From Student to Professional

Diana Rogers is a communications specialist for the Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency, a non-profit organization that is a public trust that helps to place people in homes. Rogers is an alumna of the University of Oklahoma’s Gaylord College, where she was active in Public Relations Student Society of America and wrote for the Oklahoma Daily. She also has a Master’s of Education from OU. Rogers has spent her entire professional career with OHFA, working there since 2005. Her college experiences were very important for her future career. “It got me pretty prepared for writing, especially considering how much I do now,” she says. She also interned with OHFA during her time at OU, a move which later turned into her career.

As a communications specialist for OHFA, Rogers writes press releases, plans events, produces internal and external communications like newsletters, and oversees production of OHFA’s annual report. Public relations, especially for a smaller non-profit, is not limited to simply producing media tactics such as these. Rogers says the true value of public relations for any organization is its management and long-term planning functions. “It’s strategic, not just tactical,” Rogers says.

Experience during college is crucial to a public relations student’s future. “It’s so important to have internships. It’s a way to get your foot in the door and to get experience for your career later on.”

Roger’s advice for success as a public relations professional is to know your organization and know your audience and their needs. “We try to find out what the media needs are, and make sure that our communication plan tries to align with what our business objectives are,” she says of OHFA’s PR philosophy.

As with any career, drive, passion and intelligence are also vital.

“You have to be passionate and involved. It’s all about thinking critically and strategically.”

Houston reports presence of real-life "Wonder Woman"

Cher Weldon, The Lee Group - Partner, Director of Operations, Account Manager

Laid-back, yet professional. Flexible, yet always on time. Balanced, yet works 24/7. Sophisticated, but country.

By Christa Stewart

These are things that make up the ideal public relations and communications professional, and Cher Weldon of The Lee Group embodies exactly those attributes. The Lee Group takes pride in working by the mantra, "why not?" So does Cher. Ms. Weldon has accomplished much in her 12 years in the advertising and public relations industry by treating possibilities as probabilities and using her impeccable wisdom to differentiate between the two.

Cher earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a concentration in marketing from the University of West Florida. Her professional career originally began with The Lee Group, working primarily in account service and print production management. In between early morning status meetings and late night press checks, she rode outdoor locations for the areas largest financial institution, concepted weekly television and radio spots for a large furniture and appliance retailer and developed grassroots public relations and marketing strategies for local and regional accounts.

Then, as part of an experimental phase, Cher spent a short time as a financial analyst for the Pepsi-Cola Company.  However, her passion for advertising brought her back to the advertising and public relations industry…and back to The Lee Group.  Cher’s experience ranges from executive management and new business development to strategic planning and tactical implementation.  Her research, planning, negotiating and production skills span across all print and broadcast mediums.  As partner and account supervisor at The Lee Group, she ensures that all clients are consistently captivated with The Lee Group’s creative and communication services.

After more than 30 years, The Lee Group attributes their success to a grounded commitment to service excellence, sound marketing and communication strategies and unparalleled creativity. With offices in Houston and Beaumont, they have partnered with companies of all sizes and within diverse industries. Through their work with more than 900 banks and credit unions across the country (including the 1^st Bank Oklahoma), The Lee Group has developed an expertise in the financial services industry that is second to none.  

In 2009, The Lee Group garnered five Gold Addys, six Silver Addys, three Bronze Addys and two Judges Awards at the local AAF competition, the first of a three-tiered national competition conducted annually by the American Advertising Federation (AAF).  At the district level (includes the four-state area of Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas), The Lee Group was honored with a bronze Addy Award.  The AAF Awards Competition is the creative industry’s largest and most representative competition for creative excellence.  The Addy Awards celebrate the finest and most innovative work in advertising, public relations and marketing communications.

Cher has “worn many hats” over the years and encourages young professionals to seek out and accept every opportunity presented early in their career.  “Demonstrate your commitment, take initiative, hone your personal relationship marketing skills and NETWORK, NETWORK, NEWTORK.”

She also recommends keeping up with industry publications and Web sites.

For instance, check out Jesse Ferrell's book, "How You Leave Them Feeling: Your Ultimate Key to Personal & Professional Success," on which Cher worked as a contributing editor. 

Cher’s hobbies and pastimes include reading, horseback riding, traveling and listening to country music.   She enjoys spending my time with people who are always aspiring to increase their quality of life.

Also, feel free to find Cher on LinkedIn to make sure you are staying connected and building your professional network. 

Photograph courtesy of The Lee Group. 

