After a brief discussion of the exciting and upcoming PRSSA trip to New York, executive members, Brittany Leuth and Stephen Abramawitz, led the group with lessons on writing professional emails and how to get press releases noticed by search engines.
A ten-minute long Lynda (the JMU provided online tutorial resource) video was used where a Public Relations professional outlined some key tools and tips on how to make your press releases more search friendly. To conclude the meeting, the group was instructed to take this information and draft it into an email just as you would if your boss requested a summary from you after a meeting or conference. This was pointed out to be a common task for interns. Leuth was then able to provide feedback on each of the emails based on her experience. How to Optimize Your Press Releases for Search Engines 1. Focus Phrases The Lynda instructor’s first tip was to utilize “focus phrases” within the press releases. These phrases are just a couple of words that tie in the main theme of your release. For example, a piece on a new administrator at a company in D.C could use a focus phrase of, “Washington CEO.” This focus phrase is to be placed into the press release early on within the URL, headline and/or sub headline but then also frequently throughout the piece’s content. This “early and often” technique will allow search engines to find these terms at a higher volume and make them more likely able to connect searches with your press release. 2. Links Search engines are looking for architecture, code and content. By placing links into your press release you are giving search engines more to feed on when searching. These links can be attached to keywords in the content and can send readers to other parts of your website such as other important articles. Another benefit of this is that by being able to have easy access to other important or interesting places in your site, you are giving your reader a boosted experience. 3. Perfect Your Upload There were a few important things to remember even after you’ve finished writing the content. First is to make sure you are uploading the release in a search friendly way. This includes uploading the press release with a unique URL and not just with the general website URL it is found on. This way search engines can attribute the link to the specific press release. The URL can be unique and ideally include the focus phrase discussed earlier. 4. Employ the Power of Social Media Last but not least, it is important to get your press release on many different social media platforms. Search Engines are looking for sites that are traveled on a lot and having a link on twitter or a blog will boost your press release. Also, social media posts with a conversational tone and the same keywords from the piece will help lead a person to clicking the link to the press release. - Caroline Rice, PRSSA member
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The temperature had just dropped to a morbid 26 degrees, with Google indicating it felt like a crisp 22. It was refreshing in some way, considering I had just submitted an application to become an editorial intern and was on the verge of having heat flashes on the 2nd floor of Carrier Library. It’s easy to think you’re not doing enough or that these internships will ultimately have no bearing on your future success since you’re so unsure at the ripe age of 20.
This is where Dr. Shana Meganck, an assistant JMU professor in the School of Communication Studies, came in to save my Monday. With her background in public relations and advertising as well as her Ph.D from VCU in the media, art and text program, M.A in journalism at UGA and B.A. from Mary Baldwin College in mass communication, I sat in awe. A plethora of disciplines, all of which led her to her current profession at JMU. It gave me a sense of reassurance knowing you’re not confined to one path or forced to stick with it. She dedicates her journey to the importance of internships, which she says had she not had several, she wouldn’t have gotten her first job. “They [internships] help you figure out what you want to do and differentiates you from others,” Meganck said. “Though for me, some were great, some were awful. But something is to be said about all of them.” At this moment, I was reminded of my marketing internship two years ago where I realized how much I refused to be stuck in a grey cubicle for the entirety of my working career. I wanted a fast-paced environment where I’d be on my feet constantly doing something, which goes into Meganck’s time at Padilla, an advertising agency that combined her skills in media relations to event planning. In her time here, she would work on multiple accounts at the same time, Thorlos and Nascar being the biggest. With odd hours and constantly traveling, Meganck opted to change her path and work for Altria in internal communications, which was more corporate and stable than agency life had been. She learned the importance of narrowing the target audience and communicating with outside communities. Yet how do you decide the path you want to take? Meganck says it’s all about personality, working style and career aspirations, but there’s no harm in gaining experience on both sides. Here was her quick run-down: Agency Life
Since her major wasn’t PR, she suggested trying workshops to learn skills in a new career path that diversify your resume despite the major you graduated with, which provided me a sigh of relief in a time where it’s no longer enough to be a good writer and your portfolio is expected to be the answer to curing malignant human diseases. Her biggest takeaway? Always make sure you’re learning. Even at the internship you know will not become your future career, it’s important to make connections or seek a mentorship with someone who knows the ins and outs of the industry and is willing to help you grow. Taking advantage of externships as well can provide a glimpse into the vibes of a company with the span of a week or a couple days. As she wrapped up the Q&A, she mentioned one thing she feels all students should make an effort to learn: soft skills, a.k.a. writing emails, learning how to present oneself in the workplace, knowing when to ask questions and when to be quiet. I was left feeling grateful, not only due to the knowledge and solace she unknowingly provided me, but because I grew up in an age where the power of Google is exquisite and only a click away when I want to know more. - Sabrina Moreno, PRSSA member Friday, November 3rd, was one of those days that when you look back makes you want to smile, cry, laugh hysterically, and sweat. Yes, I said sweat. I’ll explain later.
