For our final general meeting of the year, our own 2003 Chapter President, DeAnn Baxter, APR, joined us as our speaker. Baxter is the manager of Public Affairs and Communications at Coca-Cola Refreshments for the Pittsburgh area.

Now I am officially taking on the new role, which involves less research and more writing. Lots and lots of writing. I’m really excited for this opportunity and I look forward to sharing my writing with you!

While studying at Penn State, Arrabito was very involved in our PRSSA THON committee. Even though this isn’t exactly related to public relations, it is important to do things like that to build your character. “Show passion points,” she said.

During her time in school, Arrabito had five different internships. Some of the highlights include The Scout Association in London, KMR Communications in New York, and Off The Quad in State College. Her internship at KMR was important because it introduced her to consumer PR, which she found out she loves.

Arrabito shared 10 tips for success:

In an interview, it is important to “ask questions that show what you can provide to the employer, not the other way around,” she said. Ask about the company culture or how the interviewer got to that position in the company.

“Demonstrate your drive to learn and showcase your leadership experience,” Arrabito said. These are essential for standing out.

In January of her senior year, Arrabito began her post-grad job search. It wasn’t until October 2011 that she got her start with Emanate PR, an agency born out of Ketchum.

Arribito loves the optimistic, “think-big attitude” of Emanate. She talked about how her agency strives to avoid blunt-force marketing by focusing on relevance marketing. To easily demonstrate the difference, she showed this video.

She also talked about a day in the life of an entry-level professional. The standard answer for this question is that “every day is different,” but Arrabito listed some constants about her job. Every day starts with media monitoring, researching industry trends to share with clients, writing agendas and compiling reports of campaign results. These tasks seem daunting at first, but after a while they become second nature, she said.

What makes her job worth while is that she loves consumer PR. Enjoying what you’re promoting makes you better. “It is important to actually be interested in your products,” she said.

It took her a few months after graduation to finally land the job, so she emphasized persistance. If all else fails, “keep meeting new people.”

Here are three tips for effectively using LinkedIn:

1. Remind people of who you are. When you meet someone at a networking event or in a student organization or anywhere else, it’s definitely acceptable to connect with them on LinkedIn. What is not acceptable is to send them a message without reminding them of who you are. At these kinds of events, people are networking with tons of people. Change the default message to say, “Hi, I loved our conversation about X at Y and would love to connect with LinkedIn.” This is a simple way to make your network stronger and more meaningful.
2. Join groups. There are many benefits to joining groups on LinkedIn, and you don’t have to receive those daily emails to do it. The biggest complaint I heard about groups is that they send daily digest emails. These can be turned off from your settings on the group page. After that, use the group to make connections, find job postings and read valuable articles and discussions.
   
3. Follow companies. Like groups, it is great to follow companies in your industry or places you’d like to work. Company LinkedIn profiles have job listings and other cool features. The great thing about job postings on LinkedIn is that it shows you who you’re connected to in that company, so you can ask your connection to put in a good word. This is what networking is all about and that’s why LinkedIn is the best professional social network.
   

There are lots of ways you can use social media to your benefit when searching for jobs and internships. How do you use it?

1. Make your own video. The SeaWorld representatives had iPhones queued up to film visitors dancing against a snowy backdrop. Then they played it back for us, now dancing along with virtual penguins! They told us that we could do this at home with their Epic Voyage app, along with a few other cool activities. They’re going to email our video to me at some point tomorrow, so I might post it below.

2. Become an explorer. There was a classic face-in-a-hole photo opp where we could pretend to be in Antarctica, working for SeaWorld.

3. Play IceQuest. A claw machine with small rewards inside either cost a quarter, or a shout out on social media. This was a really clever way to get fans interacting on Facebook and Twitter. For those of us with smartphones, SeaWorld got lots of mentions by the visitors who didn’t want to pay the quarter. Pretty clever, if you ask me.

4. Enjoy CocaCola freestyle. The tour, obviously sponsored by CocaCola, also had one of those awesome Coke machines that let you choose from every flavor possible. Everyone got a free cup of the soda of their choosing, a simple and effective way for visitors to remember the Coke brand.

