05.05.09
Posted in PRSA News at 4:39 pm by Stephanie Skordas
Five reasons why you should attend Tuesday’s PRSA Tar Heel meeting at the Airport Marriott:
1. Our speaker is KD Paine, a social media measurement maven/guru/diva. Not only should you see her in person to soak up all her social media measurement wisdom, but you should follow her on Twitter and read her blog too.
2. In addition to a fabulous speaker, these chapter meetings give you a chance to network and make connections with folks in your field.
3. Have you priced webinars, teleseminars and conferences these days? Our monthly meetings are an economical way to continue your professional development. Many organizations are cutting back on professional development for staff members, and this is an affordable way to keep growing and learning and honing your personal brand, even if your organization doesn’t pick up the tab.
4. You could find your next job at meeting like this one.
5. Okay, I admit it. The desserts. They’re always scrumptious.
Register today at www.prsatarheel.org. Don’t wait til the last minute. I know folks who are driving over from the Triangle to attend this event. The desserts taste much better when you actually have a seat at the table.
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Posted in PRSA News at 2:28 pm by elizabethmckinney
by Bob Conn, APR
Vice President, Professional Development
Save the date–Thursday, Sept. 10– for our annual Professional Development Seminar–an opportunity for a more intensive education opportunity than is available in our monthly luncheons. The chapter’s seminar committee is already hard at work planning the all-day meeting, which will be at High Point University. So block out the whole day now, or even schedule a vacation day, for a seminar you won’t want to miss.
Last year’s Professional Development Seminar at Elon University focused on communicating in a crisis and featured speakers who had handled some of the biggest PR crises in the past several decades. The 2007 seminar, at the Victory Junction Gang Camp near Randleman, focused on new technologies.
The committee is using the results of the recent chapter survey that got reaction to the prior seminars to help them plan this year’s seminar. Thank you for taking part. (If you haven’t taken the survey, do so now.)
Over the next several weeks, the committee will be planning the program. Watch this space for details!
If you have additional thoughts since you filled out the survey, the chair is Elizabeth McKinney, APR, and the members are Tarah Jakubiak, John Luecke, APR, Samantha Hargrove and Beth Bartlett. Feel free to talk to them or to me.
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04.22.09
Posted in PRSA News at 11:22 am by kathrynwilliford
At last night’s April PRSA Young Professionals Meeting, we were honored to have David Mullen, Account Supervisor at Mullen (no, they’re not related) share his social media insight and expertise. Over bruschetta and the Village Tavern’s famous crab dip, David discussed the difference between social media and user generated content, shared ways we can use social media to extend our client’s reach, and gave tips for making our online content more engaging. He also reminded us that social media is more than just Twitter and Facebook. From blogs to message boards to YouTube and Flickr, there are so many different channels out there and it’s important to think holistically. As marketers, we’ve always been told that the more often you see a message, the more likely you are to remember it. David says this same adage applies to social media – by sharing your client’s message over multiple channels, connecting those channels and making it easy for others to share and comment on it, you have a greater chance at achieving social media success.
And here’s a little trivia for you…how many U.S. journalists reported reading blogs to get story ideas? The answer: a whopping 84%. So, don’t overlook the importance and influence of bloggers because you never know when blog coverage could turn into national newspaper coverage.
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02.24.09
Posted in Newsletter at 9:17 am by Leslie Brooks
Say, did everyone see what happened to Tropicana’s rebrand attempt when it said it had had the last straw and went with a glass on its packaging instead? Some 35 million dollars went down the drain when consumers used social media to bash and reject the new pacakging. Consequently, Tropicana issued a statement saying they’d heard its consumers and will pull the new packaging. We can’t control the state of the economy, our job security or the value of our 401Ks but we sure as heck can control the packaging of our orange juice! Americans united.
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01.15.09
Posted in PRSA News at 4:32 pm by kenluck
Do you want to make new PR connections? Would you like to hang out with other young PR professionals from the Triad? PRSA Tar Heel’s Young Professionals group welcomes the Triad’s up and coming PR practitioners as well as those from any other communication related fields. It’s the perfect setting to bounce around those on-the-job questions and challenges. Our monthly socials and professional development activities provide a relaxed environment to meet new people. Each month in 2009, we will select a different Triad location to host the meeting.
Our kick-off social for 2009 is a Meet & Eat at Solaris Restaurant in Downtown Greensboro on Tuesday, January 27th from 6 to 7:30 pm. Solaris offers great drinks and we’ll provide the tapas!
We hope to discuss the exciting ideas we have for the year ahead and also want to get feedback from members on their needs as young pros. The group is designed to help the city’s young professionals through peer support, leadership opportunities, professional development and job assistance.
Also in 2009, the group will officially be recognized by national PRSA as a New Professionals section. More details on this to come at the meeting including the formation of the executive board. The executive board members will help coordinate and plan activities for Young Pros. If you are interested in becoming a board member, please email youngpros@prsatarheel.org.
I look forward to seeing everyone at the meeting and kicking off a great year for the Tar Heel PRSA Young Pros!
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12.04.08
Posted in Professional Development at 4:45 pm by kathrynwilliford
At our last PRSA Young Professionals event, we had the opportunity to meet a veteran PR and media relations pro within the furniture industry. Jackie Hirschhaut, vice president of PR and marketing for the American Home Furnishings Alliance (AHFA), manages media relations surrounding one of the largest trade shows in the country – the High Point Furniture Market. Before her role at AHFA, she spent many years as a journalist and even served as Editor-In-Chief of Elegant Bride magazine. Having spent time on both sides of the aisle, Jackie has great pointers for PR pros on how to work with, not against, the media. Here are some tips she shared with us:
- Respond to journalists’ queries immediately.