I remember distinctly being ready for bed the night before at a stunningly early 10 p.m. after my weekly dose of Scandal on TGIT, but of course, the night before a big day translates to being restless and waking up an hour after you’ve managed to finally fall asleep. To begin this trip, we were scheduled to leave the Forbes bus circle at 5:45, meaning that I needed to wake up and put on my big girl shoes at 4:30 in the morning. I’m a freshman which means I get the “luxury” of dorm life, particularly the really far away dorm life in Shenandoah Hall; that being said, one of the executive board members was extremely kind to pick me up and drive me to the bus circle, saving a brisk, 30 minute walk at 5 a.m. After leaving the bus circle, just a few minutes late (give us a break it’s early), we departed for D.C., ready to embark on a day filled with agency visits, networking, and food. Let me start by saying that the bus was cold when we got on and it wasn’t until we were about 30 minutes away from our first stop that the heat was turned on. And boy, did it turn on. Our first official stop off the bus was to Starbucks, which single-handedly revitalized each and every one of us. With coffee in hand, we embarked on our journey to professionalism. The first agency visit of the day was to Finn Partners, a small public-policy focused PR firm that works closely with education policy and reform. The agency known as a Widmeyer Communications group, was bought by Peter Finn, and starts at the grassroots level in hopes of influencing policymakers. They bought breakfast for us in the danish and bagel variety, and they were all really nice people. For my first agency visit ever it was a really cool experience, but it wasn’t anything like I had imagined. This visit changed my perception of agency life a little bit, until the next visit... Next we went to Porter-Novelli, one of the largest PR agencies in the world, and I realized that there are PR firms of all shapes and sizes. I particularly loved Porter Novelli because the atmosphere seemed really fun, close knit, and authentic. Hearing them talk about some of the accounts they’ve worked on I found myself drooling a little bit. Moving as fast as we could in uncomfortable shoes, we made it nearly on time to our next stop, The Herald Group. As we walked in, the aroma of Potbelly Sandwiches welcomed us and we all were so happy to see food again. We got sandwiches, drinks, chips, and sat down eager to hear from The Herald Group, another small but reputable agency. This visit was set up much more like a Q&A session which was very beneficial to us and our fancy padfolios. They gave us a little bit of a background on their company and how they have about 20-30 employees who work on a vast array of issues and clients (many confidential), and then they opened the floor up to questions. The Herald Group gave us a lot of great insight on what skills they look for including writing skills, attention to detail, the ability to research and simplifying down, and productivity connected to problem-solving. They suggested that we take as many internships as we can get, work on campaigns, take more writing classes than we may need, and learn different aspects of technology. Beyond that, they gave us advice on how to conduct yourself in an interview and gave us more information about what it would be like to be an intern there. Even though we had bellies full of Potbelly’s, it was lunch time, and we had a reservation to one of the top restaurants in D.C.: Founding Farmers. Our reservation time was fast approaching, so we called ahead and told them that we were on our way to avoid them giving away our table. But guess what they did anyway? They gave away our table. We got there one minute late with a previous heads up call, and still, no table. By then the smell of the food and the hip atmosphere lured us in and we were waiting no matter how long it took. We got seated not too much later though and enjoyed some pretty amazing, pricey food. Mind you, by this time it was after 1 pm so that meant we had been up for 8 hours already, but our day was only halfway over. Edelman was next on our agenda, and I was feeling pretty anxious about going there. Edelman is the largest agency in the world and I almost felt intimidated by it, but once we got there I realized there was nothing to be afraid of. They set up their session with us a lot like The Herald Group did which was nice and casual and we learned a lot about the kind of people who work at Edelman. They hire passionate and curious people who have experience/internships, and they emphasized that at Edelman you work with the best of the best and you have the chance to “carve