By: Sarah Emery A unique benefit of entering the world of public relations is that there are dozens of incredible female role models throughout the industry. Here are four empowering PR professionals making waves and helping inspire the next generation of strong, professional women. Heather Whaling - @prtini Heather Whaling isn’t just the founder of Geben Communication, she is a well-known advocate for paid parental leave and has numerous accolades to back up an incredible and empowering resume. Christine Perkett - @missusP Listing all of Christine’s accomplishments would take days, so here’s a quick rundown - she has founded TWO companies, she’s an awesome working mom and she’s followed by Barack Obama and Ellen Degeneres on Twitter. Dreena Whitfield - @DreenaWhitfield It’s one thing to have your clients featured in Ebony, it’s another to be featured in it yourself as one of a strong group of “Black Women to Know in PR, Tech & Digital Media.” Such is the life of BA mom/former Press Secretary to Cory Booker/entrepreneur Dreena Whitfield. Kate Finley - @kateupdates Kate Finley has many titles: entrepreneur, influencer, speaker, blogger, aspiring dog owner (just to name a few). She founded her digital PR agency, Belle Communications, at age 28 and is an award-winning speaker and PR professional.
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By: Erin Antonelli On Tuesday, March 8 at 7 pm in McGuffey 322, public relations professionals will share their experiences and advice with students. All of the speakers are members of the Cincinnati Chapter of PRSA and have a variety of different experiences and career paths. Brianne Kistler Brianne is a recent Miami University graduate and former MU PRSSA President. Currently, she works as an Assistant Account Executive at Wordsworth Communications in Cincinnati. J.D. Bruewer J.D. works as a Communication specialist at Hamilton County Job and Family Services. He helps to tell the story of his employer with a digital focus. Jay Brock Jay does the External Communications at First Group, a transportation company. Within this role, he works with a large geographical area that includes North America, Canada and Puerto Rico. Darcy Schwass Darcy is also a recent Miami University graduate and PRSSA executive board member. She works for Vehr Communications in Cincinnati as a senior account executive. By: Joel Primack Al Golin started Golin 58 years ago, when he cold-called Ray Kroc, who was starting McDonald’s. McDonald’s remains a client of Golin, one of their largest, building their reputation around being innovative and introducing new corporate and consumer communication strategies. Golin, headquartered in Chicago, is an international communication firm that provides their clients the most relevant insights and creative ideas to engage their audience across the most mediums. They have 50 offices across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia, with more than 25 partners. The global reach of Golin strengthens their commitment to clients. Golin, in February 2016, bought The Brooklyn Brothers, a creative firm with offices in New York, London and Brazil, adding additional elements and resources to clients, including a Hollywood writing room. The Brooklyn Brothers and Golin share the mission of being the agency of relevance and creativity. Golin drives relevance through their insights and measurement tools, while The Brooklyn Brothers bring their storytelling capabilities to the table. This creates a strong firm that can drive engagement with stories and measure those results for their clients. Explorers, creators, connectors and catalysts are the communities within Golin, because they got rid of a hierarchical model for the agency, creating the g4 model. Members from each community collaborate on projects for clients, building a creative, relevant communication plan to reach the audience. This model has produced specialists from generalists. Golin is committed to their employees and clients, showing with the a slogan of “Go All In.” It can be applied to anything and everything, because Golin wants their employees to “Go All In” inside and outside of the office, creating more meaningful lives. By: Joel Primack
A crisis can happen any time, anywhere when you’re least suspecting it. Similar to how firemen respond to a fire, each member of the team has a role to perform. When dealing with a crisis, you should have a team in place, prepared for when one arises. Your team should be comprised of:
To read more on this subject, check out this article: http://www.jaffepr.com/blog/crisis-management-preparedness-are-you-ready By: Joel Primack In the 21st Century, every young adult, especially college students, has been told how vital it is to know people in order to land internships and jobs. The Public Relations Student Society of America chapter at Miami University is everything anyone who wants to become a public relations practitioner could ever want: 1. Networking Opportunities: John Isaf of Weber Shandwick, Michael Perry of Vehr Communications and CEO Fred Cook of Golin, an award-winning public relations firm. These three speakers have come to our chapter within the last year, educating members about different skills and areas of public relations. These speakers are connections that can help advance a career in public relations. 