Social media: You can never say enough

Social Media: You can never say enough

By: Natalie Vaughn

As one of the fastest evolving professions, new trends are popping up in the field of public relations everyday. Some of these include viral marketing techniques and mobility among many others.

But one obvious trend that is becoming a big part of every business professional's life is social media. We see social media in the news everyday, whether someone is making news using the toll or if the tool itself is the center of a story. In fact, many trends that are grabbing attentions can be narrowed down to social media.

According to an article in The Business Times of Singapore, social media has almost too many applications to count. One of these is its role in the decline of traditional mass media. With traditional media, public relations professionals are forced to send their messages through gatekeepers that choose whether or not to publish the material, or that may even change the message beyond recognition. Because social media gives everyone the opportunity to be published, public relations professionals have the opportunity to reach their target audiences without having to go through gatekeepers.

However, in the same article, Dr. Vijay Sethi brings up the point that while businesses have the ability to communicate directly to constituents, honesty and disclosure are vital to maintaining a working relationship with your publics. "In social media, there are millions of eyeballs . . ." Sethi furthers.

What does that mean for this trend in public relations? Keep your message simple, focused, and honest. Not much is worse than waking up the next day to find that your company has made social media news, but for negative reasons.

To read the article that is mentioned above, please visit:

http://www.nbs.ntu.edu.sg/announcements/public/images/photos/BT_20100120.pdf

For more information on how social media can work for you, please visit:

Three Marketing Models for Social Media

http://www.socialmediaworx.com/2010/three-marketing-models-for-social-media-via-adage/

For more general information about social media, please visit the three following links:

Social Media Strategy (a slide show)

http://www.slideshare.net/vaninadelobelle/social-media-strategy-392440

Three Things You Need to Know About Social Media Strategy

http://mashable.com/2010/01/14/social-media-strategy-needs/

How Small Businesses Are Using Social Media for Real Results

http://mashable.com/2010/03/22/small-business-social-media-results/

Never Give Up

Trying to balance being a new mom and having a new career can be difficult for any woman but Tiffany Aguilar handles both with confidence and grace. Tiffany is the Coordinator for the Planning and Marketing Department at St. Anthony Hospital in Oklahoma City. On any given day she handles internal and external communications for the hospital and contacts media about anything and everything the hospital is trying to promote. She writes for St. Anthony's newsletter and plans many of the hospitals fundraising events, such as Celebrity Chef.

Tiffany began her schooling at Rose State College as a child psychology major. After realizing her love for writing she transferred from Rose State to the University of Oklahoma where she majored in journalism.

After graduating from college she went on to work for the news station KFOR in Oklahoma City as an intern and worked her way up to become a producer at the station. She says she learned most of what journalism truly was through her colleagues at the station. She claims that her past experience as a journalist has helped her become a better PR professional because she understands what stories will make it into the market and what the media is looking for out of a story.

Although she is an extremely busy woman at work, she has even more going on in her personal life. She has been married to a wonderful man for 10 years who, at the beginning of their marriage, had to undergo a kidney transplant. Her husband has undergone 10 major surgeries and has really struggled for the past 6 months to save his kidney from rejection. Tiffany thought they might lose him over Christmas but she said with faith and prayer he pulled through it. She was with him every step of the way and never gave up on him. Throughout the past 6 months she has also been caring for their son while he has been in the hospital. Tiffany juggled being a mom, wife and having a career while never giving up on her dreams.

Sometimes it might be hard to balance everything going on in ones life Tiffany can give us all hope that it can be done. She claims that your first job may not be one you love but use that experience for the future. Her final words of wisdom were to never give up because there is something out there for you just work hard and enjoy life.

Supporting the Community through Public Relations

When public relations professionals can still thought of as “spin doctors,” “cherry pickers” and “sensationalists,” Lerii Smith, president and co-founder of Project Partners Inc., serves a beacon, championing community causes through marketing, fundraising, event management, program development and volunteer engagement.

Smith, a Texas Tech graduate, co-founded Project Partners, Inc. 16 years ago because she saw the need for a business that would work to advance community causes. As a former employee of the American Heart Association, the Texas Cooperative Extension Program and the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, Smith brought ten years of experience with nonprofit organizations, event management and public relations to the new company. Project Partners Inc. now has over 50 clients, seven employees and has been named the Fort Worth Chamber’s Small Business of the Year.



Smith said that the most valuable skills for working with businesses and nonprofit organizations are writing and attention to detail, however she also said that you must have a love for what you do.

“The best part of our job is the people we get to work with–nonprofit executives and community leaders…these folks are focused on promoting good.”

When asked what project she was most proud of, Smith replied, “Well, we are pretty darn proud of everything.”

She said, however, that she was particularly proud of her work with the North Texas Clean Air Coalition, a client for over ten years.

“We helped them move from an initiative to a 501 (c) (3), which is a really big shift,” Smith said.

Throughout her years as a professional, Smith has seen a lot of resumes and admits that it is the attention to detail that “sets the really good professionals apart from the not so good.”

She also said that social media is doing the next generations of college graduates a disservice as many people have forgotten, or never learned, how to communicate professionally. She remarked on the importance of a “personal touch,” in professional communication in the form of a phone call or in-office follow-up visit.

Smith acknowledges that the job marked is tough and encourages students to not expect to get their dream job right out of college.

“You must be willing to accept a job within the industry you are most interested in and then work your way up,” Smith said. “Take whatever job and show your worth, then move into the roles you really want to play.”

Smith has definitely proved her own worth as the president of a successful small business owner, who spends her office hours helping others through a job she loves.


