and prepared, good things will come your way.

  • Monitoring Buzz About Your Organization

    In an entry level job, particularly in agencies, you might be tasked with monitoring media coverage. You might need to read trade magazines, or scour the Internet for mentions of your client, the competition or industry news and information.

    Marketing Pilgrim has a great list of 26 free tools for monitoring buzz. Check it out (and try it out… Impress your clients).

  • Find a New Blog to Read Today

    The AdAge Power 150 is not a new list. It was developed by Todd Andrlik, a PR and marketing pro based in Chicago. It is a great list with the top 150 (+ honorable mentions = 422 blogs in all… shockingly, this one is not on it. ha!) marketing, public relations and advertising-related blogs.

    You can learn about the rankings here.

    If you feel like you need to branch out? Or find the blogs that anyone who is anyone is reading? This is the place. Check it out and let me know what you find. I could always use a new read.

  • Guest Post: Big Agency 101, Part One

    Andrea Nowack is an intern at Waggener Edstrom in Portland, Oregon. A recent University of Oregon graduate, she was also the PRSSA chapter president and a member of the student-run PR agency, Allen Hall Public Relations. Her post will be offered in two parts. This is the first.

    I graduated June 16 and started my first official PR job June 18… And I have my stellar education and extracurricular activities to thank for that, so when Kelli called on former students to write guest posts for her blog, I couldn’t say no!

    A little bit about me… I graduated from the UO SOJC in June and began an internship with Waggener Edstrom Worldwide 2 days later. Talk about jumpstarting my career. But so far, I love it here! I work on the Microsoft Online Services Business, which deals mostly with MSN and Windows Live services (don’t be misled by the “Microsoft” title; it’s actually a consumer account ☺).

    I work mostly on the OSB analyst relations team. And in case you are wondering what analyst relations is (trust me, I had no clue either before I started!), a PowerPoint slide I read today defines it as, “a form of public relations in which the use of detailed engagements is used to produce desirable and targeted outcomes.” Simply put, analysts are very similar to reporters but they write reports and blog posts as opposed to news articles, and they are often quoted by reporters as a credible source. (You can count that as your tech tip of the day!)

    Working at a big agency is a lot of fun and it’s a great place to start out if you aren’t quite sure what type of PR you’re interested in. As an intern, I get to dip my feet into all kinds of things around the agency and help different people out with projects during my down time. For example, this week and last I got to help drive a Microsoft/ Nokia mobile announcement- definitely a challenging experience!

    I toiled for hours trying to think of interesting topics to write about in this blog post, and then I asked myself, “hm, if I was a University student interested in studying PR, what would I want to hear about?” Oh wait, that was me less than two months ago! My how time flies…

    Anyway, irrelevant comments aside, a question that I am often asked is, “how the heck did you land an agency job right out of college?” I’ll give you my top tips in the next post!

  • PR Taking it in the Teeth

    The wide, wide world of social media is great. It’s a great way to build relationships, to have a conversation and to make new connections. However, it’s also uncharted territory for public relations and, well, some of us aren’t doing such a great job.

    There has been a lot of buzz in the blogosphere lately about the crap that PR people send to bloggers. You can read about it here, here and here (in the posts and in the comments). In fact, Kevin Dugan and Richard Laermer have a whole blog dedicated to PR crap.

    In most cases, the heavy lamenting about PR is well-deserved, although not well-targeted.

    The problem is, that there are a lot of good PR people and they are doing really good work. But it’s the crap that seems to be dominating the conversation and creating and overall shift in attitude. You can find lots of great media relations tips all over the blog-universe.

    At a recent conference, SES: San Jose, speakers Rebecca Lieb and Brad Berens, with the incoming Global Content Director of SES, Kevin Ryan moderating provided these tips. It’s a nice summary, (thanks RB Digital Rodeo), and encapsulates what I’m reading elsewhere.

    I’ve taken my favorites and rephrased in the form of advice, but go to RB’s post for the full list.

