Check it out, ya’ll: I’ve put up a Flacks jobs board to make it easier for me to alert you to the career opportunities total strangers, co-workers and friends send me to share with you. What? Well, you get it.

If you are a job seeker, click on the new link to the “Jobs” page up there in the top navigation. From there, you may view current and past listings, subscribe to future listings and sign up to receive alerts via email.

If you are an employer or recruiter, I welcome your job postings in search of public relations, communications and new/social media talent. Please upload your job description and contact information (your name and email remains private) and choose either A) the free, 15-day listing, or B) pay a small fee for a 30-day listing to be featured on the FlackRabbit home page and promoted via the relevant Flacks Meetup listserv. FlackRabbit readers tend to be a transient bunch; although the current listings reflect DC-area opportunities, job openings in all major US cities are encouraged!

Enjoy! And happy job- and talent-hunting! If you have any questions or need help, scroll down to the comment box and shoot me a note, or email me at Margie (at) Flackrabbit (dot) com.

On Monday, August 30,  DC Flacks joined forces with Washington Women in Public Relations to toast the one-year anniversary of DC-area PR and communications pros meeting up, talking to strangers and sharing beverages! More than 85 folks came out to Cedar in downtown DC to celebrate, greet new faces and present the DC Flacks Perfect Attendance Sash to the one and only Joe Flood. He’s only person besides me to attend every Flacks happy hour:

Photo credit: Dave Newman/GroovySoup

View all the photos here and be sure to check out this fun video, courtesy of Vocus, our DC Flacks sponsor:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Special thanks to Frank, DC Flacks member and Vocus PR guy, for your support and sponsorship; Mikias and the team at Cedar for making our party so special; and Washington Women in Public Relations for helping get the word out!

Introducing Dallas Flacks

Congrats to my friend Rebecca for founding the new Dallas Flacks Meetup! If you know a public relations or PR pro in the Dallas area, tell’em to join the group and mark their calendars for the first happy hour on September 28.

Nashville Flacks first Meetup a Tremendous Success

If you declare it, they will come! Congrats to Jena, Mary Beth, Rob and Cindy on their first–and fabulous–Nashville Flacks happy hour! View the photos here. And if you are a Nashvegas PR pro, join the group and attend their next event on September 27.

DC Flacks One Year Anniversary!

I’m still in awe that nearly 80 folks are planning to attend the DC Flacks One Year Anniversary party on August 30. Ha! I remember when I first started the group last August; I was giddy when 12 folks showed up. And two of those were me and my husband. We’re looking forward to celebrating with you!

Find, Join and Start a Flacks Meetup in Your Town

With the success DC Flacks and the rise of Nashville Flacks and Dallas Flacks, I figured it was time to create a Flacks Meetups page for FlackRabbit.com. On the page you’ll see a list of affiliated Flacks Meetups and their official Twitter, LinkedIn and sponsor info, helpful tips on starting your own Flacks Meetup and my email address, in case you need some one-on-one coaching. We would love to add more Flacks Meetup cities to our roster; please don’t hesitate to contact me if you are interested!

For all of the entertainment, information access, and cross-country connections technology affords us, it can really do a number on your soul and psyche. In the September issue of Her Nashville magazine, I offer up three ways to keep technology from re-wiring our brains and zapping our productivity. A teaser:

Force your focus:”While new media multitasking is great, science studies show it may not always be best for our brains. In June, The New York Times reported that scientists have discovered that online multitasking may lead to fractured thinking and lack of focus when offline.”

Stop stalking: “The inherent compare and contrast — and the tendency to dwell on it — that accompanies constantly reading about others’ lives isn’t healthy for you, and it isn’t fair to your friends.”

Leave a morsel of mystery: “Lean on your actual friends and family for help, attention, advice, and encouragement. Meanwhile, share just enough online to keep virtual friends updated, making sure not to upload your entire diary.”

Read the full column here!

When someone asks you, “what do you do?” What do you say? If you’re like many folks, you reply with your title and place of employment. And you know how I feel about that: communicating your title is not really answering the question and certainly doesn’t promote your talents. It’s time to create your personal boilerplate; your own thirty-second elevator speech; a verbal “About Me” that is sincere, to-the-point and purposeful.

This is an exercise in consistently and confidently communicating your own skills, talents and line of work. Without apology! Without shame! Even if you have a title that you view as demeaning or wrong! This is especially important if you are a jack-of-all-trades and it’s hard for you to explain what you do!

I’ll go first. When someone asks me, “What do you do,” I say something like:

I manage public relations at a national policy shop in D.C.—helping very smart and often long-winded folks succinctly and confidently communicate with media and policy makers. I’m also a technology and productivity columnist, and a go-to gal for the social media curious. And I blog about PR and geek stuff on my personal blog, FlackRabbit.com.

Now, it’s your turn. Warning: it is harder than it looks. The good news: you don’t have to memorize it; it can in should be organic. And it may change according to your audience.

