Tag Archives: public relations

Jess Greco

Flack in Training Vol. 5 – The Interview

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Businesspeople in Meeting Room

So you’ve sent your resume to all the agencies in your area that are hiring (and hopefully some that aren’t, just in case!) and you’ve landed your first interview. Getting a potential employer to take that step from having your resume to actually calling you and scheduling a time to speak is difficult, but the biggest hurdle of the entire job search process is getting through your interview alive. Ok, so I may be exaggerating slightly, but going on your first PR interview and not knowing what to expect can be pretty terrifying. Since I spent the entire summer going on all sorts of interviews, I’ve picked up on some tips and things that you should know to help you shine, stand out, and hopefully get that coveted first job offer. Continue reading →

Christina Khoury

Christina’s Coffee Talk with Michael Schaffer

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Mike Schaffer
Mike Schaffer

It’s a bird; it’s a plane, it’s Michael Schaffer for this week’s coffee talk. This non-coffee drinker (gasp) was a former DJ that uses music to “pump up the volume” for his day.  He’s a savy PR/ Social Media professional working in the entertainment/sports world as social media director for Brotman-Winter-Fried Communications. To get through his crazy days Mike turns to songs from Glee, the Cupid Shuffle, Ingraham Hill and the Beastie Boys for motivation. Not one to name drop, he did admit to losing his cool when he met  Jaleel White, who played Steve Urkel.  Also be sure to check out Mike’s blog: The Buzz.

And so I give you, Mike Schaffer, shedding light on the sports and entertainment world of PR. Continue reading →

Nathan "PRCog" Burgess

PR Win! Save by CoffeeCup

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All opinions (and I mean all) herein are my own and not the official opinion of PRBC or any of the other writers.

stuff
(CC) flickr // andy_carter

There’s a software company I’m a big fan of — CoffeeCup [and no FTC, they aren’t compensating me in any way].  Most of the software they create is for website development – ftp programs, html coding, flash animation, etc.  The software’s always very user-friendly, they provide good support, have an active message board for customers, provide free updates, and give away a decent amount of free software so you can get a flavor of what they produce.

It’s a feel-good company.  The company name “came from the domain name of the coffee house where we got our start. (Yes, we owned a real coffee house first.) Domains cost $100 a year back then, and coffeecup.com was already paid for, so why invent a new name?”  They claim to run on “an unlimited supply of Red Bull, Mexican food, Jelly Bellies, and passion for our users.”   Continue reading →

Kathy Casciani

Can’t We All Just Get Along?

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KathyCash2Let me just start by saying that I don’t like conflict. I’m a people pleaser. So I often watch with a strange mixture of trepidation and admiration when I see controversy brewing in the blogosphere. Twitter is full of folks who aren’t afraid to speak their minds, even if it means incurring the wrath of others. And then there’s me. Sure, I have my opinions (Nike…what the heck??) but I am not what you call a pot-stirrer. Truth be told, I just want everyone to get along. Continue reading →

Kate Ottavio

“That’s great PR!” . . .When your career takes over your life

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shower mania!
(CC) flickr // tempophage

After I graduated college and before I found my first career opportunity, I made a regular habit of watching The Today Show with Hoda Kotb and Kathy Lee. One day, Hoda was thumbing through a newspaper (which she usually does to generate timely conversations with Kathy) and exclaimed something along the lines of “oh my gosh, do you see these Post-it notes (appropriately marking the page she was trying to find)? The people at 3M noticed I was always losing my page when I was talking about a story.” ( “ahhh,” sang the heavenly angles.)

“GENIUS!” I yelled, startling one of my cats.

Continue reading →

Keith Trivitt, Uncategorized

The PR Education Revolution

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The Hat Toss
(CC) flickr // andrew_j_w

The very smart Heather Whaling asked on her blog Wednesday whether social media begets mainstream coverage. Now, for me, that gets my attention, because a) it’s totally up the alley of my passion within the PR business (namely, the integration of traditional PR and social media PR; and b) it’s a question that I think we are going to start asking ourselves a lot more in the coming months.
Continue reading →

Danielle Cyr, Uncategorized

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

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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?

Continue reading →

Kate Ottavio, Uncategorized

“Yeah…no, I don’t do that.”

16 Comments

Spin.

Pelikan Fountain Pen
(CC) photo credit: mobilestreetlife // flickr

Flack.

Bribe.

Pester.

Hover.

All words people seem to tack on to this career choice we have made called Public Relations. And I’m sick of it!

I had the recent pleasure of meeting one of Connecticut’s finest journalists. I’ll leave her name out here because it serves no purpose. But trust me she is a legend in this State.

Continue reading →

Nathan "PRCog" Burgess, Uncategorized

“Yeah…I do that”

10 Comments

[Editor’s Note: My colleague, Kate Ottavio, apparently doesn’t do these things. . . I do. You can find her post on the topic here.]I Had This Top!

Spin — Heck yes, but spin it as ‘framing.’

Flack — It’s why I’m here. The conjugation of the verb form is easy – I flack, you flack, he flacks…the noun form — I am a flack.

Bribe — Well, not really — I have been known to offer things for free (food, samples, “review” copies . . .).

Pester — Seriously? It’s half my job.

Hover — Like I’ve got a jet-pack.

Continue reading →

CTMichaels

So What You’re Really Trying to Say…

9 Comments

I’m not sure if I’m the only one, but I feel that people don’t understand “Sarcastic” language. I have been in numerous situations where I have had people really think that I was serious about what I said.

Honestly, do you really think that I, or anyone, is that dumb? It’s even gotten to the point where during one of my reviews I was told I have “holes” in my head. Really? Lighten up people.

Continue reading →