your own path” and you can continuously reinvent yourself and your career there. It seemed to me like the opportunities were endless at Edelman. Sidenote about Edelman: we had to sign in with our ID and we got cool, printed visitor name tags. I felt so corporate. Our final, official stop of the day was to Verizon to visit a former PRSSA member and to check in with him on how the corporate side of things are. It was really cool to see how different the two environments were but also how they were alike. While our guide wasn’t exactly in the communications department at Verizon, he has worked closely with them and knew a bit about the types of tasks they perform on a daily basis. I think it’s really valuable to always be working on one brand and the work hours are much more consistent, but I’m still unsure which is the right path for me. He gave us a lot of insight into the positives of working corporate including you have the power to control the company and take credit for good work, the networking is great, consistent work hours, and you get a 360 degree view of corporate business which is super beneficial. I think after a full day of agency life, a change of pace was exactly what we needed. And boy, did Verizon deliver. Their office is incredible. The entire office was created to wow stakeholders and government officials so that they would continue or begin to back Verizon financially and supportively. The office was a maze of interactive modules, each with a specific purpose in building the brand without explicitly building the brand. We were in complete awe our entire time there and we got to definitely see some of the luxuries of corporate life. When we were wrapping up our Verizon presentation we had nearly two hours before our next scheduled event. And that “unfortunate” break happened to occur during Happy Hour. That being said, our legal half of the group went to a nearby bar while the other half took pictures outside, bonded, and walked over early to our Alumni event. Our JMU Alumni event was held in the Washington Center, where our Washington abroad program is held, and we had wraps and indulgent desserts to complete our long day. While we didn’t have many alumni attend, we had a really great time getting to know some of the successful JMU graduates and learning about their journeys post-grad. The alumni event wrapped up at about 8:30 and after crossing a terrifying road of traffic, we bid adieu to D.C. after our exhausting day. But that’s not where the story ends. When we reached our bus, it was freezing. So we naively asked the bus driver, John, to turn the heat on. If only we knew. In a matter of 20 minutes, the bus was hot, really hot. I don’t think I mentioned before but I sat in the back of the bus, the source of the heat and I was cooking. It only got worse from there; we felt the clothes begin to stick to our bodies, the sweat continued to drop from our faces, and we plastered ourselves to the window where the cold air from outside caused a cold condensation. We all began to look around at each other in desperation and pity, and our GroupMe started to explode with cries for help and last goodbyes. Instead of the Friendsgiving we planned for the following week, we talked about it becoming our funeral instead. That wasn’t the only issue with the ride back though. About halfway through, John started to show signs of road rage, as he began yelling repeatedly “I can’t see shit!” Those seated in the front of the bus started to report Johns’ actions, giving us minute-to-minute reports on his swearing and swerving. Jenna Schneider, being the leader of the trip, decided to step up and tell him to turn off the heat, (even though there is no reason that he shouldn’t have realized it himself). When she approached him the first time, there was no response, so naturally she tried again, and again, and nothing. She sat back down and we all whimpered in unison. We were counting down the miles to Exit 245 and cheered solemnly every 5. Eventually, nearly 10 miles away, Taryn, a member of PRSSA sitting in the front, got up and demanded attention, saving us all from our slow, burning deaths. The bus circle was in sight and we were free. The day was full of happy and inspirational moments, but we were exhausted after being awake for 18 hours and sweltering on a bus. We had only hoped to gain valuable knowledge and possibly a future internship, but what seemed to be our last moments with each other, we also grew closer as a club. - Amanda Christian 6:30 a.m. My alarm kindly awoke me. I admit, I seriously considered skipping the whole day, but then remembered the events on the itinerary and decided against it. For my future and stuff.
