Monthly Archives: May 2010

Mike Schaffer

PRBC Sports PR Hall of Fame: One-Liners

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Welcome, welcome, welcome!  You’ve made it just in time to the

GRAND OPENING of the PRBC’s Sports PR Hall of Fame!  Grab a Danish and some orange juice, we’re about to get underway!

At the PRBC Sports PR Hall of Fame, we honor people from the sports world that have effectively mastered the art of public relations, for better or for worse.  This Hall encompasses athletes, managers, owners and even fans.  Nobody is off-limits, as long as they are linked to sports.

When deciding who should be included in the inaugural class, many factors were considered. We won’t go into detail about them here because…well…we won’t.

At it’s core, PR is about image.  And your image is defined, in large part, by your words.  So, we are proud to induct the following athletes into our “One-Liner” wing! Continue reading →

CTMichaels

Tricks of the Trade: Confidence

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Male fencer, portraitConfidence is one of the most important attributes that anyone getting into public relations must have. It’s what makes you stand out, makes people believe what you have to say, and honestly, gives off the vibe that you are the one to beat. Not to sound cocky, or egotistical, okay maybe a little, but I have never not gotten a job after interviewing for it. Granted I’ve only interviewed at four places in my life, but I have never not gotten the job I interviewed for. I honestly believe it’s because I can sell myself because I’m confident.

From the way you walk to the way you talk on the phone, confidence just glows off of the confident folks and it shows in a lot of my colleagues who are successful. In PR, a shy person gets left behind in the dust, always riding on the coattails of others. If you’re shy and can’t make yourself stand out then go become a librarian so you can hide behind books all day. Continue reading →

Marie Baker

Welcome to Our World

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Checklist and pencilDuring the #prbc Ragan panel, I brought up the point that the line between a blogger and marketer will continue to blur, and you will start to see more bloggers taking a stab at becoming publicists/marketers.

As this trend continues – which I have a feeling it will – everyone is going to have an opinion on the subject. Can bloggers be publicists? Should companies stick with PR firms?

I’m not saying that bloggers shouldn’t be marketers or they can’t be publicists, but I do think a select few might need some insight. So, what’s the reality you may ask? Well, being a publicist/marketer isn’t as easy as it looks. Continue reading →

Jess Greco

Starbucks Offers New Mayor Deal in All Retail Locations- Will it Work?

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Cup below coffee machineBy now most major brands have realized that they need to get involved in social media, even if it’s only in a small way.  A year ago, only a handful of companies were willing to put their reputation on the line and experiment with establishing a social media presence. One of these leaders was Starbucks, one of America’s favorite coffee chains.

As early as 2006, Starbucks was developing ways for consumers to interact directly with its brand online and extending the experience beyond its thousands of retail locations.  In this astoundingly early year, the company signed up for its first official Twitter account, which now boasts more than 887,000 followers.  In an effort to take its social media activities even further, in 2008 it developed My Starbucks Idea, which ReadWriteWeb described as “a socially driven marketplace for Starbucks-related ideas that will help the company reinvent itself”.  On MSI, which also has its own Twitter account, consumers can literally share their ideas for improvement with the company, giving them a virtually unprecedented say in the direction of the brand. Continue reading →

Sara Steffan

The Real World: Stop Avoiding It and Start Early

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College studentsPeople are talking about the harsh realities of the real world these days, and now that I finished my first year of college and I’m beginning the process of building my future career, I’m starting to listen. Is the real world only for grownups? What is this “real world” exactly? I’m trying to find out, and here’s what I’ve come up with so far.

The real world isn’t something you get into after graduating from college, facing the daunting task of getting a job and supporting yourself. Financial independence is a scary thing, and no one has the answers as to how it can be achieved. I definitely don’t know, but what I do know is that I get “I’m so jealous of you for having three years of college left” and “you get to spend all that time just enjoying life and living it up” a lot. And I’m sick of hearing it. Continue reading →

Arik Hanson

4 ways to beat the social media clock

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One concern I continue to hear from folks across the board: How do I manage my social media time and resources?

“I’m already strapped for time. How do I fit this in?”

“How do I manage my accounts over the evening hours and on the weekends?”

“My senior management staff doesn’t have time for this stuff. But, they want us to be involved.”

Time management is a potential huge barrier for organizations looking to dive into social media and digital PR. In fact, with so many companies now adopting the tools, I tend to think it might be one of the top concerns right now. Continue reading →

Danielle Cyr

Enough with the Tchotchkes

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two businesswomen shaking hands at an exhibitionLook around your office. Look at your pens, pads, folders and folios. How many company names do you see? I recently did a similar activity in my own office and came to the conclusion that pens must be the universal tchotchke. I’ve got them from doctors, printers, marketers, spas, salons, clothiers and many others. And, to be blunt, I pay little if any attention to the name on the pen. I am, however, the type to note the pen’s make and model and see if I can order it, nameless, from an office supplier.

By no means am I discounting the value of promotional products. I am, however, saying that a pen isn’t for everyone. My boss recently brought me, what I currently consider to be, a brilliant tchotchke – a rain gauge branded with the name of a garden center. Now that makes sense. People can purchase their planting materials and acquire a relevant, branded add-on with their purchase. One, nonetheless, that they are very likely to use. Continue reading →

Keith Trivitt

Check and Balance in Every Situation

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Businessman surrounded by crumpled paperI had a conversation last week with some really bright folks who run a social media agency in New York that works with several Fortune 500 brands. We got to discussing crisis communications within a real-time setting, and how they could effectively use social media to almost instantly respond to a crisis and mitigate its effects.

Throughout the conversation, we kept coming back to the point that in order to properly handle any type of crisis in real time, no matter what the brand or situation, you need a proper plan in place well before the crisis even hits. Because no matter what type of media you are using to monitor and respond, you always need a plan in place that details exactly how, who and why you will respond and the type of response you will give to different audiences to ensure their concerns are addressed appropriately. Continue reading →

Kate Ottavio

Back to Square One

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Mortarboard and DiplomaCongratulations to the graduating class of 2010! You made it through four years of college and you’ve achieved freedom (for the most part). As the majority of you look for and find your first professional job, I wish you all the best. But I also want to bestow some knowledge that I wish someone would have shared with me.

I was fortunate to be hired at a small PR firm in an account coordinator position three months after college graduation. I had three internships on my resume, a number of accolades, leadership roles and graduated magna cum laude. I was (what I thought) “on top.” Unstoppable. Valuable. Ready to take on the world. Continue reading →