A Career Path Worth Following

The Path I Wish to Take

Having interned at the Oklahoma City Thunder for two semesters and currently working part-time there, my dream job and ultimate goal through my Public Relations degree at The University of Oklahoma is to work full-time for the Thunder after graduation. Kaylee Losinger, a Guest Relations Specialist for the Oklahoma City Thunder, took the exact career path I wish to take.

How to Get the Job

Ms. Losinger, like myself, interned with the Oklahoma City Thunder the semester before she graduated. Although she graduated with one class left to take, she started working with the Thunder while finishing up her degree. Now, she works full time in the Guest Relations department.

“The first part of my job mainly revolves around communicating with the fans,” Losinger said.

Every day the Guest Relations department gets hundreds of emails from fans for variety of different reasons. Ms. Losinger’s job requires he to hold up the standards placed by the Thunder of responding to each email or request within one business day. This can include anything from sending Thunder memorabilia to fans, to responding to a question or problem.

The second part of her job is acting as a liaison between the arena staff and the staff at the Oklahoma City Thunder. During games, these groups of people constantly interact. Ms. Losinger helps them stay in contact through internal newsletters, conferences and other forms of communication.

Advice for an Aspiring Professional

When asked what her advice would be for someone wanting to go into her field of work, she simply responded, “stick with it and make all the connections you can.”

Her advice has directly affected me. While interning at the Thunder I have taken every opportunity to meet anyone I can. I get advice from anyone willing to give it and do not take for granted a single day. Hopefully, my future will lead me right where Kaylee’s led her.

Brenna Kent

November 10, 2011

Photo: Courtesy of Okeicentric

The Path to Public Relations Success

Working 12-hour days from the road or pouring over donor contact lists, Ashley Hahn does it all. Hahn is a public relations professional who specializes in politics. She received a degree in political science from the University of Central Oklahoma <http://www.uco.edu/> began as an intern on a local political race and never looked back. Hahn served as the Grass Roots Coordinator for Governor Mary Fallin’s gubernatorial race <http://www.maryfallin.org/>. Her work on the campaign led to a position running the Oklahoma governor’s non-profit, Friends of the Mansion: <http://www.ok.gov/governor/Mansion.html>. Most recently, Hahn has worked at the Oklahoma Department of Education’s Communications Department. She specializes in scheduling and planning events for the Superintendent of Public Instruction, Janet Barresi: <http://www.janetbarresi.com/>.

I worked with Hahn on the Oklahoma public school superintendent’s conference, Innovation, over the summer of 2011: <http://sde.state.ok.us/services/conference/Innovation/default.html>. The conference required a large amount of fundraising and organization. The event took place at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City and featured over 2,000 attendees. The window for planning the conference was very short, and Hahn (with a few staffers including myself) did an excellent job putting it together (often working in excess of 12 hours per day).

Hahn is part of a reorganized communications department that operates much like an independent public relations firm. In addition to traditional public relations work, the group attempts to create its own media for distribution. According to Hahn, however, planning events is now small task: “The most challenging part of my job is definitely pulling everything together in organizing events. You have a lot of moving parts, and it’s very stressful attempting to lock them all down to execute the actual event.” However, Hahn encourages involvement early for eager public relations professionals, “The best advice I can give is to get involved early. Seek out internships and build up your experience. The more you can competently do, the less stressful your life will be when you get a great public relations job!”

Evan Handy

Public Relations Professionals

Professional Blog 
Denise Hawkins graduated from the University of Central Oklahoma with a degree in Marketing. She has been happily married to her husband Tom Hawkins for over 25 years. She has two stepchildren. Before coming to Buy For Le$$ and taking the position of Marketing Director, Denise worked at the Daily Oklahoman and Mathis Brothers in their Marketing departments.
 
Day-to-day
Denise has been at Buy For Le$$ for the past 5 years, and has enjoyed every day she has been there. She coordinates and oversees all marketing functions for the entire company on a daily basis. This includes all media, ads, social media, web and video. As a director, she manages a team of eight people in marketing, graphic design and web. She insists that good communication skills, the ability to manage a team of professionals and a positive attitude are all important skills to have when in a leadership position involving marketing.

