Even though we know digital and online media continues to change, IABC/DC Metro started 2012 with a chapter meeting tackling the latest Social Media Trends.

The panelists included:

• Dan Horowitz, executive vice president and senior partner for Fleishman-Hillard Digital
• Daria Steigman, founder of Steigman Communications and the author of the Independent Thinking Blog
• Steve Radick, lead associate, digital strategy and social media practice, Booz Allen Hamilton
• Rick Dunham, Washington bureau chief of the Houston Chronicle and Hearst newspapers, and chief author of the Texas on the Potomac blog.

Emerging Social Media Trends
Each panelist brought different industry point-of-view to the discussion. Radick took government. Horowitz gave the agency perspective, Steigman reviewed the small business view and Dunham brought insight from publishing and the media.

1. Government Use: Radick dispelled the myth that the government is behind the curve, but he did see them stalling in advances for 2012 because it is an election year.
2.  Internal Communications: Radick also thinks there will be more enterprise 2.0 or social media behind the firewall to internal audiences.
3. Integrated Efforts: Both Radick and Horowitz confirmed they see more integration into all lines of communications.
4. Influencers: They felt the days of the “social media guru” are dying fast. Horowitz said it’s time to look for persuaders or influencers who can help persuade others to your thinking or agenda.
5. Small Business: Steigman sees social media platforms as a reliable ecosystem and wonders how they can be used to make it easier to reach customers. She suggested reading Phil Simon’s The Age of the Platform: How Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google Have Redefined Business. She also feels it will be key for business to understand search and the data around it.  
6. Digital Skills: Dunham is amazed by the use of tablets for tweeting, video, etc. Because many of his colleagues are not digitally inclined, he relies on interns to provide new ideas for using social media to drive more readers to their media properties.  

Social Media Best Practices for 2012
As with all social media discussions, some great best practices come out. Radick reminded us, “Don’t concentrate on social media tools, but concentrate on the principles behind them.

“When asked how to best measure social media, Horwoitz said, “You need to measure based on business goals, don’t measure on tactics.”  

For more helpful social media best practices, you can read Steigman’s highlights of the session on her blog.

What social media trends do you see for 2012? Please share them with the BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas readers.  

What do you think of this year’s most popular Fresh Ideas stories? Were you surprised at the range of topics? What would you like to see covered in 2012? Please share your thoughts and leave comments below.

10. Are PR Budgets Back?

9. Don’t Let a Bad Interviewer Spoil the Interview

8. Twitter Chat Transcripts Now Available from BurrellesLuce

7. When It Comes to Brands and Content, Simplicity Matters

6. Measuring Social Media, The Value of Influence

5. The Evolution of Media Measurement: Dr. Jim Grunig, University of Maryland, Interview

4. Public Relations and Marketing With QR Codes

3. Can We Talk? Social Media’s Impact on Human Relations

2. Survey: Journalists Do Not Want to Be Contacted Via Twitter

1. Blogger Relations Misconceptions

Did your favorite Fresh Ideas posts make the list? Be sure to leave a comment and let us know.

20. The Art of Storytelling

19. PRSSA National Conference Speed Networking PR Student Questions

18. How to Speak C-Suite

17. Disappearing Act: 10 Brands That May Not Be Around in 2012

16. The New York Women in Communications 2011 Matrix Awards

15. When a Hashtag Leads to Help: PR Tips from #BlueKey

14. Zappos, 24/7 Customer Service in the Internet Age

13. Oscar’s Social Media Fever

12. Snooki’s Appearance at Rutgers – Good PR or Poor Reputation Management?

11. Poll Results: Should PR Interns Pitch the Media?

“We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.” ~Winston Churchill

Flickr Image: arielmeow

I’ve written about being a public relations mentor in the past, but it’s been a while. Mentoring is something I’m passionate about so I’d like to challenge each and every communications person (PR, advertising, marketing, etc.) reading this to do ONE thing in the New Year that supports our next generation of pros.

Before you start with the “I’m too busy” excuses, let me clarify what I mean. Looking at Wikipedia, “mentorship” refers to a personal developmental relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps a less experienced or less knowledgeable person. It goes on to describe “mentoring” as a process that always involves communication and is relationship based, but its precise definition is elusive. I’m partial to John C. Crosby’s definition, “Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction.”  What this means to me is that you do not have to be part of a formal mentorship program to accomplish this!

Formally, I am a Champions for PRSSA PRSA section member, a PRSSA mentor through my local PRSA chapter’s program, as well as professional advisor to my alma mater’s PRSSA chapter. However, informally, I help scads of students and young pros via social media (mainly Twitter and LinkedIn).  Mother Teresa said, “Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person”—sounds like pretty good marching orders to me!  

