Author Archives: Nyree Costello

UBC Day 11: Wild Cards

Have you ever met your hero? Someone, that as a child you idolized?

What was it like? Did you get star-struck or take it in stride? More importantly, did they live up to your expectations?

Expectations are a tricky thing. They are not tangible; are purely subjective and can sometimes bite you in the ass.

Think about your most recent PR campaign. Did you plan out what you were going to do with an end goal in mind? That’s an expectation. I will do this and expect that this will be the result. Sometimes that just doesn’t happen and you are left scratching your head wondering what the heck just happened.

I can tell you what happened. People. People are the wild card in every campaign. We can use research and our best tried and true methods, but people are a sometimes predictable and sometimes not.

So what’s a communicator to do? We need to manage expectations. Others, as well as our own. Under promise and over deliver. Then you’ll be the hero.

UBC Day 10: Lessons Learned

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Have you ever met someone who made an impact on your life? Someone who changed your career course or shifted your paradigm?

For me this person was my boss in one of my first PR jobs. We argued and butted heads often, but for better or worse the way I approached PR was changed. Here are the seven things that have stuck with me over the years:

  1. Some of your ideas will get shot down. Get used to it. It’s nothing personal, so toughened up.
  2. In PR everything is negotiable.
  3. When negotiating, never take the first offer; and unless it’s to your advantage, don’t make the first offer.
  4. A lot can be accomplished with very little budget when you have some creativity and a great team.
  5. Your reputation is your greatest asset. Follow through on your commitments to keep it intact.
  6. It’s okay to say no. But be prepared to defend your position.
  7. If need be, I can still pull an all-nighter.

UBC Day 09: Business or Pleasure?

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How do you manage your virtual self?

A couple weeks ago I attended a Third Tuesday event that featured Nora Young and her new book The Virtual Self. It was an interesting discussion on how our online lives impact our “real” lives and the reverse. She used a great example of Google Maps and how, if you allow them, they will track your movements while driving to determine traffic flows and provide you with details on the level of congestion in your chosen route.

With this information, you can make a decision to keep on course, or take an alternate route.  Google then tracks that route, and so on and so on… This prompted an interesting discussion about how we use online tools to share information. When we get right down to it, by tracking our movements Google has become the new Big Brother. But it’s a Big Brother that we’ve welcomed with open arms.

Looking at the Internet and social media tools, it’s amazing the amount of personal information that we freely give out. We can use a Google’s location service to tell people where we’re Tweeting from, or check into places through Facebook. Think about it. We share a huge amount of personal information in our virtual life, more than we might share face to face.

Think about your social media channels. How much personal information do you share online? Who are you sharing it with?

I’ve said this before: PR is a 24/7 lifestyle, not a 9-5 job. That said, I separate my personal and professional online lives. My Facebook account for sharing with family and friends. For professional interactions, I use LinkedIn and Twitter. I have some people who live in all my online worlds, but many live in just one.

I break it down like this: Will I be limiting what you can see on my FB profile?  If so, we’re not gonna be “Friends”. If we’ve NEVER met, we’re definitely not gonna be “Friends”. Do I only know you on a professional level? I’d love to connect with you… on LinkedIn.

It’s nothing personal… some information is just personal.

How to you use Social Media? Do you blend your personal and business life?

UBC Day 08: Old School PR

In line with yesterday’s post about how PR is everywhere, today I volunteered to hand out some flyers at a local event to promote an upcoming bout for my new roller derby league. This is PR at its most basic… and it’s very effective.

How many times have you started a campaign detailing out how you will promote online through social media sites, your website, online newsgroups, fan sites and email newsletters to get the word out. How many times have you created a print advertising campaign to coincide? If you’re like me, you do this all the time. But when was the last time you mobilized an actual team to do some grass roots campaigning?

We’re so focused on the new. We get excited to communicate with audiences through social media. We have conversations. We measure impressions. But much of the people we touch through these methods are already aware of what we do. Something as simple handing out flyers allows you to reach new audiences. Grass roots communication is a powerful tool that often gets left behind when we’re planning because, let’s face it, taking the time to do something such as handing out flyers is, well, time consuming; as is recruiting volunteers.

Creating social media and advertising campaigns are more time efficient as most outward messages can be scheduled, but the advantage of going grass roots is the physical interaction with the audience you are targeting. Conversations happen. Impressions are made.

Sounds familiar?