- Don’t offer journalists a source, photo or interview (anything!) you can’t deliver.
- When it comes to press kits, an electronic version and a hard kit are your best bet. Never send journalists an electronic media kit (CD, flash drive, etc.) without letting them know exactly what’s on it.
- Never include prior media coverage with your press kit. It is a sure-fire way to ruin any chance that a new reporter will write about your client.
- Always get your press kits in on time. During the High Point Furniture Market, press kits that don’t make it on deadline are filed under a shelf marked “Late Arrivals” – definitely not the impression you want to make.
Is there anything you would add to this list?
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11.18.08
Posted in PRSA News, Professional Development at 11:17 am by kathrynwilliford
Tonight marks the third gathering of the PRSA Tar Heel Young Pros group. At 6 p.m. you will find us at Liberty Steakhouse in High Point enjoying drinks, appetizers and networking. We will also be joined by a special guest, Jackie Hirschaut, the VP of PR and Marketing for the American Home Furnishings Alliance. We are thrilled that Jackie is going to speak to our group about her work for the AHFA, and in particular, the work she does during the High Point Furniture Market. As everyone here knows, the Furniture Market in High Point is one of the largest trade shows in the world, bringing thousands of people to the Triad twice a year. Jackie will give us the inside scoop on all the PR, marketing, media relations and event planning that goes into making this show a success.
So if you’re free tonight, come out and join us! There’s no age limit – we welcome all public relations and communications professionals that have been in the field for less than five years – or six ; )
For more information about our group, check out our Facebook page or e-mail us at youngpros@prsatarheel.org.
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10.29.08
Posted in PRSA News at 11:33 am by elizabethmckinney
How many press secretaries has our current president had?
I’m not sure about you, but it feels like it’s been a revolving door up there. I know that many of us are fans of the original press secretary, Ari Fleischer, but I’m continually shocked to see a new press secretary. If my count is right, we’ve had four: Ari, Scott McClellan, Tony Snow and now, Dana Perino.
In contrast, President Clinton had four as well, over 8 years. President Bush’s father had one. President Reagan had two.
So, what’s the point? I guess I just wonder why these changes have been so frequent. We all know that consistency in your message to your audiences is important. Changing spokespeople that often just seems like a challenge that is not be worth the consequences.
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10.23.08
Posted in PRSA News, Spinks Awards and Banquet at 10:43 am by Stephanie Skordas
You may have seen it in your inbox already, but just in case you didn’t … Peter Shankman is the speaker for this year’s Spinks Banquet.
Shankman may be best known for his free email service, Help a Reporter Out or HARO for short. A CEO, entrepreneur, a social media guru, Peter Shankman runs The Geek Factory in New York City with clients worldwide.
If you’re one of the PR pros who’s never heard of HARO, click the link above to learn more. It’s a free three-times daily email filled with queries from top reporters and bloggers, all looking for sources. There are more than 36,000 subscribers now, and it all started with a Facebook page less than a year ago. The group got too big for Facebook quickly and now Shankman does the daily emails instead.
AdWeek offers this article about Shankman. Editor and Publisher says this.
In addition to his HARO emails and PR/Marketing work, Shankman is an author, a skydiver and owner of two big-boned cats. If you’re not following him on Twitter yet, you should be. (http://twitter.com/skydiver)
And you can follow me too if you want: http://twitter.com/stephskordas. Just sayin’.
So now you know who the speaker is! Great news, huh?
On to other stuff … time to get your nominations in! We have reached out to the Raleigh and Charlotte chapters to make up the judging panel, so we need to make sure there’s enough time to get your nominations to them. The deadline is NEXT FRIDAY at 5pm. That’s Halloween folks. Don’t get spooked, but do get your nominations in.
You can mail them, deliver them … heck, you can EMAIL them to me. I’m looking at shiny trophy catalogs. Don’t you want your name on one?
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09.24.08
Posted in PRSA News at 10:47 am by Stephanie Skordas
Fall is not only the season that brings us crisp apples, colorful leaves and frost on the pumpkin, but also the annual Spinks Awards nominations. This year, in addition to the traditional four awards, the Tar Heel chapter has added four new awards. Please check out the nomination packet, which includes descriptions of all the awards and explains the new ones:
Rookie of the Year
For an outstanding young professional with less than three years in the industry who has made a noteworthy contribution to our profession.
Best Web Site
We’re anxious to see your Web sites, launched between November 1, 2007 and October 30, 2008. While cool design and interesting interfaces are great, your results matter as much or more.
Best Event
From company events to produce launches to galas, tell us how your event made a difference.
Best News Release
Sometimes you just sit back and say to yourself, “My release is a work of art!!” or “Holy cow, the media LOVE my release.” So share that with us.
For all the categories, you must be a member of the PRSA Tar Heel chapter in good standing. So if you have questions about your standing, check with Teresa Loughlin to make sure you’re eligible. And all the entries judge work from November 1, 2007 to October 30, 2008.
The deadline for entries? Don’t be spooked, but it’s 5pm on October 31, 2008. You can mail them to me or bring them in person.
Stephanie Skordas
RLF Communications
301 North Elm Street, Suite 102
Greensboro, NC 27401
If you’re familiar with downtown Greensboro, RLF Communications is on the first floor of the U.S. Trust Building at the intersection of Elm and Bellemeade. There’s handy parking in a city deck right across Bellemeade.
If you have questions about nominations or the awards, please email me at pr@prsatarheel.org or call me at 336-553-1803. You can also contact my colleagues Alana Allen, aallen@rlfcommunications.com and 336-553-1806 and Jennifer Seeley, jseeley@rlfcommunications.com and 336-553-1708.
Stay tuned for more information about the Banquet, which will be held on January 15th, 2009. We’ve got an interesting keynote speaker lined up!
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