I know some believe there are specific core competencies required for being a mentor, such as coaching, counseling, teaching, acting as role model, championing career development. While these are valid elements of mentoring, I propose that you don’t have to be or do it all to help shape the future of our profession. The effort you put forth can be something as easy as answering a quick question, reviewing a résumé or advising on portfolio pieces. And, frequently I find that it’s a two-way street. You might just learn something yourself.

Does your PRSA chapter have a mentoring program? Why did you become a mentor? Did you have a mentor yourself? What did you learn from them?

***

This book review by Johna Burke, BurrellesLuce SVP,  first appeared on commPRO.biz and is reposted with permission. 

First, let me say that I love biographies. People are fascinating and their stories rarely fail to compel and inspire me to think differently, try something new or just try to be an overall better person.

Patrice Tanaka’s book “Becoming Ginger Rogers…How Ballroom Dancing Made Me a Happier Woman, Better Partner and Smarter CEO” was, as advertised from the front cover, “inspiring.” And, for me, a page-turner because I’ve met Patrice personally, but also because she is a public relations pro telling her own story. In essence, whether your personal “style” is rumba, foxtrot, tango or the samba—you’ll really like this book. Reading this book IS the mirror-ball of communications—and it’s A WINNER!

Not only is Patrice co-chair, chief creative officer and whatcanbe ambassador at PR firm CRT/tanaka, but she is also is an artist of words. Throughout her career she told the story of her clients and organization so eloquently; this is no less true in her book. She turns her storytelling into a master class of “take care of you” for every professional. Within her book she wins and loses love, she struggles and succeeds in business and she follows her passion to develop new skills. Patrice teaches lessons of endurance and empowerment through life and specifically through dance. As she transforms her physical appearance and mental strength she learns and fills gaps of vulnerability with confidence, poise and glamorous gowns.

A few lessons I learned that you can apply to your daily life and career, as well:

1. Be a leader. Be in tune with yourself and allow wonderful things to happen all around you. Patrice, while herself is a dominant leader, her strong lesson came from her taking cues from her strong partner and instills those same traits with her “whatcanbe” program at her agency.  
2. Be a follower. My favorite lesson is from the mambo where Type-A Patrice let her partner lead. She didn’t rely on a routine, but allowed herself the freedom to live in that moment of the dance in the power of her knowledge to guide her and trust in her practice and experience.
3. Love yourself. When times are tough, remember that unless you are strong and take care of yourself it’s hard to be strong for others.
4. Love what you do. It will show. No matter what you’re doing: PR, marketing, dancing, knitting, accounting—love it while you’re doing it and you’ll find the best YOU. If you don’t love it, don’t worry, but don’t force something that doesn’t feel right. There’s a “Ginger Rogers” in you waiting to bloom.
5. Follow your gut. Patrice suffered loss in her life, but you would NEVER know it. She commands an audience whether her feet or her mouth are telling the story. She is inspirational and truly in tune with her heart and her instincts.

This book is a tapestry of communication and life lessons and skills exemplified at the highest level. Each day we all dance our own mambo and after reading Patrice’s book you’ll be reminded to master the basics and the routine will follow. So many times in a world trying to be clever, the simple lessons are the most powerful.

I read this book in two days—just the pleasure and the mental vacation I needed. The real joy is that it’s a business book too. Patrice is an entrepreneur who has a keen business sense and places high value on people to make her organization thrive.

Through all of the stories and lessons the secret ingredient to this book is, in fact, Patrice. She transforms herself and reminds me to prioritize and be diverse. Communications plans are very much the same. You know the moves you have the technique and you need to trust your skills to execute and rely on cues for subtle adjustments as needed. When you meet her in person, don’t be fooled by Patrice’s tiny stature … her presence is large and in charge on the dance floor and on the PR scene.

###

About Patrice Tanaka: Patrice is Co-Chair, Chief Creative Officer and whatcanbe Ambassador at CRT/tanaka. She’s also author of “Becoming Ginger Rogers…How Ballroom Dancing Made Me a Happier Woman, Better Partner and Smarter CEO.” Her personal philosophy is that of “whatcanbe,” CRT/tanaka’s brand vision, cultural ethos and approach to business that involves helping the agency, its clients and the community-at-large to envision and manifest a bigger, brighter, better future.

