Top 3 PR Articles of the Week: Friday, April 11, 2014

While watching this year’s March Madness tournament, I heard a number of coaches and players talk about how important it is to do the fundamentals correctly. While the flashy plays are nice to watch, it’s sound fundamental basketball that ultimately wins games. This got me thinking about the fundamentals of PR.

Starting today, I will draft a blog post for each Friday that features three key PR articles from the week. I hope these posts are found to be useful and that is helps everyone sift through the clutter of PR articles that are pushed our way every day.

For the week and in order to stick with my theme, I decided to choose articles that focus on fundamentals that we should all follow to be great PR professionals.

From Ragan’s PR Daily:
Calling a journalist? Avoid making crucial mistakes
http://bit.ly/1mY9QiU

From Ragan’s PR Daily:
The evolving distribution and role of press releases
http://bit.ly/1k3MCVR

From Ragan’s PR Daily:
The best times to post on social media
http://bit.ly/1lI7rGi

Have a great weekend!

Kristin Rabas
Sr. Public Relations Advisor
Aurora Health Care

Take 5: New Chapter Member Interview with Matt Wisla

Take 5 is a recurring set of questions designed to get to know people in the S.E. Wisconsin PRSA Chapter.  Interested in being our next Take 5 interviewee, or do you know someone we should get to know? Contact Mo Moorman, Chapter Chair of the Communications Committee at moorman.mo@gmail.com and let him know.

Matt Wisla

1. What do you do?

My family often wonders what I do too! I’m a communications professional who recently returned to the US following nine great years in China helping American companies win in one of the world’s most dynamic and challenging markets. I co-founded the Marketing, Advertising and Public Relations forum in Beijing for the American Chamber of Commerce and later became

Matt Wisla and a new friend at the Wolong National Nature Reserve near Chengdu, China

Matt Wisla and a new friend at the Wolong National Nature Reserve near Chengdu, China

the organization’s Vice President of Communications. My position with the international communications consultancy Fleishman-Hillard is what brought me to China in the first place.
2. What do you like best about being a professional communicator?

Coming up with and executing communications strategies that solve problems and drive business success. It’s an exciting responsibility. Communications has always been a great line of work to me because we get to adapt the best practices of our profession to improve business outcomes and resolve challenges. I like the way T.S. Elliott said, “All cases are unique and very similar to others.”

3. What do you hope to get out of your PRSA membership?

One of the best things about PRSA is how it focuses discussions and information sharing about the big challenges communicators face today. Whether the topic is content management, social media, communicating in international and emerging markets, or big data, PRSA is a great resource for finding out about the latest trends and what’s working (or not) for other professionals.

Matt Wisla and Fleishman-Hillard colleagues in Bejing

Matt Wisla and Fleishman-Hillard colleagues in Bejing

4. What do you like to do when you’re away from work?

Study Chinese, try new restaurants and go to movies and plays while waiting for the Cubs to win the World Series (I grew up in Chicago!).

5. What’s your favorite part about living and working in southeastern Wisconsin?

Besides the people? Leon’s frozen custard, of course.

Practice makes perfect: PR students meet the Pros during Mock Interviews at “The Hudson”

By Francesca Glorioso, University of Wisconsin – Whitewater

Undergraduate PR students from the University of Wisconsin-WhitewatiStock_stopwatch_speed_networking_smer participated in an opportunity to sharpen their interview skills during an event sponsored by SEWIS PRSA. On Wednesday, Nov. 13, 88 students met 45 public relation professionals and practiced their interviewing skills in speed-style networking. The professionals at the event worked for firms such as Trefoil Group, BVK, LePoidevin Marketing, Laughlin Constable, Big Shoes Network, Harley Davidson, Marcus Hotels, Froedtert Hospital and organizations. The purpose of the event was to give undergraduate public relation students the opportunity to meet and network in the professional world.

In addition to PRSA, Big Shoes Network and the Hudson Business Lounge sponsored this event. It was my first time at the Hudson Business Lounge, a very trendy business venue in Milwaukee’s 3rd Ward.

The students each participated in two “formal interviews” and conducted one informational interview. They received constructive feedback about their interviewing skills and ideas that could help them improve their skills during an interview.

