Working in PR is anything but your typical 9-5 office job. With the pervasiveness of technology, a never-ending social news cycle and an ever-present deadline, maximizing productivity as a PR executive is more important than ever. So how can you make the most of your limited time and win the ongoing battle for work-life balance? The below tips and tools are just a few time-saving tactics I’ve learned as a content marketing consultant to the PR industry.
Messaging Apps
Slack
When you’re in the business of communication, it helps to have tools that are custom-built to make your job easier. With Slack, you can streamline communication across teams and offices with an app that stores your team’s communications in one location. Slack’s features include real-time private and group messaging, file sharing, link summaries, integration with Dropbox, Twitter and Google+ Hangouts, customizable notifications and more.
Upitch
Think Tinder for media relations. Once you create a pitch or brief announcement on Upitch, journalists can swipe through to find stories they’re interested in receiving more information about. When you get a match, you’re connected with the reporter. Easy!
Sponsored Content
According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau, almost two-thirds of online news visitors said they are more open to digital advertising that focuses on a story rather than selling a product. Cut through the clutter and reach your desired audience efficiently with a MAT Release. If you’re looking for a reliable way to get your PR message in front of a guaranteed mass audience, look for a distribution partner. From small startups to Fortune 500s, companies of all sizes have turned to Brandpoint’s distribution network for speedy turn-around, quality placements, and robust reporting.
Join professional industry organizations
If you’re reading this, you obviously understand the importance of professional industry organizations (like WWPR!), but I’d like to outline a few of the time-saving benefits that being an active part of these organizations can provide. Participating in professional organization can help you:
Stay current on knowledge in your industry: No need to wade through news articles, discussion forums or seminar opportunities. Maximize professional development opportunities by utilizing tools that are sponsored by or come recommended by your trusted peers.
Gain expertise in an area you may want to explore through volunteering.
Build a trusted network. When the times comes to make a job change or tackle an unfamiliar project, for example, you will have ready-made access to a support system that will ultimately make any transition or project easier.
Content Marketing Platform
We recently surveyed our current clients and found that a whopping 86 percent of them were wading through a flurry of emails and a hodgepodge of word documents and spreadsheets for each and every piece of content created. Bottlenecks, headaches and draining back-and-forths clouded the potentially clear stream between concept and publishing.
As you have likely seen in your own place of work, companies continue to invest time and money in content production, and there is a tremendous opportunity for you to focus on your company or team’s content operations. When you have multiple people emailing Word documents around and trying to track it all on a spreadsheet as described above, it quickly becomes unwieldy. Selecting the right content marketing platform is one way that PR professionals can create more and better content in less time.
For more information on the above time-saving tips or to find out how Brandpoint can help you, contact me at aalbrecht@brandpoint.com or 952.278.0783.
Charity Jackson is the Junior Press Secretary at the AFL-CIO where she started as a Fellow and worked her way up. Charity is responsible for developing story ideas and pitching the press on labor-related issues. No day is typical for this rising communications star, especially during a presidential election.
WWPR’s Molly Mitchell sat down with Charity for the July edition of Power Points to learn more about how she went from wanting to go into law to discovering her passion for communications and her favorite District date spot.
MM: What drew you to the world of communications?
CJ: Actually it was a bit random to be completely honest. After graduating from Wellesley, I took a job at a law firm down the street from the White House – and I ended up hating it. Loved the people at the firm but most days I didn’t speak to anyone and it was literally me, myself and I. My co-workers were great but you’re constantly trying to bill more hours and slog through your cases. I realized that I missed being more creative in the workplace. Some sort of outlet that wasn’t just writing ‘redact’ on documents. Then one of the partners at the firm recommended a growing startup so I went to work there for a few months. When I got there somebody had just quit and my new boss looked at me and said, ‘Great! Now you need to run our weekly radio show.’
Molly Mitchell, Scott Circle
MM: Wow. I feel like that’s often how big career leaps happen.
CL: Right. So I ended up running this weekly radio show with the former Governor of Utah [Jon Huntsman] and I booked guests for him. Anyone from political reporters to academic experts depending on that week’s news cycle — I absolutely loved it!
MM: And you had never thought about communications before that?