When creating your personal boilerplate, try to think about the following:

What do you do? Notice that I did not ask what your title is. Explain to me what you do in a way that I’ll likely understand, even if I don’t know anything about your line of work. For instance, most folks know what public relations is, but not many folks understand what it means. That’s why I include some detail to nudge them in the right direction. Additionally, you should include skills and interests that make you, you. I don’t write a technology column or pen a blog as a part of my day job, but both are a relevant part of my professional work and skill set, so I include them in “what I do.”

What do you want to do? If what you do doesn’t have anything to do with what you’d like to do, find a way to express what you’d like to be doing. When I worked at a place where I was not doing cause-related public relations, I felt the need to express to folks that cause-related PR was something I really enjoyed and did well. You may have a similar career passion or interest that needs to be communicated in your personal boilerplate. Don’t be afraid to tag on something like “xyz…and a healthy obsession with sports marketing.” Or whatever. 

What do you do better than anyone else? What makes you different? I know that I am very good at boosting the confidence of my bosses, clients, co-workers, etc. In fact, my ability to help folks believe they are capable of nailing a media interview, strategizing, taking calculated risks, speaking in front of an audience, etc, is part of what makes me different. So, that’s why I include it in my boilerplate. No doubt you have some secret sauce of your own; be sure to include it in there. Maybe it’s your ability to be the voice of reason in a crisis, your news judgement or nunchuck skills. Whatever it is, find a way to express it.

So, what do you do? Share your boilerplate in the comments!

The past few weeks ushered in milestones, lessons learned, odd requests and fun events. July was busy and productive! Here are the highlights:

My niece was born!

Check it out, folks! The world’s cutest baby, Beverly Emmeline, was born on July 19 and I get to paint her toenails pink VERY soon! Congrats Pavis and Dave; I can’t hardly wait to teach her show tunes and jazz hands:

Photo Credit: Dave Cone or Jon Fletcher; not sure which one of those guys took this, but I’m sure Pavis will let me know when she reads this.

My MacBook died.

I was minding my own business, watching an old episode of Bones on Netflix when my beloved MacBook just up and died. And with it, took every photo, document, file and Christmas card list I’ve ever had. Even our honeymoon pictures. The fault is all mine; Dave has often encouraged me to run a copy of my data on an external drive, but I never did. Lesson learned: back that asset up, people.

DC Flacks rocked the house

I continue to be amazed that folks keep showing up for our DC Flacks monthly happy hour. Our July event was a tremendous success. New DC Flacks member Tamara gave us a great shout-out–complete with video interviews and a slideshow–on her blog. Here’s a clip of my answer to the question, “Why did you start DC Flacks?”

Click here to view the embedded video.

I gave Tumblr a go

You know me, always wanting you to be your own guinea pig. Last night, I decided to set up a free Tumblr blog account and mess around with their templates, settings, dashboard and such. It’s no secret that I’m a WordPress gal, but I find Tubmlr a fun and easy-t0-use blog platform; it’s a good alternative to Blogger, which I never have been able to make myself like. Within about 40 minutes, I had created this (I was guessing at the Flackrabbit colors, since Safari doesn’t have a color picker plugin):

I’ve read a million resumes, hosted three session on how to use LinkedIn

There’s clearly something in the water because you folks are sending me resumes to review en masse. I average about three or four resumes a week now. You’re also newly curious about how to more effectively use LinkedIn. I’ve lead three sessions in the past month on ways to leverage this social media and recruiting network. If you’re looking for a few resources, here are some Flackrabbit posts to get you started:

• You do have a website, it’s called Linkedin
• Three easy ways to leverage LinkedIn
• LinkedIn profile peepers
• Are you LinkedIN or HidingOUT?

The August issue of Her Nashville magazine is out! This month, I give a few tips on how to approach and respond to angry/stupid/snarky/creepy blog post commenters. I know you hate them and want to fight back, but think before you type–and please, don’t stoop to their level. Here’s a teaser:

Don’t Delete
Folks have the right to disagree with you, even if they are snarky and mean-spirited. As long as the comment isn’t a threat, patently offensive, spam, bigoted, libelous, or keeping you awake at night, leave it be. The same criteria apply to newspaper story comment sections; don’t bother asking a paper to take a comment down just because it’s untrue or written by someone who is a complete loon. These are rants from trolls, not statements from the Pope.

Count to 4,756
As bad as the troll’s comment is and despite how angry/hurt/sad it makes you/your company/your mom, it’s not the end of the world. Take a deep breath, step away from the computer, and think before you respond. I know it feels like it, but the entire world at this very moment is NOT actually reading the comment section. Trust me.

Read the full column here!

And as always, if you have ideas for a column topic, please send’em my way by emailing me at Margie (at) FlackRabbit (dot) com.

I’m so happy I have a contact form on this website. I get a steady stream of mail from you folks; mostly with questions about breaking into the public relations industry, how to handle various PR issues or a comment about one of my Her Nashville columns.

Today’s question comes from new reader JM:

I’m a recent graduate who just moved into the Nashville area from California and have found myself to be one of the millions of fish in the employ-me-sea. Any advice/tips for a upward minded new guy?

