PRSA considering NEW definition for public relations

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The Public Relations Society of America unveiled the three candidates for the definition of public relations.  Here they are (from the PR Defined website):
Definition No. 1: Public relations is the management function of researching, engaging, communicating, and collaborating with stakeholders in an ethical manner to build mutually-beneficial relationships and achieve results.
Definition No. 2: Public relations is a strategic communication process that develops and maintains mutually-beneficial relationships between organizations and their key publics.

Definition No. 3: Public relations is the engagement between organizations and individuals to achieve mutual understanding and realize strategic goals.
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33 (more) signs you work in PR

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From PR Daily:

Editor’s note: As many readers know, this isn’t the first story PR Daily has published on signs you work in PR. Though there is some overlap with this rendition and other versions, we have a feeling readers can relate to many of the items listed below.

Public relations is a notoriously stressful career.

This year it earned the rank of seventh-most stressful job in America, a drop from last year when it was No. 2—ahead of airline pilots. To which I beg to differ. Lives are not in our hands, after all.

Of course, PR can be stressful. We are, for the most part, at the mercy of forces beyond our control. The right pitch has to edge up against the right timing and the right reporter for any great placement to happen.

It takes a certain kind of personality to thrive in public relations. Read any PR job listing, and you’ll see requirements such as: detail-oriented, excellent writing skills, multitasker, organized, energetic, blah blah blah…

Yes, PR people must embody these traits, but excelling at PR requires a number of intangibles. It’s a gut feeling we’re looking for when we interview candidates; it just cannot be quantified in a job posting.

To provide a better sense of what those intangibles are, here’s a list of 33 signs that you work in public social media and PR:

1. The five scariest words you fear all day are, “Why aren’t we in this?” (from the hilarious @lmokaba)

2. In grade school, your teachers noted that you were a “social butterfly” on your report cards (not in a good way).

3. You’ve disabled all your notifications on your mobile devices and your computer. You don’t need them. You know you have at least 50 emails, five direct messages on Twitter, and 10 texts.

4. When you see a great story in the press, your first thought is, “Who placed that story?”

5. You scrutinize every word you write. Yes, there is a difference between “over” and “more than!” (Just ask Steve.)

6. You’d never buy a gift for a reporter, but you would retweet him or her to show that you are paying attention.

7. You’re surprised to hear that people still use desktops.

8. When the iPhone first came out you sacrificed function for image. Yes, you had to figure out a new way to manage your tasks because they no longer synced the way they had on your BlackBerry, but it was worth it.

9. You know what a “muscular verb” is.

10. A “day off” means only checking email every 15 minutes while you are physically out of the office.

11. In your personal life, when people try to help you stuff invitations, assemble gift bags, etc., you take over the project because you can do it more quickly.

12. When a friend tells you an amazing story over drinks about how she saved a lost dog or saw an ostrich along the side of the highway, you say, “I could get that on TV.”

13. Your grandmother wants to know when your article will be published in The New York Times. You just tell her “soon.”

14. Your friends ask you to compose their apology letters.

15. You can identify people at meetings, tradeshows, and on the street based solely on their Twitter avatar photos (h/t @lmokaba).

16. People assume you attend parties and meet celebrities for a living (and you let them think so, because it’s better than the reality of being chained to your phone and laptop).

17. You could easily hold the record for the most lists on Twitter, but there’s no formal way to measure that yet.

18. You still have Google alerts set up for past clients just to see what type of coverage they are getting (again, h/t @lmokaba).

19. You might use terms such as “boilerplate” and “hashtag” during happy hour conversation.

20. Caffeine and alcohol, in that order.

21. You have a running list of jargon that you ban from all writing. And you judge others who use those terms.

22. You are perfectly capable of writing a press release while tweeting, updating Facebook, and watching “Mad Men” at the same time.

23. You justify new clothing and accessories by telling yourself and others that you are “in the image business.”

24. You believe that all customer service reps will give you what you want if you approach the conversation the proper way. If that doesn’t work, there’s always Twitter.

25. You use Google+ because it increases the SEO for your content and all of the reporters you work with are on there—not because you like it (at least not yet).

26. If you are unable to find a piece of information, it’s not findable.

27. You take pride in finding typos in the novels you read (and you consider notifying the publisher).

28. You know and use proofing marks.

29. You have entire conversations with your colleagues using buzzwords just to crack each other up (another great one from @lmokaba)

30. You sleep with your iPhone.

31. Your answer to most questions that begin with, “Do you think it’s possible to…” is “yes.”

32. You write headlines in 140 characters (actually, 120 is ideal—to leave room for retweets).

33. “Speechless” is a foreign word.

Beth Monaghan is a principal and co-founder of InkHouse Media + Marketing. You can follow her on Twitter at @bamonaghan. A version of this story first appeared on the InkHouse blog.

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How to date a PR professional

(Reprinted from Ragan’s PR Daily)

By Laetitia Redbond | Posted: January 13, 2012

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With a nod to Tom Chambers’s post on five things to know before dating a journalist, here’s a similar guide to embarking on a relationship with a PR professional.

Here are four things you should know about dating a PR pro:

Our relationships are our top priority.

Because our job involves satisfying the needs of multiple people, we’re good at relationships. We’re good at mediating, moderating, and making things happen. “Fantastic,” you’re thinking, “this all sounds lovely.”

