The following blog post was written by Shari DaCosta, recent Temple graduate and staff member of PRowl Public Relations.
This holiday season I have a million things to be grateful for, topping the list is completing college this semester. The last four years has been a whirlwind and a tremendous learning experience, from serving as a PRowl staff member to holding several PR internships. I have gained invaluable experiences that have equipped me with the skills to not only be a successful PR professional, but also a well-rounded individual.
Here are some of the invaluable life lessons I've learned from studying PR:
• Be Persistent: The most important lesson I've learned as a communications student, PR intern and PRowl staff member is to be persistent. Public relations professionals constantly have to sell their client to the media, their internal and external publics, and even convince the client that the communications plan is the correct move for the organization, so being persistent is key to overcoming any doubts from these publics. Similarly, being persistent and hardworking is key to accomplishing anything in life.
• Expect the Unexpected: One of my favorite things about PR is that you never do the same work twice. With no workday being the same for a PR pro (or PR intern), I've learn to expect the unexpected in both my work and personal life. Having an open mind to unexpected changes will be essential to effectively handling crisis situations for clients, as well as setbacks in my personal life.
• Stay Organized: As a communications student balancing classes with internships and work has taught me the time management skills essential to balancing the various demands of clients. From these experiences I've learned to stay a top of my schedule by prioritizing tasks, and keeping track of everything with a planner and electronic calendar and other useful organizational tools. These time management skills will be important in not only managing my work as a PR professional, but maintaining a proper work-life balance.
• Know when to hold 'em, know when to walk away: Like the old Kenny Rogers’ country song says, one must know when to walk away and change the game plan. As a public relations professional, you must be prepared to switch things up on the fly, whether it's finding a new vendor for an event after the old one flakes out at the last minute or entirely changing the communications strategy for a client. PR pros must be prepared to quickly adjust to changes with clients, the media and their work environment.
What life lessons has PR taught you?
Showing posts with label PRowl Alum Guest Blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PRowl Alum Guest Blog. Show all posts
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Take Your Passion and Make It Happen
When you hear the word job, what do you think? There are several answers to this question, most connected to money and making a living. But what about your passion? Is that the same thing as a job? It probably should be, so that you’ll love what you do and ultimately will be better at it.
In today’s society, many people forget about their passion and solely focus on their job in order to make money. It is important to reignite your passion and to find inspiration at work that will lead to success.
In her article, “How to Find Inspiration at Work,” PRowl PR alumni Jessica Lawlor gave readers five tips on how to find or remember their inspiration at work:
1. Decorate your work space: Having a visual of places you’ve been or sayings that you like reminds you of past accomplishments while also adding some color to your space.
2. Break out the warm-fuzzies: There should be a folder in your inbox for compliments and affirmations from other colleagues, supervisors, or even friends. It’s a great way to remind you that you are good at what you do.
3. Create a killer playlist: Music is one of the best motivators out there so get together some of your favorite motivational songs for when you need a pick-me-up. My personal favorite is “A Beautiful Day” by India Aire.
4. Turn to your Social Media: Whether it’s Twitter, Facebook, or Google +, many times people on your social networks provide inspirational stories or quotes that can get you motivated or remind you why you love your job.
5. Take a Walk: I know, we’re all too busy to take 15 minutes out of our day but fresh air and sunlight allow you to feel refreshed and refocused.
Similar to finding inspiration at work, it is important to reignite your fire or passion for what you do. A blog called Zenhabits listed some ways in which to ignite your passion. For me, I’ve seen a few of them like surrounding yourself with passionate people, living outside of your comfort zone, and starting a blog or journal to be successful. When you are around people who love your cause, it instantly lifts your spirits and reminds you that you are a part of something so much bigger than yourself.
Where do you draw your inspiration from? What’s your special secret for reigniting your passion? Let us know!
This guest blog was written by PRowl Public Relations staff member Alex Crispino.
In today’s society, many people forget about their passion and solely focus on their job in order to make money. It is important to reignite your passion and to find inspiration at work that will lead to success.
In her article, “How to Find Inspiration at Work,” PRowl PR alumni Jessica Lawlor gave readers five tips on how to find or remember their inspiration at work:
1. Decorate your work space: Having a visual of places you’ve been or sayings that you like reminds you of past accomplishments while also adding some color to your space.
2. Break out the warm-fuzzies: There should be a folder in your inbox for compliments and affirmations from other colleagues, supervisors, or even friends. It’s a great way to remind you that you are good at what you do.