FlackRabbit says:

Dear JM: You’ll love Nashville. I was born in raised there. I moved to D.C. a year and a half ago, but Nashville will always be home. Family and friends are still there; I still write for Her Nashville magazine; many Nashville folks believe I still live there. Here’s three ways a recent grad can stand out in Music City:

Talk to strangers: many fantastic job opportunities are discovered by word-of-mouth, so start meeting folks! A great way to meet fellow recent grads and potential employers is through Meetup.com. That’s where the Nashville Flacks PR happy hour lives; the first meetup is Tuesday, August 10 in downtown Nashville.  If you don’t find a Meetup group that suits your fancy, start your own. That’s what I did when I moved to D.C. and DC Flacks now has 270 members! After you meet someone new, stay connected with them with LinkedIn.

Give back/show your love for the town: Nashvillians are quite proud of their city; and they don’t call Tennessee the volunteer state for nothin’. Hook up with Hands on Nashville and find a way to use your skill set and meet movers and shakers around the city. You’ll meet folks, make a positive impact in the lives of others and be able to show an employer that your service-oriented. And since public relations is a service industry, a good employer will understand why volunteering matters.

Contribute to the field: in this economy, you may find yourself employed somewhere doing non-PR work while you’re looking for PR work. No matter your current line of employment, you should still find a way to get your voice out there and make meaningful contributions to the public relations field. Your own blog, leaving thoughtful comments on news articles, etc are a fabulous way to do this. Just because you’re not actually getting paid for PR right now doesn’t mean you can’t share your knowledge and expertise. This could mean that you’re only doing what you love/the real career you want at night, but it’s worth it.

If you have questions about public relations practices,  career advancement or just need a little encouragement, scroll down  to the comment box and holla at me!

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I frequently hear from in-house PR pros that their talents are underutilized at work. The truth is that unless your manager is or once was a communications professional, she probably doesn’t actually know how to best use your skill set, let alone take your career to the next level. Don’t take it personally; one doesn’t know what one doesn’t know. Rather than be sad about it, you should view this as an opportunity to “manage up.”

The most successful PR folks I know have paved their own career path by respectfully teaching their boss, boss’ boss and team members how to make the most of a communicator’s talents. Here’s how:

Show up with your own agenda, get buy-in; then, get to work: you are a professional communicator, which means not an hour goes by without you thinking about something creative, strategic or worth investigating. Take the time to map out those thoughts and put them on paper. Be specific about your goal, tactics, timeline and deliverables. Then, schedule a meeting with your manager and present your plan. I’ll bet you a latte that memo gets the greenlight. More importantly, you’ve proven you are proactive and thoughtful. And if your ideas are successful, you’ll make your boss look like a rock star–and she didn’t have to lift a finger. That means the next time you present a memo, she’s even more likely to approve it.

Take care of your boss(es): managing up is only successful when your manager trusts you. Your actions must prove that you are always acting in her/the company’s best interest. It’s often the little things, like reminding her of deadlines and helping her avoid office drama, that will assure her you’re not trying to take her job; you are simply striving to be fantastic at your own. I can’t stress this one enough. If your managing up is seen as an attempt at mutiny or to disable company hierarchy, you will fail.

Lead by example: your manager may not be outcomes- or deadline-driven, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t. Set deadlines and goals for your work and then hold yourself accountable for those results. When your manager and team sees that you are a sincere self-starter who gets things done, they will likely listen more intently to your feedback and suggestions–or at the very least, begin to view you as a leader among your peers.

Be completely transparent: your boss should never have to wonder about your motives and actions. And if your plans are working, she needs to know that, too! Start sending your manager an email every few weeks that recaps your achievements and current to-do list. If a colleague asks what you’re up to, or why you seem to be setting your own agenda, explain your vision for your team’s communication work; then, ask for your colleague’s feedback.

The bottom line: life is too short and you are too talented to sit and wait for your boss, a mentor or fate to boost your career to the next level. There is no guarantee that someone “older and wiser” is ever going to give you appropriate marching orders or come up with something brilliant for you to do. Stop waiting; manage up and pave your own path to success.

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Nearly one year ago, I moved to D.C. declared a PR people happy hour and was shocked when a dozen folks actually showed up. Now, DC Flacks is more successful that I could have ever imagined. We are 250+ members strong, each happy hour is attended by anywhere from 25 to 60 flacks and we’ve even got a fancy-pants sponsor: Vocus!

Building on the success of DC Flacks, I’m proud to introduce Nashville Flacks, co-organized by the lovely and talented Cindy, Jena and Mary Beth. I can’t hardly wait to see what the future holds for this group!

If you’re a PR or communications pro in the Middle Tennessee region, I hope you’ll join us. Membership is free. Like DC Flacks, the group meets once a month for beverages, conversation and ranting laughs. We’ve only been an active group for two days and already have 40 members! Pretty cool.

Now, for those of you not living in D.C. or Nashvegas, you should start your own ____ Flacks chapter on Meetup.com. If you need help, tips or encouragement, just shoot me an email at Margie (at) Flackrabbit (dot) com.

Oh, I’ve had a couple of folks ask and, no; just because I’ve started a Nashville Flacks doesn’t mean I’m moving back to Nashville next week.  I just love Nashville and know that when I eventually do move back, I’ll want there the same type of PR people social hour that I have here in The District.

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