What education are PR firms looking for in new recruits?

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Kerri Birtch poses the question on the Canadian Council of Public Relations Firms Weblog, “What level of of education is necessary or valued in the PR industry?”

Personally, I look for people who have at least an Honours BA. If the candidate possesses a graduate degree, I’ll spend extra time talking with her about her studies and what she drew from the experience of gaining a graduate degree. What I am looking for in this is the “extra spark” of insight, self awareness and maturity of thought.

How about a PR certificate? This can give an edge to one of two otherwise equal candidates because it gives me some assurance that the entry level prospect has been exposed to the mechanics of PR.

But more than anything, I’m looking for analytic and problem solving skills. PR consultants s must be able to listen to our clients, draw out relevant facts and assemble them in a coherent assessment and proposed solution. The outstanding consultant will draw on a set of PR tools. But she will also not be restricted by them. She will have a broader exposure to communication, sociology, and business that will enable her to find an effective solution to a problem.

That’s what I look for. How about you? What do you look for in a new hire for a public relations job?

Advice to the class of '08: Blogging is an essential for new PR practitioners

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Centennial College’s Gary Schlee writes that the newest crop of students in his Online PR course are now setting up their blogs.

Gary is giving his students a real advantage in starting a career in PR. Those students who view their blogs as more than a class exercise, but also as an exciting way to connect and communicate with others who share their interests and passions, they will have started down the fast lane to a bright future in the new PR.

The old PR was about communicating messages to an audience. The new PR is about being part of a community.

In effect, students are taking the first step to developing their own online voices and finding people of like mind – becoming part of a community. This is the essence of the “relations” in public relations. It’s not a one-time thing. It should be a lifelong commitment. It will then turn into a lifelong asset, one which they can take with them wherever they work.

(Don’t be discouraged if early on it’s a community of only two or three. Remember, it’s not about numbers, it’s about trust.)

I do not hire entry level people without looking at their blog, following their twitter stream and checking their Facebook presence. I want a sense of who they are over time, not just when they are in my office. I want to know what they think on the issues they care about and how they express themselves. I want to see whether and how they connect with others. And I can find out all those things from their social media presence.

And then I will try to recruit the people who I believe not only have the strongest, clearest voices but also the ability to balance this with listening, respecting and responding to others in a way that makes them part of a healthy, positive community. These are the folks that I want to work with. And these are the folks I’ll look to hire.

So, in encouraging his students, Gary is providing them with a tremendous head start. I really look forward to the time when all PR educators are as forward looking as Gary.

Ruptured appendix shuts me down; changes my ways

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I’ve been away from this space. In fact, I’ve totally missed a series of meetings and commitments over the past week. But for a reason better than “the dog ate my homework.”

My appendix burst. Painful and nasty.

And in hospitals in Canada, the nursing staff sure makes short work of your BlackBerry when you tell them you’re trying to Twitter your emergency surgery. So, no WiFi. No Internet. No BlackBerry. No nothing for several days.

These things never come at a good time. It forced me to miss several important meetings without notice. As for my trip to Vancouver this week, not a chance. So, I’ll miss ThirdTuesdayVancouver and Web Directions North, two events that I was really looking forward to.

Without doubt, it will take me some time to get back up to full speed.

And as I consider the 358 new emails in my office inbox and the 207 unread emails in my gmail box, not to mention the unanswered telephone calls, I realize that I should really look on this as an opportunity to pare back on some of my commitments. So, while I’m going to try to get back up to full speed as quickly as possible, I’ll try to focus on doing fewer things that really require my attention and keeping out of the things that can be done better by others (this will make the people I work with very, very happy).

That’s enough sitting up for now. Time to rest and get stronger.

Not sure when I’ll post again, but hopefully it won’t be too long.

A look behind the scenes at Canada's major public relations firms

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Canadian Council of Public Relations Firms Are you interested in corporate communications and public relations ? Are you curious about the people who advise CEO’s and corporate communicators on the newest strategies and tactics?

If you answer yes to these questions, click over to the Canadian Council of Public Relations Firms and subscribe to the RSS feed there.

and in Who leads Canada’s public relations firms? How did they get to where they are? What do they think makes each of their firms special? What advice would they give to young people who would like to pursue a career in public relations?

Next week, we’ll start a new series of video interviews in which I talk with the leaders of Canada’s PR firms about how they got to where they are, what makes their firms special, what advice they would give to young people starting out in public relations and other issues that they think are important to public relations today.

So, if you’re curious about the public relations industry and the people who head up the ‘s major PR firms, subscribe to the CCPRF blog and you’ll receive a stream of biweekly interviews.

Hear ChickAdvisor at Third Tuesday Toronto

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“I love your bag! Where’d You Get That?”Your hair looks fantastic! What Salon do you go to?”What’s the best cleanser for oily skin?

Hold on. Don’t click away. Yes, you ARE on ProPR. What do these questions have to do with ProPR and social media, you might ask?

Ali de BoldOne of the great things about Web 2.0 and social media is that entrepreneurs can bring their ideas to market with relatively little initial capital. ChickAdvisor is a prime example of a company started this way. Founders Alex and Ali de Bold have drawn on their own resources – personal savings, family and friends, and credit cards – to bring their idea to life.

