Two weeks ago was Jeff Pulver’s 140 Character Conference in Los Angeles and oh, what a whirlwind. My head is still spinning from the two-day, somewhat star-studded event. By day we all talked Twitter (while tweeting out all the conference’s big tips) and by night we all drank Twitter (while tweeting out all the conference’s gossip.) Continue reading
Your Copy Sucks: CT’s CL ad
One of our own, CTMichaels, is in the market for a new place. Like a lot of people, he’s going to be looking on Craigslist (CL) for the apartment and/or roommate of his dreams. Because Craigslist is the place where copy goes to die, I pleaded (nay, begged) CT to let me have a crack at his advertisement. Below is what he had in mind. Continue reading
Guys! Want to meet a girl? Go into PR.
Are you in PR? Yes? Ok, go ahead. Take a look around your office right now. What’s the ratio of men to women?
Looking around my college classrooms as a public relations major and around my office, I was and still am surrounded by women. The percentage of women in public relations varies from 60 percent to 70 percent depending on categories and the specific type of PR they work in. In essence: Girls, we dominate this profession numbers-wise! Continue reading
Christina’s Coffee Talk with Danielle Culmone
My favorite thing about working in public relations is how it can be applied to any industry. Chances are, if you find something you’re passionate about, you can do PR for it. My guest this week, Danielle Culmone, is a great example of that. Danielle is an account supervisor in the real estate division at Quinn & Co Public Relations. This fervent coffee drinker fits right in with the rest of PRBC with her latest idea: The Coffee EpiPen: “stab yourself in the thigh each morning with your daily caffeine dose and go!” I think I know a few people that would buy that! When she’s not thinking of these fantastic inventions, or working, Danielle likes to turn her brain off to read lots of books and 186 subscriptions in her Google Reader. She loves to travel and makes it a point to go somewhere new each year. So this week, Danielle teaches us about the world of real estate PR. Continue reading
Seeing Opportunities in the Face of Fear
I want to take a moment to step aside from some of my previous discussions about the technology behind what is guiding us into a new era of communications and my ruminations on why I can’t stand the term “blogger relations” to discuss something far more personal to me: fear. Specifically, how my fears shape and alter my personal and professional goals and convictions. Continue reading
Carving Out a Place for “ME” in the Midst of a Recession
Remember in 5th grade when your teacher told you there were NO stupid ideas? While I thought Ms. Goldfeder was trying to make the kid feel better we all laughed (read: ME!), I had NO idea that statement would turn out to be the best advice I could apply to the business world.
It’s no big secret that the US is in one of the worst recessions of our lifetime. And while every other person I knew became victims of cut-backs, my job seemed to be bulletproof. Our agency worked hard and the clients were happy, all was right in “Wonderland.” Of course with the state of the economy, the nagging thought was always in the back of my mind – if the client cut back I would be on the chopping block. Continue reading
NYC-Area Reminder: Tweetup Tomorrow
Just a reminder for the NYC-area folks — Tweetup tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. with PR Pro and Tweeter Rachel A. Kay, who happens to be in town visiting from San Diego. Around half the PRBC will be in attendance and loads of others! It promises to be a great evening. Full details including location (Midtown) and to RSVP here (please do RSVP so can warn inform the venue and you get the E-mail updates).
[recent posts]
Dear Flack: Battling the PR Funk
As I mentioned before, I have received a lot of job-related questions lately: Should I get a new job? I hate PR, what else can I do? I’m miserable at work, what are my options? And the list goes on.
It appears that a group of you are very unhappy. Well, before you start sending out massive amounts of resumes or slip the middle finger to a career in PR, it might be comforting to know that you might just be suffering from the PR funk.
Needless to say a typical day in the public relations biz can be an emotional rollercoaster, and we have all had “those” days. You know the ones where you look at the window and contemplate jumping out of said window? As fellow #PRBC-er TJ so eloquently puts it “some days really really suck like a sucktastic suckfest with a PhD in suck from Suck U.” Continue reading
Coffee Talk with the Winners of #PRStudChat Challenge
Earlier this week I chatted with Assistant Professor Brooke Fisher Liu and Lecturer Susan Whyte Simon from the University of Maryland, the winners of the #PRStudChat Challenge. UMD won the challenge by having the most students contribute to the chat. The university had over 30 students participate in the challenge (You can find a list the students here*.) I had the opportunity to chat with two of them: Jeana Zamanski, a junior communications major, and Rowena Briones, a graduate student in the department of communications. Continue reading
As Availability Decreases, Value Can Only Rise
Clients want it. Publicists work for it. But not everyone can have it. That’s right. I said it. Not every brand can be a cover model.
It’s an ugly reality, but we all need to accept it. Particularly as print publications, even well-established icons like Gourmet, cease publication. With less publications to cover the same amount of, if not more, content, the battle for the cover, or even a column, can only become more intense. So how will this new world work? Is it possible that the day will come where clients won’t want print hits? (Even I thought that sounded a little funny as I wrote it. Can we say ‘pipe dream?’) But, seriously. How will it work? Continue reading