All of these activities surrounded the main event, an igloo in the center that housed live penguins from SeaWorld Orlando. We got to meet Penny and Pete, two of the four penguins that have been flying cross country to visit people everywhere. This was the coolest part of the event for me. How often do you get to see penguins… in a mall… in the middle of Pennsylvania?

Overall, SeaWorld Orlando has done a fantastic job with this promotional tour. I would love to be part of a team that invents ideas like this. I cannot wait to go visit Antarctica for real this summer. Until then, I can play with my new app and admire the penguins from afar.

Last weekend, we raised $12,374,034.46 at the 46 hour Penn State Dance Marathon. I spent 36 hours on my feet in the stands with PRSSA. I am so proud of what my school accomplished this year. This was my final THON as a student at Penn State and it was a weekend I will never forget.

“One guiding objective for all that a nonprofit does is its mission statement,” Henja said. If you truly believe in your organization, it’s mission statement becomes your own.

A mission statement is made up of the what and why about your organization. You need to be able to answer these questions comfortably and confidently.

“No matter message or audience,” Henja said, “your message needs to be sticky.” A sticky message is one that is memorable long after you’ve delivered it. We don’t always have something tangible to share but as communications professionals, we learn to share our stories with our words.

Henja shared a few of his own sticky messages about working in nonprofits:

• Show, don’t tell.
• Utilize people you serve to be your spokespeople.
• You are always a spokesperson.
• Focus on one key statistic that connects to a story, analogy or concrete detail. Lead with a story and then follow with the statistic.
• Appeal to the heart before you appeal to the brain. Your audience will connect one story to the mass.
• People would rather support an individual than a course or a group.
• Find the unique story to inspire your audience.

He also shared some tips for media relations:

• Pick up the phone
• Let the reporter know when to arrive.
• Line up interviews ahead of time.
• Secure a location to film or take photos.
• Provide an angle to your story. – Problem, solution, timeliness, newsworthiness
• Offer to fact check a story.
• Print talking points for potential interviewees.
• Respect a reporter’s time by doing as much of their work as possible.

The final piece of advice Henja gave was to relate to donors through stewardship. This is the most important concept in a nonprofit. It is essential to build an authentic relationship with donors.

“Stewardship is finding creative ways to say thank you,” he said. Little Kids Rock, for example, sends a handwritten letter from a kid with every tax acknowledgement letter they send.

Henja’s passion throughout his entire presentation made me really see the appeal to nonprofit work, something I had never considered before. If my theme park dream doesn’t pan out, nonprofit might be the way to go.

Credibility has shifted dramatically over the last few years. With the growth of social media, CEOs have moved down the list and are considered less trustworthy. The credibility of consumers and employees has increased.

“We create content and conversations,” St. Claire said. Top down communication died as influence evolved. We have moved from one-way communication to dialogue. There are now more sources of information than ever before, and therefore more influencers.

There are seven behaviors that are essential for public relations in this new world.

1. UNDERSTAND that everyone can be an activist now.
2. LISTEN to the conversation.
3. PARTICIPATE in the conversation in real time. You can’t just engage once and be done. Conversation must be ongoing.
4. CREATE and co-create likeable, shareable content. Content drives everything.
5. BUILD narratives to navigate the media clover (pictured below). In PR, we are story tellers.
6. PRACTICE genuine transparency.
7. RECOGNIZE that good business needs profit + purpose + engagement. Purpose and engagement are essential.

St. Claire then showed us the reality of the new media landscape, pictured below.

“Repetition is the mother of successful communications,” St. Claire added. Develop a message and stick to it.

Throughout his presentation, St. Claire reinforced the theme of the day with a changing media landscape. Look out for the final session of the conference coming soon.

“You’re the mobile first generation,” Kmiec said. “But none of you talk on the phone.” This provides a challenge for marketers to target us through our phones. They need to find a balance between interruption and value. Strong brands are blurring the lines between public relations, marketing, advertising and digital.

An example he provided of a strong brand that blends these mediums well is Coca-Cola. The following video combines a clever PR stunt into a digital ad.

Another challenge for marketers, Kmiec said, is that we value experiences over things. Marketers need to recognize this new consumer outlook and shift their promotion tactics to reflect this change.

