It’s a tough and scary job market, whether you are just starting out or a more seasoned candidate. But many job applicants make their task even more difficult because they present themselves poorly, an especially vexing problem when the job being sought is in the communications arena. Here are some thoughts on personal presentation skills.
When planning a conference, it’s always a challenge to decide whether to go for breadth or depth, especially when you only have one day. At the Mashable Media Summit last week, they went for breadth, which ultimately was a disappointment.
Happy Thanksgiving!
It’s not often you can swoop in […]
With just a few words, prominent geologist and Interim President of CUNY College of Staten Island William Fritz vividly summed up why Hurricane Sandy hit the island borough in the middle of New York Harbor so hard: “We’ve hardscaped our sponge.”
Hurricane Sandy, dubbed “Frankenstorm” by the National Weather Service, barreled over the East Coast this week wreaking yet untold havoc and destruction. As one governor put it, the damage in some places is “unspeakable.” But because of excellent communication and preparation, loss of life and serious injuries seem to have been kept to a minimum.
E. B. White’s masterpiece, Charlotte’s Web, recently turned 60. This children’s fable about Wilbur the pig and Charlotte the spider, who saves him from becoming Christmas dinner, honors friendship, ingenuity, love, and loss.
A recent article in the Washington Post about the summer drama over the ouster and then reinstatement of University of Virginia (UVA) President Teresa Sullivan detailed the effort of Rector Helen Dragas to put a positive public face on this action.
This headline PR Woes: When Access Isn’t Worth It on a recent post on Media Bistro’s Fishbowl DC was too compelling to resist. Contributing writer Eddie Scarry was lamenting the demise of a connection between a publicist who invited him to a screening of The Paperboy and then told him he would be banned from future screenings because Scarry had written negatively about the film. The publicist’s action raised his hackles and mine as well.
Public relations is all of those things but I would frame it a little differently. To me, the best public relations is simply this: starting and nurturing ongoing conversations between an organization or company and the various stakeholders and audiences it needs to engage to thrive and grow.
There are some in public relations who would say that negative press is better than no press at all. “As long as they spell your name right,” the old adage goes. While there is some truth to that, getting negative press can seriously damage your company or nonprofit’s reputation, endangering your funding, your customer base and your very future.