Jeff Carrigan, from Big Shoes Network, provided an overview of the regional job market. He offered statistics about what jobs and internships are available in the Milwaukee area. Carrigan recommends the 4 C’s to stand out in any kind of an interview: competence, connections, character and chemistry. He said, “By asking good questions, making industry leading contacts, being honest, and thinking like the ‘CEO,’, you will be able to ‘wow’ interviewers, and show them how much of a great asset you are to their company.”

In my first mock interview, I spoke with Steve Staedler, a senior account executive at LePoidevin Marketing. For my second “mock” interview I talked with Melissa Bohl from GE Health Care. Both were very helpful, and found myself making “industry connections” like Carrigan had suggested. Walking away from these interviews I felt my confident in my interviewing skills, both giving me great feedback that I can take back and apply when interviewing for internships and jobs.

This event was extremely helpful and insightful; it gave students an opportunity to test their interviewing skills, and give students real world experiences. By having the opportunity to listen to Carrigan’s professional insight and meet professionals in my field, I feel more confident when interviewing for internships this school year. Thanks, SEWIS PRSA, for partnering withstudents and professionals in producing this event.

 

Nov. PRSA Meeting Recap: Boelter shares the secrets of Goodwill’s wildly successful “Retro Rendezvous”

Pat Boelter

Pat Boelter

Goodwill’s annual “Retro Rendezvous” is the biggest event held by the organization each year. It continues to grow and hit 800 guests this past year. With so much to plan and so many people to cater to, how exactly do you stage a sold out special event? Pat Boelter, Chief Marketing Officer for Goodwill Industries of SE Wisconsin, presented on this topic on Nov. 7, at the Hilton Hotel in Milwaukee.The Retro Rendezvous started out as an annual themed fashion show ten years ago. As the event grew, so did the entertainment. Goodwill soon added dancers, singers, celebrity guests, and partnered with Boston Store. Eventually the fashion show got nixed all together and it became more of an entertainment show with fundraising at its core. Goodwill also secured a media sponsor and transformed the event from just a “chicken dinner” to an amazing experience.

With the evening growing rapidly in size and impact throughout the years, it was necessary to raise the prices of the sponsorship levels, tables, and ticket costs. The majority of the attendees became corporations and the auction became a silent auction conducted by handheld technology. Goodwill also needed to keep the media hosts fresh as well, selecting new hosts this year.

Toward the end of her presentation, Boelter gave the audience some advice she learned during her many years involved with event planning for Goodwill. She said one of the critical mistakes organizations make is not understanding the real reason for having the event beyond the simple concept of raising money.

Boelter said special events are not the most efficient way to raise money; they take a great deal of people, time, and money to make money. She said special events should be a part of a strategic plan to grow the volunteer, customer, board base, and acquire future donations, as well as to boost the organization’s profile and brand in the community.  They can also create a lot of positive publicity. Not only is pre-event publicity crucial to heighten interest and aid in ticket sales, but post publicity can be just as valuable in building brand awareness and future event growth. For this reason, a media sponsor is a good thing to have. If broadcast personalities are involved, coverage is almost guaranteed.

Boelter said creating an emotional moment within the event allows for sponsors to connect and gives the event meaning beyond the activities. Guests should leave with a better understanding of the organization and more confidence in it then when they came. Messaging should be simple and straight forward and reinforced in different ways using different means throughout the event. Boelter told the audience that event quality matters, have a surprise in store for the guests, and make every part of the event hassle free.

“It is not just about money, but to gain sponsorships for the future, strike while the iron is hot and people are willing to give,” she said. Boelter also stressed that a contingency plan is crucial and people should plan for repeatability and expandability because anything can happen at any given moment. She also recommended evaluation and debriefing after the event, and said organizers should seek out the opinions of guests and staff. Lastly, she said celebrate.

“Celebrate the success of the event and take time to appreciate everyone who helped with it,” said Boelter. “That includes (appreciating and thanking) yourself.”

Oh, to be young again!

by mentor Jerry Topczewski, APR

During my public relations career, I have worked with many people I admired, but I never had a “mentor.” I wish I did. Why? Because there is so much to learn from the people around us and having the opportunity to seek wisdom and counsel from an “elder statesman”can be invaluable. 

