This year’s PRSA/NYU PRSSA Career Forum was a success! With a few opening remarks by Lea-Ann Germinder, president of PRSA-NY, Shira Palka, president of NYU PRSSA, and morning presentations, the show was on the road. Students enjoyed a sponsored lunch, and had the opportunity of meeting with public-relations exhibitors from some of the top agencies in the country.

The fair was unique in that students were able to network with one another and professionals in the industry through morning sessions, a light meal, and a relaxed environment where careers can truly be cultivated. Exhibitors participating in the fair were given strict guidelines to go by, so that any participating agency must have offered either: an internship, job opportunity, or funds for school clubs and organizations so that students were guaranteed to benefit from the event in one way or another.

Special thanks to Brandi Boatner PRSA-NY New Professionals Chair, for putting this all together!

Are you interested in getting an internship or job in New York City? If so, then you don’t want to miss the premiere job opportunity event on Tuesday, April 2 at New York University from 10 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
  
The PRSA-NY Chapter New Professionals Committee along with the PRSSA student Chapter at NYU with a grant from the PRSA Foundation and support from the Council of Public Relations Firms invites you to attend the 2013 New York Public Relations Career Forum.    

Join us to learn about the field of public relations and kick off your career. At the Career Fair, you will have an opportunity to meet with recruiters from top New York City-based public relations agencies and communications companies and learn about continuing education programs.

The mission for the NY PR career fair is to attract top diverse talent to the public relations profession, helping to develop students and young professionals from diverse backgrounds for a career in public relations. The event is open to all students. The cost for attending this event is only $10 (which includes lunch), and FREE if you’re a PRSSA member!

On Wednesday, February 27th, NYU PRSSA attended Muck Rack’s monthly class on #howtopitchajournalist led by Patrick Flanary, a PR manager at Thomson Reuters and a contributor to Rolling Stone and The Huffington Post among others. Natan Edelsburg led the Q&A, as Flanary discussed his experiences and suggestions in building relationships with journalists in this ever-advancing technological world.

 Here are some key points:

• Customize your emails – journalists know what they’re doing; they will know if you send out that very same email to 15 other journalists.
• Subject lines and opening sentences are the two most important aspects in the email – journalists are so busy that they will often not read past that if it is already boring.
• Get to the point; be brief and try to make a connection. Keep it less than 2 paragraphs, make it 2 sentences, 3 sentences max.
• Call only if it is ‘the scoop.’
• Don’t bury the lead; bring it to the top.
• Link your sentences to why that particular topic matters to that particular journalist.
• If you promise an exclusive, make them aware of a deadline, so you don’t seem two-faced if you end up giving that information to another journalist.
• Wait at least several days to follow-up, maximum wait one week.
• Twitter is our generation’s newspaper, so get on that!
• Do not bold, underline, or italicize when sending an email pitch.
• Never pitch on a Monday or a Friday; a good time to pitch is in the middle of the week, from 10 – 11 AM before work gets too busy.
• Meet lots of people!
  

Hope you enjoyed these tips!

Till next time,

Claire

VP of Communications

At this Wednesday’s meeting we were lucky enough to have a fantastic resume workshop led by Jamie Wernet of Heyman Associates, and we wanted to share some of her tips with you! 

1. Design is important, but there is no one correct design- Don’t get hung up on alignment, spacing, and fancy designs; what’s more important is the information you have to share.

2.  Have a WHY for everything on your resume- Be sure you can explain why you have included each piece of information you have chosen to list on your resume, know why it’s relevant to the position you are applying for and be sure you can explain this in an interview.

3. Don’t think people will assume things about you from your resume- If you want an employer to know something about you, write it down. Don’t expect them to infer skills based on job descriptions, be explicit.

4. Top skills to have in a PR career: a) global mindset b) creativity c) strategy & tactics and most important 4) interpersonal communication skills

I know these tips helped me to rethink the structure of my resume, hope they help you too!