2. Opportunities to Build a Portfolio: In the Miami University chapter of PRSSA, we have committees, which are great ways to become involved with the chapter. Each committee allows one to build a professional portfolio, if you put in the time. You will be able to show these to employers, giving them an idea of how valuable you are to them as a member of their team. 3. Homework Help: The executive board members have study tables open to anyone in the chapter. This is a great opportunity to get help from an upperclassman. The insights they share with members who go are priceless. 4. Friends: I have met so many great friends through PRSSA at Miami University. It’s another way to meet peers in classes, which start the foundation for a professional connection. The networking opportunities, opportunities to build a portfolio, homework help and friends are a few reasons why PRSSA at Miami University is a necessary society for every hopeful public relations practitioner. We are each other’s connections for the future. By: Emily Lammers Thousands lined up on the morning of April 19 outside of Targets across the country. Since the January announcement of Lilly Pulitzer’s partnership with Target there has been endless buzz on social media and from preppy girls everywhere. Some expressed pure joy for the release; others quite aggressively said this move would devalue the Lilly Pulitzer brand. However, Target’s work with Lilly Pulitzer is turning out to be one of the most highly anticipated of the 150 limited-time designer partnerships it’s ever done. Target executives say the partnership’s success doesn’t have much to do with how many or how quickly products are sold. To Target it is already successful just by the buzz and excitement it has provoked. In January, it was a trending topic on Twitter and has continually been a popular subject on social media since then. The success of the partnership was no longer questioned as the collection sold out within minutes across the country and online. By: Paige Garty While the weather in Oxford is beginning to heat up, so is the attention that 72andSunny is getting. The LA-based advertisement agency was recently ranked in the Top 50 Most Innovative Companies of 2015. The CEO, John Boiler, believes that advertising is all “about behavior, not messaging.” And this is exactly the focus for the agency’s latest campaign. The “Ask the Google App” Campaign can be seen all over New York City. Frequently asked questions are posted all over the city’s landmarks to promote the usage of Google’s new app. The questions focus on the consumers’ behaviors and attitudes toward their potential, everyday thoughts. Where most companies would create a commercial to get their message out, 72andSunny submerged their ads into locations that correspond with consumers’ questions. Some of their ads include signs outside of art exhibits that read, “Ok Google, what is Conceptual art?” Every ad is positioned in specific location or on a certain item where a person might stop to ponder what they are actually looking at. 72andSunny’s campaign is just one way how agencies are making advertisements a more customary and common part of our lives. Want to know what the other 49 Most Innovative Companies are? Go here: http://www.fastcompany.com/section/most-innovative-companies-2015 By: Ariel Wiley Have you heard of Miami Television News on Miami University’s campus? If you have, that’s great! If not, you are not alone. As the Vice President and Business Manager for Miami Television News, I have witnessed many missed opportunities to promote our organization around campus to get both viewers and new members. There are a many ways to improve your own organization on campus, but there are 3 big steps you can take upon yourself to get great PR for your club! 1. Social Media
2. Getting out of your Comfort Zone
3. Old Fashioned PR
These are just a few starter tips to gaining followers and members for your own organization. What other PR strategies have your favorite organizations taken to improve/gain members? By: Allie Dillie According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women make up 47 percent of the nations workforce but 60 percent of the public relations workforce. Women make up 63 percent of public relations “specialists” and 59 percent of all public relations managers. Sarahjane Sacchetti, who works on marketing for secret stated, “It’s all women out there.” What is it that draws women towards jobs in the public relations field? Is this trend a by-product of societal norms given to women? Or are women the best fit for jobs of this nature? The “women-in-PR trend” started happening for a variety of reasons, and it’s not all bad, so that might be why it never stopped. One idea that has fueled this pattern is that, the average girl is brought up to believe that it’s good for women to be collaborative and personable. Once these women get to college, many truly find their strengths and passions to be in the fields of reading and writing. Then, once these women graduate, they tend to gravitate towards careers involving these same fields. With the public relations job field growing by 12 percent a year this gravitation women have to PR can be seen as a good thing. With more and more women joining the workforce, this job growth can open many new doors for women and how they are perceived in the work place. The nature of the PR job field allows those who are dedicated and hardworking to rise to the top in a way some professions don’t. “I think PR offers women the opportunity to hold high-level, corporate positions, so the career-oriented find empowerment in a PR position,” said Jessica Chesney a digital marketing coordinator at Command Partners. If there is anything women can take away