PR Conference Takeaways

I learned so much from this conference. I got to go to the afternoon speakers, and they were awesome! There is a ton of information, so I'll post what I learned here, and then links from the presentations in another post. We'll go with bullets to be most efficient. 

Chris Thomas, Partner, Intrepid Group

Nile Easton, Senior Public Information Officer, UDOT 

• Knowing how to write is huge. Fundamentals in PR won't change even when the media and other things do change.
• PR is a crowded field. When looking for an internship, remember that networking and background experience are two of the biggest things that will get you the position. 
• Solid writers and strategic thinkers are hard to find, because usually they will get snapped up quickly and then stay where they land. Those are the people that employers are looking for. 
• In communications, most people will pay their dues at some time in their careers. One has to be willing to work for free and still be willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done--and get the job done well. 
• Give every job 100%. Even if you aren't getting paid, you could use the experience!  
• Overall, employers are looking for people that are creative, hard-working, and strategically-minded. People that are solid writers, and people that will give the client every dollar's worth of work that they are hired for. 
  

Pete Codella

Codella Marketing

• The corporate web site is no longer the web site that people go to to find out more information on you. Google is. 
• Ever heard of the Google golden triangle? It's where the reader's eyes automatically go on a Google search page of results. I attempted to put it in this, but I think I'll just send you to the slides instead. (It's page 12 of the 44.) Codella used this illustration to show the three most important links of any company. From what I got out of this, it seems that those links inside the Google golden triangle are going to give the reader his first impression on the company. Try to influence which links pop up first. 
• Everyone approaches things differently. Ideas are going to be different. Different is not bad, because as long as it succeeds, why does it matter? There is no magic bullet! 
• Be strategic. Though technology and all of its different services can be incredibly useful, it doesn't mean that one has to use every single feature to be successful. Use what will be useful to you! 
• New technologies don't necessarily replace old technologies, and aren't necessarily "better." TV didn't replace radio. They fulfill different parts of media and information transfer. Again, use what will be the most beneficial to you. Some companies will have no use for flickr, while other companies will thrive off of its visual benefits.
• Diversify! Put eggs in as many baskets as possible. (See slide five) 

   Social Media Tools

• RSS feeds - pull vs push. The media has gone from being pushed upon us to us pulling the information we want and/or need from the media. Codella mentioned Newsgator and Feedburner as two things he likes to use to manage feeds and things like that. 
• Blogging and Microblogging. Things like blogspot (blogging) and twitter (microblogging) are incredibly useful for a company. Bill Marriott's blog has drawn thousands of people to marriott.com's site! 
• The most underutilized tool ever: Online Newsrooms. An additional basket to put information about your company, information that you can control for other people to see, and more information that google can pull from in its search results. Frequent publishing, or certain keywords are two things that draws google to your web pages.
• Social (virtual) networking, such as Facebook.
  
• Multimedia sharing.  = Youtube! 
• Wikis. User generated content. (Wikipedia is one example of a wiki. A wiki is not necessarily an encyclopedia, as some may think.)
• Key takeaways: New technology has forever changed the role of public relations practitioners. Utilize social media tools to secure top search placement. 

This conference was awesome... AND!!! According to usuprssa on twitter... 

"Utah PR Conference just won 08-09 PR Campaign of the Year! YAY! Congrats!!"

I feel that this recognition was well deserved. Congratulations to the USU PRSSA team.