Winter 2019 Winter 2019 FORUM FINAL version 1:2 | Page 2
Fundamental Tools to Showcase Your Personal Brand
By Colin Wylie
Brigham Young University can be a great tool to build your reputation. You also can develop a follow-
ing and impact a larger audience.
Understanding who you are and sharing that with the world has become
essential for young professionals. A personal brand works just like one for
a corporation — giving your audience an expectation for how you might
operate. Twitter
Take a large corporation like Apple or Audi. Just a glimpse of the logo
makes you think of high quality products and low bank balances. The
same applies to you as a professional, whichever industry you choose to
work in. “As technology continues to dominate common daily processes,
personal branding is ‘the business of people,’ inclusive of perceptions
and proven career leverage,” suggested LaKisha Greenwade, president at
Lucki Fit LLC.
Once you take the time to craft your brand, it’s important to take an inven-
tory of the resources available to promote yourself. There are several free
and paid services that young professionals can use to build a brand.
Social media
Your social profiles afford a vast sea of opportunities for self-promotion.
Deciding whether you want your social profiles set to public or private is
a personal choice. If you choose public, make sure what you post reflects
what you want your brand to be.To understand how you can use your
social profiles, it may be easier to break them down by platform and how
they are often used in professional settings.
Facebook
Most people use Facebook to foster personal connections and share
news about their lives. Some individuals feel inclined to discuss controver-
sial topics, but this is something to exercise caution with. Be professional
in your interactions and try not to burn bridges. You never know which one
of your Facebook friends could end up hooking you up with your next job.
Instagram
Depending on your industry, using Instagram to establish your brand is
essential. For example, if you are a creator, sharing visuals from your work
Like Instagram, the use of Twitter can depend on the industry you’re
involved in. Using public relations as an example, professionals are en-
gaged in Twitter conversations on a daily basis. Look out for scheduled
industry Twitter chats, trending hashtags or stories that you could engage
with. You can strengthen your network and also start to build credibility as
you engage with others online.
Winter is near and the semester is wrapping
up. Holiday breaks are great for refreshing
motivations and aspirations, which provide the
perfect opportunity to evaluate your firm’s fall
semester and prepare for the spring.
Digital portfolio
Gone are the days of carrying around a binder full of work from your
internships or classes. By creating an online portfolio, you can share your
work with anyone who has a computer and an internet connection. With
the continued expanse of the internet, there are many free sources that
help you create an online portfolio. I’ve used Wordpress and Wix and
enjoyed using both. Many of the site builders will come with templates you
can look through to match your
personality. Link your portfolio
off your social media profiles
and list the web address on
your resume to start getting
traffic on your page. If you want
to spend some money, there
are also a lot of tactics that
can be used to strengthen your
SEO.
Continue on page 6
worked with your firm and why. Collaborate
with your colleagues and make sure to note
successes and failures to apply in your strategy
for the spring semester.
A Nationally Affiliated Student-run Firm that
takes advantage of these opportunities to plan
ahead is 1910 PR.
“Step by step we have been building this
firm, starting in the spring with naming,
branding and formation of a client list,” said
Emily Kinsky, associate professor of mass
communication and adviser of 1910 PR. “It has
been thrilling to see this dream come to fruition
and provide real-world PR experience for our
students.”
Established firms should use the upcoming
breaks to evaluate client work, operations and
retention. Use this time to understand what Firm Director, Hope Stokes, has even identified
new opportunities this past semester to grow
the Firm and sustain its success in the future.
“One of the primary practices that
we are implementing at 1910 PR is
a mentor program.
We are going to require our
leadership to identify and train a
protégé throughout the semester
in order to achieve smoother
transitions between leadership
positions in the future.”
2 www.prssa.prsa.org/forum
With the beginning of a new semester comes the start of
an old stressor — PRSSA recruitment. If you’re like me,
this time daunts even the best of us. You don’t want to
reinvent the wheel, but you also want to be engaging and
new, which leaves you with quite the predicament.
This goes without saying, but your LinkedIn profile needs to reflect who
you are as a professional. Make sure to regularly update information, im-
ages and links so future employers or connections can see what you have
accomplished. This is critical, especially if you don’t have an online portfo-
lio. Hopefully the next section will convince you to make one.
New Firms could use these next few months to
build a framework or standard of operations
with their Faculty Advisers. PRSSA provides a
Student-run Firm Handbook, which provides
best tips and practices on how to do this. Once
this is in place, reach out to clients and start
planning recruitment efforts to launch your firm
in the spring.
Members of the Student-run Firm 1910 PR
By Derek Heim
Ball State University
LinkedIn
1910 PR is unique because they
started as a spring 2017 course
This is where the PRSSA Chapter at Ball State University
found themselves at the beginning of the year. Our num-
bers were down, our outreach was low and we were on
the hunt to rebrand our Chapter. After countless brain-
storming sessions — and even more dry-erase markers
— the Executive Board came up with the idea for our “PR
and YOU” recruitment campaign. At our Chapter, public
relations majors usually find their way to our biweekly
meetings one way or another, but the students outside
of our program are the ones we can’t guarantee. Lindsay
Grant — our chair of member relations and recruitment
— worked closely with me, Chapter president, to devel-
op handouts distributed at our university’s activity fair.
These handouts highlighted how public relations applies
to different majors and professions such as biology, ed-
ucation, history and so much more. We know that public
relations can be used in anything, but the goal of this
campaign was to get everyone else to know that as well.
