In Case You Missed It: September Meeting Recap

On September 19, Manning Selvage & Lee hosted a Learn the Secrets of Success at Trade Shows meeting. The speakers included Ellen Davidson from Manning Selvage & Lee, Paula Adams from THQ Inc., Krystal Lynn from Events in Motion and Shauna Stafford, a media training expert. Each speaker drew from her perspective of working trade shows to share their top "secrets" of success for planning for and working trade shows. Below are a few words of wisdom they shared with the group of over 20 young professionals.

DO:

Prepare a comprehensive event binder ahead of time including your client's media appointment schedule, contact information, travel itinerary and trade show maps
Ship a "mobile office" to your hotel with office supplies to use at the trade show
Give yourself a one-day event lead time to make sure your client's booth and press room are ready
Be assertive by approaching and speaking with media about your client's offerings
Check out your client's competition's booth, including their press materials
Put your client's names on the back of your business card when you hand it to media
Bring a "war box" of munchies because you may not have a break to eat a meal
Wear comfortable shoes!

DON'T:

Bad mouth your client or any journalists from the moment you arrive until you depart the airport. Usually, your flight is packed with people on their way to or coming home from the same trade show
Wear the same uniform or branded shirt as your client, if you can help it, so that you can scout out the competition incognito
Forget to always have pen and paper handy

MANAGING YOUR CLIENT’S BOOTH DESIGN:

Understand the client's needs and goals when crafting the booth's design, which can be experiential, informational, consultative or media based
Ask for and track the costs of the booth's entire production, including loading fees
During the first hour of the booth's opening, evaluate booth flow in case minor tweaks need to be made

MEDIA TRAINING 101:

Always have a spokesperson on hand to speak with a journalist promptly
For on-camera appearances, instruct spokesperson to be mentally acute and relaxed so that their body languages suggests that they care about their topic
Instruct spokesperson to never repeat a negative question or comment back to the journalist

Meet Linda Skolnick

Name: Linda Skolnick
Company: AIG Retirement Services
Hometown: Thousand Oaks, CA
College: USC

What is your role at AIG? What are the main facets of your job?

I manage the public relations efforts for AIG Retirement Services, Inc., a member company of American International Group, Inc. that serves more than 5 million customers nationwide with retirement savings services and products. I handle the daily responsibilities of managing press calls, arranging media interviews, authoring press releases and penning executive talking points, but also have the fantastic opportunity to manage national media tours, on-site industry interviews, and, on some occasions, manage international media interviews. AIG Retirement Services has an extremely small PR department (me plus the help of my fabulous part-time intern and the input of my very busy Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications) so I really do participate in all aspects of PR.

What has been your favorite PR moment?

My favorite PR moment was my most recent media tour in New York. I met with a round of editors from some of our top industry publications and it was like meeting up with old friends. It's taken me almost two years to develop such strong relationships with these editors, but the relationships are absolutely invaluable. I've secured our best stories through these personal relationships and this last trip I remember so clearly: One minute I am sitting across from an editor at breakfast, laughing about a family story, and the next I'm securing an interview for my president in next month's issue. This is what PR is all about and at this very moment I realized I was no longer the new kid on the block. I could really call myself a PR professional.

What do you think your next career move will be?

I hope my next career move takes place right here at AIG Retirement Services! I'm working to grow into a managerial position in the corporate communications function, overseeing both external and internal communications. While my passion will always be public relations, I am very committed to our employees and to the community, and would love to be actively involved in employee communications and community relations as well. Managing the corporate communications function would allow me to continue my work in PR and dabble in employee and community related efforts.

What advice can you give to current students? Recent graduates?

My advice to current students is to participate in as many internships as possible! I completed six internships by the time I graduated and, though I was always busy, these positions prepared me very well for the corporate world. And, more importantly, they really let me figure out what my interests were and what I wanted to do after I graduated. Each internship was in a different industry, with different responsibilities. This diversity really let me discover my interests and my passions, not to mention that I interned for AIG my senior year of college and I am here today!

To recent graduates, learn as much as possible about your company, your industry and your competitors. Become an expert in your field of practice -- your boss will be impressed and more likely to put you in front of top management if he/she knows that you are well versed on all topics related to the company. Develop relationships with the reporters and editors at your target media outlets and you'll be much more likely to secure positive media coverage. And don't be afraid of hard work.

Writing the Resume: Why 99% of Resumes Fail to Deliver -- and How to Fix Them

Q: What's the single biggest resume mistake?

A: Most people write job-description resumes as opposed to accomplishment resumes.