Panelist Ricky Choi, social media strategist for LivingSocial, reminded the audience, “Social media should be visual, personal and conversational.” He noted that social media will be a better marketing tool than email in three to five years and that social media engagement is the sum of interaction and content. Communicators should try to include context without being salesy.

The evolution of the media is happening, but questions remain regarding the best way to translate personal use to the big picture, Noyes reiterated. Choi suggested more education as one possible solution. Facebook is trying to educate younger users on how to be good digital citizens and understand that reputation is important. The social media giant is working with outside thought leaders to encourage people to use their privacy settings effectively.

Moderator Mike Schaffer, director of social media, iostudio, asked the panelists for brands who are using social media effectively. The panelists touted Dell, for its various social media identities and customer service, and Pepsi for its Refresh Project.  ABC anchor Diane Sawyer was praised for use of social media.

(Read the full Twitter Chat Transcript in the BurrellesLuce Resource Center)

Facebook Stats
To understand the full usefulness of Facebook communicators should consider these statistics:

• One out of every eight minutes spent online is spent on Facebook.
• The average Facebook user has 150 friends.
• The average user is connected to 80 groups.
• 25 percent of users’ time online is spent on social networks.
• Facebook grew 500 million users in two years.
• To translate Facebook to 70 languages it used crowd sourcing.
• The fastest growing Facebook audience is seniors.

A key question for accessing ROI: what’s the value of a follower or a fan? It was suggested you need to look at who your fans’ influence and what is the possible amplification.

Tips for Using Facebook Effectively
In general, there is a generation gap with social media. The youth embrace social media, but young professionals need business experience to harness its power effectively. Some best practices for Facebook:

• A one-line post will see increased engagement.
• Post a question or a call to action.
• Post one story idea a day to entice reporters.
• Photos and videos increase interaction.
• Start a conversation.

Choi suggested considering dividing your social media team into those who are responding to issues proactively and reactively. He also encouraged using a promoted hashtag for indexing.

Want more tips on how to effectively use Facebook in PR and marketing? Johna Burke, SVP BurrellesLuce, will be leading a workshop and speaking at the PR News Facebook Conference held at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on December 1, 2011.

Where do you think social media is headed in the future? How can communicators use it more efficiently?

My last few BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas posts have focused on integrating online video into your public relations campaign and creating, marketing, and measuring online video in PR. Both were inspired by a recent PRSA-NY panel. For this post, the third and final in the series, I thought we could discuss how to enhance online video with live streaming and SEO, as taken from the panel.

The event featured presentations from Joe D’Amico, PopTent; Jake Finkelstein, Method Savvy; Jonah Minton, Ustream; Mark Rotblat, TubeMogul; Eric Wright, DS Simon; Jim Sulley, newscast US; and Larry Thomas, Latergy.

It was followed by a roundtable Q&A moderated by Jason Winocour, social and digital media practice leader at Hunter Public Relations.

Recipe for SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Marketing and communications professionals often talk about the need for engagement and the desire for their videos to go viral. Who wouldn’t want millions of people viewing their videos and spreading them across the web seemingly overnight?

While it’s not impossible to fulfill that goal, the success of a video is quite relative. It won’t matter how great or potentially “viral” your video is, if no one can find it online…

Jack Finkelstein, president of Method Savvy, had these tips to share on effective SEO and improving the searchable quality of your video:

• 180 Million Americans watch online video each month.
• Content must be clear not blurry.
• From a technical perspective, include keywords in file name as this adds value to SEO.
• For video titles, put the keywords you want to own early in the title.
• Include a description of the video. Put the URL first or include the link early-on in the summary.
• Use relevant tags to increase discoverability.

Live Streaming
Live streaming (not to be confused with life streaming) is necessary for high-level social engagements across multi-platforms, including mobile, tablets, apps and internet protocol television (IPTV), confirms Jonah Minton, VP of sales, Ustream, Inc.

Minton suggested the following tips for increasing the effectiveness of your video efforts via live streaming: 

• Distribute events through mobile web.
• Keep it RAW.
• Utilize multi-bit encoding devices.
• Plan ahead for “production problems.”
• Be realistic about your budget. Get quotes and budget in advance.
• Engage users (before, during and after) the event. Be social; engage all social outlets.
• Provide video on-demand.
• Reach out to content users via your PR team.
• Stream live video from a press conference or corporate event to convey your story visually.

One in every thirteen people on earth is an active Facebook users (500m+) and 35+ year olds making up over 30 percent of users, with 55+ year olds becoming the fastest growing demographic – why aren’t more organizations using live streaming of events to reach their audiences?

How are you using live streaming and SEO to optimize your video PR?