This campaign delivered impressive results; more than I
initially expected. Students came up to us at the activity
fair and actively searched through the flyers to find their
major. Then, looking into our meetings, we have one life
science major, multiple communication studies majors
and some history minors, all with regular attendance. An-
alyzing our current recruitment efforts, and knowing that
we did not have the bandwidth to launch a brand new,
never-before-heard-of strategy, we devised a way to take
what we are currently using and elevate it to the next lev-
el. Who said you need to reinvent the wheel? Start with
giving them a good rotation!
Publications Editor in Chief
Emma Ingram
Managing Editor
Elizabeth Frenaye
Graphic/Design
Coordinator
Celeste Brown
Podcast Coordinator
Harrison Allen
Editorial Assistant
Sydney Wishnow
FORUM is published three times
per year for PRSSA members.
The options expressed are not
necessarily those of the Society
or the staff. The editor in chief
reserves the right to refuse all
copy.
Article submissions, comments
and suggestions may be made
via email to the editor in chief at
[email protected].
Handout courtesy of Ball State University for their
“PR in You” campaign
The State of STEM Public Relations
Firm of the Issue: 1910 PR
By Ashleigh Kathryn
Vice President of Professional Development
Recruiting 101: PR For You!
FORUM Staff
2018–2019
offered at West Texas A&M called “Establishing
a PR Firm”. They have utilized that opportunity
for strategic planning to strive ahead and
achieve National Affiliation by the end of spring
2018. They continue the course as they apply
to host CreateAThon and participate in national
events ahead.
This is a firm that embodies the “work hard”
sentiment and continues to take advantage
planning ahead. Stokes shared some of their
best practices on how your firm can optimize
planning.
“Here are a few things I suggest your firm can
do to prepare for a new semester:”
• Select and train students to move into
leadership positions before the next
semester starts.
• Identify if you have client work that needs
to be completed during the break or rolls
over into the next semester, and devise a
way to complete that work on time.
• Contact clients before the current semester
ends and start working on a plan to keep
them on board during the next semester.
• Make sure your firm’s information and
past work is accessible for the incoming
students. We use Google Drive and Slack.
These are just a few of the ways your firm
can get ahead and stay on track for success.
Connect with 1910 PR on all social media
platforms, @1910PR, for further questions on
best practices and tips.
Fall 2018
FORUM
By Ryan Will
Vice President of Events and Fundraising
The advent of the internet and its resourceful connectivity has revolution-
ized the way we communicate about the things that matter, what these
matters are and how they touch our lives as consumers. Along with the
internet, a number of technological advancements have propelled us into
a new world of what used to be science fiction. For communicators, this is
a profound opportunity to articulate the narrative of technologies driving
progress and changing the world around us.
As public relations continually evolves, there is an ever-present need for
strategic communicators in the science, technology, engineering and math-
ematics fields. Better known by the acronym “STEM,” these fields can cover
anything from medicine to nanotechnology. As messengers, I believe we
have a responsibility to connect these incredibly intelligent yet jargon-filled
professional communities with the various publics influenced and affected
by their decision-making. This realization drove Rachel Rhodes and I to co-
host the Nationally-Affiliated STEMulate PR Regional Conference in Raleigh,
North Carolina this past spring, to highlight the growing public relations
opportunities in STEM industries.
communications. Proficien-
cy in 4 to 5 of the following
will ideally make you a com-
petitive candidate for most
positions in the industry:
Social media listening,
keyword research, search
engine optimization (SEO),
visual literacy, content cre-
ation, video, social advertis-
ing, influencer relationships,
media anlytics, digital media
relations, basic coding, goo-
gle analytics, metrics, digital
dashboard, reporting return
on investment (ROI).
While there is a need for more communicators in the STEM space, there is
also a call for an integration of more technical skills and analytical thinking
into public relations practice and education. Taking Brandi Boatner’s advice, it’s also important to heed the message of
the PRSA International Conference’s keynote speaker, Jonathan Mildenhall
and be cognizant of your purpose. Communicating life-changing, impactful
and highly technical messages is an exciting and purposeful opportunity for
some but not necessarily for everyone. Understanding and further articu-
lating the significance of topics that technical professionals dedicate their
lives to can be taxing and difficult at times but certainly has the potential to
be just as fulfilling.
At the PRSSA 2018 National Conference in Austin, Texas, former National
President Brandi Boatner led a breakout session titled “Code for Communi-
cation” discussing and reinforcing this integration. As the social and influ-
encer communications lead at IBM, Boatner discussed a need for disrup-
tion in the public relations industry with the development of #PRTech and
utilization of technical skills to advance the industry. Her recommendations
and forward-thinking ideas resonated with the audience and left members
feeling empowered and energized. The future of the public relations industry, along with the future of our so-
ciety at large will be contingent on the effectiveness of the communicators
in highly technical yet impactful fields (i.e., medicine, fintech, engineering,
etc.). As a young professional benefitting from my technical communication
experience, a citizen of a bustling tech hub, Research Triangle Park – RTP,
and an advocate for STEM communications, I highly recommend exploring
opportunities within the space and learning more about the impact you can
make.
Her recommendations included a list of fifteen suggested competencies for
students pursuing careers in public relations and integrated marketing
3 www.prssa.prsa.org/forum
Fall 2018
FORUM