One reason I never developed a mentor relationship was I didn’t know how to approach a potential mentor.  As a young pro, I had a fear of failure, as many new professionals experience.  But, that fear led to a stubbornness of not wanting to ask questions or to admit that: 1) I didn’t know something; 2) I wasn’t qualified to do something; or, 3) I wasn’t competent to achieve something. 

The PRSA Southeastern Wisconsin Chapter mentor program eliminates those fears and replaces them with a view that these young pros seeking mentors are motivated to be successful in their careers. My young pro and I try to meet once a month for breakfast and our conversations range from what’s in the news to what we are working on to where we are going on vacation. 

I am impressed by her enthusiasm, professionalism, poise and confidence.  Besides sharing from my career experiences, I have tried to introduce her to people within our profession she might not otherwise have a chance to meet and to settings outside public relations where professionals interact. Most importantly, I try to listen to her experiences.

Being a mentor has helped me, too, giving me a chance to learn from my young pro, learning how technology is part of her work day and how she views our profession and the opportunities it presents.  It has also helped me get a better insight on some of the younger professionals in my own organization. 

Her enthusiasm is contagious and energizes me, staving off some of those cynical views of work, profession and career that are earned over time.

Oh, to be young again!

Never stop learning

by mentee Emily Bultman, CDE

I do not consider myself a public relations professional “newbie”, having worked in my current position for almost four years. However, my career philosophy is one never stops learning.

Following this notion, I jumped at the chance to participate in the new Public Relations Society of America – Southeastern Wisconsin Chapter Young Pros’ Mentor Program.

In any field, having a professional mentor is helpful in developing and advancing one’s career.

Mentoring is a vital resource for a PR professional.

Being matched with a mentor within the industry and outside of my employer has helped broaden my perspective on the profession. There are a number of benefits to building a mentor-mentee relationship with a seasoned PR professional, including access to new contacts, knowledge and skills.

My mentor has invested his time and energy by making himself available for regular face-to-face meetings. He has shared valuable insights from throughout his career, answered questions, given advice, listened to my experiences and provided feedback.

This experience has opened the door to a number of different learning and networking opportunities for me. Overall, it has been incredibly rewarding experience. I am excited to learn more from my mentor in the coming weeks and months.

Kicking Bad Habits – How to Make Publicity Important but Not The Primary Strategy for Everything

Submitted Matt Braun, Director of Public Relations – Hanson Dodge Creativefastfood

I’ll admit it, I like fast food. Have since I was a kid. And when I was a single, young professional, seemed a lot more convenient to swing by a drive-thru to get a burger or taco than go home, cook, clean, etc.

It’s a habit I’ve kept me with for some time, and have slowly worked to wean away from – both from a sophistication standpoint of simply enjoying better foods with better company and also a health standpoint (in case you didn’t know, not the best food in the world comes through a window). I’ve come to appreciate the journey towards healthy eating and what goes into good food.

Publicity solutions that communication experts provide to clients are kind of like fast food. Have something to announce? Write a press release. Have something that really isn’t newsworthy but have to meet your quota to make your client happy – write a press release.

And when you write a press release, make sure you put it out on the wire and pitch every reporter you know with it because its news, right?  Unfortunately, this is a mindset I see way too often in the world of communications.

Whether it be because we’re afraid to push back with client demands (internal or external), are lazy or just don’t know any better, we settle for the old ‘we need a press release, strategy.’  And I’m here to tell you its not good.

As professional communicators, our job is to provide counsel to clients. Counsel in terms of what topics have news value, what topics are better used on maybe a self-publishing platform, and what topics simply should be kept in the drawer. We need to think ourselves as message chefs that know when to sprinkle a bit in this channel, a bit over there, and then when to really make a full course meal.

That’s why our clients should turn to us, and if you have the conversation with clients on this topic they’ll thank you later. To be an effective communications professional you must understand that what we can provide – multi-channel communication vehicles – can help support real business needs. Need more people to know about your new product? Launch a YouTube based video series that you also promote via social ads and tie into in-store video that also can be announced via a press release.

Clients pay agencies (and even internal employees) good money to think. Don’t settle for a drive-by solution. Instead, carefully think through how a well-orchestrated program can help your client shine. It’s the kind of  feast they’ll never forget and keep coming back to you for.