CJ: No, not till that experience. From running that radio show I realized how big the world of communications was and that I could do so many different things with it and work for a lot of different places.
MM: Tell me about the decision to work at the AFL-CIO.
CJ: I made the move because I wanted to get a more traditional communications experience. I joined as a fellow in 2014 and I’m not from a union family so at the beginning there was a learning curve. We have 56 affiliates and there’s always a ton of policy to learn. For communications I think it’s a great place to start because you have to learn a lot of issues very quickly. You really learn how to prioritize when there are so many policies coming through.
MM: You’ve moved up from Fellow to Junior Press Secretary — how would you describe your current role?
CJ: Essentially each day I make sure I am advancing specific issues that matter to working people and I make sure that I’m promoting Liz Shuler our Secretary-Treasurer, she’s our second highest ranking officer.
MM: Is there such a thing as a typical day for you?
CJ: No [laughs] not usually. But there are a few constants. Every morning we have a stand-up meeting outside my office and we go through what’s moving in the news. We plan out what we need to be pushing, what we need to be responding to. But besides that 9:30 am meeting anything can happen!
MM: So no typical day but any typical tasks?
CJ: Definitely! Throughout the week I could be pulling together a briefing memo for Liz Shuler for an upcoming interview or event with talking points, drafting an op-ed or statement for an AFL-CIO expert or pitching reporters on the election.
MM: What do you think is the most difficult aspect of your job?
CJ: Sometimes it can be making a break when you’re trying to pitch stories. The Labor Movement has been around for a long time and often people can have a stereotypical view. So when I tell a reporter that we are doing a panel on black hair at work sometimes the response is, ‘No you’re not,” or ‘Really?’ And I say, ‘I promise we are!’ We represent over 6 million women and we’re the largest women’s organization in the US and we do a lot of work around women. So this idea of AFL-CIO being a bunch of old guys just simply isn’t true. We’re so many things.
MM: What’s the most gratifying aspect?
CJ: Well the flipside of it being hard to pitch the Labor Movement means that it’s extremely gratifying on the other side when a great story gets coverage. Recently I was with Liz at the United State of Women Summit and she spoke at one of the plenaries right after President Obama and it was great. Then she did an awesome interview with Refinery29. Those little moments where you feel your messaging is getting out there is just the best.
MM: What professional experience have you learned the most from?
CJ: I’m still early in my career – I graduated college in 2012. So luckily I haven’t had a terrible moment yet. But I will say that initially learning about the Labor Movement was a little bit overwhelming and working with so many brilliant people in this department could sometimes leave me feeling a bit insecure and lacking in the confidence to speak up and share my ideas.
MM: How did you overcome that feeling?
CJ: It took me looking around at all my fantastic co-workers putting out their ideas and seeing them either fly or a superior say ‘Hmm, that’s not the best idea. Let’s rethink it.’ So then I started coming more into my own and claiming more of the workspace. Then I felt confident enough to say, ‘I think we should do X, Y or Z with this. And not only do I think we should do it I am going to do it.”
MM: I feel that’s so important to talk about because even though now women have heard this a million times from Lean In etc., women often don’t speak up as much as their colleagues.
CJ: Definitely post college in DC I wasn’t as confident as I had been on campus at Wellesley. Also as a woman of color that adds another layer to being confident in the work place. It’s a battle every single day. Sometimes when briefing a VIP colleague you really just need to fake it till you feel you’ve made it even when you’re terrified on the inside.
MM: What do you believe is the biggest barrier to female leadership?
CJ: I think acceptance of women in certain positions as well as differing communication styles. These are broad sweeping statements but we can often be communicating in one way while men communicate in another way. For me personally if I’m communicating with someone of the opposite sex and if they appear even slightly hostile or agitated — and it could be that they’re having a bad day and nothing to do with me — but I’ll immediately step down. Whereas another man’s response to that might just be ‘Sucks to be you today but I’m still pushing forward with my agenda.’ Also I think it’s hard to imagine yourself in a space where women haven’t been before because you don’t have any role models. The importance of having a mentor that’s been a trailblazer is really important. Men don’t have to go through that struggle. They’ve been in every space and held every highest possible office, while women are still making great strides trying to get there.