***

Bio: Alfred Cox is a rare commodity of a performer who combines a relentless drive to succeed with the ability to provide “first-person” touch to his clients, creating loyalty and repeat business. He has a hard-nosed work ethic in a results- driven environment and he is often called the “Network King.” Alfred has been in the PR industry for the past 18+ years and joined the BurrellesLuce team in 2011. Connect with him on Twitter: @shantikcox Facebook:  BurrellesLuce LinkedIn: Alfred Cox

Recently I wrote a post, here on BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas, outlining key tips for integrating online video into your PR campaign from a recent PRSA-NY panel. For this post, I thought I would re-cap some of what I thought were the most compelling best practices for creating, marketing, and measuring online video content – as discussed at the event.

The event featured presentations from Joe D’Amico, PopTent; Jake Finkelstein, Method Savvy; Jonah Minton, Ustream; Mark Rotblat, TubeMogul; Eric Wright, DS Simon; Jim Sulley, newscast US; and Larry Thomas, Latergy.

It was followed by a roundtable Q&A moderated by Jason Winocour, social and digital media practice leader at Hunter Public Relations.

How to Create Online Video Content
Nearly 89 percent of journalist report that they regularly include online video content in their stories. But how can marketing and communications professionals create compelling video content?

Jim Sulley, president of Newscast U.S., had these best practices to offer:

• Understand who you are trying to reach. Who are your target demographics?
• Get the attention of the people watching. You only have 10 seconds to hook their interest.
• Shoot to script, don’t script to shoot. In other words, take the time to plan your videos and write a script.
• Create biscuits, little surprises along the way, and don’t give away the ending upfront.
• Be truthful. And remember, production values count.
• Entertain or DIE.
• Too much text is annoying for online video.

When creating video content, you will also want to get your online community, stakeholders, and agencies involved, as this with provide you with feedback and help you market your initiatives.

Joe D’Amico, vice president of sales, Poptent had this advice to share:

• Initially, your objective should be to create 30-60 seconds of video.
• Work closely with the PR agency and provide the agency with a variety of creative approaches.
• Consumer insight is vital. Direct consumer engagement and take advantage of strong social media outlets.
• Showcase performance – such as votes and comments received from consumer engagement.

How to Market Online Video and Measure Results
It isn’t enough just to create compelling digital video and push it out to your constituents. PR and marketing professionals need to understand how video fits in to their larger communications and branding strategy and report on those results.

Mark Rotblat, vice president of Sales, TubeMogul, provided these tips for marketing online video and measuring results:

• Brands must determine what are they looking to accomplish through their budget.
• Paid Media drives Earned Media.
• Paid video drives consumers to your site.
• Owned Media (e.g., a company website) – Video improves conversions for web retailers by 64 percent.
• Broadcast your video on popular public websites such as, YouTube, Google video, Yahoo video, and dozens of other user-generated sites.
• When social sharing always include clickable overlaps to Facebook Fan page and social media games.
• Use click-through rates to measures the value of the video.
• When reporting ROI, know who’s watching, where they’re watching, and what sites they are watching.

In my next post, I will examine how live streaming of video can enhance engagement and community participations, as well as ways to effectively optimize video content for online search, as discussed at PRSA-NY.

How do you use digital video to connect with your stakeholders and constituents? What tips can you provide for marketing and measuring the success of online video campaigns? Please share your thoughts with me here on Fresh Ideas.

***

Bio: Alfred Cox is a rare commodity of a performer who combines a relentless drive to succeed with the ability to provide “first-person” touch to his clients, creating loyalty and repeat business. He has a hard-nosed work ethic in a results- driven environment and he is often called the “Network King.” Alfred has been in the PR industry for the past 18+ years and joined the BurrellesLuce team in 2011. Connect with him on Twitter: @shantikcox Facebook:  BurrellesLuce LinkedIn: Alfred Cox

Last week, on October 27, 2011, I had the opportunity to connect with industry professionals at the PRSA-NY panel, Successfully Integrating Online Video Into Your PR Campaigns.

The event featured presentations from Joe D’Amico, PopTent; Jake Finkelstein, Method Savvy; Jonah Minton, Ustream; Mark Rotblat, TubeMogul; Eric Wright, DS Simon; Jim Sulley, newscast US; and Larry Thomas, Latergy.

It was followed by a roundtable Q&A moderated by Jason Winocour, social and digital media practice leader at Hunter Public Relations.

Why Digital Video
Fifty-nine percent of Americans get their news every day from online and a mix of broadcast, radio and print sources. In fact, it is predicted that “by 2015, the demand for online video is expected to grow by 81 percent.”