Alex and Ali describe ChickAdvisor as “a social shopping reviews website for women to share advice on everything from hair salons to health clubs. All content is user generated and focuses on the products and local services women use every day. Members can add reviews, send links to their friends, add items to their hotlists and click through to buy items locally or online. Nothing beats a good recommendation and that’s what ChickAdvisor is all about!”

Alex de BoldSince they started their service in September 2006, Alex and Ali have built a community around ChickAdvisor by appealing to a focused interest of a clearly identified group (shopping and women). They haven’t reached profitability yet. But they think they are on course to do so.

So, Alex and Ali are two people who know a lot about creating an interesting social site that serves a need for a defined audience. They also know a lot about the challenges of creating a viable Web 2.0 business.

And they’ll be sharing what they’ve learned when they appear at Third Tuesday Toronto on Wednesday January 23 (yes Third Tuesday Toronto is on a Wednesday this month!). If you’re in Toronto that night, come out and join the discussion. You’ll meet lots of other people who share an interest in social media and Web 2.0. And you’ll hear a presentation by some people who are “there and doing it” right now.

Third TuesdayThird Tuesday events are free.* But we have to guarantee a minimum to the pub where we hold the event. If you plan to attend, please RSVP on the Third Tuesday Toronto meetup site so that we can get an accurate forecast of the number of attendees.

CNW Group* Yes, there’s a reason why these events are free. They are organized by volunteers and direct costs such as the sound system and room charge are paid for by our sponsor, CNW Group. Thank you CNW. You make it possible for Canada’s social media community to gather and learn.

Looking ahead to the top social media, PR and marketing conferences of 2008

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NewComm ForumI’m planning my 2008 conference schedule. And as I do so, I’d like to share my assessment of the conferences that are worth attending.

So, starting this week, I’ll publish a series of posts looking ahead to the conferences I plan to attend and the reasons I’d recommend each of them.

Over the past year, my interest in social media and its impact on communication and marketing has taken me to some great conferences. The very best of these conferences have Bob Goyetcheincluded the SNCR New Comm Forum, Mesh, Gnomedex, Podcasters Across Borders, the Canadian Institute’s Social Media Conference, Enterprise 2.0, and BlogOrlando as well as more traditional gatherings like the IABC International Conference, and the PRSA Annual Conference.

Of course, no one person can attend all of the best conferences. I know that there are other great conferences that I haven’t attended.

What are the best conferences you have attended that you would recommend to others?

Social Media Measurement Roundtable: What number of participants and format makes for the best discussion

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Yesterday I proposed that we organize a roundtable on social media measurement and metrics. The response I’ve received via comments on the blog post and email has been overwhelmingly positive.

So, let’s move forward with this.

Number of participants 

As a first question, what do you think is the maximum ideal size for a productive discussion? Is it 15, 20, 25, 30?

In choosing the ideal size, I think we need to balance opportunity to participate with the quality of the experience for the participants. The group should be small enough that individuals are able to exchange points of view. On the other hand, if it is too small, we risk excluding participants with valuable perspectives to share.

Format

How about format? My initial thought is that we should have one discussion table for the entire session? Is this a good idea? Or would another format work better? Perhaps a common session to open the day followed by breakout groups on specific topics before reconvening for a general discussion?

Your opinion? 

What do you think is the best size for a discussion of this sort? The best format?

Community Project: Roundtable on Social Media Measurement

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How do we measure the value of social media to an organization? What should we be measuring? What are the metrics that accurately capture the things we want to measure?

Over the past year, people like Jeremiah Owyang, Kami Huyse, Scott Karp, Christopher Carfi, Mike Manuel, the Research Fellows at the Society for New Communications Research, John Bell, Flemming Madsen, Geoff Livingston, Katie Paine, David Brain, Brendan Cooper, Brian Solis and Jeff Jarvis have made valuable contributions to our emerging understanding of social media measurement and metrics.

Third Tuesday Vancouver organizersThe online discussion is great. But sometimes, it’s even better to sit down face to face and talk things through.

This is what I’d like to do. Let’s bring together a group of experts for a roundtable discussion of social media measurement and metrics.

Participants could be drawn from three groups:

  • Social media thought leaders who have been writing about these issues.
  • Corporate and organization executives who have been attempting to apply social media measurement and metrics.
  • Companies that are developing measurement and metrics solutions.

Let’s engage a moderator or group of moderators who would frame the questions and then attempt to draw out major issues, points of agreement, and lines of additional discussion. The roundtable format should enable participants to have a full discussion of each topic, with free exchanges of opinion, and hopefully the development of consensus on principal issues.

The product of the roundtable could be a white paper that will follow on the Jeremiah Owyang-authored white paper, Tracking the Influence of Conversations.

Third TuesdayWe’d also organize a special Third Tuesday social media meetup at the conclusion of the roundtable to enable the broader social media community to discuss these issues with a panel of the roundtable participants.

It looks like 2008 Mesh Conference will be held the third week of May. If we could organize the roundtable the day before or after Mesh, that would enable participants who travel to the roundtable to attend Mesh. The fourth week of May is the U.S. Memorial Day holiday week. Holding the conference the Memorial Day week would give U.S. attendees a chance to spend a long weekend in Toronto. Either way, May is a great time to visit Toronto. The leaves have emerged and the flowers are in bloom. The patios are open. And the streets are alive with Torontonians rediscovering after a long winter just how great their city is.

What do you think about the concept of a roundtable on social media measurement and metrics?

If we organize it, will you come?