Every morning when I come into work, I look forward to logging on to see if we received any new entries for the The New York Job Project. The creativity, drive, and energy of this year’s contestants have been inspiring! I truly can’t wait to see who ends up taking the top six spots, the top three and eventually, who I will get to work with as a fellow employee. It’s anyone’s game at this point – all of the contestants are more than capable of winning this competition! Voting closes on Read more [...]
This week has been difficult for many people on the East Coast due to the Sandy “superstorm.” Homes and business have seen destruction, people’s lives have been uprooted, and emergency workers are working 24/7 to get cities and towns across the coast back to a normal, working state. In the wake of the storm, it’s important that we are understanding of the situation as we go about our daily work. As PR pros, we are constantly in contact with clients, reporters, vendors, and other people Read more [...]
We’re nearing the end of the 2012 election season, and it’s been quite the race so far. From political scientists to journalists to the mom next door, everyone seems to have a different opinion on how well the candidates are representing themselves and getting their messages across. The last few presidential debates in particular have had traditional and social media abuzz: Were the candidates successful in remembering their media training lessons? Was Joe Biden’s incessant chuckling a tactic Read more [...]
Wednesday’s Forbes article had the PR industry buzzing about self-proclaimed media manipulator, Ryan Holiday. Ryan used the popular industry tool, HARO to secure media coverage for himself on topics that he was not qualified to comment on, ranging from office stories to record collections to winterizing boats. This resulted in his inclusion in high profile stories and publications, including The New York Times. Inevitably, the article sparked a debate about journalism in the digital age. Read more [...]
For many public relations professionals, the time between July 4 and Labor Day can feel a little like waiting for bad movie previews to finish before the start of a summer blockbuster. From the ecstasy of summer Fridays (aka: early dismissal for those in the dark), to the wandering attention spans of clients and reporters, even the most motivated pros can show signs of laziness before the last, and maybe most important, quarter of the year. Learning how to deal with downtime in public relations Read more [...]
I recently attended a panel discussion of technology journalists from publications such as Engadget, DVICE, Men’s Fitness, ABC News and Maxim, and the conversation quickly turned to how the landscape of journalism is changing, which affects how we as PR professionals interact with different publications to secure coverage for our clients. Throughout the panel, I noticed that there seemed to be two “teams” forming based on their opinions: the younger journalists and the journalists who had been Read more [...]
In public relations we are constantly monitoring news relating to our clients that we sometimes forget to keep up on our own industry. In order to help you with your weekly dose of industry news, I’ve included this week’s top PR articles below. 1. What SOPA Means for PR Professionals (Ragan’s PR Daily) SOPA was a major industry topic this week, with a large amount of websites, including Wikipedia, protesting the act. It’s interesting to see how this act influences public relations. Read more [...]
Another CES has come and gone. From what I’ve seen, 2012 will be the year of Ultrabooks and thin televisions with great resolution. This was my first year working on CES, and I wanted to share what I learned about maximizing press coverage for a company. Have a strong bench. When you attend a show like CES, you never know when an opportunity to speak with the press may arrive. Train several members of your team on handling the media and make sure they know the messaging you are trying to Read more [...]
The Holy Grail in PR is saying the right thing, at the right time, to the right person. Succeed in doing that, and every idea and story you pitch a reporter has the potential of being published. A few days ago, Lora Kolodny, tech writer at Fast Company, let her Facebook subscribers know that in order for her to consider covering a company, the pitch had to incorporate answers to the ten questions that she listed. Kolodny’s questions are wonderfully spot-on and very insightful for us Read more [...]
This past week, I attended a PRSA-NY event where the communications strategy of BP during the oil spill was put on trial. Paul Holmes presided over the case, while each side presented their thoughts on BP’s strategy. By the end of the tribunal I still hadn’t made up my mind about a verdict, but I did come away with some advice on handling crisis communications. Instead of keeping these four lessons to myself, I figured I would share them with you. Lesson 1: Look at the crisis as a battle Read more [...]