7:12 a.m. I arrived at the Forbes bus circle three minutes ahead of schedule to meet the rest of PRSSA and head out to Richmond. While I waited, I successfully pretended I wasn’t cold so I’d look like a professional adult person. 8:45 a.m. PRSSA made a coffee stop. God is real. The sun is shining. The birds are chirping. Caffeine is incredible. I wondered who invented coffee. I Googled, “who invented coffee?” Legend says it was an Ethiopian goatherd named Kaldi. Bless you, Kaldi. 9:30 a.m. We arrived at Padilla and I was blown away. I might be used to a smaller scale office setting because of life in Harrisonburg, but I have to say the office space was stunning. We joined students from VCU and John Tyler College to listen to a panel of selected speakers that represent different segments Richmond Public Relations. After introducing themselves, they gave us a few great pointers. 1. Seek out your own opportunities… continuously Two of the women on the panel were featured in 30 Under 30 P.R. professionals’ lists in the last year. People won’t likely hand you applications for awards or sign-ups for conferences. You have to take that into your own hands. It makes complete sense, really; in order to continue growing, don’t be complacent. 2. Take initiative Several of the professionals on the panel spoke about pushing their companies to make big decisions. They encouraged us as young P.R. professionals to be the person that says yes. The best way to learn is by experience, and the more you say yes, the more experience you get. Boom. 3. Learn from others’ experience Ask questions! A lot! People want to share their knowledge with you, and all you have to do is ask for it. Ask your coworker to review your writing, ask your boss his or her opinion about a social media practice. They’ve been in the field and they know the ropes – let them show you. 11:45 a.m. The 11 of us climbed back into our clown car. We got lost trying to find the venue for the PRSA lunch event. We found several parking lots, and some sort of botanical gardens, but alas, no lunch. 12:02 p.m. JMU PRSSA arrived (fashionably) late to the PRSA Richmond Lunch. I saw with a bunch of strangers to try my hand at this networking thing I’ve been hearing so much about. I have to note that there was pumpkin pie sitting right in my line of sight for the entire duration of the networking and I successfully restrained myself from demolishing it like an animal. It’s the little victories. 12:15 Mike McDougall, a prominent member of the P.R. community, spoke to us about the importance of visual content now and in the future. Here’s what I took away. 1. The most effective content has a strong visual component Visuals are what pull people in and get them to stay. Without visual content, social media sites would likely fail. Think about it: Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, even Tweets without pictures rarely grab my attention. 2. Future-proof your content Shoot your content with the highest possible quality cameras, even if the popular technology to view it on can’t display the full quality, because technology moves incredibly fast. For example, if laptops of today aren’t commonly using the highest possible HD display, you can’t see quite how good the quality of picture is, but in just a few years technology will advance and higher quality screens will become more available to see that content on. 3. The future is bonkers Visual augmentation is already a thing. You can download an app that shows you the details of airplanes around you in real time. By pointing your phone at the sky, you can see where it came from, where it’s going, even what snacks they have available on the plane. Tech companies are already developing contact lenses with a similar, but more advanced, kind of wearable visual augmentation. Information. In. Your. Eyeballs. 1:00 Each of the audience members had a small existential crisis. Re-contemplated the meaning of life. Thought about the size of the universe a lot. 1:15 On the road again. 1:30 After lunch, we went straight to Hodges, a smaller (but mighty) P.R. firm in Richmond. Here’s a little bite of what we talked about: 1. Be engaged Ask questions, be engaged, do more than the minimum. Take initiative when problems arise. Don’t just inform someone, come up with a potential solution. Get to know what each person in your company does. 2. Diversify your skillset Don’t find one thing and stick to it forever. Find the thing that everyone hates to do and get really good at it! Be as resourceful as you can be, don’t put yourself in a box so early on. 3. Pitching Ah, the dreaded pitch. It seems like everyone knows how to do it but me. Here’s what I took away from our conversation.