Cara McMahon

VP Professional Development

We’re giving away 2 FREE TICKETS to see Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark for this Friday, February 15th @ 8pm! Here’s what you have to do to enter the sweepstakes (you MUST complete all 3 steps to enter)

1. Go to twitter.com/nyuprssa and Follow us

2. Show your love by tweeting why you want to see Spiderman with the hashtag #nyuprssalove

3. Embed a picture of yourself in the tweet, doing a spiderman pose somewhere in a public space

Submissions close on Friday at noon, and the winner will be chosen from the list of participants at random (we’ll Direct Message you!)

On your marks…….Get Set……….TWEET (and remember to say CHEEEEEESE)! 

During NYU’s fall break, three members from the PRSSA executive board had the special opportunity to attend the PRSSA National Conference in San Francisco. Shira Palka, Claire Ahn, and Cara McMahon went on the 5-day conference, and even managed to get in some sight-seeing in between sessions. Take a look at some of their favorite moments from the trip!

Left to right: Cara McMahon, Shira Palka, Claire Ahn

·         Shira, President: I had such a great time at the conference. It was nice to see many of the sessions run by other PRSSA chapters, and learn from students who are also working hard to better develop their chapters. Some of the key highlights I took away from the President’s session, led by Kevin Saghy, PR and Marketing specialist for the NY Cubs were the following:

o   Be honest and transparent

o   Find out what motivates your members and use it to your advantage

o   Set a strategy and corresponding goals

o   Listen to what people have to say

o   Cast your ego aside

o   Own up to your mistakes

o   Remember to say thank you

Another big highlight was listening to PRSA’s keynote speaker, Twitter co-founder, Biz Stone. It wasn’t just fascinating to hear how Twitter was founded, but it was inspiring to listen to him speak so naturally about a product he truly believes in. From his childhood stories, to how he worked with a team of friends, to starting twitter, he left off with the idea that we should think about how to help make the world a better place, and give back with our ideas. I felt proud to represent NYU at the President’s dinner, and honored to be a part of such a supportive and professional organization. San Francisco was a beautiful host, and after visiting Fisherman’s Wharf and sitting at the same bar as Jack Kerouac, it’s safe to say I will be back to see the rest!

Our PRSA Faculty Advisor, Lou Capozzi representing NYU SCPS

·         Claire, Social Media Coordinator: Overall, the PRSSA National Conference was amazing and unlike any other experience I’ve ever had, related to university organizations. Throughout a four night/five day conference, we had the freedom to pick and choose our own sessions and find the ones that best fit our choices of interest.

Of the many lectures I attended, my favorite has got to be, hands down, the lecture done by Jeffrey Ory on the session of Creativity: Innovative Ideas; Create Unforgettable Experiences. He was a very charismatic speaker, which definitely made the session easy to follow and entertaining. What really caught my attention  was his creative, easy-to-memorize key points in succeeding in the PR world:

o   There’s no place for convention in creativity.

o   Creativity is kind of like pornography - you know it when you see it.

o   At the heart of PR, you need to be CREATIVE. 

So, if you think you are not creative (which is 98% of the world, apparently), then how do you cultivate creativity? According to Jeffrey Ory, “Let your inhibitions down and just let yourself go and dance!” 

But in all seriousness, “You can’t be creative just to be creative; you still need a strategy.” To sum it up, creativity is key in succeeding as a PR person, but one cannot be creative to the point of being illogical. It all needs to fit in with the strategy and campaign. 

Hope you all enjoyed these key points!

·         Cara, VP of Chapter Development: Attending this year’s National Conference in San Francisco was a fantastic experience. It was a great opportunity to network with PR professionals and other PRSSA members from across the country. Over the course of our stay in San Francisco we heard from amazing guest speakers from companies such as Twitter, Google, Pandora and leading PR agencies such as Edelman.

One of my favorite lectures came from Social Media Manager at Disneyland, Matt Prince. Prince spoke on the importance of personal branding as a tool for attaining a career in the industry. Prince gave an engaging presentation with 10 key points that are a must for anyone looking for a job in communications in general. We all use social media, but are we using it in an effective way that expresses our personal brand? Prince’s presentation focused on ways we can use various social media sites together to create one narrative about ourselves that we can present to the public. It definitely made me take a look at my own online presence and tweak some things to present a more cohesive message. 
Prince’s 10 Key Points to Personal Branding:

o   Find Yourself

o   Make an Impression

o   Do Social Right

o   Be Narrow Minded

o   Be a Content Creator

o   Be a Storyteller

o   Take it Offline

o   Repetition of Reputation

o   Know Your Audience

o   Have Fun!

