As the role of the public relations professional continues to evolve and the profession continues to grow, PRSA is dedicated to providing Chapters with the resources they need to flourish in 2012.

Updated initiatives and improved benefits for 2012 include:

♦ Free Online Training Webinars: Webinars are now free with PRSA membership. This represents nearly $2,000 in annual savings for members who participate in just one PRSA webinar per month. Upcoming webinars include:

• “Digital Media and Today’s Digital News Release: Making It Easy for Journalists to Pick Up Your Story” — 3–4 p.m. EST, Jan. 19, 2012. 
  
• “How to Grow Word-Of-Mouth Movements: People Are the Killer App” — 3–4 p.m. EST, Jan. 26, 2012.
• “Creating the Online Newsroom: Develop a Centralized Information Headquarters for Your Organization” — 3–4 p.m. EST, Jan. 31, 2012.
  

♦ Revamped Chapter support: PRSA National is working toward tailored plans to make recruitment easier for our Chapters. We are developing customized programming guides and easy-to-use social media templates to make administrative tasks less time-consuming and help you better engage with your members.

Continue reading " PRSA Chapters: Updated Initiatives and Improved Membership Benefits for 2012 "

A new key Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) membership benefit grants members free access to the 50 live and on-demand online public relations training webinars that are planned for this year, and now, there is a more user-friendly way for you to find them.

We have been working behind the scenes on the PRSA Calendar of Events to make virtual programming and in-person training easier and faster for you to locate. You can browse training sessions by date, or fine-tune your search by selecting a category to find a session by category.

Click Narrow By Category to see the categories available.

To access the free live and on-demand online training webinars or pay the member rate for in-person training seminars, first log in to your MyPRSA account and then complete the registration.

Expanded program categories, which are defined on each category page, now include:

• Accreditation Preparation & Maintenance
• Communication Strategy
• Crisis & Reputation
• Leadership & Management
• Measurement & ROI
• Media Relations
• Social Media
• Techniques & Tactics
• Writing

Continue reading " A New Look for the New Year: The PRSA Events Calendar "

Join David Rockland for his online training session, “Demonstrating the Value of the Work You Do — Part 1,” on Feb. 21, 2012 3–4 p.m. EST.  This public relations measurement training sesssion is free to PRSA members.  

Jessica, a promising new assistant account executive with our firm, requested a meeting due to an “emergency client issue.”

She said that she didn’t understand what went wrong. 

“We had this incredible launch of the new Loved Ones Alarm Clock.  Jon Bon Jovi played.  There were 80 journalists at the party,” she said.  “After it was over, I did a media analysis that showed we had gotten 500 hits and 10 million impressions, worth at least $20 million in Advertising  Value Equivalents (AVEs). I sent the report to the client. He said that he had just gotten back from a big measurement meeting in Barcelona, had taken a look at the media analysis, and told me if he ever saw something like this again, we would lose the account.  What went wrong?”

I asked what she was trying to do with the launch.

“We wanted to throw a great party to get journalists there and create buzz.”

“The client didn’t hire you to throw a great party,  Jessica.  They hired you to make people aware of this new alarm clock, generate sales and make sure that consumers know the special features of this product.  And, when you say ‘buzz,’ do you mean the sound the alarm clock makes?”

Continue reading " Four Public Relations Measurement Tips To Ensure A Satisfied Boss or Client "

Join the PRSA New Professionals Section and personal branding expert Hajj Flemings for the online training session, “Personal Branding: Develop Yourself as a Thought Leader,” on Wednesday, December 7, 2011. Registration is only $35 for members of the New Professionals Section and for members of PRSSA. 

Do you want to become the next Seth Godin, Steve Jobs, or Daymond Johns? I am going to walk you through some points to help you establish yourself as a thought leader in the era of digital technology. One disclaimer: Having a blog doesn’t make you a thought leader in the same way that having an iPhone will not make you think like Steve Jobs. The context of thought leadership in this article is helping individuals understand how to use digital technology, content curation and branding as a thought leadership strategy.

Continue reading " Five Points to Establish Yourself as a Thought Leader "

Join Ken DeSieghardt for his online training session, “Take the Mystery Out of Market Research: Learn to Better Understand Your Clients and Prospects,” on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2011. 

If you are currently sitting on a communications budget that is as big — or bigger — than the one you had five years ago, you can stop reading now. (Thank you for visiting this blog, Mr. Gates. Have a nice day.)

For the rest of us, the challenge to build and nurture relationships with those who are important to the success of our company (or our clients’ companies) continues to grow as our budgets continue to shrink. Add into the mix the ever-expanding platforms demanding the attention of your key stakeholders, and it’s enough to cause even the most seasoned public relations pro to throw up his or her hands and exclaim, “It can’t be done without more budget!”

Actually, it can. And the people who can tell you how to build and field a successful communications plan are those very stakeholders you are trying to reach.

Continue reading " Research Makes Your Communications Plan Work Smarter, Harder and More Frugally "