    1. Don’t PR Spam. No one appreciates when releases are sent without any real understanding of the aims of the firm that they’re pitching to.
    2. Don’t take the “Bazooka approach to his masthead” – This is when multiple people from the same PR firm contact multiple people in the organization to which they’re pitching, and having the same meetings with these different people.
    3. Set Up a Briefing – PR firms tend not to do this, but it would allow them to understand the audience.
    4. Make sure that your CEO can engage in a real conversation and drop the sales pitch.
    5. Pick up the phone, don’t just assume that an email will get the story read.
    6. Your CEO sneezing is not a news story. A real news story is something that actually makes a change within your organization.
    7. Know your customers, and who they read. If you don’t know, ask them. That’s who you should be pitching your stories to.
    8. Make executives and PR people available for comment, don’t expect a story to be published if the release is the only source material.
    9. Subject lines such as “Please post this to your site”, don’t get a story written.
    10. Don’t always focus all efforts on one editor, people aren’t always at work, you may lose a story if the one person you have a good relationship with is out.
    11. Look for the right person to pitch to, don’t just pitch to the top person treating them as a receptionist / traffic cop.
    12. If you pass on stories about other firms rather than just pitch about your company, you’re going to be viewed as more of a trusted resource.
    13. Don’t hide from the news people. Understand that journalists will look at both sides of a story.
    14. A rumor is not a news item.
    15. Understand who the industry experts are.

    What would you add?

  • Random Bits of Me

    Nedra Weinreich tagged me to give you eight random facts about myself.

    1. I have spent two of the last three new year’s eves in Las Vegas on the Strip. I go with my Dad and we skip fancy clubs and just people watch. It’s a blast. (photo of dad and me to left from last year’s trip)

    2. I have a somewhat-surprising Brazilian connection in my life. My grad school roommate is from Salvador in northern Brazil. Also, during the 2005-2006 school year, my partner and I hosted Marilia, a senior high school exchange student from just outside Sao Paulo. Beijos!

    3. I have two big dogs – a Rottweiler named Otto and a Greyhound named Jake. Otto was abandoned on the steps of my parents’ church as a puppy and my partner Mike and I adopted him. Jake was a racing Greyhound who raced once, came in last, then went up for adoption. Both are 5 years old this fall.

    4. I love office supplies. Love them. I can’t go into Office Max or any supply store without leaving with a new pen, maybe a notebook… My favorite right now is the TUL pen.

    5. I’m the oldest of seven kids, plus a foster sister. Five girls and three boys ranging in age from 32 to 20. Five of us live in Eugene, Oregon. One lives in Las Vegas, one in San Francisco and one in San Diego. Four are married, and three of us have kids (all boys).

    6. I have a little, um… caffeine addiction. I am a sugar free vanilla nonfat latte girl through and through. If you need to bribe me, that’s the only payment required.

    7. I went to 17 different schools between kindergarten and 12th grade. My dad worked the construction trade (welder) in the 1980s and rather than go work union jobs for months without his family, we all went along. I’ve lived in Texas, Idaho, California, Washington, Wyoming and Oregon.

    8. As a follow on to point 7, once we settled down, I was in 7th grade and my dad spent 20 years as the senior pastor of a local church. So, yes, I’m a PK and yes, everything they say about PKs is true. Wanna see my tattoos?

    I tag eight more people: Stu Holdren, Leona Laurie, Shelley Ivey, Karen Russell, Robert French, Paull Young, Kami Huyse, and I can’t think of an 8th. If you want to answer, consider yourself tagged. I need to get more friends (who blog). 🙂

  • We Were Here First: On the Johnson & Johnson Playground


    Johnson & Johnson, the world’s largest healthcare company is suing the American Red Cross.

    Suing the American Red Cross.

    Apparently the Red Cross is using the red cross on health & safety kits and J&J claims they have exclusive rights to the red cross. It’s theirs. They were using it first. From its statement.

    Johnson & Johnson began using the Red Cross design and “Red Cross” word trademarks in 1887, predating the formation of the American Red Cross.

    J&J brings in $15 billion a year and is demanding that the Red Cross hand over all products for destruction and pay all J&J’s legal expenses, hand over proceeds and pay punitive damages.

    Liz Gunnison of Daily Brief from Portfolio.com asks this question:

    So, J&J, exactly how strapped for cash do you need to be to resort to haggling with Hurricane Katrina victims and tsunami survivors over spare change?

    Really. Wow. Nice move, J&J.

