National Conference- Reflection Pt. 1
After walking a week in my Chucks I’ve realized a few things:
1. I can do anything, literally, anything I set my mind to
2. There are tons of supportive people around me, without even knowing them
3. I love my future profession already
4. San Diego is beautiful everyday
5. Don’t walk all of San Diego and Los Angeles in Converses.
From Nov.6 ,2009 to Nov. 11, 2009 the Public Relations Student Society of America and the Public Relations Society of America had our national conference. At the conference I learned tons throughout the sessions provided by PRSSANC, PRSANC and the professionals I met. The most memorable moments had to have been the TweetUps and the PR Fashion session with Crosby Noricks, @PR_Couture . But I think it goes without saying that I did learn from all the other experiences and sessions I attended and heard about. All of this information is summarized in my notes, so it might not be verbatim, but the closest I could get.
The Conference:
The conference was a great time. The University of South Florida represented well with 14 members in attendance and we had a great time. The conference within itself offered tons of sessions in different areas; everything from crisis, international and green efforts in PR.
The sessions I attended that were most memorable were media relations and fashion. Not saying any other session wasn’t beneficial, just some didn’t quiet strike me as the latter two did. Aside from the PRSSANC session I also attended, @Shonali’s tweetup at Bar Basic on Friday, General Session at the PRSA Conference and @PRsarahevans and @jasonkintzler’s tweetup at Bar Basic on Monday night.
Media Relations – “Palm Trees & Press Releases” with Dr. Joseph V. Trahan III
Dr. Trahan was an exceptional speaker, his knowledge and poise, as well as his southern charm kept every one on their toes while taking notes. The session dealt a lot with how to handle interviews and the media as a representative of an organization or preparing one for an interview. He started with the 3 C’s :
- Control- never lose control with a reporter, losing control could cost the interview or your job.
- Competency- staying in your lane- stay in focus/area and don’t drift into areas you aren’t familiar or knowledgeable about
- Concern- showing concern shows that you are genuine about a crisis/situation. Talking about it doesn’t do as much when partnered with facial expressions and emotions.
Listen, Pause, Think…then respond
Preparation for an interview is important, probably even more important than the interview itself. Prior preparation prevents poor performance. Trahan also spoke about understanding the format of an interview, deadlines, reporters and how other resources help to create a good interview. Having the most knowledge about a company is vital to a great interview. Also pre- interview preparation is important, aside from the things mentioned. Trahan talked about 5x5x5 questions in reference to the Good, the Bad and the Ugly questions and answers.
His biggest remarks during the session: Be honest, be true and own your interview.
Fashion- “Styling the Trends” with Crosby Noricks
This was by far the “main event” for me. This session was initially supposed to be with eS and Emerica representatives, but with a program change Crosby saved the day, for people like me at least.
Crosby Noricks writes and manages PR Couture, which is a respected online resource for successful, emerging and aspiring fashion publicists, designers, students, and educators to share tips, tricks, challenges and commentary about the ever-evolving role of public relations, marketing and social media in the fashion industry.
Crosby talked about a lot of different things. I heard some feedback and a few people thought it was a session that could have been a little more out of the norm, especially for being a fashion session. But I think it was helpful.
She discussed the way PR fashion works. In terms of how things have been done, what the duties of someone in fashion PR and how to get things done.
A lot of things in fashion are done through magazines and other traditional medium. It hasn’t been until recently that online shows, and other avenues of social media have helped out fashion public relations.
Previously fashion PR was landing placement in major magazines or other media outlets. Media was the influencers and fashion PR used the influencers to help their organizations. Now fashion PR can engage their audience. Instead of the media being their key public now the consumers and people can finally be involved.
In some avenues of public relations things like a press release, media kit or pitch could be used not necessarily by themselves, but without an “outside” addition. In fashion PR, everything is used as a tool with additional resources such as clothing images, celeb shots, purchase lists, testimonials, and other things are used to accentuate the traditional tools of PR.
Crosby spoke of a lot of stuff, if I wrote down all of it might be a series of blog posts that would go into late December, but for the most part she spoke about an important part of the job. Do everything you can in your power to make it easily accessible and useable for an editor/person in charge. Learn to say no to a client if they aren’t ready or if they will obviously fail.
As I mentioned before she talked about social media and how it has broken the divide in fashion. Social media is creating an opportunity for fashion PR to take their campaigns directly to their desired audience instead of traditional media. Using social media, in Crosby’s words, creates an opportunity to find the people who are a brands biggest fan.
She also gave a list of resources for any one interested to look at. Here is the link.
