PR Skills Needed for The Future: What Students And Practitioners Should Know

Ever wonder what skills we might need (that we don’t already have), or what we need to brush up on in order to stay competitive in the PR profession?  If your answer is “yes”, you’re not alone.  Educators who are entrusted with teaching public relations students the strategies, theories, skills, tools and techniques they will …

Oklahoma’s 988 Campaign: Promoting The Use Of Mental Health Help By Applying Basic PR Principles

Last year, a national campaign was launched for 988, a helpline that provides a live, local person to talk with, 24/7, over the phone – and if need be, a mobile crisis team to dispatch to your location — during times of personal crisis. Jones Public Relations, partnering with Insight Creative and their client, Oklahoma’s …

AN OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE BACK AND IMPROVE THE FUTURE OF PUBLIC RELATIONS EDUCATION

When conducting strategic planning for our clients, we discuss Values right along with Mission and Vision.  Not only what those values are, but how they are lived in their organization.  These clients are often looking at the organization’s values through the lens of day-to-day operations for the first time.  Frequently, they find that the values …

Lessons From An Entrepreneur: Using Basic PR Principles To Grow Your Business

Last week, the Yankee Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) hosted its annual summer social at the LaBelle Winery in Derry, NH LaBelle Winery – Amherst, Derry & Portsmouth NH. As part of the fun, members heard directly from founder Amy LaBelle the story of overcoming obstacles to realize her dreams, and …

Crisis by Board Member

Front and center in the news the last few days has been the drama around Elon Musk joining Twitter’s Board of Directors.  The controversy has to do primarily with Musk’s alignment (or non-alignment) with the values and culture of the Twitter family.  Whether your organization is for profit or not-for-profit, it raises an interesting question:  …

Talking About Suicide: A PR Strategy for raising awareness of a difficult subject

The NH Coalition for Suicide Prevention, spearheaded by the Brain Injury Association of NH, was recently launched to raise awareness about the issue of suicide among members of vulnerable populations like people with brain injuries, people with disabilities, Veterans, first responders, police and the elderly.  Their work complements the efforts of other NH organizations focusing …

School Communicators Take Note: For Flawless Execution, Prepare Beyond Your Written Crisis Plan

Yesterday, it was the dismissal of a teacher at the Fieldston private school as a result of anti-Semitic remarks that enflamed tensions between Jewish parents and school administrators.  Today, it is concern over the Coronavirus and its impact on boarding schools with Chinese pupils and international study programs abroad.  What will it be tomorrow? While …

Stand Out From The Crowd: Research-Based Branding

My colleague Jayme Simoes and I had the pleasure of presenting on the topic of branding twice recently, first at the NH Nonprofits Conference and Expo and again at PRSA’s Northeast District Conference, NEXPRSA, in Providence, R.I. Here are a few highlights: A brand is a space in the mind.  It’s more than a logo …

Just Because We Can, Should We? Why Organizations Should Not Rollback Policies, Just Because Washington Now Says We Can

The Trump Administration is busy reversing a myriad of policies that had been put in place by the previous administration.  They say these policies "hinder productive business growth and job creation".  I am not arguing that one way or the other. I do want to remind us, though, of the impact these decisions could have …

CLEAN OUT YOUR COMMUNICATIONS JUNK DRAWER WITH A COMMUNICATION AUDIT

It is a time for new beginnings, fresh thinking, purging files and finding different ways of doing things.  If you’ve been managing your communications function for a while — or, if you’ve recently inherited the position and found yourself asking, “why are we doing what we’re doing?” – it is a good time for an …