    UPDATE:
    Some point/counterpoint from around the blogosphere
    Seth Godin: What to do when you’re wrong…
    Dillon Communications: Sorry, Seth…
    Mary Schmidt: Branding Stupidity…
    Darby Darnit: Goliath Sues David

  • Oh How I Wish…

    The Friendly Ghost has a great post with an Edelman Europe corporate video that makes PR work looking pretty darn exciting:

    This is a great video, and I am thankful that it’s not PoweR Girls-esque. When more than half of students, it seems, want to do celeb PR or event management, at least this is relatively meaningful stuff.

    Sign me up!

  • Meet the Teacher: Me!

    Karen Russell at the U of Georgia is going a series on her blog called “meet the teacher” and interviewed me via email for the latest installment.

    She has a great blog. If you’re not already reading it, you should check it out.

  • Guest Post: Planning a Festival: PR Edition, Volume One

    This guest post is from Leona Laurie, School of Journalism and Communications Master’s student and music and event PR PRo extraordinaire. You can find her here or here.

    Staging a festival generates an almost overwhelming number of PR opportunities. An event that spans multiple days and incorporates a variety of activities, types of entertainment, food and merchandise vendors, etc. allows for some creativity in marketing choices.

    Beyond advertising the event as a whole, sending press releases to the local TV stations and newspapers, and inviting the press out for a preview, a savvy event planner can get some real mileage out of targeted marketing, partnering with participants, and taking advantage of the Internet. To illustrate how much PR mileage one might get out of just one aspect of a multi-faceted festival, I’d like to share some of the things I’m doing to promote the music line-up at this year’s Eugene Celebration.

    Targeted marketing: Rather than putting all of our eggs in the broadcast marketing basket, I’ve been identifying the different audiences our event could appeal to and strategically reaching out to them. Since we’ll be featuring dozens of bands in a variety of genres, one of the ways we’ve targeted the specific audiences for each genre is by creating a breakdown of the many local, public, and college radio stations’ shows.

    We’ll be sending a packet to every DJ in the area that includes a one-sheet and CD for each band in his/her genre and a cover letter asking the DJ to include the disc in their rotation and inviting him/her to have the artists in for interviews or in-studio performances in the weeks prior to the event. Since most of the stations we’re approaching are also sponsors of the event, they’ll benefit by having additional ways to alert their listeners to their support of a beloved local festival.

    Partnering with participants: In addition to asking each band for ten CDs to use in the radio campaign, we’ve been engaging them in other types of mutual back-scratching. If the band has a MySpace page, we’ve asked them to add us to their top friends and encourage their fans to befriend us. We have asked the bands to promote their appearance at our event through their MySpace calendars and Web sites.

    We’ve also asked them to provide us with the materials we need to spread the word about them: digital copies of their one-sheets and publicity photos, mp3 files of their songs to use on our MySpace and Web site, and digital video files we can upload and share. We’re promoting their appearance with press releases and asking them to do the same. We’re providing them with interview opportunities and asking them to use their other interviews to mention the Celebration. Working with them, we will be able to introduce our event to their audiences and draw new patrons, and we will introduce their music to our audience, creating new listeners for them.

    Taking advantage of the Internet: On top of the heavy reliance on MySpace and our Web site alluded to above, we’ve struck a deal with Portland-based podcaster Jeremy Wilson. A sponsor of our McDonald Theatre Stage, Jeremy’s Mastan Music Hour will be featuring songs by artists booked at the Celebration in the weeks leading up to the event and inviting at least one of our bands to do an in-studio performance. Although our arrangement also includes banner ads on the Mastan Music site and audio plugs for the Celebration twice during each episode, I am most excited about the more organic content—the music—that will be reaching more than 20,000 subscribers, most of whom are in the Pacific Northwest.

    Once the podcasts have aired, we’ll also benefit from the digital content available for use on our own Web site or MySpace page. The Mastan Music Hour’s audience definitely overlaps with ours, and this will be a great- and relatively new- way to make sure they know who’s playing and that they want to be in downtown Eugene September 7, 8, and 9!

    Although there’s definitely more I could include in this, I hope I’ve succeeded in illustrating that just one aspect of a festival can give you so much to do in terms of promotion that you can become overwhelmed. Perhaps the next time I guest on Kelli’s blog, I’ll talk about how interns make the world go ‘round!

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