from this it is that public relations is a rapidly growing job field that offers women opportunities to grow and expand professionally. Hopefully, as more women hold high-level jobs in PR, society will wipe away the stigma that only men can hold executive positions in the corporate world. Gender Breakdown of PR and Journalism Job Categories By: Rachael Booth As years go by, trends and fads change. Whether it’s the transition from the Razor to the iPhone, or the typewriter to the computer; technology improves, and interests change. Even when it seems technology has reached its paramount of capabilities, something new is created and surprises us with features we never dreamed to be possible. The economy is fueled by these popular and new industries. Today we live in an Internet based society where Apple dominates this generation of smartphones and computers. However, many have argued that Apple is finished and doomed. Analysts suggest that Apple is all out of ideas and society is transitioning away from their brilliant inventions. Although this is a feasible accusation, Apple has been accused of this before and has responded with record-breaking sales of new inventions. For example, Analysts claimed Apple would be finished… • Before the iPod came out in 2001. • Before the iPhone came out in 2007. • And right before the iPad came out in 2010. As you can see, Apple has bounced back and proved critics wrong. So what’s the future of Apple and how will they maintain their relationship with the public? It will be important for Apple to study the public’s attitudes and desires about future products and therefore keep their place as one of the most recognizable companies. Although Apple’s next commodity has not been revealed, it is speculated that in three years, 485 million of these new devices will be sold a year. As our society continues to improve technologically, it will be interesting to see what the 2015 launch will be. Brooks, M., (2015). The billion-dollar ace hidden up apple’s sleeves. The Motley Fool. By: Nicole Blachowicz Public Relations practitioners work to create two-way communication and maintain solid relationships. Both companies and individuals used the Oscars as a way to express opinions and spark conversation about social change. Here are some highlights. 1. Dove’s and Twitter’s #SpeakBeautiful Campaign – Women’s Self Esteem Dove wants to boost women’s self esteem and have done campaigns, such as their Real Beauty Sketches advertisement, to promote this. According to Adweek, over 5 million people tweeted negative comments last year during the show. The #Speakbeautiful campaign promotes tweeting positive compliments during the red carpet using the hashtag. 2. #Askhermore Campaign – Sexism
Many celebrities supported this campaign during the show. It asks interviewers to stop asking sexist questions. In an interview, Reese Witherspoon said, “You know, this is a movement to say we’re more than just our dresses.” 3. Patricia Arquette – Women’s Equality During the acceptance speech for the Academy Awards Best Supporting Actress for her role in “Boyhood,” she said, “It is our time to have wage equality once and for all, and equal rights for women in the United States of America!” The show captured other celebrities, like Meryl Streep, showing their support as she gave her speech. 4. Graham Moore and Dana Perry - Suicide Awareness During his acceptance speech, Graham Moore shared his story about his suicide attempt failure and encouraged others to “stay weird, and stay different.” Producer Dana Perry dedicated her award to her son who committed suicide and said that we must talk this problem. These are just a few of the examples seen during the 2015 Oscars. How can PR practitioners use these examples or use events like the Oscars to further build relationships? What other companies have pushed for social change? Is this a good way to maintain relationships? Why or why not? Sources: http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/dove-and-twitter-team-address-hateful-tweets-about-beauty-oscar-night-163040 http://www.newsweek.com/oscars-2015-reese-witherspoon-tackles-red-carpet-sexism-askhermore-campaign-308625 by Emily Lammers According to Forbes, when it comes to the future of work not only are employees changing, managers also have to change the ways in which they lead. Below are 10 essential traits for future managers. Is a Leader A manager must be a leader, a visionary, they must earn followers, not command respect. The mindset must be: manager is something you earn not something you are assigned to do. Follow From the Front Future managers must exist to make their people more successful, not to have the people serve them. When a manager follows from the front he leads the way and allows team members to become more effective. Understands Technology Now that technology has become such an vital part of how we live and work it has never been more important for managers to grasp which technologies have the potential to benefit the organization. They also must stay up to date on which new technologies might be coming their way in the near future. Leads by Example A manager must be the first person to demonstrate a new, positive behavior, or to embrace a new concept. A manager can no longer lead by delegating and ordering, a manager can only lead by demonstrating. Embraces Vulnerability A manager needs to be ok with asking others help, admitting when they are wrong or when they may not know something. They also must feel comfortable when team members ask questions and