3. Create a killer playlist: Music is one of the best motivators out there so get together some of your favorite motivational songs for when you need a pick-me-up. My personal favorite is “A Beautiful Day” by India Aire.
4. Turn to your Social Media: Whether it’s Twitter, Facebook, or Google +, many times people on your social networks provide inspirational stories or quotes that can get you motivated or remind you why you love your job.
5. Take a Walk: I know, we’re all too busy to take 15 minutes out of our day but fresh air and sunlight allow you to feel refreshed and refocused.
Similar to finding inspiration at work, it is important to reignite your fire or passion for what you do. A blog called Zenhabits listed some ways in which to ignite your passion. For me, I’ve seen a few of them like surrounding yourself with passionate people, living outside of your comfort zone, and starting a blog or journal to be successful. When you are around people who love your cause, it instantly lifts your spirits and reminds you that you are a part of something so much bigger than yourself.
Where do you draw your inspiration from? What’s your special secret for reigniting your passion? Let us know!
This guest blog was written by PRowl Public Relations staff member Alex Crispino.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Introducing our New "Alumni Thursday" Blog Series!
It's official.... after Brianna Fisher's popular "Hello Real World, it's Nice to Meet You" post, we have decided to bring back a few other of the fabulous grads for our new "Alumni Thursday" blog series throughout the summer. We will have three PRowl Public Relations alumni writers: Brianna Fisher, Melissa Marsili and Crystal Wang.
All three graduated in May 2010 and have gone on to pursue various endeavors in the PR/marketing field. I'll let the girls introduce themselves:
Brianna Fisher
"I work for Vault Communications in Plymouth Meeting. Vault provides public relations, social media and marketing services to our clients. I'm assigned to one account - AMResorts. They have more than 20 resorts in Mexico and the Caribbean. My account work consists entirely of social media management for these resorts. I also support several of our other clients including the Mark Twain House, Heartland Payment Systems, the National Pest Management Association and Tastykake."
Melissa Marsili
"I work for the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce (GPCC) as a Partnership Marketing Associate. GPCC promotes growth and development in the Philadelphia region as well as advocates for sound public policy. I write sponsorship proposals that are sent to members for our events, sell website advertisements and work to engage high-level members of the Chamber."
Crystal Wang
"I've made the move to the Big Apple, where I'm interning at Bullfrog and Baum, an award-winning agency specializing in hospitality, lifestyle and consumer public relations and marketing. I'm currently working in the hospitality division directly under Kay Lindsay, Vice President of Hospitality and Susan Hosmer, Vice President of the company's West Coast offices. I'm very excited to have the opportunity to combine my interest of public relations, gastronomy, and the restaurant hospitality industries."
The series will begin next Thursday, July 1 with a post by Melissa. Enjoy!
All three graduated in May 2010 and have gone on to pursue various endeavors in the PR/marketing field. I'll let the girls introduce themselves:
Brianna Fisher
"I work for Vault Communications in Plymouth Meeting. Vault provides public relations, social media and marketing services to our clients. I'm assigned to one account - AMResorts. They have more than 20 resorts in Mexico and the Caribbean. My account work consists entirely of social media management for these resorts. I also support several of our other clients including the Mark Twain House, Heartland Payment Systems, the National Pest Management Association and Tastykake."
Melissa Marsili
"I work for the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce (GPCC) as a Partnership Marketing Associate. GPCC promotes growth and development in the Philadelphia region as well as advocates for sound public policy. I write sponsorship proposals that are sent to members for our events, sell website advertisements and work to engage high-level members of the Chamber."
Crystal Wang
"I've made the move to the Big Apple, where I'm interning at Bullfrog and Baum, an award-winning agency specializing in hospitality, lifestyle and consumer public relations and marketing. I'm currently working in the hospitality division directly under Kay Lindsay, Vice President of Hospitality and Susan Hosmer, Vice President of the company's West Coast offices. I'm very excited to have the opportunity to combine my interest of public relations, gastronomy, and the restaurant hospitality industries."
The series will begin next Thursday, July 1 with a post by Melissa. Enjoy!
Friday, June 18, 2010
Hello Real World, it's Nice to Meet You!
