The Life of a New Yorker

Interview with a Professional: Irma Damhuis

By: Ashleigh Woodall

While today New York City is a vibrant city known for its historic sites, in 1977 the city was in a severe financial crisis. Crime dramatically escalated as the city began experiencing blackouts. However, that same year the city made a 180, cleaning up the streets and increasing tourism. What caused this dramatic shift? The work of Irma Damhuis, the current director of external communications at the Cardiovascular Research Foundation in New
York City.

Career
Damhuis graduated college with a degree in English. Having always wanted to be a lawyer, Damhuis began looking for jobs that required similar skills – writing, research, planning and communications. She landed her first job at Wells, Rich, Greene, a revolutionary advertising agency headed by the pioneer Mary Wells. It was here she landed her first big account with the State of New York and created the 1977 “I Love New York” campaign. The campaign was designed to attract more businesses and thus alleviated the above mentioned financial crisis through increasing tourism. The campaign was a huge success, transforming the city and pulling it out of the crisis. The campaign remains popular today, with the I <3 New York shirts as one of the most popular selling items in the city.

Damhuis was then convinced to pioneer healthcare public relations on the east coast, a trend that was only popular on the west coast at the time. She worked at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, creating the “Mount Sinai. Take good care of yourself” campaign that was nationally recognized and put the medical center in a prominent position in the New York market. Finally, in 2001 Damhuis took a job as the Director of External Communications at the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF) in New York City, where she currently works.

Daily Life
CRF puts on several events throughout the year, including the Pulse of the City Gala, the Innovation Symposium, and the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics Conference (TCT). While her day to day activities vary based on which event is occurring, she says the main components to her job are outreach phone/meetings/networking) to increase awareness of CRF and helping individual business units (Skirball, Clinical Trials Center, Meetings and Education Department) meet their business goals by garnering greater recognition for their programs, meetings and services.

Damhuis’ work is also continually changing with the advent of social media. She now helps manage CRF’s Facebook and Twitter accounts and is finding new innovative ways to use social media to CRf’s advantage. For example, during the 2011 TCT Conference she would “tweet” the key messages of various speakers and the schedule to encourage people to go to different symposiums.

Rewards and Pitfalls
Damhuis says that her biggest reward comes from seeing the positive outcomes from campaigning. For example, the TCT conference was known as a “trade show” when she started working at CRF. Through campaigning, TCT is now one of the premiere cardiovascular symposiums and is being referred to as “TCT” in most cardiovascular publications. Damhuis states the downside to working in public relations is the amount of patience necessary. Campaigns do not take overnight – they require time and effort.

Words of Wisdom
Damhuis encourages students about to graduate to be sure to hone their writing skills. Written communications are essential in securing - and then keeping - a position. She recommends writing, “…as much as you can, whatever kind of writing you enjoy, whether it be poetry, short stories, press releases, letters, and so on. It's a skill that, sadly, is not in great supply. But it will continue to be valued, and will never go out of style - even in the age of "Tweets"!” Also, she reminds students to, “BE YOURSELF! Don't try to be something you are not - people can see through that. Come to a task with an open mind and willingness to learn. It will always serve
you well.”


Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/15/us/blackout-2003-past-blackouts-65-77-became-defining-moments-city-s-history.html
http://www.crf.org/
http://www.tctconference.com/
http://www.mountsinai.org/
http://www.iloveny.com/

Kandy Parsons Senior Development Officer

Kandy Parsons, Senior Development Officer

by, Carrie Bugg

Kandy Parsons is the Senior Development Officer at the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Oklahoma. She is an Oklahoma native and graduated from Oklahoma State University with a degree in Business Education. Before she worked for Make-A-Wish, Parsons worked as a marketing representative at the Xerox Corporation from 1985 to 1991. In her time here, Parsons was trained in sales. This proved to be very helpful in her current position. "I’m not afraid to make the “ask” which is where many people stumble. I’m tenacious so I keep working until I get what I need," Parsons said. In 1992, she became a substitute teacher and a community volunteer. Parsons has always had a passion for community service work.

In the spring of 2007, Parsons was looking for another career. She was leading a bible study and praying about her career path when someone suggested Make-A-Wish. Parsons researched the organization and adored its mission. "It combined two of my favorite things: kids and charity work," Parsons said. She interviewed with the organization and became a member of the Make-A-Wish staff in June of that same year. She has been working there for three years.

Parsons is oversees all fundraising efforts for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Oklahoma. MAWFO does not receive any state or federal funding, so every dollar must be raised by the organization. However, every dollar raised in Oklahoma stays in the state to grant the wishes of Oklahoma children. Parson's favorite aspects of her job are meeting the wish families and working on fundraising with student groups in a program called Kids for Wish Kids. KFWK gives students an opportunity to create and manage fundraising projects to grant wishes of kids their own age. "It's wonderful to see kids passionate about helping others," Parsons said. She also enjoys the opportunity to meet so many people from all over Oklahoma.

Parsons said the most difficult aspect of her job is recruiting funding for wishes. It is challenging to get many foundations to understand just how many people one wish can effect through a grant application. "It looks like you affect only one person with a wish, when in reality, a wish affects the child's family and the community," Parsons said.

In contrast, the most rewarding part of Parsons' job is improving someone's life every day. "It is wonderful to hear from the wish kids and their families about what a wonderful experience a wish was for them," Parsons said. She enjoys building relationships with the wish kids.

Parsons encouraged future public relations professionals to be passionate about their career choice. "I work many long hours, but I don't mind because I love what I do," Parsons said. Seeing the smiles on children's faces is worth working for.