voice their opinions even though they may contradict theirs. Believes in Sharing and Collective Intelligence A manager understands and embraces the fact that they may not have all the answers. This manager also recognizes the advantage in sharing information instead of storing it. Is a Fire Starter Managers should be fire starters; igniting ideas, challenging convention, and experimenting. Gives Real Time Recognition and Feed-back Annual reviews are no longer effective for either the organization or the associates. In its place managers will focus on delivering their team real time feedback. Is Conscientious of Personal Boundaries A manager recognizes that team members have their own space, both digitally and physically. A manager must work towards setting boundaries that are to be respected. Adapts to the Future Employee Managers understand that the way we work and think about work is changing. This means they are open-minded and embrace change. by Rosie Leuby In November, PRSA celebrates PR Diversity Month by acknowledging the diverse communities, people and practices that inhabit the public relations profession and by providing advice and insight on how to build a better PR industry though diversity. Diversity is often seen as a box needed to be checked. The question often asked is how many people of a certain age, gender, race or ethnicity is employed. Practices often are simple minded and feel the need to meet certain quotas. They lack to understand the potential diversity has on revenue growth. Diversity is good for business! Diversity is helpful to the community and improves workplace practices around problem solving, innovation, transposition and brand growth. The key to succcess relies on the connection to the public. All newsrooms are struggling to remain relevant. It’s important for public relations representatives to use their skills and experience by understanding that the quality and not the quantity of the content is what matters most to an ever increasing diverse audience. Balta, H. (2014, November 4). Diversity Is Simply Good For Business. Retrieved November 17, 2014. by Ellie Broaddus Within the past year, the coffee chain Starbucks has generated plenty of positive publicity through their positive and innovative Public Relations ideas, such as their Starbucks College Achievement Plan, in which they’re offering thousands of part- and full-time U.S. partners to finish their bachelor’s degree with a full tuition reimbursement. Recently, Kristie Williams, a Starbucks employee, has created a petition in order to grant Starbucks baristas permission to sport their tattoos and piercings while working. With more than 25,000 signatures from Starbucks employees all across the country, the dress code change has been approved, and Starbucks employees will soon have permission to sport visible tattoos and piercings while on the job—as long as they are deemed appropriate. It’s important for companies to pay attention to Public Relations trends as well as increase employee retention. In my opinion, Starbucks made the right choice in supporting the petition, as well as over 25,000 employees nationwide. Attitudes towards more relaxed dress codes for employees in major chain companies have become a lot more common during the past few years, including major companies like Peet’s Coffee & Tea and Petsmart. However, will more companies join the bandwagon in this growing trend? by Ariel Wiley Some people were born great and some people achieve greatness through hard work and dedication. To be, not a good, but great leader in your community and extracurriculars takes these top ten qualities and skills according to Forbes. ·Honesty – Always be honest with yourself and your team because the best way to accomplish or overcome and obstacle is by talking about it. ·Ability to Delegate – Find what your team members enjoy working on and this will not only make your team more efficient, but the quality of work will be better. ·Communication – Communicate to be on the same page with your workers and they will learn to trust and even depend on your decisions. ·Sense of humor – Short laughing breaks or allowing your workers to take long weekends will keep the office, and you, happy! ·Confidence – Confidence is key, if you believe in yourself, so will your team members. ·Commitment – Work hard, and others will follow and respect you. ·Positive Attitude – To keep quality of work up and the energy, it takes positive vibes, give your workers positive vibes! ·Creativity – Don’t always play it safe by thinking inside the box, your co-workers will appreciate doing something different ever once in a while by thinking of new ways to solve problems. ·Intuition – Listen, watch and communicate to figure out what is right for the team and what isn’t. ·Ability to Inspire – Enthusiasm is a very powerful thing, work hard and respect your team members and they will want to do the same. Of course, there are many other skills and traits that great leaders possess. These are just a few to think about when going into job interviews and preparing for the work place. by Paige Garty I’m sure most of you have heard of Fashion Week: a hectic week dedicated to announcing next season’s hottest fashion. But have you ever heard of Advertising Week? Advertising Week is the annual gathering of marketing and communications leaders from all different companies. People from all around the world meet up in New York City for a week of seminars, workshops, and other events that relate to advertising. Just like Fashion Week, fresh new