Tag Archives: professionals

Blind Leading The Blind

Woman Holding Hands over EyesI am a young PR professional and while no longer entry level, I am by no means seasoned either. I joined the social media world to learn more about my career and the industry. I’ve had the opportunity to meet great people along the way, mostly beginners but also some veterans, both of which have taught me more than I ever learned in school. I’ve participated in the many PR chats that our community moderates like #pr20chat, #prstudchat, #u30pro, and #journchat. I always walk away learning something new. But recently I’ve noticed more of my peers giving advice on issues that aren’t so black and white and it’s frequently in instances where they don’t have enough experience to back it up. My generation gets a bad reputation for being “entitled” and it’s because we feel we know everything. Well we don’t. My name is Christina, I’m in my mid twenties and proud to say I don’t know everything and hope I never do. Continue reading

Leave it to the Professionals

View of a young businessman working at a laptop at his deskRecently, fellow PRBCer Keith Trivitt raised an interesting question about PR folks’ background. Essentially, he said, you don’t need to be trained in communications or PR to be successful in our field:

It takes all types to be a successful communicator. Some are bold and brash. Others are quiet and reflective. And still some are a mix of the two. Each can be successful in their own way. And as long as you have a bit of wisdom, a lot of patience and a major drive, a lot of different people from various backgrounds can be successful communicators.  Continue reading

Stop Bashing Media Relations—More Important Than Ever

Elevated view of reporter holding microphoneI’ve been thinking a lot lately about how, somewhere along the line, the term “media relations” became such a derisive and reviled term within the public relations business. In the world of PR 2.0, Web 2.0 and everything 2.0, why have we suddenly come to the conclusion—seemingly as an entire industry—that media relations (i.e. the act of actually understanding and trying to help the media as a key function of PR professional’s job) is dead?  That now it’s all about bloggers, or reaching the hottest social media “influencers” and anyone else who can who has an online portal that has high enough uniques according to Compete or Quantcast. Continue reading

Does My ‘Evolve or Die’ Theory Apply to PR Pros Too?

Before I get chased out of my profession by my superiors, I want to make a few things very clear:

  • I have great respect and admiration for the arsenal of long-standing media relationships PR veterans have built and maintained.
  • I willingly admit there is much that I can learn from my superiors’ successes (and, admittedly, from their struggles as well.)

Now that we’ve laid some ground-work. . .or covered my backside, whichever you find more appropriate. . .let’s get to the reason for making myself perfectly clear (other than abiding by the Co-Communications mantra, ‘Make Yourself Perfectly Clear.’) If veterans of the PR industry don’t evolve, can they survive? Or will they die-off like the newspapers we sorely miss?

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