Living the Dream

"Living the Dream"
By: Natalie Vaughn

When we join the ranks of the professionals, we can only hope to love our jobs as much as Kerry Howe does hers. Howe is the Assistant Media Relations Director for the Arizona State University Athletics Department. She also serves as the Sports Information Director for several individual sports, including the 2008 NCAA Champion softball team. Beyond that, Howe is also affiliated with Atlantic Records as the Marketing Representative for the Phoenix area.
Overall, Howe has been in the public relations field for nine years. She graduated with a Bachelor's degree from Arizona State University in Journalism and Mass Communication with an emphasis in Public Relations in 2005 and is currently working on her Master's degree. Howe has also worked with other organizations including the Phoenix Suns, Arizona Cardinals, the Phoenix Roadrunners, and the Public Information Office for the City of Phoenix.
Because she has held so many positions, Howe has a lot to say about the most important things to know as well as skills to have in order to be successful in the public relations field. The first is to know how to utilize technology. "The PR world today is technology heavy, from using InDesign to writing code to something as simple as Twitter," Howe says.
Another important thing to know when practicing public relations is the demographics of your target public. "In Phoenix within the sporting world, it's hard to battle because it's one of the most over-saturated sports markets in the country," Howe explains. "But if I hone who I'm sending release and information to, I get a better response from those who would be actively interested in my sports stories."
While some people choose to be an expert in only one field, Howe suggests being a "jack-of-all-trades" instead. She learned this after her stint in the Phoenix Public Information Office. Even though she did not enjoy her job there, it helped her in her role in the sports arena. Howe says, "It sharpened my writing and AP style while forcing me to constantly write out of my comfort zone."
The last two skills that Howe suggests for public relations professionals are a solid work ethic and sense of humor. Howe says that since public relations is more of a 24 hour a day job rather than nine to five not just anyone can make the cut. She explains, "it's not just your job, it's someone's reputation, livelihood and business that's on the line." As far as sense of humor, Howe says that something is always going to go wrong. It is better to laugh if off and find a solution instead of being weighed down by negatives.
In closing, Howe gave me one piece of advice for aspiring public relations professionals: "Just because one section of PR isn't for you, like government wasn't for me, doesn't mean every section of PR isn't for you. Try it all!"

For more tips on how to be successful in public relations, please visit:

Successful Media Relations
http://aboutpublicrelations.net/ucpotvina.htm

The Public Relations Career X Factor
http://aboutpublicrelations.net/ucmckeever1.htm

The Perfect Public Relations Personality Type

http://rock-star-pr.com/the-perfect-public-relations-personality-type/

Getting the Media Attention You Deserve

http://www.absolutelypr.com/id8.html

From a PR Intern to a PR professional: Tackling the Transition

http://platformmagazine.com/article.cfm?alias=From-a-PR-Intern-to-a-PR-Professional-Tackling-the-Transition

The Personal Side of Public Relations

The Personal Side of Public Relations

By Lacy Barnes

“Just keep trucking.”

This simple, yet direct and to the point statement was the best advice Cassie Gage had for graduating seniors wanting to pursue public relations careers. In the whirlwind that is my last semester college, it is comforting to hear something so easy. With graduation growing near, my final classes lingering over my head and multiple people asking what I plan to do with my life come May, simple advice is refreshing to say the least.

Gage is an Assistant Director of Communications at The University of Oklahoma where she works in OU’s athletic department in media relations. As the media contact for both volleyball and softball programs at OU, Gage is never in one place for long. Having my own career aspirations of working in athletics, getting the chance to sit down and talk with Gage was both encouraging and helpful.

Working in big-time Division I athletics, Gage has gained public relations experience unique to most other work environments. Cassie travels full-time with the softball team and part time with the volleyball team in order to cover their games and regulate media coverage. This type of public relations on the fly has taught Gage how to be efficient, thick-skinned and accepting of change.

The biggest changes during her career in public relations have been personal, in order to adapt to her environment.

“What surprised me the most about public relations was how much I had to change to survive,” Gage said. “Five years ago, people could run over me and make fun of me and I would just take it. I’ve had to learn how to step up, speak my mind and be confident in myself and my work.”

Growing up in a family surrounded by athletics, Gage said she always knew she wanted to work in sports.

“As a senior in high school I received the opportunity to write for a high school Web site network called iHigh.com which led to a position as a sports correspondent in the local paper,” Gage said. “From there I was offered a sports information scholarship to East Mississippi Community College and the rest they say is history.” Gage went on to earn her Bachelor of Art in Communication with an emphasis in public relations from Mississippi State University.

After being in the profession full-time for four years now, two at OU and two as the Assistant Director of Athletic Media Relations at Mississippi State, Gage says the majority of her job involves writing.

According to Gage, “The top skills students who want to pursue public relations need are writing to get the job along with desire and passion to keep you there. It’s important to know your audiences as well because I need to write for an audience that’s critical of what I’m saying about my team.”

Gage also touched on the importance of timeliness in her career, “It’s really important to make deadlines in public relations. We live in a world where everyone wants information as soon as it happens.”

With all the technical advice that could be given about finding and starting a career in public relations, Gage finds it’s the simple life-lessons that are most useful when trying to succeed in a profession.

“If you want it, go for it and don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t. When people knock you down, and they will, dust yourself off and keep going. And when you do fail, which you will, learn from it and make yourself better. I’ve always been a believer in remembering where you come from. There’s a difference between being arrogant and being confident and distinguishing that can be the difference in getting what you want or having everyone hate you.”

Picture of Cassie Gage is courtesy of the University of Oklahoma Athletic Department

It's Not the End, It's Just Another Beginning!

It's Not the End, It's Just Another Beginning!