3:30 PRSSA loaded back into our van and headed back to the ‘burg. We might have had a full day of professional development, but that doesn’t mean that we didn’t fall asleep almost immediately once we got on the highway. The students were nestled all snug in our van, while visions of padfolios danced in our heads. 6:00 We all made it back to JMU, a little more nervous, a little more exhausted and a little more prepared to take on the future. - Taryn Kosinski, PRSSA member Year: Senior Hometown: Fairfax, VA How has PRSSA Impacted you? PRSSA impacted my entire future. I joined the organization as a marketing major. Thanks to the information and experiences provided to my by PRSSA, I switched my major to Communications with a concentration in Public Relations. What was your favorite PRSSA event? My favorite PRSSA event was the D.C. visit. It was a great way to learn the reality of working in an agency form alum and other public relations professionals. What is your dream job? My dream job is to work for a PR agency that deals with large commercial brands. What is a fun fact about you? I did Irish dancing for 7 years. Congratulations, Dara! It’s important to have a professional profile that allows you to network among others in your field, as well as provide employers with a good reflection of yourself alongside your resume. LinkedIn is a great site that you can use to create and manage this professional profile and it has slowly become a crucial part of the networking world. However, it can be tricky knowing the ins and outs of this site, and how to make your profile stand out among the many others already using it. Fortunately, at the October 16th PRSSA meeting, PRSSA President Brittany Leuth, conducted a presentation which discussed some helpful ways to build your profile and tips to keep in mind when using it. There are four main categories to include when building your profile. These include, your photo, headline, summary, and experience. Your photo should be clean, clear, and professional. A proper headshot is preferred and you should steer clear of selfies or casual photos of you with friends, as it’s hard for employers to assume which one is you. Next, your headline should include important introductory information about yourself such as, your major, where you are from, and what you are studying. For your summary, you should essentially include your elevator pitch. This would be what you feel that employers should know about you, such as what motivates you and what exactly you are looking for. In your summary section, you want to be clear, detailed, and specific. It’s also important to keep in mind that keywords matter. Lastly, as far as experience goes, you want to make sure you highlight what you have accomplished. This is a good place to include the organizations you are a part of, your education level (GPA is voluntary-but if it’s good it can help to include that), volunteer experiences, honors and awards you have received, skills and expertise, and coursework (if you haven’t had a lot of internships, coursework can show you still have relevant experience). It’s also a good idea to include recommendations on your profile so you should consider asking former bosses or managers to write you a recommendation for your LinkedIn profile to make it stronger. When it comes to connecting with others and growing your network, make sure to make meaningful connections. You may want to start with current contacts as your foundational network and then you can write personalized connection requests when connecting with someone you don’t really know, such as an HR person for a company you are looking to work at. Some final tips that Brittany’s presentation was able to provide include, making sure you completely fill out your profile, update it regularly, diversify your contacts, and always proofread. This presentation really provided me with some helpful tips for building a stronger profile, so hopefully this can help you and other members as well! - Noelle Rutolo, PRSSA member On Tuesday, October, 10, seven members of Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) got together in front of fellow members to talk about their personal experiences with previous or ongoing internships. These internships were located all over the country, from Frederick, Maryland, to Washington D.C., and even all the way out in Los Angeles, California. One student even had the rare opportunity to intern for Edelman, the largest public relations firm in the world, and others worked for smaller start-up companies, such as DPR Group, and even the Daily Duke here at James Madison University (JMU).