Eric Wright, senior VP of marketing and business development, DS Simon Productions, Inc., offered additional insight on why digital video matters to the media.

• AOL Newsroom is now bigger than the New York Times.
• Journalist are using online video on their website.
• 79 percent will use more online video in their messages.

Interestingly enough, over 50 percent of journalists say that video is vital to their jobs and that HD is the most important format.

For these reasons, among others, it is imperative that public relations professionals use video to engage and build relationships with stakeholders, the media, and the community. However, PR folks have lots of homework before integrating online video in their campaigns.

Best Practices in Mobile Video
So what are some of the general best practices in mobile video?

Larry Thomas, president of Latergy, LLC, says that communications professionals need to understand that “mobile video is here to STAY.” From there, we need to

• Focus on the story and know our audience(s).
• Tell the story “simple.” In other words, be sincere, be brief, and be seated.
• Distribute to all platforms and screens – and have the stories play on multiple types of mobile devices.
• Make sure your story is visual.
• Leverage your web video assets to reach the rapidly expanding mobile media market.

In a follow-up post, I will be exploring best practices for creating, marketing, and measuring online video as suggested at the PRSA-NY panel.

In the meantime, what other general online and mobile video tips can you add? Please share your thoughts with me, here, on BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas in the comments below.

***

Bio: Alfred Cox is a rare commodity of a performer who combines a relentless drive to succeed with the ability to provide “first-person” touch to his clients, creating loyalty and repeat business. He has a hard-nosed work ethic in a results- driven environment and he is often called the “Network King.” Alfred has been in the PR industry for the past 18+ years and joined the BurrellesLuce team in 2011. Connect with him on Twitter: @shantikcox Facebook:  BurrellesLuce LinkedIn: Alfred Cox

Even though the PRSA International Conference was my 12th in the past 13 years, I was excited about this year’s theme of Envisioning the Future of Public Relations. As I’m a PRSSA mentor and adviser, and vice president of BurrellesLuce Media Contacts, the future of the profession is close to my heart.

One of the sessions I attended was led by my colleague Johna Burke, on the topic of storytelling and its importance in this digital age. I came away with two pages of typewritten notes, but here are what I believe to be the key takeaways.

Burke began by stressing that storytelling is the core competency in the public relations profession, next to great writing. She talked about this being the “Web 2.0” of storytelling. No more is it just local library readings, storytelling festivals and other analog channels. We now have multimedia, hypertext, social media, user-generated broadcast, etc. Public relations professionals must leverage the art form — make your story compelling, make it stand out.

Blasting your message out to the masses is not the way to reach everyone. The most important considerations:

• Where is your audience? Target your story through the proper channels.
• What matters? Understand who your community is and what they want. 
• What is sustainable? Understand how your organization makes and spends money. Channel your resources in the proper way so that you aren’t wasting time and money talking where no one is listening.

In the spirit of being in Orlando, Burke referenced Walt Disney as one of the best storytellers of all time; he knew who his audience was. He knew that kids were his primary market, yet he recognized his secondary market was the parents (using allusions above the kids’ heads to amuse the adults). He also didn’t forget there’s always a tertiary market — audiences we may not have originally anticipated but who still matter and who take an interest in our stories. These audiences should be identified as they emerge. 

The key is to understand what your brand means. Being generic dilutes the message.

Public relations professionals must empower their audience by digging deeper, driving the story. She warns to beware of the desire to be the newest, coolest — using the “all sizzle, no steak” analogy. People see through this, and will not support long-time relationships, which is what you need. You do want to be relevant — visuals, videos, info-graphics are powerful, but don’t miss the opportunity to tell your story.

Tressa Robbins is vice president of Media Contacts for BurrellesLuce. Tressa is a regular contributor to BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas blog, a member of the St. Louis PRSA chapter, Champions for PRSSA section member, PRSSA mentor and Professional Adviser. She recently served as a panelist for the PRSSA National Conference and speaks at the local and regional level. Connect with Tressa on LinkedIn and follow Tressa on Twitter @tressalynne.

Transcript -
JOHNA BURKE: Hello, this is Johna Burke with BurrellesLuce and I’m here at the PRSA Connecticut event on social media. I’m joined by Lane.

Lane, will you please introduce yourself?

LANE SUTTON: Sure. I’m a 14-year-old social media coach and entrepreneur for diverse types of businesses.

BURKE: Lane, you just did a presentation about social media. Can you tell us a couple of the key takeaways in working with the youth today via the channels of social media?