MM: What keeps you motivated?
CJ: Especially working in the Labor Movement there are so many issues affecting working people everyday. I grew up in the suburbs of Texas, went to an all-girls prep school and then on to Wellesley, finally landing in DC, which is the first city I had ever lived in. When I got involved in the Labor Movement my eyes were opened to a variety of issues that previously to me had only existed in a textbook. That’s what keeps me motivated day in and day out: someone’s not earning the wage they should be earning because of outdated laws, women still don’t have paid maternity leave and that results in a huge barrier to women moving up the food chain. The fact that women still have to worry about that in the US in 2016 is absurd. Those are the things that motivate me to keep pushing even when it’s frustrating.
MM: I’m sure that the election this year is keeping AFL-CIO busy. Does that influence AFL-CIO’s communications strategy?
CJ: This is my first presidential cycle with AFL-CIO – I did the midterms. We are definitely all hands on deck for the presidential election. But I think everything that we’re fighting for is still the same. We have a platform that we rolled out last January 2015 called our Raising Wages Summit” that encompasses a whole platform including equal pay for women; better maternity leave, childcare that’s affordable; healthcare solutions. Now we just shift that to saying we are looking for candidates who are committed to raising wages. So it’s a shift in messaging but at the core it’s the same.
MM: How do you define success when it comes to a communications campaign?
CJ: Getting in the news cycle and having people discuss a topic in a new way.
MM: I know you blog for AFL-CIO’s website. What do you think makes a blog post stand out?
CJ: The post needs to have an interesting lens. I also try to connect our work with things people do in their everyday life. The more people who can relate to your piece, the better. If you can explain how an issue impacts someone’s daily life in a concise and interesting way that’s perfect.
MM: How do you keep up with the news cycle?
CJ: I use Twitter. I don’t have cable at home but I do have cable at my office. Normally with Twitter I have multiple tabs open with different streams that I’m following.
MM: What’s the first thing you do in the morning?
CJ: Check my email. I’ll still be blurry-eyed tapping on my Fitbit to make it stop buzzing and scrolling through my phone.
MM: What’s your favorite thing about DC?
CJ: Any job you want is in this city. People are pretty responsive when you reach out to them about learning more about their time in a certain position or field. I love the experience of exposure and the wide-rage o people you can meet here. Although they all tend to be type A.
MM: What do you gram the most of?
CJ: Mostly pictures of my friends and me. It’s definitely not a curated account.
MM: What are three things every professional woman should carry in her bag?
CJ: Band-Aids. You need to have Band-Aids! After that your business cards and a phone charger.
MM: Any DC hidden gems?
CJ: A great date nightspot is Iron Gate. It’s very romantic and cute. But it can also be fun to go with your girlfriends when you want a more intimate quiet place.
MM: What’s your favorite place for happy hour in the city?
MM: What advice would you give to newly minted college grads?
CJ: First of all – welcome to the party! Trust your gut. I got myself into a few different work situations where I was more excited about the opportunity so I silenced the little feeling in me saying, ‘This may not be the best fit.’ If your gut is trying to tell you something listen. Don’t be afraid to pass on an opportunity even if it sounds fantastic. And don’t be afraid to network, to ask for help or to identify a mentor in your own office. Because people — nine times out of ten — are more than willing to sit and chat.
This month’s Member Spotlight features an interview with WWPR Member and Past President Hillarie Turner, Vice President of Van Eperen.
Hillarie Turner, Van Eperen
Here is her insight on how WWPR impacted her career and her advice for WWPR members.
How did you become involved in the field of communications, specifically health communications?
I have a psychology degree, so I entered the workforce already with an interest in health and science.I ended up in the communications department at a trade association and started to learn about PR. I left there and started at the American Chemical Society (ACS) with Denise Graveline (a past WWPR WOY).
I remember very clearly one of my first days there she brought me a stack of abstracts to read – their national meeting was in one month – and together we ended up arranging a press conference at the meeting. The result was an “above the fold” story in the Boston Globe! Being in the press room at that first meeting was like a media boot camp and I was hooked.
That was the first in a long line of medical and scientific meetings during my career. Reading abstracts is still one of my favorite things to do, in addition to working with the researchers behind the science – telling not only the research story but the researcher’s as well is truly rewarding.
