The Power of Networking

Ever since I began studying public relations in my undergraduate career at the University of Maryland, my professors and advisors constantly preached the benefits of networking. Talk to people in the field, become involved in campus projects, and take advantage of connecting with PR pros who guest lecture in classes. These activities were taught to [...]

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Your voice matters

Empowered and eager, graduates are like eagles ready to spread their wings and soar into their careers. Once in their first jobs, it’s not surprising that after years of endless studying, assignments and interning, that we juniors, are keen to share our food for thought.
Yet, in a workplace of talented, forward-thinking and hard-working professionals, it’s [...]

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Maddening

I’ve been blitzing on season two of the vaunted AMC series, Mad Men, over the last five days and nights so that I can finally remember to watch season three episodes live. It’s a popular show with marketing professionals.
Shakespeare’s legacy is based largely on deception. He used the device in every play: females playing men [...]

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Media will survive stronger . . . and that’s good for PR

Anyone who works for or closely with media outlets will be well aware of the onslaught of bad news about . . . the news business. As organizations cut their advertising budgets, newspapers, magazines and electronic media outlets suffer. It seems that every day there’s yet another story about a publisher or network cutting stuff, [...]

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Circle of irony

The irony of the ever-shrinking PRWeek is not lost on me. The print publication used to be a lot thicker than the 20-page issue that recently arrived in my mailbox. The venerable magazine still monitors the pulse of the industry, and the online property is rich with content, but it’s perhaps emblematic of the general state [...]

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Queen of YouTube

Jordan’s Queen Rania recently received YouTube’s inaugural Visionary Award for her video blog through which, the Associated Press reports, “she sought to challenge stereotypes of the Arab and Muslim world and encourage dialogue across cultures.”
I frequently visit YouTube. But I typically use it to decompress by a) viewing the latest goofy video that makes me [...]

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Not too funny, way too late

Did you catch Sarah Palin’s appearance on Saturday Night Live this past weekend? Were you as confused as I was?
I’m not sure what her handlers were thinking when they approved her Weekend Update skit. I’m not saying that political hopefuls shouldn’t appear on SNL. Hilary Clinton appeared earlier this year and showed that she could [...]

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Ping me, flip me, any way you want me

I don’t know about other the language of other professions, but public relations seems to have its own dialect. Perhaps they’re heard in most areas of marketing, but here are a few words and phrases that make me grimace:
“On our radar” – it seems like this phrase is blurted out at least a few times [...]

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Should “PR” be a verb?

A grew up watching / suffering through Andy Rooney’s “A Few Minutes With . . .” on 60 Minutes so . . . have you ever noticed that some public relations people (usually in the UK) use “PR” as a verb or a gerund?
 
“Let’s PR this,” they’ll say, or, “That was a good job of PRing [...]

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First post and chorus

Ah, what not to write . . . what not to write. There’s so much that can be said about the profession, science and art of public-relations that it’s difficult to know where to begin. Every time I turn around, I see something to write about.
This will be dangerous fun.
As one is prone to do [...]

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