Sunday, September 21, 2008

Zach Hill, Director of Communications for the Philadelphia Flyers

Last Wednesday, my Intro to PR class was honored to have Zach Hill, Director of Communications for the Philadelphia Flyers speak to us.

Hill, an elementary education graduate decided to go to grad school to get his Master's and took a class in sports administration. In this class, he was required to get an internship, and he eventually got an internship working for the Philadelphia Sixers.

After interning there, he was offered a job with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Here are some tips he offered to us:

-In order to be a success, you need to be consistent in your behavior. KEEP YOUR COOL at all times. People will remember the times that you yelled and screamed, and will not have a good impression of you, so it's important to keep an even temper.

-Stay upbeat! Life is not that bad!

-Always keep a camera and tape recorder with you. Hill mentioned that he has conducted many impromptu interviews that he has sent to journalists and gotten coverage.

-In sports PR, you must create news, especially in the off-season. You must create reasons that people will want to write about you. For example, community outreach events. Hill told a story of how two Flyer's players knocked on the doors of selected season-ticket holders to present them with their tickets. This story made the evening news.

-If you're new to a company, people are going to test you.

-There isn't anything too stupid to try!

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