Keys to Social Media Success: A Review of the October PRSA luncheon

Submitted by Caitlin Welsh, UWW PR Studentwingate

On Wednesday, Oct. 16, Michele Wingate from American Family Insurance spoke at the PRSA luncheon in Milwaukee. Wingate’s presentation focused on the benefits of using social media, and how organizations can create successful relationships with their consumers through the use of social media.

Her presentation began by her explaining the approach that American Family Insurance took when developing their social media strategy. Their strategy was entitled; “Protecting Dreams” and that would be implemented throughout all of their social media campaigns. They hoped to lead with social media and from that their advertising would do the rest.  For example they ran the “30 Days of Thanks.” This campaign was designed to thank the people who protect your dreams. This thirty day campaign showed followers different ways to thank the people around while maintaining their advertisements by followers “liking “or sharing their posts.

One of the more successful campaigns that American Family Insurance did through Facebook was their “Fight Hunger” campaign. American Family teamed up with the National FFA’s (Future Farmers of America) to fight Hunger.  By donating a dollar for every new Facebook “like” American Family pledged to donate a dollar until they reached their goal of $20,000.00. From this campaign American Family Insurance received great recognition and their followers went up 53%.  They succeeded their goal by $3,000.

Wingate explained what the keys are to a successful social media campaign. First, each campaign has to link back to the organization’s original message. For example, all of the campaigns that American Family did went back to their mission of protecting dreams. After this the organization has to choose what social media platform that would work best for them. For American Family Insurance, Facebook was an effective outlet for them. American Family has also had much success on Pinterest as well.

After the platform is chosen, the organization has to stay committed to the social media site. This is done by making daily posts and answering questions and concerns that your consumers have. The success of a company’s social media site also has to do with the skills that your company has to regulate the site. American Family Insurance as a team that works on the site at all hours of a day. With these types of skills the success of a social media is higher than those that do not have the necessary tools. Wingate also said that a social media site cannot be successful without the willingness to listen, learn, and adopt. With social media always changing it is important to stay on top of the newest ways of doing things. Companies have to stay relevant if they want their social media site to succeed.

Wingate did a great job presenting the tools success of social media and how it can benefit a company. She did this by showing the successful campaigns that American Family Insurance has done in the past and why they worked for their company. Her presentation outlined the measures that a company needs to take to have an effective platform, and the tactics that need to be done to make a social media site a success. The October PRSA program was an excellent choice for students to attend.

 

 

 

 

 

Young Pros Learn Crisis Comms

The Chapter's Young Pros Learn Crisis Comms from Seasoned Veterans

The Chapter’s Young Pros Learn Crisis Comms from Seasoned Veterans

On Wednesday, September 25, fifteen students from UW-Whitewater attended “PRSA Young Pros Discuss: Crisis Communication in Milwaukee.” The purpose of this event was to inform, teach and help college students in the field of public relations understand how to handle a crisis in communication.

The people who attended were divided into three groups and given a different crisis communication case to work through as if they were the PR coordinator.

The PRSA Young Pros had three seasoned professionals that attended as well and jumped into the groups to help evaluate and understand the crisis communication process.   Carol Weber, Matthew Wisla and Alan Gaudynski, all PRSA members, led each group discussion.  Each has many years of experience in public relations and was happy to pass along knowledge and advice.

The event had excellent attendance and the students who attended all were able to walk away with new people to network with, advice to take home, and more knowledge about what crisis communication is and how to go about managing crises.

— Justina Kruser, UW Whitewater student

 

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Free SE Wis. chapter membership for new PRSA national members

 ... for a limited time ...

… for a limited time …

Join the community of Public Relations Society of America members by Oct. 5 and receive a free membership to the Southeastern Wisconsin Chapter.

Already a member? Then please share this with someone you think should join!

By becoming a member of PRSA National by Oct. 5, you will receive FREE membership to the PRSA Southeastern Wisconsin Chapter (use promo code Aug13 at www.prsa.org).

Among other benefits, Chapter members enjoy great chapter events, such as these upcoming examples:

  • Oct. 16 – Social media strategy of American Family Insurance
  • Nov. 7 – Fundraising strategy of Goodwill Industries
  • December – PR Palooza social networking event

Don’t delay, register today or share this with someone you think should join the Chapter.

Again, visit http://www.prsa.org/ and use promo code Aug13. Must complete registration by Oct. 5, 2013.