“There is a shortage of amazing jobs,” he said. So there are important aspects you need to look for in an organization:

• It’s about being wired for digital. People should come in without excuses to perform well. If an organization is set up to utilize digital to its fullest potential, you will be happier at that organization.
• It’s a lifestyle choice. Digital fitness is just like physical fitness. If you don’t keep at it, you will be out of shape and fall behind.
• It’s an everyday commitment. 
• Look for Nerf guns. Kmiec keeps a Nerf gun on his desk, making his workplace more fun. When you interview somewhere look for the Nerf guns. Get an idea of the environment and culture of the organization before you commit.

If you have a choice between 3 years of work experience or an MBA, Kmiec said to take the work experience. “I want someone who comes in with ideas who has done it before,” he said.

“There is also a shortage of amazing talent,” Kmiec said. He is looking for what he called the digital unicorn; this is a person who has and uses technology, marketing, strategy and execution. Be a marketer, who knows digital, who loves social.

The theme of the day was “Gone Global” and Kmiec demonstrated the ways in which the digital revolution has influenced marketing on a global scale. Look out for more of the conference coming soon.

It seems fitting that this time around, I am on the executive board and getting in on the action, rather than watching from the sidelines. Back during the first conference, I had very little insider knowledge of the PR world. Now, with two years under my belt, I’m excited to attend the conference with a different approach. I know what I’m getting myself into and I cannot wait.

The event kicks off tomorrow night with a social at Levels Nightclub. We will have the opportunity to relax and mingle with PRSSA Chapters from all around.

On Saturday, the conference will be held in the HUB. There will be a keynote speaker, Adam Kmiec from Campbell Soup Company, and two break out sessions: 1) Agency and Public Affairs, and 2) Crisis Communications and Non Profit. In between the sessions we’ll get to attend an etiquette luncheon at The Days Inn. Later there will be an internship and career panel, and finally a networking career exhibition.

I’m really excited to go into this event with much more confidence than I had two years ago. And I’m excited to write all about it when it’s over!

Wells, a 2010 Penn State graduate, is the manager of promotions and community relations. His position involves a laundry list of roles including marketing, promotions, designing t-shirts, working with sponsors, overseeing games and even hiring mascots. Miller recently joined the Spikes as a ticket account executive, creating ticket partnerships with individuals and businesses.

After talking about all of his responsibilities, Wells focused specifically on the Spikes’ promotional efforts. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest; ”we’re on every social media platform,” he said.

“A lot of people regurgitating too much. It’s not that. It’s a way to humanize your brand.”

Being a Minor League team, the Spikes have two target audiences: permanent residents of State College and Penn State students. The biggest area of marketing that the Spikes have failed to master, Wells said, is the students. Despite this, recent grassroots efforts have proven more successful.

“We would literally just walk around campus with a megaphone, handing out fliers,” Wells said.

Getting into the sports industry is a challenge. ”With sports, not everyone is going to find a job in their hometowns,” Miller said. “You have to be willing to travel.”

The Spikes hire lots of interns throughout the year. ”Experience is key! We need people to perform straight from the get-go,” Wells said.

“Sports is tough, but it’s a great time.”

My Twitter feed displayed a race as to who could come up with the best blackout jokes. Some claimed it was Beyonce’s fault; others feared that it was Bane. While everyone competed to tweet the best reason, I went into PR mode, in search of the brands taking advantage of this viral event.

Oreo tweeted a simple advertisement that people just ate up (pun intended). Well done, Oreo. That’s how you win the Social Media Super Bowl.

• Crisis Communications – This class is really interesting so far. It’s a very similar class to the Intro to PR class I took, but focuses completely on crisis management. 
• Research Methods in Ad/PR – This is required for my degree.
• Feature Writing – I’m taking this journalism class because I realized last semester that writing features was not my strong suit and I thought it would be a good skill to develop.
• Spanish Advanced Oral Expression and Communication – This course is for my Spanish minor. I’m hoping to be much more confident in speaking the language by the end of the semester.
• Iberian Civilization – This is an online class about this history of Spain and Portugal. I took the second part of this course a few years ago and figured it would be just as good, even though I took them in the wrong order.
• Film Music – I need a certain number of credits that are non-COMM classes, so I thought, why not take an online class about the music in films? This is essentially what my sister is getting a degree in, so I thought it would be interesting to learn a little bit about it.

