Reflections on an Agency Internship in PR

I want to describe my first day at C. Pharr, but after a year and a half, I really only remember smiles, quick introductions and immediately getting to work. My internship began on August 27, 2015, and over the course of four semesters, I am so fortunate to say I have seen many aspects of public relations that helped me learn far more than I would in a classroom. I was able to work hands on with different projects for real clients and further my career along the way.

From the beginning of my internship, my supervisors handed over many writing assignments. I'll be the first to say writing is far from a strong skill of mine, but I've learned being honest with your skill set can only help you improve. I put forth strong effort in many of my writing assignments and got out of my comfort zone to work on my weakness. Although I am still far from perfect, I can confidently say practice has helped me improve significantly and led to success both in school and at my internship.

At the end of my first semester with C. Pharr, I was given an assignment to pitch a story about a local teacher at Trinity Christian Academy (TCA), one of the clients I worked with often. I researched who I wanted to pitch the story to and ended up coming across Jenny Anchondo with Fox 4 news. Even though she didn't pick up the story, she had a connection to the teacher through both of them being involved in the KIPP literacy program. She sent the pitch on to her colleagues, and after our winter break in the office, I came back to the exciting news that Clarice Tinsley wanted to cover the heartwarming story on the "Hometown Heroes” segment. You can see the coverage and read more about my experience here.

In the summer of 2016, I was asked to participate in planning an event for a non-profit client, Primary Care Clinics of North Texas. Event planning is a little bit more complicated than they make it seem in the movies, and the work involved more than what was taught in the classroom. I learned event planning requires a lot of detailed planning and I was able to plan ahead by creating a checklist of everything we would need before, during and after the event. It was a great experience and I’m confident I’ll be able to plan my next event with more ease.

As my last semester is coming to an end, I'm proud of all the work I’ve accomplished thanks to my dedicated supervisors I've had over the past four semesters at C. Pharr. I was able to gain a broad range of experience and gain a greater understanding of the diverse industries our clients are in – everything from education to non-profits, commercial real estate and even corporations. Some people decide to have multiple internships, but I think I was fortunate enough to stumble upon this agency to offer the experience necessary to begin a successful career in public relations.

This post was contributed by Elizabeth LaMonte, C. Pharr Intern.

Reflections on an Agency Internship in PR

Let’s get Digital – Learnings from the PRSA Dallas Chapter’s March Luncheon featuring Mike Wilson, editor at The Dallas Morning News

You may have seen the recent Poynter article detailing The Dallas Morning News’ plans over the past year to bring relevant and impactful stories to readers in a more financial-savvy, digital format. For as long as I’ve been in the PR field (10 years this year!), there’s been a lot of chatter about what “going digital” means for PR pros, readers and journalists.

Our team had the chance to hear first-hand about the recent changes at The Dallas Morning News from editor, Mike Wilson at the PRSA Dallas Chapter’s March Luncheon. In a nutshell, The News will be operating as a website and not a traditional newspaper or as Mike puts it, “We’ll think of ourselves as a website that produces a great American newspaper.”

So, what’s changing?

Beats are out – Hubs and Obsessions are in

Reporters will no longer be defined by their prospective beats, but will report news based on more loosely outlined themes. For example, a reporter who may have been solely covering all things DISD, will now be in the education hub and will be tasked with regularly reporting on an obsession (like pre-K) for six months. At the end of the six-month period, the same reporter will switch to another obsession. Obsessions are not meant to be permanent like beats.

Content Generators are Not Tasked with Content Production

Reporters are no longer writing for tomorrow’s paper, but are drafting stories that can be published online quickly. As such, reporters will be working earlier hours to get stories online sooner. It will be the editor’s job to decide what goes in print and what stays online. Also, content generators are not only reporters, but a large roster of contributors offering expertise in a range of subjects from business analysis to '80s music.

Breaking News Will Focus on Video and Social Media Channels

Going digital also means using original and curated video. The Dallas Morning News will accomplish this through its partnership with NBC 5 to provide rich video content to accompany breaking news stories. Additionally, breaking news reporters will use platforms like Periscope to bring live video to their audience.

Coverage Priorities Will Change

In 2016, The Dallas Morning News’ coverage will be heavily focused on Muslims in the community, the presidential election, the City of Dallas, growth in DFW and great storytelling with new features like, “The Moment.” Stories in “The Moment” section will feature small, but pivotal moments in people’s lives. The example that Mike shared during the luncheon, was about a Dallas woman who had to stand trial against her abusive husband.

As PR pros this means that we will be challenged with providing story opportunities that are visually appealing and finding story angles for our clients that are in line with the newsroom’s priorities. It will certainly be interesting to see how The Dallas Morning News executes the shift into the digital age throughout 2016 and if this will be a business model that sticks around for a while.

This post was contributed by Krystal Morris. @KrystalNMorris. 

Let’s get Digital – Learnings from the PRSA Dallas Chapter’s March Luncheon featuring Mike Wilson, editor at The Dallas Morning News

PR Produced Great Content Before “Content Was Cool”

C. Pharr's Cynthia Pharr-Lee (middle) and Krystal Morris (far right) speaking to healthcare executives about PR strategies,techniques and case studies of effective and appropriate communication
integration with social media.

In the daily scramble to learn about the new, new digital thing, marketers sometimes overlook the powerful, but NOT new communications methods that can be invaluable contributors to an overall marketing strategy.

Specifically, I’m talking about traditional, B2B public relations and the powerful “earned content” that well executed PR programs can produce.

Long before digital marketers began to trumpet “content is everything,” effective PR campaigns have created the interesting and user-focused content that helps build brands and thought leadership. Such content can also empower marketing programs.