SUTTON: Definitely. So no broadcasting, OK? So we’re in the era where PR releases do not work on social networks. And now we need to engage and listen and have bigger ears out there. And then also customer service is a huge differentiator for PR in that what–that’s what sets companies apart from each other. And lastly, PR has been used so much. You know, it’s all about analysis and things. So some great tools to do that would be Hootsuite, Social Mention and journalist tweets.

BURKE: And to show that Lane is very well rounded, he has a pretty exciting announcement. What’s your new position at school when you’re not out public speaking, Lane?

SUTTON: I’m treasurer for student government for my freshman class at Framingham High School.

BURKE: Excellent. Congratulations, Lane.

SUTTON: Thank you.

Earlier this week I had the opportunity to attend the PRSA-NJ panel discussion on Tools of the Trade:  Effective Online News sponsored by BurrellesLuce.  The event was held at the beautiful Monmouth University campus and had a great turnout of emerging journalists and up-and-coming publicists. 

The panel had one consistent message across the board for students and professionals in attendance: 

• Know who you are pitching.
• Know your news hook.
• Be relevant, specific and succinct.

Judith Feeney —  digital editor for NJ Press Media,  Asbury Park Press (app.com), Daily Record (dailyrecord.com), the Home News Tribune, and the Courier News — started the discussion by reminding us there are a vast number of new tools and a lot less time to get the job done.  She suggested that PR and media relations professionals need to become familiar with all of the tools out there.  Know who you are pitching and don’t blanket your pitch to multiple people.  Look at the type of material the publication and journalist produces and tailor your pitch accordingly.

Christopher Sheldon, the Long Branch editor of Patch.com, a hyperlocal publication, said to make sure to include the who, what, where, when and why in the first paragraph.  If it’s not local to his area, he cannot write about it.  His audience is looking for community news.

Christy Potter Kass, assistant editor of The Alternative Press, agreed with Chris and said her publication is also hyperlocal and stories must tie into the values and interests of local readers.  She emphasized not to confuse hyperlocal publications with national publications.  When asked the definition of “hyperlocal,” Christy said the more local the story the better.  News must be about something going on in town or have a connection to the community.

Joan Bosisio, group vice president of Stern & Associates said that (with all the recent layoffs) PR people have an opportunity to help journalists, who are working on stories, do their jobs.  Journalists are now doing more than one job and by presenting them with not only the story, but the materials to help them write the story (e.g., video, spokespeople and social media) you make their job easier.

Kristine Brown oversees PR for St. Barnabas Health, the state’s largest hospital system.  She gave us some real life examples of crisis communications and advised that essential PR skills have not changed with all the new online tools available.  Kristine said you still need to know your audience, know your story, cultivate relationships with the media (this has helped her in time of crisis) and move at the same pace the news is moving.

As for journalists and PR professionals alike, essential skills include: spelling, grammar, and attention to detail. The ability to take your own photos, as a journalist, will also help prospective media professionals stand out.

How are you using online tools to help you connect with journalists and the media? As a member of the media, what other ways can PR and communications professionals work with you to get their stories out? Please leave your comments below on BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas.

***

How to Craft a Proper Résumé
The predominant question of the day was about the length of their résumés. I responded that if a student is active in PRSSA, works for a student-run firm, and is actively interning, then the résumé could justifiably go beyond one page. However, from what I gather, most large PR agencies, as well as communications professors, advise all students to restrict their résumés to one page without exception – going so far as saying students/candidates will not make the grade and/or the résumé would not get reviewed! 

Subsequently, I advised that they stick to the one-pager, but to note there are samples available, and to be sure to have a portfolio of their work ready to take on an interview. However, I still believe that outside of class and the top tier agencies it is okay to go to a second page if the experience warrants doing so.

Timing Your Job Search
Another question I heard frequently was how soon to begin the job search, to which I snarkily responded, “You haven’t begun yet?” 

Seriously, I advised that they should already be thinking about where they want to go (geographically), whether they want to work for an agency, a corporation or a non-profit, and to begin researching and networking accordingly. For example, in St. Louis (where I’m a PRSA member), there is PRSA, IABC (International Association of Business Communicators) and CSPRC (Community Service Public Relations Council).

Depending on where the student has decided their path will be, they should be networking with the appropriate organization by attending mixers and/or luncheons and getting involved. Or, if they’re not staying in the same geographic market, find those people on Twitter and begin connecting and building relationships.  And, if they are already seniors—especially those that graduate in December—if they haven’t already started this process, then they are behind the eight ball!