Plus, I am getting credit for my internship with Come Recommended this semester, which is great.

Aside from my classes there are a few other things I am looking forward to this semester.

• The Penn State Chapter of PRSSA is hosting a regional conference. We hosted one the semester that I joined PRSSA and it’s one of the reasons I loved it so much. I’m really excited to get another chance to hear a few guest speakers and to network with them and students from other schools.
• The following weekend is THON. I am extremely excited for this because I didn’t attend last year’s Dance Marathon while I was in Florida. This is the first year I have been extremely involved with PRSSA THON and I can’t wait to spend 46 hours dancing with them.
• I am going on my first-ever Spring Break vacation this year with my roommate. We’re going on a cruise to the Bahamas. I’ve never been, so I am unbelievably excited for this.

After that, I’ll just be counting down until my birthday and summer, and hopefully learning some things about PR along the way.

She began with some lessons she learned throughout her college and professional career:

• Your first job is your first job. See it as an experience.
• Workplace culture matters. Ask questions about it before accepting a position in the organization.
• Grad school is an option.
• Mentors are important. Use them as an opportunity to seek advice.
• Challenges create opportunities. Overcoming adversity can benefit you and and your organization.
• Teamwork counts.
• Going above and beyond gets noticed. Ask, “what can I do to help?” Thank the HR person for your job with a hand written note.
• Use alumni to find connections your ideal company.

After going through these lessons, Eury shifted gears. The rest of her presentation focused on “enhancing your effectiveness in recognizing and responding to ethical challenges.”

Individual ethical behavior is influenced in part by our values. Values are abstract conceptions of the ‘desirable’ that drive individuals attitudes and behavior. Our values come from many influences in our lives such as family, peers, experiences and society. Ask yourself, which values are most important to you personally?

An ethical dilemma is when your values are in conflict.

• There can be conflict between your personal values.
  • If you value honesty and financial success, do you stretch the truth on your resume to get a higher paid position? Or do you list your skills truthfully and get a position that earns less?
• There can be conflict in your organization’s values.
  • Let’s say you work at a company that values both diversity and customer satisfaction. If a customer says he or she does not want to deal with your employee of a different ethnic background, what do you do? Your choice will violate one of these two values.
• There can also be conflict between your personal values and your organization’s values.
  • If you value honesty and your organization values obedience, what do you do if your boss asks you to skew some totals on a budget report? Do you side with your personal value? Or do you obey your boss?

“It’s okay to stand up when something is wrong,” Eury says. “Say something.”

Everyone faces ethical dilemmas, no matter how big or small the consequences. It is important to be able to leave the situation when something doesn’t feel right. If your values are in conflict, trust your instincts. Think about a person in your life who you would never want to let down (your mother, for example).

It is essential to understand an organization’s values and decide, do your values fit with theirs?

Companies are becoming more like individuals and vice versa, Prince says. We can use this to our advantage when shaping our personal brand. 

Your personal brand, according to Prince, includes your name, image, online id, reputation and network. It is the definition of you, as defined by others. “Your brand isn’t what you do, but what people think you do,” he says.

Prince shared his 10 secrets of personal branding:

• Find yourself. Create a road map including a business plan, a mission statement, objectives and goals. Evaluate yourself with a SWOT analysis. Find your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Once you’ve laid out your plan, follow the map.
• Make an impression. “Live every day life you’re on a first date,” Prince says. Always show off the best version of yourself. You can do this by always having your branding tool kit on hand. Prince says your kit includes: your elevator pitch, website, blog, social media, resume, business cards and breath mints. Whatever your version of success is, mirror these qualities. At the same time, always be genuine.
• Do social right. ”Social media is not a brand strategy, it’s a tool,” says Prince. Anything you post should follow Prince’s IFE IFE Rule. They should have at least two of these characteristics: interesting, funny, educational, impressive, flattering or embarrassing. Use social media to listen, reply, expand and as leverage. One way to take advantage of Twitter is to find influential users, look through their lists and follow the people they follow.
• Be narrow-minded. Don’t be narrow-minded in the regular sense of the term. Prince means that you should follow the plan and follow your gut.
• Be a content creator. Creating content allows you to control you message. By controlling your message, you control your brand. Your content should be high quality and enhance brand. Deliver your own message and “forget the mailman,” Prince says.
• Be a story teller. Simple and truthful stories are the most effective because they make your message memorable.
• Take it offline. Get off the couch and carry your brand in person. Networking is key. You can use the Internet to keep in contact, but much of relationship building should happen in person.
• Repetition of Reputation. Be a consistent version of yourself. Repeated messages shape your personal brand.
• Know your audience. While consistency is key, it is also important to fully adapt your message to your audience. Also make sure to update your tool kit to fit the needs of your audience.
• Have fun.