How has being involved in WWPR impacted your career?
I first heard about WWPR while at ACS, way back when there was no website and no social media. Instead, the WWPR newsletter was printed, on pink paper from what I recall. Mind you, those were the days when we faxed our press releases and thought that was high tech.
I joined the pro bono committee first, then joined the board and was president for two years. It was a great experience and I am still involved to this day.There is not just one thing that WWPR did to enhance my career: it combined networking, friendships, professional growth opportunities, and more, right from the start.
What advice do you have for members wanting to get more involved in the organization?
I always tell people to at least join a committee and, if they can, be on the board. While going to a few events throughout the year is great, nothing compares to volunteering with the organization.
Bonus: you get to know all of the amazing people so well!
What do you feel is your biggest professional accomplishment?
I think it is my desire and ability to work as a team with my colleagues or clients. While one person may have a great idea or strategy, I have found that your greatest success is when everyone is working together to reach the goal.
My latest adventure in communications is with a fantastic team at Van Eperen, including getting to work again with Karen Addis.
Molly Mitchell is a communications associate at Scott Circle and member of WWPR.
Emily Lenzner is the Senior Vice President of Communications at Atlantic Media where she oversees public relations for media brands including The Atlantic, National Journal, Government Executive Media Group, and Quartz. The DC native took time out of her busy schedule to talk about everything from the rapidly changing media landscape to paddle boarding on the Potomac for exercise.
WWPR’s Molly Mitchell sat down with Emily for the June edition of Power Points to learn more about what it’s like to lead communications for a media group.
MM: You have had an extremely varied career. You’ve worked in media, political, non-profit and entertainment industries. Was that planned?
Emily Lenzner, Atlantic Media
EL: Not at all! Nothing in my career has been planned except that I always had the intention of going into media. I studied English in college but I really was interested in photojournalism — that passion lead to my first job post college working as a photographer for a weekly newspaper on Nantucket Island.
MM: And then eventually you did get into the TV news business first in local news and then later on as the Executive Director of Communications for ABC News at the DC Bureau. What drew you specifically to public relations for a media organization?
EL: When I was working in newsrooms early on I recognized my appreciation for journalists and the work they do. So having worked in a newsroom, I thought that type of PR that would be the most inspiring and fun for me.
MM: Let’s fast forward to the present—how would you describe your current role as SVP of Atlantic Media?
EL: I manage the public relations and communications for all of Atlantic Media’s brands [which include The Atlantic, National Journal, Quartz and Government Executive Media Group].
MM: What keeps you motivated?
EL: That I love my job! It’s always different and it’s not redundant. There are constantly new challenges and things to learn. If I wasn’t learning, I wouldn’t be satisfied.
MM: How do you measure the effectiveness of a communications campaign?
EL: Public relations can’t always be measured with financial stats but brand recognition is crucial. For example the April Atlantic cover story was “The Obama Doctrine” by Jeffrey Goldberg. That piece was extraordinary – it has generated conversations among world leaders and anyone who has a stake or interest in foreign policy. We worked really hard to come up with a strategy that would flood all media avenues. And I know that without question, everyone who knows the piece knows that the article came from The Atlantic. Seeing the magazine splashed all over cable news and all the likes and shares on Twitter and Facebook – that exposure matters. To me that shows success.
MM: What would you say is the most difficult part of your job?
EL: That the media landscape is changing daily. To be successful you have to always be adaptable and anticipating what’s next. Now that includes embracing social media platforms to distribute your content in all business models.
MM: What about the most gratifying?
EL: I get to work with some of the most talented and smartest journalists and media professionals in the business. It’s also great to work with a media company in this day and age that’s growing.
MM: Being a board member on the non-partisan nonprofit Running Start, what do you believe is the biggest barrier to female leadership?
EL: I think it’s a combination of things. One thing I do believe in is the idea of an unconscious bias where men and women both tend to unconsciously — not across the board but in some cases — prefer male candidates. That said I think the other issue women face, which we deal with at Running Start, is when they think about running for office or leadership roles they feel that they need to over prove their value, and really prepare themselves, while men often don’t feel that way.