Challenges and Rewards
“Not all days are easy ones,” said Hawkins. “Sometimes the work is tedious and stressful. However, I find so much reward in knowing that I am helping out the company and spreading our name in the community. My favorite part of the job is helping in the community. Those are my favorite tasks to coordinate.”

Advice
Hawkins had a few pieces of advice for those hoping to enter the field of marketing and climb the ladder to management. “The key to success is experience, knowledge and surrounding yourself with other skilled professionals in order to create a team that generates success,” said Hawkins. “Be persistent and always work hard. People will notice hard work and determination.”



Additional Links Used:
http://blog.wholefoodsmarket.com/
http://prblog.typepad.com
http://www.prnewsonline.com/prnewsblog/
http://www.buyforlessok.com
http://buddingpublicrelations.blogspot.com

Public Relations Professionals

PUBLIC RELATIONS PROFESSIONAL BLOG
Monnie Romney graduated from the University of Tulsa with a degree in communications. She married young and had 4 kids, not leaving much time for a long career path. She spent the majority of her time carting children to ballet, soccer practice and other school activities, not focusing on work at all. When her children were all old enough, she began looking into the Public Relations field, something she always found interesting during her college career. A family friend of hers worked at Louridge, an events and retreats organization, and encouraged her to pursue a job there in event coordination.

COMMUNICATION IS KEY
11 years later, and Monnie is the head Event Coordinator at the organization, and she’s loving every minute of it. She deals with clients wanting to host banquets, brides planning their big day, employers wanting an event for their staff, and many other organizations wishing to promote their business through events. Although this organization has the largest amount of weddings, Monnie still deals with clients on a daily basis. She stresses that calmness and communication are key. One must be able to effectively communicate with clients, and then be able to relay that information to the correct people.

CHALLENGES OF EVENTS
Not all events are just fun and games, however. “It gets extremely stressful at times,” Monnie said. “Some clients have a lot of unrealistic expectations, or they don’t have a clear message they want to get across through their event. It’s sometimes a challenge coming up with that information and figuring out what exactly they want to accomplish for their organization.” With experience, you learn to ask for those things up front.

ADVICE FOR NEW PROFESSIONALS
When asked what advice she would offer to new professionals, Monnie said the list could be endless. “There are so many things I wish a professional already in the field would have told me.” The biggest one? Network whenever you have the opportunity. “Getting your name out there before graduation is so beneficial,” Monnie said. “Even if you already have a job, network. You never know when you are going to need a favor from someone and it’s a lot easier to ask for things when you know a lot of people in the field. You become much more credible to your clients as well when you have a lot of contacts.”

ADDITIONAL LINKS VISITED
http://buddingpublicrelations.blogspot.com
http://www.brillianteventplanning.com/blog.html
http://prblog.typepad.com
http://online-pr.blogspot.com/
http://www.prnewsonline.com/prnewsblog/

Public Relations Pros and Their Cons

            Public relations is not just a people profession, or an exercise in deceit for politicians and big corporations-- It is hard work, and quite a bit of it. Few people see the intense work environment in movies and television programs, and fewer people see the intense competition for opening positions. You are different. Not only do you get to see what the profession is like and how to become a professional, but you also get to learn a few tips from a real professional.

            I interviewed Kristy, a professional who works for Cox Communications. She, like many other professionals, received an education unrelated to public relations. She began her education at Wichita State University, with a Bachelors degree in journalism. After graduation, she began her career as a reporter at the KNSS radio station in Wichita. If you are from a different field like journalism, take heart. Writing experience and communication skills matter greatly in public relations, not just a public relations major.

            Kristy's job required her to cover city hall, which also meant she developed close relationships with the people there. When a public information position opened up at city hall, her relationships helped her take it. In short, a few well-placed relationships can help as much as talent and drive.