There were lots more questions, but these seemed to be the most prevalent. What advice would you give for new and existing PR professionals on the job hunt? Or what questions do you have if you’re looking to start or continue your career in communications?

Above: Patrice Tanaka, CRT/tanaka and Johna Burke, BurellesLuce

Above: PR Week US

Above: Deirdre Breakenridge, PR 2.0 Strategies

 
Above: Crystal deGoede, BurrellesLuce, Bugs Bunny

Want to see more photos? Check out the our 2011 PRSA International Conference photo album on the BurrellesLuce Facebook Page… And while you’re there, be sure to tag you and your friends!

The ladies of BurrellesLuce are all ears (and a tiara!) at the 2011 PRSA International Conference in Orlando, Florida. From left to right: Tressa Robbins, Lauren Shapiro, Johna Burke, and Crystal deGoede.

Stop by our booth to see a demo of the Media Outreach, Media Monitoring, Media Reporting and Social Media Monitoring modules of BurrellesLuce WorkFlow and for a chance to enter one of several drawings for prizes. And let us know how you’re enjoying the conference!

The 2011 International PRSA Conference kicks off in Florida tomorrow through Tuesday, October 18^th.  Will you be there? Join Johna Burke, senior vice president, BurrellesLuce, for a workshop on ROI and Storytelling in the Digital Age. And to help get you thinking about storytelling, read the October 2011 BurrellesLuce newsletter in our free resource library.

For those of us not attending this year, myself included, there are ways to experience the conference without being there in person. 

Here are just a few of the ways I plan to capitalize on what surely will be an educational week of professional development:

• Twitter:  Follow the hashtag #PRSAICON to check out tweets from sessions Twitter users are attending.  There’s sure to be live tweeting.  I know the BurrellesLuce team of @gojohnab, @tressalynne, @cldegoede and @_laurenshapiro_ attending the conference will be tweeting under this hashtag.  You may also want to follow the Twitter handles of some of the conference’s speakers. I also set up a column in my BurrellesLuce social media monitoring tool (Engage121) to keep tabs on all these tweets.
• ComPRehension Blog: This is the official blog of PRSA and will be updated with conferences blog posts, podcasts, interviews and other news related to the conference.
• Flickr:  Another source I will check out is the 2011 PRSA International photo stream on Flickr to view event photos.
• Facebook:  While their doesn’t appear to  be an official page setup for the conference, I still plan to monitor PRSA’s Facebook fan page for interesting tidbits, along with some of the local Florida chapters.

I look forward to “listening” to the conference from New Jersey…How are you going to make the most of your virtual, conference experience this year?

***

The social media buzz was unavoidable. A posting by Arik Hanson prompted an idea. BurrellesLuce currently posts transcripts of several industry Twitter chats, so why not see what the social media world is saying about Jobs?

Many of the posts were posted via Apple products, and the re-tweeting of this fact, probably helped to stall Twitter. There were several trending words and hashtags, but the most poignant was #iSad.

Some of my favorite posts were:

• @Peter_Max: Remembering Steve Jobs 4 more than computers & iPhones. His concern for the environment & the idea to Think Different were his true gifts!
• @libbykober: “Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple” #RIPSteveJobs
• @wobiwan: Three apples changed human life; Adam’s apple, Newton’s apple and the Steve Job’s apple. #RIPSteveJobs #iSad
• @ladygaga: From his own invention I open my browser to it’s homepage. Today it took my breath away. #ThankYouSteve. Going to eat Apples all day.
• @claiirebearclaiirebear: My life has been changed and impacted by a man i’ve never met. Such dedication and brilliance. RIP. #ThankYouSteve
• @rene: #ThankYouSteve for all the products you’ve made for Apple. I can’t live without my iPhone 4, iPad 2, & Other products. RIP Steve Jobs! #iSad
• @Vegas__Paul: Steve Jobs: born out of wedlock, put up for adoption, dropped out of college, then changed the world. What’s your excuse #thankyousteve
• @debhalasz: All I know is 10 years ago we still had Steve Jobs, Bob Hope, and Johnny Cash and now we have no Jobs, no Hope, and no Cash. #isad
• The Next Web blog – Beautiful: Public #thankyousteve Tweets visualised into a giant Steve Jobs poster. http://ca.engage121.com/articles/1094388190/
• Apple World – Slideshow: Steve Jobs through the years. http://ca.engage121.com/articles/1093980712/

You can view the entire #iSad and other Steve Jobs related transcripts here.

What are your favorite Steve Job tributes?