I could not have asked for a better college experience. Period. Let's just say that the first year of college here at OU was completely dedicated to have a good time, being in a sorority, meeting as many new people as possible, and create a good academic foundation for myself. After having successfully achieved all of those goals as a freshman, I decided to enter into an internship that just so happened to fall in my lap, starting my sophomore year.

Public Relations was my major from the beginning, or at least I wanted to be somewhere at Gaylord. But honestly I didn't have a strong definition of what the field really was about until about two years ago. I said "sure" to being offered an internship working for the Athletics Department in Media Relations. As a sophomore, I totally thought that doing something "career-like" was distracting me from my social life/social development in college, but I found a way to balance it out, considering I only volunteered for 10 hours a week. Two years later, I stepped it up to 30 hours a week, paid, and in charge of covering a sport. As strange as this sounds, I got to the point where the more responsibilities I was given, the more I liked my job and the more I craved more challenges.

I am so blessed to have taken my internship that I took so blindly in the begging. I always say I had no idea what the heck I was doing when I first started, and I didn't know what sort of direction I wanted to head into in public relations. Luckily for me, God always does, and that's why I'm only excited about my future. Although I'd love to continue on about my crazy-good college experience, here are the top-three things I've learned through chasing my ambitions in public relations:

1) Always do what's right. PR is all about ethics, right? I have to say this is the most important item I hold on my list of things to do when it comes to my work. Doing what's right is a universal ideal that's honest and can put all of us to the test at one point of another. Each of us has the choice to decide doing what's right.

2) Know your surroundings and pay attention. As dumb as this sounds, I have recognized most recently that this is one of my downfalls. I'm not talking about walking alone to a car at night. I'm saying do research. Read the news, especially the local news, know the trends and get in as much information as possible, whenever possible. I admit I've always been lazy at this, but I'm improving as we speak (as I blog, really). I've always heard the phrase "knowledge is power" but I never really took it to heart. All I have to say is "better late than never." If I'm in public relations, I better be more in the know!

3) Finally, always remember what matters and what is most important. SO MANY TIMES I as a younger college student, I ran into a tough issue, a challenge arose, or I have been just plain annoying/irritated with someone. I don't know at what point exactly I decided to grow up and stop about getting frustrated about things that I couldn't control, or just the petty things, but I'm glad that I did. It's a continual challenge, but staying positive helps me work towards remembering what's important, even through the tough times.

I'm so excited for my future. As corny as this sounds, I'm really excited to continue learning. All of my life I've learned things from a textbook or in a classroom setting, and now I'm learning more from people. I never expected to learn anything about myself in the process, but I'm glad I did. Bring on the future!

Picture courtesy of the University of Oklahoma Athletics Department.

My Time Has Come

My Time Has Come

by Erin Jackson

In August 2005, this time in my life seemed so extremely far away. Graduation day was definitely a goal I had in mind, but it was something I pushed to the back of my mind, behind all of the research papers, group projects and mid-term exams I currently had to focus on. Now, as I am a senior at the University of Oklahoma in my last semester, that day is becoming all the more real… as is the fact that in less than one week, I will have to face the real world. I have to admit that part of me if frightened by it all, especially in my search for a full time job. Will I do well? Will I be able to compete amongst all of the other recent college graduates?

During my time at Gaylord as a public relations student, I have been challenged in more ways than I originally imagined. I used to be hesitant to take on those challenges put before me, but I am now thankful for each one, as I know that it will only help to build my marketability when I enter the workforce. After I graduate from OU, I will head to Dallas, TX to pursue a career in public relations. I know that when I am going on interviews and when I eventually land a job, I will be prepared for whatever task I am handed.

I am very thankful for all of the experiences I have had at OU, especially in the Gaylord College. It has not always been easy of fun, but I know that every experience

A Hopeful Outlook

A Hopeful Outlook
by Shagah Zakerion

As my college career at the University of Oklahoma inches closer and closer to the finale, I am forced to answer the daunting question all seniors must face: So, what are you doing with your life come May? While I wish I had a clear answer, the truth is I am not sure. I may have a public relations degree, but my experiences in the last four years have shown me that nothing is set in stone.

I started four years ago thinking that public relations was perfect for me. I watched Samantha on Sex and the City, saw the PR girls on television and was always drawn to the fast paced environment of public relations. I knew I was meant to work with people, above all else.

But, since declaring my major, I've had so many experiences that have changed the future I see for myself. I studied abroad with Honors at Oxford as a junior. This summer I worked as a Ewing Fellow in a congressional office in Washington, D.C. Now, I am working as a PR coordinator at the Norman Arts Council. Not only do I have a passion for politics that I didn't have four years ago, but I'm also driven by this desire to change things and give back to my community in a way I was not before.

Although I still love the thrill of a PR and the idea of working in communications, my passions have changed immensely over the last four years. While I sometimes question my decision to go with a PR major, the truth is that PR has given me so many skills that will only take me further in whatever path I take. My future might be a big question mark right now, but I'm confident and hopeful that my university experiences have prepared me for what ever I take on.

Photo by Lauren Harned