UBC Day 007: PR is Everywhere

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Today I attended an instructors release class at GoodLife. I was invited by a friend of mine, a BodyCombat instructor, as she thought I’d enjoy it. (She was right!)  In fact every instructor in attendance had a guest with them. The purpose of the session was for instructors to practice the new release, and give students, such as myself, a sneak peek so we could get pumped about it.

This my friends is PR. Think about the last time you ran a campaign? Did you give anyone a sneak peek, or leak the information to a few favorite reporters? Did you start a whisper campaign?

This is exactly what just happened in this BodyCombat class. A chosen few got to be privy to information before the masses; and when the new release date is officially announced it won’t just be the instructions hyping it up. I’ll be there with them.

PR happens in places you’d sometimes never expect.

UBC Day 06: Routine Thinking?

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We all have our routines. One thing that I really enjoy is taking my dogs for a walk in the morning. I enjoy this more when it’s sunny like today, rather than when it’s -40 and a blizzard, but regardless of the weather, it happens.

This time in the morning wakes up my body and my brain. It gives me time to thinking about what I have scheduled that day, what I’d like to get done that’s not in my schedule and, most importantly, time to just let my thoughts wander. It’s during these walks on sunny days like today that my wandering thoughts will become wandering productive thoughts – at work we’d call this brainstorming.

This morning on the walk I was thinking about what to write about today for this blog. My thoughts then jumped to the press conference that I’m organizing in Amsterdam. I started thinking about that market and how I was going to ensure that I captured the right tone for our European media. I started thinking about what they’d enjoy and what would best create the right connection.  I’m aiming for a non-traditional event that will stick with them. Something beyond the routine press conference. Well my routine got me thinking about ways to make this a very non-routine event.  (Cue the music montage!)

Time Ideas recently published an article called Why Morning Routines Are Creativity Killers. Is says that: “… the way most of us spend our mornings is exactly counter to the conditions that neuroscientists and cognitive psychologists tell us promote flexible, open-minded thinking.” The article surmises that in order to maximize our creative process we need to allow time in our mornings to actually think, rather than rushing from our bed into the office. Seems that I’m on the right track here with my morning dog walk… and this article validates my morning cup of joe to boot!

Sometimes you do have to ‘shake it up to wake it up’, but routine are just as important. Do you have something in your routine that inspires you?

UBC Day 05: The Art of Procrastination

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Earlier this year, I read an article in Psychology Today called Procrastination: Oops, Where Did the Day Go? and thought it would make a great blog post. The article highlighted our proclivity to put things off, why we do it and how we can overcome this behavior.

In PR, there is no time to procrastinate. When getting a message out, time is of the essence. I strive to keep ahead of things, floating many balls in the air at any given time. I do this daily – and until now hadn’t given it much thought. Yet when it comes to getting my personal sh*t together, I’m as guilty as the next person when it comes putting things off; simple silly things such as sending an email, booking an appointment or getting my homework done. (Did I mention that I’m doing a Degree in my ‘spare’ time?)

Doing homework is a huge area of procrastination for me. Most of the courses I take are online or self study – meaning that as long as I have everything done and handed in at the end of the course, I’m good. I start with the best of intentions, telling myself that this time I will get a head start and do the course work consistently over the allotted six months. I praise myself for being so proactive in my planning.

Then here’s what really happens: I f**k around for three or four months, telling myself that I have plenty of time. Then hustle during the last few to get it done. What this tells me is that I can actually do the work in half the allotted time, but rather than starting with a bang and finishing early, I leave it to the last minute.

If there is one thing that I’ve learned about myself it’s that I work better under a deadline. The tighter the deadline, the more I produce. Ever need something to get done? Give it to a person who is busy. Busy people get more done. PR pros are busy people. Information is constantly changing and it’s our job to be ‘in the know’. There’s a great quote by Will Rogers that goes “Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” But back to me procrastinating on my homework.

In the article Procrastination: Oops, Where Did the Day Go? the author suggests that we procrastinate for three main reasons:

  1. We put off things we don’t like to do or that upset us in some way.
  2. Because our intentions are anemic—vague and weak.
  3. We’re easily distracted, and some of us are highly impulsive.

Hmmm. Let’s see.

  1. I want the Degree, but I don’t like doing the homework.
  2. If I’m honest about it, my attempts to “get a jump start” are pretty weak.
  3. I have a huge case of A-DOS: Attention Deficient Ohhhhh Shiny!

To overcome procrastination, the article suggests that one of the “simplest and most effective solutions is to just get started—anywhere on a task.”  Okay, okay, I get it. Start small, but just get started. And I’m gonna do just that… tomorrow.