Prince was a very engaging speaker and I learned a lot about personal branding and social media. Have you used any of these ideas in your own brand?

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This post is the sixth in a series from the 2012 PRSSA National Conference. Be sure to read my previous post about two living legends in public relations.

• Don’t miss opportunities to make an impression. “You’ve got to get noticed. Get out and get to know people running the office. Let them know who you are,” says Cook.
• Ask people for advice. “If they have time for you, tell them your ideas,” says Cook.
• “Be reliable,” says Debrency. If your superiors see you as someone they can depend on, they are more likely to promote you.
• “You need to specialize. Our business has become too complicated to be great at everything,” says Cook.

On overcoming stereotypes:

• Years of experience do not necessarily make you the best person for the job. “You can get just as much value from somebody starting out, as someone who has been there a long time,” says Cook.
• Many employers are looking for young professionals to fill positions that require experience in new media practices. “This age dynamic is working big time in your favor. Take advantage of it,” says Cook.
• Employers look at your life experience, not just your work experience.
• Bring a unique point of view to the table.
• Take advantage of the opportunity these stereotypes present.
• “Be really curious. Be curious about the globe, not just this country,” says Debrency.

On skills for entry level positions:

• Some weak points in recent graduates include analytics, research, technology and creativity.
• As every professional tells you, you need write, grammar and spelling skills. These are essential.
• “I’m looking for someone who can make something happen,” says Debrency. Be able to make positive changes for the organization or the campaign.
• “Find an organization where there are no barriers,” says Debrency. Always be looking for ways to move up in the industry. Never limit yourself.

On mistakes that PR pros often make:

• “Do not let your career take over your personal life,” says Debrency. Keep things separate and you will be more productive.
• Don’t rely on the same old tactics for everything. “You will learn more from trying something new,” says Cook.
• “As an industry, we’re like Clark Kent. We need to be more like Superman. We need to be bolder,” says Cook.
• “Don’t take anything for granted. Hone your instincts,” says Debrency.
• “The advantage of a corporate role is you get to experience the whole organization from the top down,” says Debrency.
• Add value to your organization. “Wherever you go, bring new ideas and new understanding,” says Debrency.
• “I’d like you to teach me something I don’t know,”  says Cook. Most CEOs are just regular people and they’re happy to listen if you have something to say.

On the future of the industry:

• “Long term relationships will drive the future of public relations,” says Debrency.
• “The future is all about change,” says Cook. And the industry is changing at an increasingly rapid rate.

With so many years of experience, the panel had a lot of knowledge of the industry and great advice to offer for the future pros in the audience.

—

This post is the fifth in a series from the 2012 PRSSA National Conference. Be sure to read my previous post about the ten essentials for all PR professionals.

Apparently, he lost his PowerPoint file and had to create a very last minute presentation on the plane.

Here are Scudder’s essentials for a successful PR career:

