This month, I had the
opportunity to attend the PRSA Dallas Communication Summit for the first time.
During the event, I attended three different seminars, each focusing on a
different topic. The first one, Working with media, gave insight into pitching
to the media and provided beneficial tips on creating and maintaining
relationships. The second seminar, Integrated Communications, focused on
achieving an overall goal for a client through various promotional methods such
as advertising and public relations. The final seminar was Interviewing,
Personal Branding and Professionalism, which had three business professionals
sharing tips on working in the public relations field and answering questions
from the audience. Each of the seminars presented people in different stages of
their career who have been in the business for numerous years.
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| C. Pharr team at 2014 PRSA Dallas Communication Summit |
As someone who is fairly
new to the PR world, I realized early on in the day that I had the opportunity
to experience this event in a way that many other veteran attendees could not.
When someone does something for the first time, there is usually that sense of
fear and discomfort but also excitement and inquisitiveness. I decided to use
all of these feelings and garner them into creating the best experience I
possibly could to benefit my career. It turned out that this year’s theme was elevate,
which greatly worked in my favor. Elevate your relationship, elevate your
results and elevate your future; these three session themes were each going to
teach me something that I could utilize throughout my budding profession.
The insightful day kicked off with a Keynote breakfast
where we heard from top executives from Toyota, Corner Bakery and Greyhound.
The speakers each provided the audience with a presentation describing a recent
occasion when their company successfully developed and implemented a strategic
business plan. Each presentation offered a different approach and allowed the
audience to acquire new ideas.
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| Cynthia Pharr Lee, APR, Fellow PRSA & Leah Ekmark Williams, APR with Summit attendees |
My first workshop, which focused
on working with media,
presented three editors from
different publications who answered questions such as “What are some dos and
don’ts for PR professionals when contacting the media?” Each answer was unique
in that each editor had their own personal preferences and pet-peeves, but all
three shared one common tip: being rude and pushy will get you nowhere. Find a
good balance between the type of stories you pitch and how often you follow up.
It is crucial in building a strong relationship with the editor that you know
their type of work. Nobody wants to be given information that isn’t going to
pertain to them. It is also imperative to keep constant and clear
communication. It was highly stressed by all three editors that if you don’t
have the information they need or can’t get them a quick answer to one of their
questions, don’t lie and claim otherwise.
The second and third
seminars taught me a lot about knowing your audience. When creating a business
plan for a client, it is important to determine who their customers are and
remain focused on attracting that group. For instance, if a strategy is to
create an account on social media and use that platform to engage customers,
find out which outlet the majority of their audience is on and hone in on it to
attain the best results. The same idea applied during the third seminar when
talking about receiving and maintaining a job in the communications profession.
Before every job interview or client meeting, learn as much as you can about
the company, and be prepared to answer questions pertaining to their work. If
you know your audience, the outcome is not only beneficial for you but for them
as well.
Before I finish, I want
to stress something I recently learned to be greatly valuable. In school, you
are constantly told about the importance of networking, but you never truly
realize its significance until you are thrown into the business. Meeting new
people and connecting with them is essential to growing your career. Each
relationship you create can lead to something you never predicted, whether it
is an idea for a new pitch or breaking news that pertains to your client. As a
guest of the event, I was not only able to attend seminars that resulted in
beneficial learning experiences, but I was also able to meet and interact with
other PR professionals. I highly recommend that in the future, public relations
students, professionals and those interested in the field attend and utilize
these events not only for personal gain but also to educate and nurture those
just starting out in their careers.
This post was contributed by Laura Puig, Laura@Pharrpr.com
PRSA Dallas Communication Summit 2014
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