trends are announced that impact the entire industry. There are many entertaining activities for attendees such as contests, guest speakers, short films, and even concerts. Each year, the executive board of “The Week” announces the new members of the Madison Avenue Walk of Fame. This years lucky winners were: the Morton Salt Girl (celebrating her 100th anniversary), Smokey the Bear (celebrating his 70th anniversary), and Snuggle Bear from Snuggle Fabric Softener (celebrating his 30th anniversary). “The Week” consists of many hands on opportunities. The 6th annual Big Ad Gig was a huge success. Five men and women presented their ideas to the industry judges and Advertising Council who awarded them with paid, 30-day freelance agencies posts. Here are some FACTS & FIGURES about Advertising Week: · Advertising Week began in 2004. · Over 90,000 advertising junkies attended this year · This year it was held from September 29th to October 3rd. · There were 250+ events and 190+ seminars and workshops held by the industry’s most prominent leaders · The second annual Advertising Week in Europe will be held in March 2015 Feel free to check out the official website here: www.advertisingweek.com by Ellie Broaddus October is PRSA/PRSSA Relationship Month, yay! To me, my membership in PRSSA means building professional and personal relationships with other collegiate members in my PRSSA chapter here at Miami, in addition to PRSA members. After I graduate from college, I hope to transition my membership in PRSSA to PRSA in order to best develop a career in the Public Relations industry. Due to my membership in PRSSA, not only have I received amazing relationship-building and networking opportunities, but I’ve also gained access to numerous PRSSA benefits, such as my myPRSA account, which is filled with award-winning Public Relations case studies, daily briefings of top Public Relations news, and leadership tools! Our chapter’s Sponsor Chapter is the East Central Chapter, and I am so excited to continue meeting with more of these members and learning about their experiences working in Public Relations. Our chapter’s calendar is filled with guest speakers who visit our campus and inform us about the firms they work with, as well as provide us with networking opportunities, career mentoring, tips for working within the Public Relations field, information about internship opportunities, and so much more. “If we’re about building ‘mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics,’ we acknowledge such relationships must be founded upon mutual trust.” – George L. Johnson, APR, Fellow PRSA by Kaylie Kueppers Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) now has a new strategy for 2014-2016. They have adapted the past mission and vision to help the profession continue forward and allow the association to be the best for it’s members. The new vision of PRSA is to be more focused on allowing public relations to lead the way of achieving goals. This means that PR will no longer just be another aspect of a company but now come before marketing and advertising. The new mission will allow all members of PRSA to achieve their goals without discrimination and by having the correct resources available. This means that PRSA will continually be changing to be the best association for public relations professionals. PRSA is also going to be focused on growing the association because the field of public relations is growing rapidly. This will allow for a more diverse field as well as more input from members. This is a video created by PRSA explaining the exciting plans for the future. by Chris Foster Social media is a growing tool that many businesses and companies are utilizing. Public relations is grasping onto the idea that social media provide brands a frontier of connecting with clients and customers. Many companies go head first when they are starting off in social media. There are some important tips that will help them tackle social media.
Many companies build rapport by tweeting, posting and mentioning different aspects they like about a situation or topic. This allows companies to change to the way views or followers want them to change. In sense it is kind of like a focus group online, allowing citizens to give feedback and evaluations on what companies are doing. Social media promotes growth and prosperity and should be utilized. by Kaylie Kueppers Are you questioning if a college degree is worth it with this economy? Think again.
As we all know, the unemployment rate is high in America. Many of us have that thought in the back of our mind that we try not to think about, “am I really going to find a job when I graduate?” Many of us also wonder if the college degree is worth the pricey tuition we pay. Well, I have something to say to ease your nerves a little bit. Even though the unemployment rate for those recently graduated from college is 8.9 percent, the rate for those who earned a degree in Communications is only 7.3 percent. This is relatively low especially if you consider your other option: dropping out of college. The unemployment rate for those without at least a bachelor’s degree is a shocking 31.5 percent. I know you are worried about finding a job now, especially with all your schoolwork piling up, but don’t question your education. Don’t worry about landing your dream job right away because employers tend to prefer those with higher education for almost any position. Earning your degree looks a little better now, right? |
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