Each PRSSA member discussed what their job consisted of, and while no two jobs were alike, everybody mentioned how heavily their job was centered around writing and social media. Throughout the panel, each speaker repeatedly mentioned the importance of writing as students for anyone thinking of applying for internships. One word of advice was to write for “The Odyssey” or “The Breeze”, through JMU. In short, be ready for intense writing at your internship. As the panel went on, people from the audience asked about the pros and cons of each speaker’s internships. Some warned us about intense bosses and long hours, and even how quickly the public relations (PR) departments and firms moved along to overcome challenges. Stories were told about how employees and interns alike would have to come together to solve crises within as little as ten minutes. However, each student speaker mentioned that they wouldn’t have traded their experiences as interns for the world. Depending on what company you apply to, the process of becoming an intern can be incredibly painstaking, or it could be something as simple as calling a company and asking for an internship. However, each speaker advised everyone to start looking and applying sooner rather than later. Open-mindedness was greatly encouraged, as well; don’t be afraid to work for smaller start-up companies. Starting small gives you the experience needed that can later be used to work for larger companies and corporations. Overall, all members were in agreement that their internships were wonderful experiences that they will always remember. Despite the few hardships that you may face, working as an intern will give you the skills necessary for a post-grad job in the real world and memories that you will look upon fondly for the rest of your life. - Caroline Rice, PRSSA member Year: Sophomore
Hometown: Reston, VA Major(s)/Minor(s): Marketing BBA, Minors in Business Spanish and Computer Information Systems How has PRSSA impacted you: Through my work on the banquet committee, I have been able to continue refining my graphic design skills. This year I had the chance to create our Chapters banquet invitations for our annual event in April. I have loved being able to use my skills to contribute towards the banquet committee and continue to develop my professional portfolio! What was your favorite PRSSA event: When the GW/JMU alumni came to talk about grad school. I have always wanted to earn a graduate degree and they absolutely inspired me to someday chase down an MBA. What is your dream job: To be a Creative Marketing Director at an awesome tech company like Buzzfeed or Apple! What is a fun fact about you: I was once stuck in an elevator with Will Smith and his two kids at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Washington, D.C. My name is Jenna Schneider and I had the privilege of going to New York City with PRSSA two weekends ago. I am a junior Communications studies major with a concentration in public relations, so this trip was perfect for me. I am also a native New Yorker, but this experience was one that I have never had before in the city. We were in NYC on Thursday, February 16 through Friday, February 17th and visited six firms in these two days. We had jam packed 10-hour days, but it was beyond worth it. We visited Ketchum, Weber Shandwick, FleishmanHIllard, Porter Novelli, BMI and Golin. We were lucky enough to meet with very experienced public relations professionals at these agencies. We also met with James Madison University (JMU) alumni that currently work at these agencies. It was very enjoyable to meet fellow dukes and reminisce about JMU. I really enjoyed going to all of the different agencies and meeting different employees. Everyone we spoke to was extremely knowledgeable about the field and gave very insightful information about their specific firm and the internship/job process. It was interesting to see what each firm looked for specifically and to see what qualities they look for in a potential employee.
On Thursday evening, we attended a networking happy hour with fellow James Madison University alumni that are currently employed in NYC. It was a great opportunity to network and socialize with these incredible role models. There were about 20 JMU alum from all over the country. Some of these alumni worked in finance, business, communications, public health, law, and even hospitality. After meeting these insightful alumni, I felt very reassured that JMU has amazing connections for post grad. Friday afternoon some of the ladies from the group were able to explore the city together. We went to places such as Central Park, Grand Central, Time Square, Brooklyn, 9/11 Memorial, The Empire State Building and Bryant Park. For some, this was their very first time visiting the big apple, and for some it was the place that they call home. For myself, New York is my home away from home, so it was very nice to return even for a few days. This was an incredible experience and I feel so privileged to have had the opportunity to attend. The planning that went into this trip was very extensive, but all of the PRSSA exec did an incredible job. From the agencies, to lunch breaks, to the happy hour, to the evening plans, everything was very enjoyable, safe, strategic and overall ran very smoothly. I had an amazing time with not only with the amazing 15 PRSSA ladies that attended this trip, but also all of the people we met at these agencies. I can’t wait for next semester to hopefully be selected to attend another agency trip! GO DUKES! By Jenna Schneider Year: Junior
Hometown: Yorktown Heights, New York Major(s)/Minor(s): Theatre and Dance Major (dance concentration) and Communications major (public relations concentration) How has PRSSA impacted you: PRSSA has impacted me by giving me an insight into what PR truly is and how I can make a career out of it. What was your favorite PRSSA event: My favorite PRSSA events were the 2017 New York agency trip and the 2016 banquet. What is your dream job: My dream job would be to work for an international PR agency in either dance or fashion. What is a fun fact about you: I hosted Derek Jeter's birthday party for two years. |
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