Today’s conversations about digital marketing stress the importance of credibility and transparency in connecting with customers. For many years, PR professionals have helped clients achieve well-placed publicity, speeches at respected conferences, and events that showcase expertise. These PR activities produce believable and impactful content that can be shared throughout a digital marketing program.

One of the strongest arguments for the power of earned content (especially publicity and speaking engagements) is that it yields de facto “third party endorsement” because the coverage isn’t bought and controlled by the subject. Rather, reporters or conference planners independently filter the information before deeming it credible and timely.  As a result, audiences have a higher degree of trust for earned content than paid advertising. Digital marketers who don’t consider “earned content” in their programs are failing to harness opportunities to connect with key audiences.

Current digital marketing practices also recommend omni-channel messaging, i.e., giving customers useful content, how and where they want it. For decades, PR professionals have been doing this by promoting strategic topics and selecting which speaker platform, event, publication and broadcast opportunities to pursue for clients. These standard planks in PR platforms have long provided a means of targeting audiences to give them content that interests them in the channel they prefer.

If anything is the “holy grail” in today’s successful digital marketing, it is the belief that “customer engagement” is the basis for measuring success. Indeed, digital consultancy Rosetta writes that “engaged customers are the best customers – they purchase 90 percent more frequently, spend 60 percent more per transaction, and deliver three times the annual value each year.”

A key strategy to achieve engagement is providing compelling information or experiences without asking for a sale. These approaches have been embraced by PR for decades. Editorial coverage of PR clients never includes call-to-action sales messages. Instead, it builds engagement by providing useful information and boosting awareness of expertise.  PR events, especially those that are cause-based or showcases of expertise, build relationships with targeted audiences through subjects of mutual interest, rather than hard-selling products.

Digital marketing strategists also recommend omni-channel communications, or consistency of messaging across all channels. If the PR team is involved in marketing strategy and aware of the marketing calendar, the credible content produced by PR can easily reflect the marketing messages used on other channels. Usually, the PR team will be responsible for coordinating executive speaking engagements, working with journalists in targeted media, planning events with key communities and helping plan and execute social media while scripting blogs, webinars and podcasts. With forethought, these activities can become integral parts of digital campaigns.

The meaty content produced by traditional PR programs and extended into social media can add real substance to digital campaigns. For example, including social share buttons/plug-ins when emailing content can drive readers to a landing page that offers interesting news articles. For speaking engagements, providing hashtags for the audience can encourage content sharing and assist in measurement.  Building tweets into presentations makes it more likely the speaker’s comments will be shared on social media…the possibilities are limitless.

In summary, there are powerful arguments for blending tried and true, traditional PR into newer digital marketing plans. Marketers who ignore opportunities to harness the power of PR’s earned content risk missing fuel which could fire up their campaigns.

This post was contributed by Cynthia Pharr-Lee, APR, Fellow PRSA. Connect with Cynthia on LinkedIn.

PR Produced Great Content Before “Content Was Cool”

Lessons Learned From a C. Pharr & Co. Internship

Stepping foot into any office on the first day of work is always intimidating; first impressions are crucial and the night before my first day as the summer intern at C. Pharr & Co. consisted of me scrambling around my room until late, flinging clothes out of my closet in exasperation because nothing was "right." I wanted to make the best first impression possible because this was my first public relations internship and I knew it could lead to many opened doors for me in the future. Leaving the next morning with ample time to get there, a packed lunch and hopeful attitude, I embarked on the commute from Fort Worth to Dallas.

Arriving without any time to spare and I was welcomed into the cozy office with wide smiles and cheery hellos, I received a quick round of introductions and was led to my desk for the summer. I went over terms, phrases and example documents of what I would be doing and was shown how to media clip, an action I would become overly familiar with early on into the summer. Possessing a practically nonexistent knowledge of public relations besides a few terms remembered from the one class taken at SMU, I eagerly soaked in the new concepts and worked hard to strengthen these new skills. I grew comfortable entering the quiet office, sitting at my desk and working diligently all day until my time came to leave. At first, I was perplexed by how silent the office was all day; I'd imagined an office where people were constantly chattering. However, the silence suits the work attitude they all possess: efficient, time aware and hard working.

As I wrap up my last day at my first PR internship, I am so thankful I was given the opportunity to engage with such a knowledgeable team. I'd heard so many horror internship stories where all anyone did was scan, fax, and file papers, and I feared I too would be doing the same, but it couldn't have been more opposite. The hands on opportunities pushed me so far out of my comfort zone at the beginning, but I grew to love coming to work to see what I would learn. This internship has not only taught me about the many different aspects of a PR firm and how to do the behind-the-scenes work, but also countless important career advice. I sat down with all the women who work here and compiled a list of the most significant words of wisdom they had to share:

• Be resourceful always
• Never be above anything
• Take an intro to business class so that you can understand their perspective
• Learn about particular industries and become a "surface level expert"
• Absorb as much as possible
• Always keep up with the news
• Be proactive
• Keep in touch

Hearing advice from professionals who have been in my same position of "What am I going to do in one year?" is comforting. Their tidbits were beyond useful because they not only motivate me to keep working hard throughout my senior year, but also push me to strive for excellence in my work.

The next time I'm freaking out about my "first day" outfit and stressing about what everyone will think of me, I just need to remember that everyone has been there before. The women at C. Pharr & Co. have been supportive and eager to help me grow, and I know they wanted to provide me with an internship that would teach me lessons I would utilize later on, which I know I certainly will. 

This post was contributed by Molly O'Connor, CPC Summer Intern.

Lessons Learned From a C. Pharr & Co. Internship