“Can you get a job with that major?” “What exactly would you be doing?” “Isn’t that, like, party planning?”

MSU PRSSA Executive Board 2007-2008 (I’m in the front row, far right.A few years ago, I may have been asking similar questions. But, needless to say, I’ve learned since my wide-eyed freshman year on campus. A lot of my knowledge came from joining the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) at Michigan State University. Last Tuesday, the MSU PRSSA chapter invited me back to speak to its members about “PR 101,” and this is what I shared.

PR is…

The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) accepts the following definition: public relations helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other. I like their use of “adapt mutually” because as audiences evolve and change the way in which they receive information, public relations professionals evolve and change the way they attempt to deliver information. People want to make decisions and form opinions based on accurate information. The center of any PR professional’s job is to communicate messages that are clear, concise and truthful through appropriate channels.

PR is NOT…

…the same as advertising.

It is not about having level-five-restricted control over every word, font, color and person behind your message. It is not about purchasing space in a newspaper, or minutes on TV and radio. PR is about earning said space by serving as a credible and reliable source and often relinquishing full control of your message to a second party. (This is not to discredit the power of advertising, rather to highlight one of the main differences.)

…glamorous.

PR professionals can face high-stress, high-pressure situations, tight deadlines, multiple projects and long hours. The prospect of planning events can falsely paint a picture of cheek-kissing, elbow rubbing and sipping champagne. But, as I touched on in a previous post, event planning involves more minutia than most would like to ever consider. At an event, you rarely have a chance to eat let alone snap a picture with VIPs.

…about making a lot of money.

Entry-level PR professionals can make as little as half of what their business-major peers make. Agency and non-profit new professionals make less than those in corporate or other in-house positions. However, there is generally an opportunity to move up quickly, particularly in agency settings.

So, what is it you do…exactly?

• Write: letters, invitations, Web copy, news releases, newsletters, e-mails, plans, you name it, we write it and usually at around a fifth grade reading level
• Research: audiences, communication channels, client industries, reporters
• Counsel management: serve as an expert and resource
• Design and maintain Web sites
• Pitch: stories, ideas, concepts
• Use social media to communicate and connect
• Plan events
• Create and execute communication plans
• Make to-do lists (I seriously need to buy stock in Post-It…)

Skills needed:

• Writing, writing, writing. Have I mentioned writing?
• Time management
• Ability to problem-solve
• Be organized
• Think creatively
• Multi-task
• Stay informed on trends and news
• Be detail-oriented
• Learn quickly

I’m interested, now what?

As a student

• Join your local PRSSA chapter. Don’t just sign up for the listserv. Show up, be engaged and volunteer for working on projects.
• Intern, job shadow, freelance
• Talk to peers and professionals about the field
• Take writing courses

As a new professional

• Join PRSA, AND your local PRSA chapter, AND the PRSA New Professionals Section. Again, the best way to take advantage of your membership is to be present and be involved. A local chapter and the New Pros Section are the best ways to acquaint you with the association, and connect with other members.

PR may not be as sexy as many perceive it to be. But, I would not trade anything for doing what I love and starting each day knowing it will be different from the last and the next.

For more information about PR 101, check out PR Quickstart from the Council of Public Relations Firms and PRSA Counselors Academy. Also, see below for an unflattering video of me summarizing my presentation, and check out MSU PRSSA’s YouTube channel. (Gotta love freeze frame…)

How do you define PR? Any other skills needed come to mind?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lf3CF0lFivs]

Click here for the live feed

Videos that become viral are usually funny, heartwarming, shocking or cute. Nothing is cuter than watching puppies nap, pounce, nip and tumble. So it is no surprise that a litter of six Shiba Inu (sounds like She-buh E-new) puppies have become the viral flavor of the month. These five-week-old balls of fur are live 24/7 thanks to a webcam and the interactive video site UStream. As I type, there are 26,428 viewers watching the pups sleeping in a pile of crossed paws and noses. According to the TODAY show, there have been more than four million views in the last week.

With millions of fans tuning in from around the world, it seems like there should be a push or campaign driving people to the site. But in true viral-fashion, as described in a recent presentation I attended by Leah Jones, this video’s popularity is an outcome not a strategy. A San Francisco couple wanted a way to keep an eye on the litter while away at work. They installed the puppycam with a public live feed and it was quickly discovered by others on the UStream Web site. The precious teddy bear faces, and adorable high-pitched squeaks entice viewers to check-in as an escape from their daily routines. Each new “awwww” led to the sharing of the video link through e-mails, twitter, facebook, blogs and eventually news media.