You can find Prince’s whole presentation here: http://theprinceples.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/BrandYou.pdf and I highly suggest you take a look at it!

This past Wednesday, NYU PRSSA had the exciting opportunity to hear from the EVP, Director of WorldWide Communications of BBDO, Roy Elvove, who shared his insights on public relations in the field of advertising. Roy touched on many key points in getting us to understand what it takes to make it in the field and what it’s like to be in his shoes. For those of you out there interested in advertising PR, here are a few key qualities Roy narrowed in on:

 1.     Gain satisfaction out of pleasing others: In order to succeed in advertising, it is important that you are okay with staying out of the limelight. Creating ads is all about doing what it takes to make the company look good and that should always be the end goal.

2.     Ability to Juggle: Especially in a global company like BBDO, there are always hundreds of exciting projects going on so it is very important that you are able to multitask while keeping up the momentum that it takes to do great work!

3.     Attention to Detail: Advertising is all about detail, detail, detail! There is no detail too small to worry about, so it is extra important to be on top of even the tiniest spelling errors that can take your work from world-class to sloppy.

4.     Have a “Healthy Paranoia”: Roy stressed what he calls a ‘healthy paranoia’ saying that you should never get complacent with your work. You should always be making sure to stay ahead of the pack and don’t let yourself switch into autopilot.

Photo Credit: Claire Ahn (NYU PRSSA Social Media Coordinator)
Left: Shira Palka (NYU PRSSA President), Right: Roy Elvove

At the end of the day, Roy spoke passionately about what he does and about the company he works for calling it, “a place where clients want to come and people want to work.” From the short time we spent with Roy, it was clear that just as BBDO always says, it’s all about “the work, the work, the work.” Citing examples of thefamous M&M Superbowl commercial and even a project for Save the Children, Roy made it clear that even in the new digital age, advertising is still as relevant as ever.

Thanks again to Roy and everyone who came out to PRSSA’s event! All of us on the executive board are looking forward to more exciting speakers to come as the year continues!

Brittney Bhayana

VP of Communications 

shirapalka:

Last Wednesday, I had the special opportunity of moderating a panel for NYU’s PRSSA chapter. The panelists included Kurt Patat, Vice President of MTV & VH1 Press, Amanda Bird Malko, Group Marketing Director for 360i, and Seth Fradkoff, Director of National Publicity for …

Congratulations to the newly elected 2012-2013 Eboard! We are so excited to have everyone on board and hit the next semester off with a bang. A big congratulations to the graduating board as well, and an electronic round of applause to them for making the past year a wonderful PRSSA experience. Looking forward to great times ahead!

And here is your new board:

Shira Palka, President 

Eva Huang, VP of Finance

  

Want to stand out in the field of Public Relations? Apply to be a leader in PR by joining the PRSSA Executive Board!

The Executive Board position gives you the opportunity to network with other clubs on campus, PR organizations in NYC, develop leadership skills, and build your resume. 

Click here for the official PRSSA Eboard Application. More information about available positions could be found here. If you have any questions, feel free to email nyuprssa@gmail.com or tweet at us @NYUPRSSA! The deadline to apply is next Wednesday, April 25th.

Good luck!

We know that many of you unfortunately could not attend tonight’s meeting, so here are some highlights of our talk with Adrianna and Meg!

• Make sure you’re familiar with the latest social channels.Training programs are becoming more popular at agencies, and one day you may have to teach your boss how to use social media like Twitter or Pinterest.
• In such a stressful field, many people can easily burn out, but it is important to slow down and just breathe. At the end of the day, it’s up to you on how much you want to accomplish and this is an industry where you can really grow and shine.
• Some of the daily work tasks include planning and media relations; social media writing, a lot of media outreach, brainstorming and executing. And remember- “no idea is a bad idea in a brainstorm.” ~A
• “Intern as much as possible, no matter where it is.” ~M
• Experience is the only way you’ll truly learn about the industry, so try to intern, or even just learn about a company through informational interviews.
• An ideal intern from the NYC PR Girls’ perspective will: follow through and keep the flow of communication going at all times, be responsive, speak up, go the extra mile to complete a task, and mess up. That’s right, it’s important to make mistakes and you’re there to learn, so don’t be afraid to call out an error and learn from it afterwards.