It's always nice to get an update from our PRowl Public Relations alum! Brianna Fisher was a member of PRowl for two years and excelled in all positions she took on, including Account Executive and Director of Finance. A full-time PR pro now, Brianna checks in via the blog today:
---
No, I'm not talking about a run in with the cast of the popular MTV show. It's been about a month since graduation from Temple U and it's finally starting to sink in that I'm officially a PRowl Public Relations alum. As new, fresh bloggers move up the ranks I'm tickled at the opportunity to guest blog (thank you, PRowl!) and couldn't resist the chance to share some knowledge I've gained as a full-time employee at one of Philadelphia's top PR agencies.
Agency work is exciting and fast paced. I have yet to experience a boring day at work and I don't see that happening any time soon. This made the transition from college to the working world a lot easier for me. If you're going to be at one place 40 hours a week, you'd better like it!
That being said, this work can easily start to overwhelm a new hire like me. As a college student with a lot on my plate I thought I was the queen of prioritization and time management, but those two concepts have a completely different meaning in the work world.
Luckily, I reached out to a colleague for some advice on how to be successful in my entry-level role. This is what she said:
1. Don't be afraid to ask for help! (Gee, how ironic that I had just reached out to her!)
2. Don't be afraid to take time to finish work thoroughly.
3. And finally, don't be afraid to ask questions!
She relayed several stories of past entry-level folks who began feeling overwhelmed with their new duties and got burnt out before any of their coworkers realized there was a problem. If you don't tell anyone you're feeling stressed then they can't help you out!
Thoroughness, she said, is one of the biggest problems for entry-level people. Working with the notion that an agency's pace is fast as lightening will only make the final product less than stellar. I found the more I was assigned, the more I tried to multitask and the less I got accomplished. After hearing that thoroughness was next to godliness in the agency world I began allowing myself to completely focus in on one project at a time and am much more effective as a result!
As a newbie, the last thing you want to do is ask a bunch of questions that could potentially make you feel stupid, right? WRONG! My colleague clued me in to the fact that asking questions is the only way to know exactly how the project should be completed (remember, thoroughness?). If I don't understand something - I ask - saving me a lot of time trying to figure out what the heck they meant by asking me to pull a folder out of the wiki on the data drive?! Lots of companies have lingo and acronyms that you will learn by experience, so ask, ask, ask!
One of the best things I've learned in my transition is that there are a whole lot of things left to learn. But, I'm enthusiastic and excited for the future. What are your plans for the future? What do you think will help you get there?
---
No, I'm not talking about a run in with the cast of the popular MTV show. It's been about a month since graduation from Temple U and it's finally starting to sink in that I'm officially a PRowl Public Relations alum. As new, fresh bloggers move up the ranks I'm tickled at the opportunity to guest blog (thank you, PRowl!) and couldn't resist the chance to share some knowledge I've gained as a full-time employee at one of Philadelphia's top PR agencies.
Agency work is exciting and fast paced. I have yet to experience a boring day at work and I don't see that happening any time soon. This made the transition from college to the working world a lot easier for me. If you're going to be at one place 40 hours a week, you'd better like it!
That being said, this work can easily start to overwhelm a new hire like me. As a college student with a lot on my plate I thought I was the queen of prioritization and time management, but those two concepts have a completely different meaning in the work world.
Luckily, I reached out to a colleague for some advice on how to be successful in my entry-level role. This is what she said:
1. Don't be afraid to ask for help! (Gee, how ironic that I had just reached out to her!)
2. Don't be afraid to take time to finish work thoroughly.
3. And finally, don't be afraid to ask questions!
She relayed several stories of past entry-level folks who began feeling overwhelmed with their new duties and got burnt out before any of their coworkers realized there was a problem. If you don't tell anyone you're feeling stressed then they can't help you out!
Thoroughness, she said, is one of the biggest problems for entry-level people. Working with the notion that an agency's pace is fast as lightening will only make the final product less than stellar. I found the more I was assigned, the more I tried to multitask and the less I got accomplished. After hearing that thoroughness was next to godliness in the agency world I began allowing myself to completely focus in on one project at a time and am much more effective as a result!
As a newbie, the last thing you want to do is ask a bunch of questions that could potentially make you feel stupid, right? WRONG! My colleague clued me in to the fact that asking questions is the only way to know exactly how the project should be completed (remember, thoroughness?). If I don't understand something - I ask - saving me a lot of time trying to figure out what the heck they meant by asking me to pull a folder out of the wiki on the data drive?! Lots of companies have lingo and acronyms that you will learn by experience, so ask, ask, ask!
One of the best things I've learned in my transition is that there are a whole lot of things left to learn. But, I'm enthusiastic and excited for the future. What are your plans for the future? What do you think will help you get there?
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