• Polish your writing skills
• Improve your presentation skills
  • Never use words where an image will work. People remember pictures better than words.
  • Get used to providing lots of examples. “For example,” is your friend.
• Read, read, read
  • Read news, case studies, classics, biographies and autobiographies.
  • “The best writers are gracious readers.”
• Professional demeanor
  • Be nice, humble and tactful.
  • One of the qualities most executives say they are looking for when promoting someone is humility.
  • Share the credit where credit is due.
  • Accept the blame when necessary and be willing to apologize.
• Listening skills
  • Do more listening than talking.
  • Ask the right questions.
  • Seek input.
  • Show interest.
• Know the profession
  • Study successful campaigns and placements.
  • Ask questions to experienced professionals.
  • Get involved in professional functions, like PRSSA National Conference.
  • Find a mentor.
  • “Managing time is critical. I don’t believe in the 16-hour day. It’s unproductive.”
• Know the media
  • Ask journalists what they want.
  • Be a resource for journalists. Be available when they need you and be able to answer their questions.
• Know business
  • Read business pages and watch business shows.
  • Invest and follow stock.
  • Be familiar with how business works.
• Good work habits
  • Some essential work habits are punctuality, reliability and openness.
  • Meet deadlines.
  • Think creatively.
  • Volunteer for things outside of your main responsibilities. People will notice.
• Network
  • Utilize professional organizations such as PRSSA.
  • Get to know other professionals in-house.
  • Involve yourself in interest groups like alumni associations.
  • “People want to deal with other people.” Use your network to be more personable in your business.

After going through his list of essentials, Scudder left us with a few other tips:

• “Work hard, be ethical and do the right things.”
• “No comment says, ‘I’m guilty of anything you want to think I’m guilty of.’”
• “Your number one job is counselor to your boss.”
• “Being unprepared is a nervousness that is not necessary.”

Scudder presented some very valuable information and I will definitely keep these tips in mind throughout my career. Do you have any other tips that he missed?

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This post is the fourth in a series from the 2012 PRSSA National Conference. Be sure to read my previous post about social media and the 2012 election.

Parnell stepped up first. He shared that Facebook users are two times more likely to be engaged in politics than those who do not use Facebook. Additionally, Facebook users are five times more likely to recruit friends to various campaigns (political or otherwise). Facebook users also tend to raise more money than non-Facebook users. All of these statistics prove that social media has become essential to the 2012 Election. Social media users are extremely influential.

Because discussion of the election is so prominent in social media, it is easy for the candidates to say or do something that will become a highlight in online conversations.

For example, during the presidential debate when Romney commented that he would cut funding to PBS, “Sorry Big Bird,” he became an easy target for social media trends. Within minutes, “Big Bird” was trending on Twitter and anyone who wasn’t watching the debate knew that Romney was planning to take away Big Bird. This is just one instance of many where social media has impacted public opinion of the presidential candidates.

Parnell also shared an article that lists nine things we actually know about how social media shapes elections:

1. People and campaigns mostly use social media for dissemination, not dialogue.
2. Campaign websites remain the hub of US Presidential campaigns.
3. But non-major parties tend to converse more on Twitter. Especially pirates.
4. Elite journalists converse, too — with each other.
5. But there’s a potential for nonelite, anonymous users to succeed.
6. Discussion tends to happen around news events that are already being covered.
7. So what remains special about social media is that nonelite users control distribution.
8. Participating more in political discussion online doesn’t necessarily increase political knowledge.
9. The huge effect social media have in elections, then, is that they allow nonelites to frame and distribute content made by elites. For better or for worse.

The presentation then shifted to David Almacy.

He started with an older example of online media, the Barney Cam. Almacy told us that during George W. Bush’s presidency, they strapped a camera to their dog Barney and let him give a tour of the White House during the holiday season. The video was published on the White House website and distributed to the media. On the website, the video only got 7 million hits. This seemed low, but they realized that because they distributed the video across various media channels, these hits were not taken into account. In actuality, the video got 30 million hits across the board.

Almacy also discussed different kinds of media, including social. Society focuses on transmedia storytelling where each type of media (mainstream, hybrid, owned and social) works with the others to provide us with information.

“If content is king, community is queen,” says Almacy. In other words, while creating content is extremely important for any campaign, it is essential to create a community where you can create conversation around your content.

In the 2012 presidential election, there is much more user-generated content than campaign-created content. This is why social media is essential. It houses conversation.

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This post is the third in a series from the 2012 PRSSA National Conference. Be sure to read my previous post about media training.

Trahan began with the three Cs of media relations: control, competence and concern. You must display these qualities on your face, in your words and in your actions.

An example of an organization with good media relations is the United States Coast Guard. Every single member of the organization gets media training. This training is essential to public opinion of the Coast Guard because no matter what is asked, or who is asked, members of the Coast Guard know how to respond to media and maintain their message.

