New Professionals Section May 2010 Newsletter
In This Issue:
- Letter from the Chair
- Membership Update: Searchin'
- Summer Book Club
- In Case You Missed It
- PRSA New Pros Blog – Check out April's Posts
- Membership Spotlight
- Upcoming Events
- Industry Articles of Interest
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What member benefits?
As a member of the New Professionals Section you gain access to some of the best networking, learning, and professional development opportunities PRSA offers.
Below is a list of all of our member benefits, but if you do nothing else today, join the New Pros group on LinkedIn. Through this platform, you will hear all of New Pros special offers and announcements.
Networking
- eGroups - Interact with your fellow New Pros through the New Pros e-Group. Login to MyPRSA, and you’ll find eGroups in the link list on the right side.
- Facebook - Stay up-to-date with current articles, events, and more by liking us on Facebook.
- LinkedIn - Link up with your fellow New Pros, hear about upcoming events, and get member-only announcements by joining our LinkedIn Group.
- Twitter - Connect with New Pros from across the country on Twitter by using our Section hashtag #npprsa.
Learn
- Teleseminars and Webinars - Get access to more than three teleseminars each year that are designed to meet the needs of New Pros and are offered at a greatly reduced rate. (Join the LinkedIn Group to get these special announcements.)
- FREE Brown Bags - Join two FREE brown bags each year. (Join the LinkedIn Group to hear these special announcements.)
- Blog - Keep up-to-date with issues and experiences facing New Professionals through the New Pros Blog.
Professional Development
- Blog writing - Increase your credibility by writing for a professional organization’s blog—the New Pros blog! (Contact the Communication Chair or reply to this post in the eGroup)
- Volunteering - See the events and activities you want by volunteering to help the New Pros Executive Committee. (Contact the Chair or reply to this post in the eGroup)
- Mentoring - Get mentored by a seasoned pr professional. New Pros mentoring is coming this year (likely in the fall or winter). (Stay tuned to our LinkedIN group for the announcement)
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Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller wrote a hit tune in 1957 called Searchin, all about a guy who is looking far and wide for his lost love.
Today, your Facebook and LinkedIn accounts will tell you how many people have searched your profiles, and you can do your own searching, too.
[What no numbers this month, Mr. Rocket Scientist?] OK, let’s get the numbers out of the way…Ta-dah! For the 4th consecutive month, our Section membership has increased. Now back to the music.
In April’s newsletter, we announced that the Section is starting-up an “Intro to” blog series in which each month we profile a different industry setting where PR pros work. To complement the series, we are posting monthly on the PRSSA blog (that’s the PRSA student society) a short first-person account of a typical day in the business. So, recently, we posted an Intro to Small Business PR, and here is what ran on the PRSSA blog.
I will be searching the New Pros Section membership directory for prospective bloggers in select industries, so check your inbox for upcoming opportunities to contribute!
Mike Greenberg, Director of Membership
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As a New Pro it’s important to read the latest books relevant to your career and industry. So, to ensure you stay on top of your game, the New Pros will be launching its first ever summer book club. Starting in June and running through August, we will be select some of the most relevant and thought provoking books for our members. Using the New Pros blog as a platform for discussion, the first two Friday’s of every month will feature book club related posts. For each book we will pull out and highlight the most important concepts and share our insights on how best to apply them to enhance your performance, career and everyday life.
So far we have chosen two great books for June and July:
- June - "Social Pollination" by Monica O'Brien
- July - "Made to Stick" by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
Here are three books we are considering for August:
- "The New Rules of Marketing and PR" by David Meerman Scott
- "Crush It: Why NOW is the Time to Cash In On Your Passion" by Gary Vaynerchuk
- "Trade-off: Why Some Things Catch On, and Others Don't" by Kevin Maney
You can help choose the book for August by voting in our online poll on Facebook. Do you have a better suggestion for August? If so, we are happy to receive recommendations. Visit our Facebook page and submit a book title for us to consider. All votes must be cast by May 31!
There will be more information to come on the summer book club, so please check the New Pros blog and social media profiles for updates as we move closer to the launch!
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In April, the New Pros hosted a Brown Bag teleconference that explored post-graduate options for PR professionals. For those who missed Laura Reilly’s insightful presentation, visit the New Pros website to listen to the audio podcast. In case you need a refresher, the Master’s degree vs. APR teleconference:
- Compared the processes for obtaining a Master’s degree and an APR
- Discussed when might be most beneficial to begin the process, for those just coming out of undergraduate school or returning students
- Reviewed the career growth potential of each option
Keep checking our blog and social media profiles for more upcoming events you don’t want to miss!