            The most interesting and potentially most challenging aspect of public relations, she says, is the need to learn new information constantly. There is "something you always have to get up to speed on," she says, and she loves it. The field moves quickly and can leave practitioners behind if they do not prepare themselves. In short, if you like a dynamic work environment, public relations is for you.

            Her advice to aspiring public relation practitioners: find an internship early and network. First, a good internship is the best way to learn about the job, and provides you with the best training. Second, as a public relations practitioner, you need to know the right people in an organization you want to work for. Success can be tough to find, but with the right skills and attitude, never impossible.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wichita-ks.jpg  - Source for image at top

bls.gov/oco/ocos086.htm

knssradio.com

comprehension.prsa.org

ww2.cox.com/aboutus/our-story.cox

A New PR Professional: Michelle Hagans

(Photo found at interpublic.com)

A New PR Professional: Michelle Hagans

By: Kathryn Collins

Michelle Hagans graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2009 with determination to succeed in the PR world. She now holds the title of the new Account Executive at GolinHarris in Dallas, Texas. Her time in the public relations professional industry had its start about two years ago.

Hagans graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2009 with a degree in Public Relations. On top of her coursework at the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication, Hagans stepped foot into the working world early through internship experiences. Her internship opportunities included a PR internship with the well-known Richards Group in Dallas, Texas, as well as an internship at SPM Communications in Dallas, Texas. Due to her early experience as a PR practitioner, Hagans was able to get a grasp on what life after graduation entailed. She strongly encourages future PR practitioners to find as much experience in the field before graduation.

Hagans informed me of the skills necessary in order to achieve success in the public relations field. A PR professional needs to be detail-oriented, results-driven, and solution-oriented. “You have to be passionate about what you do,” said Hagans. “You must also be flexible with deadlines because you never know what will be thrown at you.”

Hagans expands her passions by learning from others in the public relations field. “You learn something new everyday in public relations,” said Hagans. “I would encourage others to find a mentor who is not at their job to teach them work ethics and how to communicate with people who have different work techniques.” She says that it is very important to learn from others in order to be the best that you can be at your job.

Michelle Hagans is inspiring to those in the Gaylord College with graduation time just around the corner. Through her internship experiences and driven attitude, she was able to accomplish her dream of being a young PR professional.

PR Professional: Kenneth Kracmer

PR Professional: Kenneth Kracmer

By: Courtney Clark

Kenneth Kracmer is the Managing Partner and PR Director of HCK2 Partners in Dallas, Texas. As the namesake of the latter initials in HCK2, Kracmer confidently leads the PR side of the business and manages new-business efforts. He is approaching his 20th year of working in the PR industry, and credits his journalism experience for leading him to where he is today.

After graduating from Texas A&M University with a bachelor’s in journalism, he attended Dallas Baptist University where he earned his M.B.A. degree in management. Kracmer spent his first five years out of school at the largest PR firm in Dallas, Temerlin-McClain, which has since changed to Weber Shandwick. He gained valuable experience working with many different markets, and then decided to go corporate, where he worked another five years at Excel Communications. Kracmer then took another corporate job, working for a security software company called Entrust. After two years there, he was given the opportunity to become an owner of HCK2 Partners.

Having been with HCK2 for seven years, Kracmer is a huge part of the firm’s success. Combining his corporate experience with his passion for account service, Kracmer is able to provide value for his clients and continues to earn their respect. He is an active member in the exclusive business knowledge network called Dallas Roundtable, which helps him to grow his networks while maintaining his business and leadership skills.

Kracmer considers strong writing as one of the top skills necessary for this industry. “You have to be a good writer at the very core, I don’t hire many people that aren’t journalists first,” Kracmer said. He believes that it is also important to have a good understanding of business and how businesses operate, as well as any marketing skills.

According to this industry veteran, future PR professionals should first gain as much experience as possible on the agency side. This will teach aspiring practitioners how to work across a number of companies and a number of roles in the PR profession.

“Once you get the agency experience, you can choose what you want to specialize in,” Kracmer said. “If you specialize too soon, you box yourself in and may get stuck for awhile.”