“Listen, pause and think” before responding to media, says Trahan.

When preparing executives in your organization, make sure they know how to respond to questions while maintaing your key messages. Trahan recommends the 5x5x5 rule: prepare your executives with five good questions you would want the reporter to ask, five bad questions and five critical questions. The goal is to be harder on your executives in preparation than you think the media will be.

“It is better to be over prepared than under prepared,” says Trahan.

Before standups or news conferences, Trahan recommends one hour of prep time for each time per minute of air time. So, if you are anticipating a 13 minute news conference, you need to spend 13 hours preparing.

For interviews, you need to open with a 25 to 40 second summary of your message. Prepare with the 5 Ws. Each statement you make needs to stand on its own, so answer questions completely. In filmed interviews, it is important to look at the reporter, not at the camera. Non verbal cues are just as important as what is said. Always remain common and confident. If you know the answer to a question, always answer it. If you don’t know the answer, acknowledge this and explain why.

“To convince your bosses that your methods are good, present them with examples of the good, bad and ugly,” says Trahan.

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This post is the second in a series from the 2012 PRSSA National Conference. Be sure to read my previous post featuring key note speaker, Timothy Jordan.

Kicking off the conference, the Saturday key note speaker was Timothy Jordan, a senior developer advocate for Google. He works with publishers and media companies to help them get the most out Google+.

Timothy began by stating, “57 percent people talk more online than real life.” That is incredibly shocking. We spend more time talking online than in person. When did that happen? Because we are so dependent on the Internet for communication, it is essential to write naturally online, just as you would speak in real life.

Google+ is a great platform for maintaing relationships online. Timothy listed a few notable features he likes best about Google+:

• +Circles allow you to cater your conversation to specific groups of people. You can have groups for family members, classmates, colleagues, etc. With each message you post, you can focus on the specific audience who will get the most out of your message. For example, if I write something personal, I can share it with my friends or family. If I write something about Public Relations, I can share it with fellow PRSSA members or other students.
• +Hangouts are great for multi-person video conversations. Timothy demonstrated the impact of this feature with a video a photographer who used +Hangouts to share his photo walks with people all around the world. The video really showed the powerful impact of +Hangouts. I highly recommend watching the video. It made at least one exec board member cry!

• +Mobile is important because so many people depend on their smart phones for information.
• +You is great because it allows Google to cater your searches to you. For example, if you Google “Paris,” in addition to the standard results, you will also see results recommended by the people in your +Circles. If your friend went to Paris and tagged it in his photo, that photo will appear in your search results, personalizing the way you use Google.

After highlighting his favorites, Timothy discussed ways to utilize Google+ to make your brand relevant. Start by creating a Google+ page. Then link your page to your site and to your advertisements. Linking these pages to each other will improve your visibility in Google searches.

Timothy’s final thought: in all of your online messages, tell a story.

“Connect people with your brand. Connect people with each other,” he said.

Timothy was really interesting and a great start to a weekend full of speakers. Look out for more posts coming soon.

Rob said that public relations is one of the most stressful jobs out there because it is tied to the most important decisions a company makes. ”We’re like the bumper on a car,” he said. “If something goes wrong, you replace the bumper, not the car.” A corporation is not going to replace their CEO after a poorly handled crisis; they will replace the PR person.

He also says that public relations professionals are constantly on the go. To explain this, he told us about when he worked in sports. After a Monday night football game, most viewers go to sleep. But the PR person, has to stay late after the game, travel home and then write a press release for the morning. There is a lot going on after the game ends.

Rob also focused on us as students and some things we need to be aware of to be successful in public relations. He listed five traps in which young professionals often get stuck.