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PRSA New Pros Blog – Check out April’s Posts
- Networking... "What do you do?" and Why Your Answer is Wrong by Janet Krenn
- Making networking strides by taking baby steps by Brian Camen
- Intro to series… Government/Military Public Affairs by Barbara Burfeind
- Your PR career… Making a Move by Crystal Olig
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- Name: Harry Lundy
- Company: U.S. Air Force
- Position: Public Affairs Specialist
- Type of Work Performed: I am in a management internship so I have a variety of duties. For the past six months I worked on community relations programs with bases under the Air Force’s Air Combat Command. I am now in Internal Information and write stories for our website and provide content for our social media pages.
- One Lesson I’ve Learned on the Job: You can never be too prepared. When I worked in community relations, the public affairs offices at base level looked to me, at command, as the expert. I read and reread, then read again, how a program worked before sending out instructions. I also highlighted certain areas so I could provide answers quickly in the event of a phone call.
- Social Media Channels I Use: At work we use Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr. Personally, I use Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Having a smartphone has increased my Twitter usage and I am starting to use Foursquare now.
- Areas of Interest: I’m enjoying writing articles and seeing them published, but I really enjoyed community relations. I like being able to make an impact in that area and to meet with people face-to-face.
- Educational Background: B.S. in Media Studies (Public Relations and Journalism), minor in Business Administration from East Carolina University
- Hobbies: Traveling, golf, playing video games and cheering for my favorite sports teams.
- Extracurricular Activities: PRSA, PRSA Virginia Peninsula and member of the New Pros Section of PRSA.
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One Day Seminar: Accreditation Power Play: Get Prepared for Accreditation in Public Relations
Wednesday, May 19, 2010, New York, N.Y., 9a.m. – 5p.m. Eastern
Know what is expected, get organized, study the right materials and follow the right process — this is the best way to earn the APR credential. The Accreditation Power Play answers your “How do I … ?” questions. Come ready to listen, take notes, ask questions and get started in an intense, one-day session that provides:
- The details of the application process, from filling in the forms, preparing your portfolio and managing your Readiness Review to taking the Examination for Accreditation in Public Relations.
- A personalized checklist to evaluate your expertise in the “family of 10 KSAs” (Knowledge, Skills and Abilities)
- The inspiration to get started on your APR track
For more information or to register, click here.
Webinar: How to Develop the Mind of a Strategist - Getting to the Table Earlier and With More Personal Power
Thursday, May 20, 2010, 3 p.m. Eastern
What are you doing to achieve more influence on strategy and key decisions? Do you really have the mind-set to get your boss to listen? This dynamic and highly interactive 90-minute session is about these two questions and more. Jim Lukaszewski will help you look inside yourself to see what you need to accomplish to become an effective strategist. He will discuss techniques and strategies for getting important matters before important people, being influential within your organization, selling ideas and helping management stay focused.
For more information or register, click here.
On-Demand: Develop an Approval Process That Doesn’t Drive You Nuts
Nothing makes your public relations and communications writing jobs more frustrating than the approval process. It stalls production, garbles your copy and turns you from a professional communicator into a whining comma jockey. The truth is, you don’t win the approval process war comma by comma. If you’re begging for the authority to choose whether “that” or “which” is the right word to use, you’ve already lost. In fact, the only way to win the approval war is for the communications group to own the approval process.
For more information or to access the presentation, click here.
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- 10 Reasons to Delete Your Facebook Account – Dan Yoder, Business Insider
- Early Career Moves Are the Most Important – Don Peck, National Journal Magazine
- Is It Time to Restock Your Social Media Toolbox? An A-to-Z List of Tried, True and New Web Tools for PR – Steve Momorella, Bulldog Reporter
- Debunking The Millennials’ Work Ethic “Problem” – Erica Williams, Harvard Business Review (Conversations Blog)
- The Case for Converging Your Personal/Professional Networks – Steve Rubel, The Steve Rubel Stream
- Facebook Adding Location Features This Month – Jolie O’Dell, Mashable
- Portfolio Tips – Christina Khoury, PR Breakfast Club
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We Want to Hear from You!
The newsletter committee welcomes content for its newsletters. Consider submitting information about recent and upcoming events, career tips, feature spotlights (Chapter, member and mentor) and any other ideas. Send your questions and/or recommendations to the PRSA New Professionals Communications Co-Chairs, Brian Camen and Andi Wilmes.
Please note: All submissions and articles are provided by and for members of the PRSA New Professionals Section. For questions about this newsletter or to submit content for review, please contact Will Titus.
