This is a fantastic opportunity to join an exciting company during a period of expansion in terms of products, staff, and customers.

This is a key role with responsibility for supporting the group sales teams through the implementation and execution of innovative marketing campaign activity.  The role encompasses all parts of the campaign process including data management, campaign creation, implementation and measurement from both an acquisition and retention perspective.

This role reports into the Director of the US office (it's a British company) and requires close relationships with the sales teams and senior executives.

In addition you will possess analytic skills with an ability to evaluate results and use findings to contribute to business direction/objectives, you will be a creative individual and will be able to showcase examples of previous innovative ideas and ways they have bought products to market.

If you are a results driven person with excellent verbal and written communication and exceptional copy writing skills, lots of social media marketing experience as well as strong interpersonal skills to deal with customers and senior contacts across the financial and professional services sectors, we want to talk to you!

You will have a minimum of 3 years experience in B2B channel marketing and extensive experience in online marketing with specific accomplishments in social media marketing.

Labels: PR Job Listing

This was too funny:

I just did a search on Indeed for all the "Public Relations" jobs in various cities.  I put Public Relations in quotes because "Public" and "Relations" are in lots of different titles so it can give a false picture.

Top cities:
1.  New York            1173
2.  DC                     1065
3.  SF Bay area         594
4.  LA  /Atlanta         547  (tied for fourth place)
5.  Chicago               502

It drops down to Boston with 353, Philly 333, Seattle 261, Houston 243, Denver 220.  As a comparison,  Fargo has 9, Pittsburgh 80, Santa Barbara 21,  Rahleigh-Durham  78, Aspen 0, Ithaca 15 and Santa Fe, 5.

Even though I live here, I couldn't think of a city in NJ worth checking.  But I know there are jobs in 'dem 'dere hills so I checked the state: 505.  Compared to NY with 1265 (92 outside NYC), CT with 200, PA 535, North Carolina 287, Hawaii 39, MA 444, and an interesting thing is that California has 2218 which is more than NY, NJ and CT combined.

I'd like to check out Dubai and Mumbai and some other places.

Things have been a whirlwind since the PRSA 2011 International Conference in Orlando. Phew!

But taking a step outside the day-to-day is the probably best way to get a fresh perspective on your daily work activities.

One of the most refreshing talks featured Chris Brogan, blogger, author and entrepreneur.



Probably the best thing about Brogan is that he’s real. In an industry not necessarily known for being blunt, and one that Mr. Brogan is not necessarily a part of, his views on PR offered a perspective looking from the outside in.

Something that many of us are catching on to and that Brogan promotes is that fact that we have left the era of pure self-promotion. It’s no longer “Our widgets are the best!” It’s “What can we do for you lately?”

“Make the customer the hero,” Brogan said.

Another catchphrase that I found myself noting down is “business is belonging.” And another: “frequency matters.”

When you combine these key points together, you have a snapshot of the new way businesses are connecting with people.

Now for more blunt statements:

“Check-ins are not PR.”

And something like:

“Please tell me you are not using Klout as the only way to measure your results.”

Well, gee. There’s someone who has a distinct viewpoint on not jumping on every trendy social media bandwagon. I like it.

And the last nugget that I will end with:

“Us instead of you.”

All of these are values that can be put to use immediately in any PR or communications endeavor if you want to bring your strategy into the 21st century. Granted there is much more planning, training and measurement involved, but I like the fact that I left the talk thinking, “Okay, here are some definite steps we can take to make what we are doing better and more interesting and valuable. Let’s take it up a notch.”

- Britt

As we busily gear up and checklist and pack and prepare for this year's PRSA 2011 International Conference in Orlando, we thought some of you may be doing the same and would enjoy some tips that we are relying on ourselves to jump into all that PRSA is offering us this year in Orlando.


Networking opportunities Orlando-style.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GOALS

1. Create a "mission statement" for your conference experience.

Having clear goals and objectives in mind will help you best utilize these subsequent tips and further align your conference activities. For example, my goals are: "1. To take away the most professional PR knowledge possible and share it with colleagues and clients; 2. Establish contacts with potential PR job candidates and executive search clients who would greatly benefit from our services."

While this is obviously not intended to exclude contact with any particular attendee or workshop opportunity, it allows me to FOCUS on why I'm at the conference, instead of purposelessly wandering around a beautiful, large hotel.

2. Plan your workshop and networking schedule in advance.

You can download and review the conference program from PRSA's website here. A schedule is also available from the same site. Review the program for networking events and workshops that you are most interested in and make the most sense to attend based on your overall conference goals. Plug these events into your calendar or even a simple, listed itinerary to keep you on track.

3. Be flexible.

It's important to be organized so you don't get overwhelmed with new sights and places. But even though you have your conference battle plan all mapped out, don't be afraid to change it when you learn the lay of the land. A workshop you thought would be perfect might end up being something other than what was expected. So go ahead and check out something different. An unplanned networking opportunity might come up that pushes something to the wayside. That's okay. Go with the flow when it makes sense.