MM: As a DC native what’s your favorite thing about the city?
EL: The culture — especially the opportunity to experience culture at no costs with the incredible Smithsonian museums.
MM: Any unique hobbies?
EL: I love to paddle board on the Potomac. It’s one of my favorite things to do. When you work in media and politics in Washington your world can be stressful and your job is your life. So whenever I can, I love to get out on the water for about an hour. It’s great exercise!
MM: What do you do first thing in the morning?
EL: I pick up my phone and scan the headlines for around 20 minutes to get a head start on what’s going on in the world.
MM: What are three things that every professional woman should keep in her bag?
EL: A mophie [charger for your cell], business cards and my emergency mini pouch that has everything I need: lip gloss, Band-Aids, Advil, hair ties and perfume.
MM: What’s your favorite DC restaurant?
EL: My all time favorite is The Tabard Inn. It’s been around my whole life and it’s consistently good. I love the ambiance year round. It’s cozy in the winter and nice in the summer on the patio
MM: Your go to coffee order?
EL: Used to be a double tall skim latte, now I try not to drink coffee so it’s often an English breakfast tea with milk and honey.
MM: Finally what advice would you give your early twenties self?
EL: I wish I had known how young I actually was and how much life there was left still to experience. Don’t stress because life is long. You change so much in your twenties so give yourself a break. But do take opportunities when they’re presented, don’t take yourself so seriously and always have a sense of humor.
Pictured from left to right: KC Sledd, Rachel Racoosin, Melissa Zuckerman, Sarah Hubbart and Brittanie Clement
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Emerging Leaders Awards Co-Chairs Washington Women in Public Relations ela@wwpr.org
Washington Women in Public Relations Honors Rising Communications Leaders Honorees Announced at Signature Awards Reception
WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 21) – Washington Women in Public Relations (WWPR) proudly announced three rising communications professionals as the 2016 Emerging Leaders Awards honorees: Sarah Hubbart from Michael Torrey Associates, KC Sledd from Atlantic Media Strategies and Melissa Zuckerman from JPA Health Communications.
The Emerging Leaders Awards is an annual award and cocktail reception that recognizes leaders in public relations and communications, among young women (ages 23-30) who have significantly impacted the communications field and DC community.
The honorees were named at a reception held at Morning Consult, a media and technology company. These honorees were selected from an impressive group of finalists that also included Brittanie Clement from Delucchi Plus, Cait DeBaun from Project: Time Off at the U.S. Travel Association and Rachel Racoosin from LEVICK. The awards ceremony featured keynote speaker Jade Floyd, Senior Director of Communications at The Case Foundation.
Learn more about the 2016 Emerging Leaders Awards Honorees, below:
Sarah Hubbart, Director, Michael Torrey Associates Sarah Hubbart leads the firm’s communications program that includes the development and implementation of government affairs initiatives, issues management efforts and coalition building projects. She also has extensive media relations experience, honed at positions at the Animal Agriculture Alliance, where she helped lead a national coalition of livestock industry leaders, the National Association of Conservation Districts, and as a journalist.
KC Sledd, Senior Manager of Strategy, Atlantic Media Strategies KC Sledd is a leading strategist who specializes in developing campaigns for leading organizations at pivotal moments of transformation, across philanthropy, social marketing and corporate social responsibility.
Melissa Zuckerman, Account Supervisor, JPA Health Communications Melissa Zuckerman is an account supervisor at JPA Health Communications where she specializes in health and nonprofit clients. At JPA, Melissa oversees high profile initiatives for the American Medical Informatics Association, the College of American Pathologists (CAP), Lamaze International, and Together for Safer Roads.
“Washington Women in Public Relations works to advance communications professionals in the DC area, including recognizing young women who are rising leaders in the industry,” said Mara Vandlik, President of WWPR. “We are thrilled to celebrate Sarah, KC, and Melissa as 2016 Emerging Leaders Awards honorees due to their remarkable talent and accomplishments as young communications professionals.”
About Washington Women in Public Relations Washington Women in Public Relations (WWPR) is a member-based professional society cultivating and inspiring female communicators to reach their full potential in the DC market and beyond. The organization is committed to providing leadership opportunities, professional development, mentorship, and industry networking.
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