 

The girls also discussed salaries, living in the city vs. commuting, making friends after college, and the perks of being in the industry.

Thanks for hanging out with our chapter, we hope you stop by again!

-Shira Palka
NYU PRSSA VP of Communications 

Over my spring break, I had the wonderful opportunity and honor of attending the PRSSA National Assembly in Charlotte, North Carolina, as NYU PRSSA’s official delegate. This was my first national conference and our chapter’s first representation in the assembly since its foundation. If I had to sum up my experience in one word, it would be Inspiring. Over 200 delegates and PRSSA members from around the country represented their universities, in order to learn important leadership skills, understand the role that ethics plays in PR, build their chapters, and spread the PRSSA love.

The assembly started out with an optional Day of Competition event in which I was placed into a group and asked to create a PR campaign for Duke Energy in just one hour. Though my team did not win, I got a little taste of what it’s like to work with a group of people I literally met on the spot, coordinate and work together under time pressure, and present a plan to a “client.” Over the course of the assembly, we had some very interesting sessions about the ethical standards of PR, chapter development for different board-member titles, and the history of PRSA and PRSSA.

I took away many valuable tips from the assembly, such as:

• How to develop an effective Student-Run Firm
• How to concisely explain what PRSSA is and encourage students to join
• What it takes to be a leader and why the executive board is so important
• What types of fundraisers to host each local chapter

It was wonderful to not only see how loyal and devoted the national committee was in helping other chapters grow, but to interact with other delegates from around the country and share personal stories with one another about our chapters. I believe we can learn more from our mistakes than our successes, and this was definitely the case when we were all able to share our mishaps and issues within our own chapters. The open discussions were effective in allowing me to look at my own chapter and think about our strengths and weaknesses.

During the assembly day, all of the delegates were given the task of electing their new PRSSA national committee. After listening to the speeches, I was so impressed with the leaders who are growing this organization and so proud to be a part of the process.

To end off the post, I want to quote Mary Tribble, the keynote speaker during our farewell reception, and Chief of Events for the upcoming 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte. “It’s all up to you, each day and each career. Your happiness is up to you.”

Shira Palka
NYU PRSSA VP of Communications

At yesterday’s Career Forum hosted by NYU PRSSA and PRSA NY, guest speaker Kevin Mercuri kicked off the event with some wonderful words of wisdom to aspiring PR professionals. With twenty years of PR experience under his belt, and as the President and Founder of Propheta Communications, Kevin highlighted key aspects of making it in the business:

• “Once you’re out of college you’re a brand.” You must continue to manage yourself as a brand and be in touch with your inner type A.
• Use social media to your advantage. Clean it up and make sure you are up to date on all your channels. 
• Follow influencers and professionals on Twitter. Reach out to them and get on their radar early!
• Do your homework; read trade publications and stay on top of the buzz.
• Treat your internship as a full-time job. Take advantage of the resources you are given and make a lasting impression.
• “Polite persistence pays a premium.” Always follow up, send a note to a colleague, tweet out to a professional, and be persistent when networking.
• When it comes to networking events: leave your friends behind. The morning events are more business oriented, so be sure to go to those as well. When you’re there, work the room and ask good questions. 

Kevin ended his speech with some lasting remarks. He pointed out to know the trends and able to look ahead. It’s always helpful to know the agencies and the work they do, be able to handle stress, and have that aggressive edge that companies look for in an intern and full-time employee.

Thanks very much Kevin!

Shira Palka
NYU PRSSA VP of Communications 

Doreen Naor (Chapter President) Shira Palka (VP of Communications) & Elisa Freese (VP of Chapter Development) (Left to Right) at the PRSANY-NYUPRSSA Career Forum!