These puppies are one example that demonstrates the exponential power of information gone viral. In this age of evolving communication, I find it important to understand and embrace how news of the good, bad, ugly and irresistibly cute travels instantly.

Even though these puppies are to die for, some of my other favorite viral videos include the Evolution of Dance and 3-year-old vs. Monsters. What are some of your faves?

]]> http://www.sarahsiewert.com/test/?feed=rss2&p=102 0 http://www.sarahsiewert.com/test/?p=85 http://www.sarahsiewert.com/test/?p=85#comments Mon, 17 May 2010 00:38:22 +0000 Sarah Siewert http://www.sarahsiewert.com/test/?p=85 The most primitive stage of my social media involvement began in seventh grade when I created my AIM screen name. Even though I spent the entire day surrounded by friends at school, it was imperative to sign in every night to chat. Bleep bloop bleep bloop with each back-and-forth message. The most self-defining online identifier was my buddy profile. It had to be the right color, have “cute” quotes, and subtle hints about current crushes.

AIM held steady throughout junior high, high school and even into college. But then as a freshman at MSU, less than a year after its 2004 launch, I discovered facebook. I heard people talking about the site and was skeptical at first. But one night my roommate and I decided we would try it out. Five hours later, we had profiles created and went crazy adding anyone and everyone we knew. When I first signed up it was still called “thefacebook.com,” you could not upload photos (aside from your profile pic) and it was for a select few colleges and universities only.

Now facebook “facebook.com” has more than 110 million users and is the fourth most trafficked Web site in the world. Throughout college, phrases like “tag me,” “add me,” and “post these” became a part of my normal vocabulary. Logging into facebook became as routine as brushing my teeth. Forget the buddy profile, this offered photos, video, links, messages, groups, and the newly defining relationship status. My favorite facebook reference is this eHarmony parody.

Facebook is still one of my most frequented sites as I find it to be a great way to stay connected and be entertained. But now that I have transitioned to life as a young PR professional, my social media involvement has exploded. It started by reading blogs. I would find blogs about PR and social media, many of which linked to other blogs and so forth. Going to each site individually to look for recent updates became daunting, and then along came RSS. (I currently use Google Reader and netvibes because I love folders and tabs for categorizing!) Next I signed up for twitter. Again, at first I thought it was pretty useless. I quickly discovered it’s like AIM plus blogs plus industry news plus networking (and then some) on steroids. I also created a Linkedin (aka facebook for professionals) profile and frequent bookmark sharing Web sites like del.icio.us and digg.

There are countless other sites I sign in to, but they share a similar purpose – to connect people, ideas, and resources in online communities with the ideology of transparency, open communication and user-generated content. The PR world is witnessing a seismic shift in the way it reaches audiences. I still believe in traditional tactics but am excited by the possibilities yet to come.

How did you first become involved in social media? What is your favorite tool to use now?

Sex and the City PR exec Samantha Jones makes planning events look sexy and fabulous. All you have to do is make a few calls, show up in a killer outfit, grab a cocktail and greet your famous guests with a kiss on the cheek.

Event planning in reality:

Countless of hours of work, endless to-do lists, 4 a.m. wake-up calls and 12-hour days. Coordinating the location (back up location), theme, guest list, invitations, speakers (back up speakers), food, drinks, itinerary, name tags, agenda, talking points, and promotion. Just to name a few.

Planning events can be fun, but it’s definitely not always sexy. I have found that sweating is not uncommon at some point during an event. Carrying boxes of materials and supplies, setting up decorations, and moving tables…all in a suit and stilettos seems to be a right-of-passage to becoming an event planner. Then there is the nerdy three-ring “master binder” that is never far from reach and includes all contact numbers, a guest list, confirmation numbers, sponsor names, people to talk to etc. organized with color tabs of course (see Exhibit A).

Exhibit A: Here I am talking to a sponsor at an event  captured on film with my “master binder”

Challenges can also come up throughout the process including up until the day before an event, the day of an event and hours or even minutes before it is to begin. This is where a lot of the stress can come in. But it’s also one of my favorite aspects of event planning because it gives me the opportunity to be a fast-thinker and put my problem solving skills to the test. In those last-minute crises it is all about evaluating the situation, figuring out a plan of action and sticking with it. Most of the time participants and guests don’t ever realize there was a problem or a change.

Event planning is demanding and requires the abilities to multi-task and work well under pressure. I love walking into my office during event planning season (which is basically from March – November) knowing that this day will be different than the previous and the next. Although there are moments I can become buried in details, I always have my trusty post-its and to-do lists to divide and conquer my tasks, and pull off a successful event.