If you mistook the clattering of keyboards for cicadas in heat and saw your Twitter feed explode with the hashtag #prndigital, yesterday, then you were probably with me at the PR News Digital PR Next Practices Summit at the Grand Hyatt in New York City. The all-day event was a smorgasbord of useful topics and speakers flinging words such as SEO (search engine optimization), influencers, engagement, and fangate pages.

However, if you have ever spoken to your boss about using social media it probably went like this:

justincaseyouwerewondering.com

If your digital campaign does not translate to the C-Suite language (increased sales, decreased costs, or high ROI) then it wouldn’t matter if you grow their Twitter page to 100,000 followers. They will pull the plug. 

Here are eight steps I took from the panel on Prove the Value of Your Digital Efforts to the C-Suite featuring Margot Sinclair Savell, vice president of Measurement and Analytics at Weber Shandwick, Angela Jeffery, APR and member of IPR Commission and Nick Panayi, director of Global Brand and Digital Marketing at CSC.

1.      Define organizational goals. Make sure your goals are strictly C-suite speak. (e.g., Our goal is to increase sales by 30 percent.) That way they see that you are on the same level.

2.      Research stakeholders and prioritize. This should be done regardless if you are presenting a digital campaign or not; you should always know your audience.  

3.      Ask yourself: What do they care about? I want to add in a perfect line from Margot Sinclair Savell, “Don’t just measure communications; measure the impact on your bottom line.” 

4.      Set social media objectives that correlate with their goals. Now this is where you link your social media efforts to their C-suite objectives. (e.g., With the Twitter campaign, we are launching, our goal is to increase our followers by 50 percent and positive sentiment by 40 percent which in turn will increase our sales by 30 percent.)  

5.      Choose (the right) tools and establish benchmarks. Once your campaign has launched, use tools and benchmarks to monitor how your campaign is playing out in The Media. Remember to monitor both the social media goal and the main goal (C-suite objective).

6.      Analyze, Analyze, Analyze! Be sure to use both qualitative and quantitative metrics and have these also tie back to your communications and C-suite objectives.

7.      Present to management. Remember to add charts of correlation between the campaign and the C-suite objectives. Translate metrics into the language.  

8.      Continue to build on that foundation: monitor, analyze, and improve. Review and revamp your strategy and tactics, making sure to revise as departmental and C-suite objectives evolve. 

So, how are you proving your value of your digital efforts to the C-suite? Please share your thoughts with me, here, on BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas.

 ***

Before joining the BurrellesLuce team in 2011, as social media specialist, Ruth worked as a marketing assistant in a kitchen design firm and, later interned with Turner Public Relations. She holds a BA in Economics with a minor degree in International Relations from Rowan University. In addition to economics, education, and finance – Ruth is passionate about understanding the business implications of social media, including how it can be used to increase ROI, find and maintain a career, and create a business. Connect with her on Twitter: @RuthMesfun LinkedIn: Ruth Mesfun Facebook: BurrellesLuce

Transcript -

JOHNA BURKE: Hello, this is Johna Burke with BurrellesLuce, and we’re here at Counselors Academy. We’re joined by Alan.

Alan, will you please introduce yourself?

ALAN COHEN: Absolutely. My name’s Alan Cohen, and I’m president of Acts of Balance Executive Coaching and Training based out of New York City. And I work with public relations executives and PR firms to help develop more effective leaders, and I work a lot with communications skills and team-building.

BURKE: Great. Alan, you did a session on tough conversations for PR practitioners and agency owners here. Can you give us a couple of your insights as far as how people can set up and then have those tough conversations?

COHEN: Absolutely. One of the most common things that I see in my practice is people really avoiding having those tough talks. And in avoiding them, they actually make the situation even bigger and more volatile. We largely like to be people pleasers, and so we avoid having the conversations that may be unpleasant, may provoke some strong emotions. But what I do is really help develop people to think, to plan in advance, to go through a multistep process to really think about how they’re interpreting the situation, to really align their values with having the conversation and to really, really plan it out so that the conversation will develop into a real win-win-win; a win for the individual having the talk, the–a win for the person who’s being spoken to, and really a win for the relationship overall. It’s really about a collaboration. So as leaders, we need to have the courage to have the difficult conversations. And leadership is not always easy, but it’s important that we stay in integrity by really addressing the situations that are causing us discomfort.

BURKE: Alan, thank you so much. Where can people connect with you online and in social media?

COHEN: I’m at actsofbalance.com, and my Twitter handle is actsofbalance.

Or you can join my Facebook fan page, also Acts of Balance.

BURKE: Thank you so much, Alan.

COHEN: Thank you.