TECHNOLOGY, BABY

1. Pack and charge.

This means your laptop, phone, spare phone, batteries, camera, iPod, iPad, tablet, recorder, video camera, Flip or anything else with batteries and buttons you own and care to bring. Industry conferences provide countless opportunities for impromptu interviews and meetings, not to mention planned workshops and networking meetups. At the very least, these digital tools provide an easy way to take notes. If you blog, these tools provide a huge explosion of content that will keep you busy for weeks and months to come.

2. Download the PRSA app.

With versions for iPhone, BlackBerry, Droid and Windows Mobile, you have no excuse not to take advantage of this handy little app that will keep you connected with social media, schedules, contacts and more.

3. Stay connected via social media.

On Twitter, follow @PRSAICon and use the #PRSAICon for the most direct connection to conference activities. Use the Facebook event page titled PRSA 2011 International Conference created by Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). On LinkedIn, you'll find us at the PRSA 2011 International Conference group. And for AV footage, visit the PR Society of America (PRSA) on YouTube.

IT'S ALL ABOUT YOU

1. Wear comfortable clothes (shoes!)

Visual presentation is no less important when it comes to your personal attire. Dress to impress, but keep in mind that conference days are long. Make sure you are wearing something that is going to feel comfortable ALL DAY. Keep in mind that Florida is hot and hotels are usually freezing. Layer to prepare for highs in the upper 80s and air conditioned spaces in the mid 60s.

But the key element here is what you put on your feet. Shoes with good support or some Dr. Scholl's inserts are essential. Women: a good wedge is a great way to be fashionable but also get much more support than a stiletto.

2. Eat well and hydrate.

No one wants a cranky workshop partner or someone who gets a little too loose at the networking cocktail hours. Protein bars, fruit and water are key.

3. Relax

Traveling hundreds or thousands of miles to interact with strangers is definitely out of your day-to-day comfort zone. But remember that most other attendees are in the same boat. Take advantage of the fact that you are doing something different and that you are doing it with people who are just as interested in PR as you are.

If you feel overwhelmed or need a break, ask the concierge for nearby parks or attractions that will give you the space you need to return to the conference energized and refreshed.

We hope these tips will help you with your PRSA 2011 International Conference experience.

See you there!

- Britt

Labels: PR Job Listing

This is not really going to be a post about what employers "can do about" specialization as they are probably most benefited from this trend. At the same time, it's fair to say that as human resources practices change, employers are going to need to make some adjustments in the way they hire in order to attract and maintain a strong workforce.

Seek a specialist

Seeking someone with specialized knowledge in a particular area brings a more driven and focused perspective to a new position. While team players and general competence is key, hiring those with a particular knowledge of an area can help build a stronger position from which you can make larger strides in a certain sector.

For example, hiring a PR who can do both general PR and healthcare PR will allow you to focus on the healthcare vertical of your agency.

Hire someone who everyone is happy with

In a BusinessWeek article, Steve Jobs says he's had candidates be approved by nine co-workers only to be rebuffed by the 10th.

This may seem overly democratic, but Jobs says that it pays off to only hire someone who will work well with the entire team, not just a select few. Eliminating that friction, especially among smaller working groups, can be key to a productive and creative atmosphere where things are moving forward, not back.

Invest time and energy into the search

Here too, Jobs offers the insight of a genius leader, saying,

"Assume you're by yourself in a startup and you want a partner. You'd take a lot of time finding the partner, right? He would be half of your company. Why should you take any less time finding a third of your company or a fourth of your company or a fifth of your company? When you're in a startup, the first ten people will determine whether the company succeeds or not. Each is 10 percent of the company. So why wouldn't you take as much time as necessary to find all the A players? If three were not so great, why would you want a company where 30 percent of your people are not so great? A small company depends on great people much more than a big company does."

As many PR agencies are small companies, or have divisions that operate as agile units, this is key. Taking the time to find candidates shouldn't be an afterthought or a "when I get around to it" item on your list of things to do.

Relying on automatic systems isn't necessary going to provide these results. Instead, Internet tools such as LinkedIn, Twitter, blogs and online news sites can be excellent tools in pointing the way to professionals both experienced in the industry and offering a creative viewpoint that provide the kind of human capital needed to propel companies into the future during any economic environment.

So, in the end, we're left with a few simple principles:

1. Know what you want.
2. Look for what you want and avoid compromising the ideals of small teams.
3. Making finding a new member of team an investment, not an afterthought.

One of my favorite clients, one which I've worked with for more than ten years, has asked me to help them find an extraordinary A/S or Sr AE for their relatively new healthcare division.

The 36 year old firm opened a healthcare practice about three years ago, and it is growing steadily.  They need to add staff.  The firm is very thoughtful about their hiring which is understandable, since the company has a unique culture.  The firm has been noted as one of the best PR agencies in America to work for, year after year. In fact, this year they were on the Craine's NY Business "Top Ten Companies in NYC to Work For" list.

The position I'm recruiting for involves media outreach to the medical trades, hospitals, national media, business press, and even directly to targeted consumers.

They are looking for someone that will be mentored and who can mentor others.  They take care of employees and are actually concerned about each person's career development.

The company has some great clients, and wonderful people to work for.  I was hoping that you might know of someone who would be interested in a very special move like this.  We're looking for an AS and/or Sr AE.

Labels: PR Job Listing