Recently, I attended a PRSA (Public Relations Society of America) professional development program that featured a panel of well-known D.C. area assignment editors. The editors ranged from broadcast news, to radio and even the good old Washington Post.
Initially, I did not expect much from the panel, other than comments like “never call me” or “do [...]

Last month, Environics Communications’ Health Sciences Practice and Business Wire co-hosted a media panel discussion with leading health care reporters at top-tier print and broadcast media outlets. More than 50 PR professionals gathered at the National Association for Broadcasters in Washington, D.C., for our first-ever “Coffee and Conversation: An up close and personal discussion with [...]

A few years have passed since I had a go at faddish words that have already worn out their welcome. As we’re communicators, speaking in understandable language is the thing. But using clichés and hackneyed expressions and words may seem like an effective use of language, but, in truth, it grates on the ear. Using [...]

At a recent social media event, I was able to connect with several new colleagues over appetizers. At one point, I looked up from my plate of finger foods to find three out of five people furiously jabbing at their mobile devices between bites. The other two nervously glanced from the table to their briefcases [...]

As communications professionals, we are well aware of Awareness Months / Weeks / Days. This rings especially true if you work in health care. Considerable planning is done around these occasions and ultimately our campaigns depend on being seen during these times. Ironically, communications professionals are constantly fighting for awareness of their awareness. So imagine [...]

Pictures and photographs have always been a powerful way to tell a story and convey a message. Throughout history there are several images that we associate with events, such as the famous World War II kiss in Times Square or the firefighters raising the American flag at Ground Zero after 9-11, to name a few.
But [...]

Did this title grab your attention? Put a fire in your belly? Does it make you want to scroll down to the comments section (immediately below this post) and vehemently voice your displeasure? You could call me names – maybe even ones that start with the letter ‘s’ – or write comments like: “Lorna, the [...]

Many people talk and write about the importance of networking. In fact, our very own Katie Halloran wrote a nice article entitled “The Power of Networking” last September. I shared the same trepidation as Katie described when I first started going to various business meetings to learn about evolving technology, and of course, to meet [...]

My friend in Lagos, Nigeria, broke the news of Whitney Houston’s death to me at 8:16 p.m. EST. I received her message one hour after the Beverly Hills police pronounced Houston dead on February 11, 2012, and only 15 minutes after the Associated Press sent out its first tweet.
What came next was a flood of [...]

As public relations professionals, we like to consider ourselves masters of language. Communication is our bread and butter and the written word is often our choice method of connecting with an audience. From news releases, to speeches, to blog posts, storytelling is among our greatest strengths. But what about story-showing?
I recently watched an interesting TED [...]