UBC Day 04: Volunteering Matters!

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I wish when I was first starting out in my career that I listened to those who told me that volunteering would lead to more paid opportunities. At the time I was so focused on just making cash – you know for those pesky bills we get every month – that I discounted this advice, then watched as these same people move forward by leaps and bounds.

It turns out that volunteering matters.

Volunteering the fastest way to gain real-life hands on experience. It opens up cool opportunities that may never have come your way otherwise. It can help to position yourself as an industry leader.  A  former coworker took the volunteering aspect a step further noting that if you are not actively involved in an organization and volunteering your time, there is no point in being a member. By volunteering your time at an event, on a committee and so forth, you meet people. The benefit: the next time you are at an event you already know some people in the room. Smart advise.

For the past few years I’ve been a member of a variety of interest groups and professional associations.  As my time was getting pretty stretched, I decided to take stock of the value each provided and the level of investment I was willing to make to truly get involved. I trimmed the proverbial fat and decided to focus my time on the groups/associations that I felt were a good fit for my interests. Of course in my eagerness, I made a rookie volunteering mistake – I had over committed and had let a few things go.

But the point here is that by volunteering my time I can now say that I was a co-organizer and Program Director for a Communications Conference, I’ve worked as a PR Director and as part of a Board of Directors. The experience has expanded my professional network, expanded my experience and importantly, expanded me.

If you’re like I was five years ago, wondering why your career has stalled, pick something you like and get involved already!


UBC Day 03: Something with which you struggle.

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I am not bilingual.

As a professional communicator working in our nation’s capital – our nation’s BILINGUAL capital – I’m at a disadvantage. I’ve taken some French classes, but in the end I do not have the opportunity to practice it daily so I’ve not come very far. I struggle with the issue of bilingualism as I’ve lost a number of really cool career opportunities because of my uni-lingual status. (Unless you count being able to speak Starbucks!) I would often get frustrated as I’d see opportunities go to someone who had less communications experience but spoke French. The biggest offender? The Federal Government.

Years ago, I had set my sights on getting a job within the Federal Government. Time after time I was called in for their screening test, invited for an interview and then set off for language testing – despite being forthright on my lack of French. Still, I diligently did the testing, slightly improving as the years went on, but never enough to make the cut. It was tough to repeatedly hear that I was the best candidate – if only I spoke French. There are many things in this world that you can BS your way through… but a language isn’t one of them.

Ever hear the saying: The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results?

That was me. Then I smarted up.

I am not bilingual.

I will never work for the Federal Government.

And when I took a moment to actually think about it, I really didn’t want to work for them. It turns out that my struggle with French was really a struggle to let go of a career path that I was no longer interested in. Once I let go, I discovered a plethora of opportunities that were perfect for where I did want to be.

UBC Day 02: Something you regret not having done last year.

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So it’s officially day two of the blog challenge and here’s the second topic… writing about something that I regret not having done last year.

This one is a bit of a thinker as I declared that last year was going to be “my year”… and I felt it kinda was. I decided it was time to leave the Rogers’ mother ship and head back out into the world, and did. Last year I found balance and guess I can say that I regret not making the hard decisions earlier. Funny thing about regret though, it really gets you nowhere… and by living in the past mulling over missed opportunities and regrets we don’t allow ourselves to be open to future experiences. Last year, “my year”, I opened myself to new experiences and tried new things. One of those things was to join a local roller derby league and learn to referee. At the time I was too chicken to join as a player and once immersed I quickly realized that this was in fact what I wanted to do – I’ve never been one to sit on the sidelines. But instead I continued to Ref as I wanted to honor my original commitment and am only this year training to be a player.

Regardless of what the commitment is, personal or professional, my word is my word. And in PR, your word is what can make or break your credibility. (See how I tied that back to PR?) In any position, but especially in the PR industry, credibility is the backbone of success. If you don’t have your credibility, you don’t have anything but regret. And regret we’ve already determined, is counterproductive. Life is about looking at every opportunity presented, determining if it’s right for you, right now. If it’s not, then move on.  Regret for missed opportunities comes down to fear. The opportunity was the right one and the timing was probably right too, but fear got in the way…

This is what happened with me and roller derby. I wanted to play, but was fearful. As I look back on my last year of reffing, keeping my commitment may have put me a bit behind in my derby ‘career’, but it did provide me with an advantage – I know how to play by the rules.