Image: Lerii Smith (center) recieving recognition after bring nominated for the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year Award for 2010. Source: http://www.yourprojectpartners.com/

“Don’t get discouraged, it takes time”

“Don’t get discouraged, it takes time”
March 30, 2010
By: Courtney Knutson

Not every college student gets the unique opportunity of observing and experiencing their future career field first hand. I not only got that experience, but I also got it from a professional I would be lucky to work for someday, Jill Harrison.

Jill Harrison is the Manager of Public Relations and Image development at the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber. She is responsible for the creation and implementation of strategic public relations programs, working primarily on both local and national media relations.


When I first walked into Jill’s office in August of 2009, she told me, “My resume looked just like yours when I was a senior in college”. I could only hope to accomplish what she has in her career someday.

Jill graduated from Arizona State University in 2004 with a Bachelor’s in Journalism and Mass Communications, with an emphasis in public relations and strategic media, as well as a minor in Spanish. Her first job out of college was at a PR agency, where she describes it to be “one of best career moves I made”. She learned quickly what she did and did not like about PR and the different industries by working with a variety of clients. Next, Jill went in-house as a Public Relations Specialist at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona in Phoenix. There she was responsible for internal communications for the 1,500 person company with four campuses. Prior to coming to work for the Chamber, Jill was a Senior Public Relations Specialist at Travelocity in Southlake, Texas.

What is Jill’s best advice? “Don’t think you have to do it all at once. You don’t need to start at your dream job, with an amazing salary, writing perfect PR plans and landing front page stories in the Wall Street Journal. It takes time to build your career and you don’t start at the top.”Jill also strongly advises leadership within your community. “Join PRSA, IABC or the board of a local charity,” says Jill. “It is important that you make business connections even when you aren’t job hunting.”Jill is also a member of PRSA, News Bureau and on the board of IABC.

As a mentor and role model, Jill has taught me, and many other interns that have been at the
Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, never to get discouraged with your career. “And finally,” Jill concludes, “it may seem obvious, but it’s amazing how many people forget these things: be on time, have a good attitude, offer help even when you aren’t asked, and find value even in the most menial of tasks!”

Looking Towards the Future

Looking Towards the Future

Monday March 29, 2010

By Lynley Kees

When given the assignment to interview a PR professional, I immediately thought of the Make-A-Wish foundation. In the past years my sorority, Chi Omega, has teamed up with theMake-A-Wish foundation. I have seen hands on what an impact this particular non- profit organization has not only on the family and friends who have benefited from Make-A-Wish, but also the impact it has on its employees. I came across Casey Thompson, who I know through a friend of my sisters who was involved with public relations. I am extremely thankful that I decided to interview her because she helped me immensely and only further accelerated my hopes of working in the field of PR and possibly one day working for the Make-A-Wish foundation.

Right now, Casey works under the Make-A-Wish foundation, where her official title is Public Relations Manager. Casey’s job includes working to accomplish publicizing wishes, where she collects the information from the program services team. She writes press releases and media alerts and then will send them to the media. Casey also works on national programs which are managed be the foundations national office and executed locally. Her most recent national program that she was involved with was with Macy’s department store. Casey’s job was to help raise money to publicize Macy’s wish, so that she an also have them cover the fund raising efforts Macy’s is currently working on. Casey is also in charge of the foundations newsletter, editing, website management, and publicity record keeping. She said that editing would probably be most important because she typically sees all the material that leaves the office.

After Casey explained to me her current job, I was interested to know more about her education and previous work experience. She graduated from Southern Methodist University with a degree in Corporate Communications, Public Affairs, with a minor in English. She had several internships starting from Publicist Dialog to Jet stream public relations. At Jet stream PR, she went from an intern to assistant account executive. She knew that agency life was not for her and after having an internship with the Dallas Centerfor the Performing Arts Foundation, which was a non-profit organization she knew that was where she belonged. That’s how Casey came across Make-A-Wish. She knew she wanted to be involved with a non-profit organization and when a professor told her about the job opening she applied right away and after interviewing she was hooked. She fell in love with the people at the office and noticed how everyone got along so well. Casey says that this feeling has remained the same since she has been working with the company.

Casey has helped me tremendously in sharing with me details of her current job and previous experience. Learning about her job made me open my eyes to the wide world of PR. I would say I have more of an understanding and open mind now about the field. Overall, I think this experience made me more excited to start my career in PR.

Image: Logo
Web Source: Make- A-Wish


Image from above:
Web Source: Foundation

Writing and research are important skills needed in Strategic Communication

After graduating, many Public Relations majors are opportune to work in various industries practicing PR. Such industries include hospitals, agencies, government and schools. One of such individuals who chose to stay in a school to practice PR is Amanda Toohey.

After graduating from OU in 2007 with a B.A. in Journalism-Public Relations, she obtained a job at OU working as a PR specialist for various departments one of which was University of Oklahoma’s Housing and Food Services. She currently works at the Physical Plant department on the OU campus. While working, she is also currently pursuing her masters in Public Administration. As the PR professional at the Physical Plant, Amanda currently focuses on internal communication, customer relations, brand management, assessment and sustainability marketing.

Amanda shared that to be successful in the world of strategic communication, a young professional must be proficient in both writing and research. A positive attitude, storing work ethic and also creative thinking are crucial characteristics for every young professional.

While working with Amanda, I have learned many things about design and how to use software’s like Adobe Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator. Every design should have its own story and look. A lost and found ad for instance should not be too fancy or extravagant. It should be straight to the point and catch the viewers eye. It wasn’t until working with Amanda that I gained all these skills in design. Amanda also believes that design skills are a plus for hiring PR professionals.

“Design skills give applicants an edge, but writing and research are the most important,” Said Amanda.

Amanda advised that doing your homework prior to interviewing with a company is a good way to stand out. She said that researching the company's work, mission and goals is something that will help an individual before interviewing with the company. Also, writing a thank you note after an interview shows appreciation and enthusiasm for your work.