Intern Diaries: Top 5 Book Resource List

Intern Diaries: Top 5 Book Resource List

By: Jasmine Gethers

The PR industry is always changing. Whether it’s in digital, crisis, strategies or even tactics, it’s never the same.  As a recent graduate it’s important that I stay ahead of the game so I can continue to sharpen my skills and educate myself within this lovely field. To do so, I composed a list of what I think are the top 5 resource pieces that can help further me in my career. Stay tuned for my top blog picks!

1.      You Are The Message  By Ailes, Roger

2.      Putting the Public Back in Public Relations By Brain Solis & Deirdre Breakenridge

3.      PR Daily

4.      Pitch Like a Girl By Ronna Lichtenberg

5.      Socialnomics  By Erik Qualman

A Letter to Steve Barrett, Editor of PR Week

August 18, 2011

Steve Barrett, Editor 
PRWeek

steve.barrett@prweek.com 

Dear Mr. Barrett: 

We were surprised and disappointed to see so little diversity reflected in PRWeek’s 2011 Power List of 50 “elite” public relations pros. Apparently PRWeek still defines power rather narrowly. In a profession where women predominate, PRWeek found only 11 powerful women, and in a field increasingly driven by multicultural markets, PRWeek couldn’t find any powerful African American or Latino PR corporate executives. It appears that public relations executives who are running their own shops also were not worthy of the power list. 

Your publication’s vision of power and elite PR professionals closely resembles that of Mad Men, the fictionalized television show reflecting the status quo of an earlier era. In our 21^st century global media landscape fueled as much by independent social media as the corporate behemoths, does PRWeek really believe that power and influence are the exclusive province of white males in corporate settings? 

If the parameters for inclusion were simply corporate size or billings, how were so many worthy picks overlooked? Consider African American corporate executives like Don Coleman, GlobalHue CEO; Y. Mark Belton, General Mills Executive Vice President for Global Strategy; Olivia Smashum, HBO Executive Vice President for Affiliate Marketing & Business Development; or Gwen Fortune-Blakely, Marriott Sr. Director of Marketing Integration & Brand Marketing.

Where are Latino senior executives like Univision Vice President for Corporate Communications Monica Talan or Javier Farfan, Director of Cultural Branding at PepsiCo? Why not include Jorge Moya, Chief Creative Officer at Latino agency powerhouse MGSCOMM?

Astonishingly, America’s changing face with its multi-hues and backgrounds was not reflected in your tribute. Nor did you consider the rapidly evolving field of public relations that includes myriad entities and organizations ranging from boutique firms to shops within public interest organizations that are reframing public policy and our communications landscape. Does PRWeek honestly believe that the executives shaping the messages and communications strategies for the nation’s non-profits and advocacy groups don’t exercise power within our profession and the larger public square? Perhaps the core question is how do you define power?

 

Today, a number of women, African American and Latino PR professionals broker power in ways that lift the industry to new heights. PRWeek owes it to those leaders and the profession to support a vision for the future that incorporates diversity in leadership as a best practice. Women constitute a majority of the population in a world that is increasingly black and brown. Our teams and our strategies must reflect the people we aim to reach and influence.  

Sincerely, 
Donna Lewis Johnson and Llenda Jackson Leslie

McKinney & Associates

Inside Intelligence: The Art of Becoming Great

Inside Intelligence: The Art of Becoming Great

By: Jasmine Gethers

As stated in, As a boss, are you brave enough to learn how others see you? Being evaluated and learning how others see you is the key for growth when it comes to your craft.

When I was a sophomore in college, Reporting and Writing was one of the classes I had to take. My initial thought entering this course was that it was going to be effortless. Writing was my first and only love; there was no way I could do horrible in the class.

The first assignment given was to write an article about a family member or close friend. To me it was a breeze. It took me 30 minutes or less to write the article. I turned my paper in thinking I was going to get an “A.” However, when the professor handed me my paper back it was full of red marks and a fat “C” on top  of the page that had the comment, “see me after class” underneath.

I did not know what I did wrong; I thought it was a perfect article. It was one of the best articles I’d written so far that year. After class I stayed to speak with my professor and he said to me, “your writing is good but you can be better.”Bringing me to this point, if there were no red marks on my paper I would have not known that I was doing things wrong. Every writer wants to be great, but the only way to be great is to be critic or evaluated.

Inside Intelligence (Business Practices): Crisis Communications & The Silver Bullet

Crisis Communications & The Silver Bullet

Ever wonder why the Titanic sank? 

Those in a position to address the problem before it became the worst sea disaster of the 20^th Century chose denial and pretense over confronting the flaw head on.  Corporate competition, unregulated industry and the demand to emerge with the biggest and the best were at the root of the disaster. http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2008/10/03/the-titanic-s-last-secret.html

The net results of the Titanic’s travail spin the perfect storm for lessons in crisis communications. Decades after the ship sank, the story is still being told.

A recent post on crisis communications urged “four Cs”  – being quick to Communicate, Candid, keeping things in Context and striving for Consistency.   

http://www.prsa.org/Intelligence/Tactics/Articles/view/9305/1034/Being_creative_in_the_face_of_crisis_How_innovatio

Beyond those cautionary tools, the silver bullet is a fifth C: Contrition. 

I always watch in amazement when crisis blow up in the media.  The individual or organization in the center of the storm seems trapped in a typhoon that whirls around and tosses them and their reputation in the air like a hapless rag doll.

Slick tactics and innovative moves can’t replace the low-tech, high touch power of humility. The calm in the storm is true confession (the sixth C), not flailing efforts to parse the truth or cover up one lie with new ones. When your hands are caught in the cookie jar it’s too late to wipe away the crumbs. Looking adversity in the eye, admitting to the transgression and taking the hit for the deed that was done is the best way to de-fang opponents, change the subject and then move on.  “I was wrong” is usually the silver bullet.  The human nature of public opinion is generally kind.  Only a brute dares to kick someone when their down, especially after waving a white flag and uttering the refrain: “I’m sorry.”  

Back to the business of crisis communication.  The most effective pros collect their fees, not because of smoke and mirrors, but because the bad stuff never surfaced in the public eye, or only resided there for a moment. Good crisis communications is the art of maintaining the status quo.