• Trap #5 – Not understanding the market or your worth.
  • Be aware of the size of the industry in the area we want to work.
  • The top cities in the United States for public relations are New York City, San Francisco and Washington D.C.
  • The top states for public relations are California, Texas and  Pennsylvania.
• Trap #4 – Despite what you think, you have not spent enough time thinking about your future.
  • Be aware of who the top professionals are in the PR industry. This includes professionals to use as an example and executives in the companies where we want to work.
  • Focus on how we’re going to get better at our jobs. We can always be improving our public relations skills.
  • Networking with peers is also essential because they could end up in positions that will benefit us in the future.
• Trap #3 – Your skills are not as good as you think. And it shows.
  • “If you want to write better, you need to read better,” Rob said. It is essential to constantly be reading the news from solid sources, so that we can write press releases for these sources in the future.
  • The core skills of a PR professional are writing, editing, proofing and speaking.
• Trap #2 – You don’t capitialize on opportunity.
  • Take advantage of Penn State alumni because Penn Staters love to hire other Penn Staters.
  • It is important to stay active after summer internships. Remain connected these people because they could benefit your career later.
  • Put yourself in the position to be successful. Take risks.
  • If you want to relocate for your career, go somewhere where you already have a support network.
• Trap #1 - Overuse of technology.
  • Don’t forget about the importance of people skills in this business.

Rob had a lot of interesting experiences to share about his many years of experience in PR. I enjoyed speaking with him. He was the perfect guest speaker to kick off the year with PRSSA. You can follow Rob on Twitter @rboulware. Use the hashtags: #LifeInPR or #PSUComm.

I’m really looking forward to the conference because there will be so many networking opportunities and tons PR professionals speaking. Being invited to attend is probably the best perk of being on the Executive Board. We fly out on October 12!

I am now a Campus Representative for the Disney College Program. This is really exciting for me because I get to stay connected to Disney and promote my experience to other students. I will spend the semester trying to get Penn Staters to apply for the program and helping them in any way that I can.

In PRSSA I am now on the executive board as Director of Chapter Development. In this position I, along with my co-director, am in charge of booking speakers for our monthly general meetings, scheduling room assignments, developing monthly themes, and planing and conducting workshops.

And finally, for Valley I am still on the board of directors, but my position is a bit uncertain. With the launch of our new website, Social Media Director is not as necessary as it was when I originally joined the magazine. We have so much more online content now, that there’s not much for me to do in that position. We’re still working out the changes.

I’m excited to jump into some more public relations and communications classes as well.

Both seminars are led by the same instructor, David Horvath. David has been with Walt Disney World since his own College Program, where he was a park greeter at Hollywood Studios. After his program, he returned to school and after graduating with a degree in PR/Advertising, he took a management role at the Disney Store. Eventually, he moved back to Orlando for a role on the opening team at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort, where he won the Partners for Excellence Award. After a few years at the resort, he spent a year teaching Traditions classes to new cast members. From there, he moved to Disney College Program recruiting, and finally became the first facilitator for the Disney Exploration Series.

Using his career path as an example, David explained that most cast members work their way up the ladder in a non-uniform way. They bounce around from positions based on what will be most beneficial to them at the time.

Because David is the instructor for both seminars, the first day was pretty similar for each class. After he introduced himself, he went over the syllabi and talked about how to make the most of our internships. His suggestions included:

• Establish a relationship with your leaders.
• Create a reputation; build your brand.
• Seek out information. Use all of the resources available to you.
• Attend social events.
• Seek out VoluntEAR opportunities.
• Network and be professionally prepared.

We wrapped up both classes with group activities.

During Exploring Marketing, we were asked to pretend we were marketing an entire planet in the future. What would it be called? What makes it unique? What is the demographic? How would we market it? This was a pretty interesting opportunity to get creative. My group decided to create a planet of virtual realities that would be marketed as an escape from real life. We compared it to The Matrix. After most groups presented their planets, David explained how our ideas related to the marketing of Disney Theme Parks and Resorts. Disney is marketed as “quality entertainment” to a few specific target markets. For the time being, he told us that the target market of Disney is families. David also told us that the way to begin a good marketing strategy is to start with an emotional tie.

During Exploring Leadership, we were given a typical schedule for a Guest Service Manager at Walt Disney World. Then we were asked to decide with our groups how we would prioritize each item on the agenda through out the day. All the while, David threw some curve balls at us that would hold up our plans–such as the attraction going down, or bad weather. This was an interesting way to see how stressful a day in the life of a manager can be. It was good to see what tasks would be most important for the operation of our location.

Overall, I really enjoyed my first day of class. I look forward to returning next week when we get down to business, and where the second class doesn’t have to repeat the first class word-for-word. Until then, have a magical day!