Digital Dirty Laundry Hurts Prospects

Digital Dirty Laundry Hurts Prospects
You know the old joke about what happens if you Google yourself? Well, ignore the warning and go ahead--it's better to uncover what you might find now rather than later, perhaps when you can't figure out why recruiters won't respond to your resume or why you were passed up for a sure-thing promotion.
Because such things are happening with increasing frequency, finds a survey released Aug. 14 by ExecutNet, the Norwalk, Conn., headquartered executive recruiting firm. Since February 2005, the percentage of recruiters who say that they use search engines to learn more about job candidates has grown from 75 to 83 percent.
Furthermore, the number of recruiters who have eliminated a candidate based on what they found online jumped from one quarter (25 percent) to nearly one half (43 percent).
Increasingly, report these recruiters, having damaging information or a lack of professionalism online is a deal breaker when the candidate pool is tight.
"For better or worse, the Internet provides recruiters and employers with a wealth of unfiltered information that's used to help evaluate candidates," says Dave Opton, CEO and founder of ExecuNet.
"From a candidate's perspective, there's no question that managing your reputation online is as important as it is offline."
A separate survey of 218 executives revealed that though most (76 percent) candidates expected companies and recruiters to conduct a search of their name online during the hiring process, a whole 22 percent had never entered their own name into a search engine to determine what personal or professional information would be uncovered.
Not only that, but 11 percent of executives admitted that they feared that would be found out if a recruiter conducting a name search about them would ruin their chances of landing a job. One-fifth had made an effort to increase the positive information that could be found out about them online, up from 13 percent the year prior.

Join Us for Walk the Red Carpet with YP - August 15 Meeting

Los Angeles is known as the entertainment capital of the world, so it's no surprise that some of the most seasoned and successful entertainment PR professionals reside in this city. This month we have a diverse panel of speakers who will be sharing some of their insights and experiences from working in entertainment PR and offer some tips for young professionals interested in breaking into the industry. Join us for an evening of friends, food and entertainment!

August 15 , 2007
6:00-6:30 P.M. - Networking
6:30-7:30 P.M. - Program
Rogers & Cowan
8687 Melrose Ave. 7th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90069
Rogers & Cowan's Website

• Rick Scott opened GREAT SCOTT P.R.ODUCTIONS in 1991 as a public relations, marketing and management firm. He designs and executes full-service publicity campaigns specifically for recording artists to support album releases, concert tours and special events on the national, regional and local levels, including specialty markets (i.e. urban, jazz, adult pop, modern rock, dance, etc.). He has also created successful media campaigns for record producers, songwriters, independent record labels, magazines, and a variety of other entertainment industry and sports entities, events and brands.
• Laura Ackermann is a publicist at Much and House Public Relations in Los Angeles where she has been for the past two years. She works on accounts in various fields including entertainment, wiith an emphasis in tween/teen accounts, events, and lifestyle public relations, specializing in fitness and brand building.
• Sallie Olmsted brings with her twenty years of technology, telecommunications, entertainment, digital media, consumer product/consumer service marketing and corporate public relations experience to her position as Executive Vice President at Rogers &Cowan. She oversees the Convergence unit that manages the intersection of new technologies with consumer electronics, entertainment, digital media and health care products and services. She has dedicated her career to helping technology companies make their core services and product offerings relevant to the entertainment industry and consumer marketplace.
• Karina Tang is a Senior Account Executive in the Convergence Group at Rogers & Cowan, and brings five years of public relations experience with print, broadcast and interactive media forms. She supports agency clients in the video game/digital entertainment space.

Parking: Enter on San Vicente between Santa Monica and Melrose Avenue at Pacific Design Center Drive (signal at intersection). Proceed to garage and bring parking ticket in for validation. Walk through building to information kiosk and then turn right into Green Tower section of the building. Walk down corridor to elevators on left side adjacent to glass doors. Take elevator to 7th floor. Enter through brown double doors into Rogers & Cowan lobby.

Cost (pay by cash or checks at the door):$10 YP Members; $15 for Non- members; $5 for PRSSA Members

RSVP:To RSVP, please reply to yp_prsala@yahoo.com.

If you have any questions, please contact Phyllis Hu at phu@iwgroupinc.com or Bonnie Berkes at bberkes@jmprpublicrelations.com.

We Hope to See You There!

Phyllis Hu (IW Group) & Bonnie Berkes (JMPR, Public Relations)
Program Co-Chairs, PRSA-LA's Young Professionals

In Case You Missed It: July Meeting Recap

July’s YP meeting was a great opportunity for attendees to gain valuable insight into what it takes to succeed in this industry. Our four panelists shared their backgrounds briefly before opening the floor for questions from the audience. Read on for some highlights from the question and answer session.

Q&A

Should I get my masters degree?
Work first and get some experience under your belt to help you decide what to pursue your masters in.

How do I move from an in-house position to an agency?
Play up any client service experience, even if it’s only internal clients.

What are some skills I should develop in order to get ahead?
Be a strong planner and organizer – train yourself not to do anything without a plan.
Develop long-range thinking skills.
Know your strengths and work on your weaknesses.
Earn a solid reputation for delivering what you promise.
Be a goal setter. Always keep your goals in mind and work on them often.

How can I build my confidence in the work place?
Find a mentor - someone who you trust that can look over your work and guide you or that you can bounce ideas off of.
Learn what motivates you and ask your manager for opportunities to pursue those interests.

Remember:

Don’t rush into your first job. It’s ok to intern after you graduate. Don’t feel like you have to get the account coordinator or assistant account executive position right away.

Don’t focus only on getting your next promotion. Learn as much as you can and excel in your current position and your next move will happen naturally.

BE PATIENT. You will be working for many years. Once you get past the fundamental years, you will have a lot more choices.

If you attended the meeting, please share a piece of advice that you found helpful.

We Asked, They Said

What do you like most about your job? Tell us and see what your peers are saying!