Oh, wait, did you think we meant our “relationship” with you? Oh, goodness, no. We have vast networks of contacts; we have more “relationships” than Richard Branson has islands. (Actually, that’s a rubbish comparison—he has only one.)

The fact is, we are people people, inherently social, and we will undoubtedly know at least three times more people in the bar than you do.

We’re very positive.

Come to us with a problem, and we will always give you a solution. We like turning situations around—so much so that sometimes you might forget how things actually were in the first place.

Some people call this spin, but we don’t. We prefer to think of ourselves as incredible storytellers; there will never be an awkward silence over dinner when we’re around, ever.

We know what’s hot and what’s not.

We are very much on the ball in terms of what’s hot or not. We work six months in advance, so we live that way. Early adopters, some might say.

When you think something’s cool, chances are we’ve been there and done that—most likely at an industry event. Some of these industry events require us to exist on a diet of champagne and the odd canapé, normally handed out at the latest “unbookable” restaurant. We can be a little tricky to wow at dinner.

We’re incredibly efficient.

Returning to the “everybody” of my first point, we have a lot of people to stay in touch with, so we are rather good at organization.

However, this makes for an incredibly packed schedule, so you could find yourself being allocated a time in the ever-present BlackBerry calendar, possibly as a weekend or evening activity.

You could also find dinner interrupted by the red flash of the BlackBerry, alerting us to an essential social media checking appointment. Please just allow us to ensure each of our social networks is up to speed; it won’t take a minute. The world could end if you prevent us from doing this.

With that, you are fully briefed on what to expect from your other-half—the good, the bad, and the sometimes-baffling traits of PR people. Treat us well, and you’ll become like a favorite client: We’ll want to spend all our time with you.

Anything to add?

Laetitia Redbond is an account executive at Flagship Consulting in London. A version of this story first appeared on the company’s blog.

 

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Philly Sports Dinner – 108th – on January 30

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In early November, when the sports world turned an eye toward Philadelphia to say goodbye to iconic heavyweight champion Joe Frazier, it seemed a fitting tribute to the man who defeated Muhammad Ali in the most publicized boxing match of all time. But, true to their passion for their sports heroes, Philadelphians have demanded more in the way of a salute to the man they called Smokin’ Joe.

On Monday, Jan. 30, a special tribute to Frazier will be the centerpiece of the 108th Philadelphia Sports Writers Association banquet at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Route 70 in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. A collage of famous Frazier photos will grace the cover of the special commemorative program book. A large feature story recounts his career, focusing on his life in Montgomery County and son Marvis and daughter Jackie — both graduates of Plymouth Whitemarsh High School — will be on hand to accept the tribute.

In addition to the tribute to Frazier, there will be a special remembrance of the 50th anniversary of the night that Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points against the New York Knicks in a game in Hershey. Legendary announcer Bill Campbell will recount details of that night, and Campbell’s original radio call of the 100th point will be played.

In addition to the two special tributes, the traditional awards will be presented and the recipients will be on hand to accept: Philadelphia Pro Athlete, Flyers’ Claude Giroux; Amateur Athlete of the Year, two-time Villanova NCAA women’s cross country champion Sheila Reid; Good Guy, Phillies’ Hunter Pence; Team of the Year, Phillies, accepted by GM Ruben Amaro; Humanitarian, Villanova football coach Andy Talley and Living Legend, Philadelphia University basketball coach Herb Magee.

Special Achievement awards will be given to Phillies manager Charlie Manuel (career Phillies managerial wins record), college football coaching legend Bill Manlove and Villanova women’s basketball coach Harry Perretta.

A Special Achievement award also will be given to all involved in the creation of the movie “Mighty Macs”, about the storied women’s national basketball championships won by tiny Immaculata University in the 1970s. The movie, written by Cardinal O’Hara and University of Pennsylvania grad Tim Chambers, chronicled the uphill struggle of young coach Cathy Rush and her unheralded team. Both Chambers and Rush will be in attendance. The wholesome, family movie inspired the country upon its release last year. Flyers’ ambassador and Hall of Fame goalie Bernie Parent, Winter Classic Alumni Game Most valuable Player will receive his award at the dinner.

Another Montgomery County (pa.) product, Steve Javie, will be honored for his years of excellence as an NBA official. The recently retired Javie was a graduate of LaSalle High and Temple University, where he played baseball.

Tickets for the event, priced at $95 are available online at www.pswa.org or by sending a check payable to PSWA to Robbie Kenney, Ticket Chairman, 110 Harrogate Dr., Lumberton, NJ 08048. For more info, visit PSWA.org.

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Eight Steps to Giving an Effective Speech

For the entire The Philadelphia Inquirer Nov. 7, 2011 “Marketplace” tip, mail: larry@larrylitwin.com. It will be mailed to you. To comment: larry@larrylitwin.com. You are also invited to check out Chapter 13 – Speeches – in The Public Relations Practitioner’s Playbook.

At some point in your career, you are likely to be asked to give a speech – whether it’s to co-workers, managers, industry colleagues or clients.

Let’s be honest (says The Philadelphia Inquirer), “Only a few people actually enjoy speaking in public. For all of the rest of us, here are eight tips on making the experience not nightmare-inducing. Perhaps, it can even be fun.

  1. Loosen up.
  2. Kindle their interest.
  3. Don’t be long-winded.
  4. Avoid reading your speech.
  5. Pay attention to your pace, tone and emphasis.
  6. Shoot for compelling and real.
  7. Incorporate some interactivity.
  8. Summarize.
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