Dear Flack: How to be a great assistant

November 18, 2009 Marie Baker 14 Comments

For the most part, everybody starts their illustrious PR career at the bottom. Whether it’s mailings, coffee runs, or dreaded clip reports, it’s more than likely that at one time or another you’ll have to participate in the art of assisting and/or interning.

Believe it or not, being a great assistant is an art form. Some assistants are masterpieces, while others are head-scratching experiments gone awry.

Look, we all know starting from the ground up can be both frustrating and challenging. You are working hard for hardly any money. However, if you want to climb up the corporate ladder, you have to put in the time and effort to be successful. Continue reading →

TJ Dietderich

Your Copy Sucks: We Can’t Click That, Yo

November 18, 2009 TJ Dietderich 13 Comments

Instead of my usual harsh judgment (my hammer of knowledge, if you will), this week I bring you a question. It’s an issue on which I’ve been waffling for some time.

Backstory: Remember a few weeks ago, when Starbucks released their new instant coffee? Well, now Nestle’s Taster’s Choice would like to remind you that they’ve been making instant coffee way before that young Turk ever came into the java-slinging world. Here in New York, and in several other cities, Nestle street teams have been handing out little envelopes filled with all sorts of Taster’s Choice instant coffee packets. Copy on these envelopes calls out the Starbucks instant brand as a lot of needless hype.
Continue reading →

Kate Ottavio

One form of communication just won’t do

November 17, 2009 Kate Ottavio 13 Comments

“Sign me up!” were the words I exclaimed back in February when I found out the gym I was checking out allowed free guest passes, anytime, any day of the week. What a huge plus!

A few weeks ago, I walked into my gym with a guest. I hadn’t been in about a week and I was ready and raring to go. I told the girl at the desk I’d like to sign my guest in.

“Oh, you can no longer have guests for free during the week. Only weekends. It’ll be a $10 charge today.”

“What?” Continue reading →

Christina Khoury

Christina’s Coffee Talk with Danny Brown

November 16, 2009 Christina Khoury 5 Comments

This week I sat down with Danny Brown, social media strategist for Maritz Canada, founder of 12for12k, and friend. Danny get’s his daily fix from little coffee shops like, Second Cup or Muddy Waters but says he really starts his day with PRBC’s e-mail updates. (Note: I quickly learned he’s a charmer). He boasts about being a geek and says his favorite pastimes are messing in WordPess or playing video games (sorry PS3 lovers, he plays on Xbox 360 or Wii). In addition to his Recommended Reading, you can catch Danny laughing to off-the-cuff humor blogs like F*ck You Penguin and his wife’s Just Kickin’ It. It was a real pleasure picking Danny’s brain for a little bit, and I hope this chat inspires you just as much as it did for me.

Continue reading →

Tracy Bagatelle-Black

From the Left: I Think I Met 140 Characters (and was bitten by the tech bug)

November 13, 2009 Tracy Bagatelle-Black 4 Comments

For those of you that read my last piece, I attended Jeff Pulver’s 140 Character Conference in Los Angeles. And while the action was flying on stage by day, it was sizzling by night. In both cases, the tweets were non-stop. Apparently, all 140 characters are still geeks at heart.

The first night there was conference-sponsored “cocktail” party at the Kodak theater lobby and then an informal after-party at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel across the street. The cocktail party surprised everyone by being a cash bar, literally as their credit card machine was broken. They did furnish a few bits of cheese, crackers and a pile of hummus. The somewhat sparsely attended event did give me an opportunity to meet a Google Wave celebrity, Dr. Wave aka Gregory D’Alesandre. Continue reading →

Nathan "PRCog" Burgess

Content vs Relationships – It’s not a monarchy…

November 13, 2009 PRCog 12 Comments

I’d been bouncing around a post on this topic mentally for a few weeks, but as usual things get in the way. But when a post from superstar Chris Brogan declaring not content, but rather relationships “King” and a counter-post (though not referencing Brogan’s) appeared on Chris Illuminati’s blog declaring content King it was time to, as they say, open a vein and bleed on the page.

Declaring either content or relationships as King implies that either can stand alone. After all, in a monarchy the King rules — his will is law (and in some cases religious doctrine). This is certainly the exception, not the rule. It’s a triumvirate folks. Continue reading →

Nathan "PRCog" Burgess

Letter to #PRBC

November 12, 2009 PRCog 10 Comments

Editor’s Note: Believe it, or not, we do get letters here at The Club occasionally. This one was of particular interest, so after some tweaking we decided to run it as a post (with the letter writer’s consent, of course). Hopefully you’ll find it of equal interest.

Dear PRBC,

Growing up we are taught to distinguish right from wrong. When we’re young this is easy. For example it’s wrong to hit your friend if he steals your crayon. It’s wrong to cheat on your college final. But as we become an adult right from wrong is no longer black and white. We start to factor in consequences and how they may affect people, especially when it comes to our career. Continue reading →

PRBreakfastClub

Monthly Archives: November 2009