Category Archives: Communications

UBC Day 15: Drinks Anyone?

I just realized that some of my friends have no idea what it is that I do. They know that I am in PR. They see that I am never really “off the clock” as I’m responding to messages and tweets even when we’re just out for a girls’ night. Last night, one of my friends joked that this was what it must be like to be in PR, you know, going out for drinks for a living.

What-huh?

Snickering aside, I realized that my friends really don’t know what a professional communicator does. And part of that is my fault. I share the fun “glamorous” stuff – the parties, the events and cool people I meet. I don’t really get into the behind the scenes work that happens: the development and planning; the hours of calls and emails; or me banging my head against the wall. They never hear about the detailed communications plans that I write for six very distinct regions. They think I go for drinks, and hold the occasion press conference… that is followed by drinks.

Our value as professional communicators is constantly challenged and the onus is on us to ensure that we get the respect that we deserve. PR’s dubious beginnings with the likes of consummate showman and scam artist, P.T. Barnum doesn’t help. Over the years PR has gotten a bad wrap that has likened PR pros to the old snake-oil salesmen traveling from town to town.

The next time you are faced with the question of what it is that you actually do, share this:

UBC Day 14: HiTech Vacation

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I just arrived in NYC with my girlfriends. It’s been a while since the four of us have hit this town and we were musing how different this is from our last trip. Technology has come a long way in the last four years. And back then we didn’t have smart phones or iPads.

Technology has obviously changed how we communicate, but have you ever thought about how it affects how your travel? It allows us to be more agile in our planning as we can look up information on the fly. Thinking about grabbing dinner that a restaurant you just walked by? You can do a quick search to see the reviews. Lost? No need to ask for directions, there’s an app for that.

Technology unfortunately also allows us to take the office with us wherever we go. We check emails, return texts and take phone calls because, we tell ourselves, it’s better than returning to the office to a couple hundred emails. But that’s irrelevant…. I’m in PR, we’re always on the clock.

UBC Day 13: Follow Friday

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Happy Friday the 13th!

I wanted to share a great blog, podcast and Tweets that I’m following. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do…

AdorkableUnides.com Thoughts and stories from a professional sex educator. Funny and insightful!

Stuff You Should Know: This is by far, my favorite podcast ever! Josh and Chuck crack me up… And I get to learn stuff along the way. You can get these guys on iTunes.

@BadBanana. Tim Siedell is worth the daily peek for his completely random tweets..

UBC Day 12: Can you Defy Gravity?

On my way into work, I was listening to the soundtrack for Wicked, one of my favourite musicals. The song Defying Gravity never fails to inspire me and, if you’ll pardon the Bette Midler reference, put some wind beneath my wings.

If you’ve seen this musical you know this is a pivotal part in the story where Elphba becomes the Wicked Witch of the West. But the story, and this song in particular, is about playing by your own rules and carving your own path. This is what we do in PR. We carve out our own path to get our message heard.

Have you defied gravity lately?

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?