Posts Tagged ‘ PR Education ’

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Points of View is our blog dedicated to exploring the critical corporate communications issues of the day through insights and videos of Fortune 500 business and communications execs, industry insiders and our team.

Bob Feldman

A Higher Purpose is PR’s World Series

Bob Feldman
August 9th, 2010

Originally Published PR Week, August 6, 2010 (subscription access only)

What’s your World Series?

As we continue a slog through a tough economy, I’ve noticed a dilemma facing many companies vis-à-vis motivating their employees. Whereas the sports world affords the clarity of a tangible, meaningful goal (e.g. World Series, Super Bowl, etc.) in which every member of the team is in complete alignment to pursue, business doesn’t have it that easy.

And, in a down environment, it’s that much more common for employees to feel that their work is just that: work.

It’s hard to imagine each Major League baseball team playing 162 games during the year and everyone then going home. It sounds absurd because what’s the purpose of playing all those games if it doesn’t really matter.

There has to be a purpose.

What is your purpose?

(more…)

Grant Toups

Can Social Networks Drive Professional Development?

Grant Toups
July 20th, 2010

We regularly connect with people online. We keep in touch. We make new friends. But can we actually learn anything that’s professionally useful? Is it possible for our online networks, professional or personal, to help us become smarter people and more effective professionals with some level of certain regularity? Instead of stumbling across the occasional jewel, is there a way to come close to a guarantee?

Consider this. Subject matter experts around the world are already using social bookmarking sites like Digg and Delicious to gather, screen, categorize and share relevant, insightful content. Prominent bloggers and Twitterers, like Guy Kawasaki, spend hours each day scouring the internet and linking to remarkably valuable content on their blogs and twitter feeds. And some companies are using Yammer to stream relevant news and other materials to employees on their closed internal networks. And let’s not forget powerful news aggregators like Google Reader that can put thousands of information sources at our fingertips and let us search all that content for even the most obscure word or phrase.

(more…)

Tom Martin

Positive reinforcement is a lasting gift for givers and receivers alike

Tom Martin
April 22nd, 2009

Originally Published PR Week
No matter what career stage we are in, we all benefit from a little encouragement. I was reminded of this in a powerful way by a student who had, in her own words, “dug herself a huge hole.” The lesson she taught me extends far beyond the classroom and applies to both the giver and recipient of positive reinforcement.

She had started the semester in good shape, but within a few weeks her classroom appearances became sporadic. She failed to turn in her initial assignment and then missed a second deadline. She became non-communicative, ignored several e-mails I sent her, and finally stopped coming to class altogether.

I had pretty much given up on her, but then out of the blue I received an e-mail in which she apologized for her negligence and disrespectful behavior. She also pledged to turn over a new leaf.

We agreed to meet and discuss how she could salvage the semester. (more…)

Tom Martin

Washington D.C. - Center of the Universe

Tom Martin
March 16th, 2009

Originally Published PR Week 

I’ve been doing business in Washington for many years, but while shepherding a group of 25 college students there I was struck by a new swagger in our nation’s capitol. Clearly the center of power has shifted south from New York to D.C. These students were there to learn more about how public affairs and corporate communication functions in Washington and to assess the prospects for employment in this dreary economy.

They met with many seasoned communication executives, members of our department’s Advisory Council, who have served in the White House, walked the halls of Congress and fought the good fight on both sides of the aisle. They painted for these students a surprisingly upbeat picture. Yes, the job market was tough. Yes, the D.C.-based media has contracted. Yes, they will need to be better prepared than ever. But people are being hired, all is not lost and these students shouldn’t give up hope.

In their remarks, they focused on parts of the D.C. job market that are barely mentioned in career fairs and recruiting web sites. Mike McCurry, former press secretary to President Clinton, touted the virtues of the public information offices found in virtually all government agencies. (more…)

Tom Martin

Guest lecturers, students recieve reciprocal value from discussions

Tom Martin
October 11th, 2008

Originally Published PR Week

Much has been written about the unprecedented transfer of wealth that will soon gain momentum as a generation of baby boomers passes along a lifetime of upward mobility to its children and grandchildren. While the financial turmoil of the last few months has trimmed many nest eggs, it still promises to be quite a haul for the Gen-Xers and Millennials.

But we baby boomers have another precious holding in our portfolios, one that hasn’t lost any of its value as the markets have tanked. It is the sum total of our vast knowledge and experience, gained through years of trial and error in the all-too-real world in which we have lived and practiced. (more…)

Tom Martin

Theory vs. practice? The correct answer is both for PR education

Tom Martin
September 1st, 2008

Originally Published PR Week

As I write this, all across the country thousands of faculty members in schools of communication, journalism and related disciplines are beginning a new academic year. While estimates vary, it is safe to say that well over 50,000 and perhaps as many as 75,000 students of communication, journalism, public relations and similar majors are cutting the tags off their new back packs, scuffing up their flip flops and saying goodbye to their summer friends as they head back to campus. (more…)

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