ShopTalk

Top 3 PR Lessons for a Young Professional

This year marked my fifth anniversary with C.Fox Communications, and this August, my third full time year with the agency. Before I embark on another year of new projects and experiences, I wanted to reflect on a few lessons learned along the way.

1. Always have a thought.

This is especially important for young professionals, and it means a range of things to me. First, don’t just sit there and wait to be told what to do. Think about the situation and take initiative. It’s fine to ask questions, but you can demonstrate leadership, and learn more in the process, if you offer your take alongside them.

Always having a thought is also about speaking up. As Michele Moore, PR Manager for Text100, put it in this great PR Daily post about the best PR advice you’ve ever received, “When you walk into a meeting with a client, say one smart thing and ask one smart question.” Show your value; prove that you’re thinking critically at every stage.

 

2. Responding fast makes all the difference.

This is a simple lesson, but an excellent habit to form early on. In a world of 24/7 connectivity, colleagues, clients, and media appreciate a quick response – even if just to acknowledge you’re working on it, and let them know when to expect an answer.

For colleagues, a fast response can help a day run smoother. For clients, it ensures they feel taken care of. And for media, well, it can make or break a story opportunity, and is critical to building a relationship.
 
 

3. Remember that “attention to detail” isn’t just a buzz phrase.

As Brian Fox, our managing director, says on his bio page, “Relentless attention to detail is a competitive advantage.”

A significant part of attention to detail is proofreading – ensuring your writing, format, and design is correct and consistent. But I think, as paradoxical as this may sound, that it’s also about understanding the big picture. You must be able to take a step back and look at the overall strategy of a project in order to notice when small details are missing or wrong.

 

*Bonus tip*: Don’t forget to have some fun.

Members of the PeepFox Communications design team, Brian Fox and Julie Feldman, assemble the peeps diorama of the C.Fox conference room in spring of 2012. To the right is the finished product, and for more views of PeepFox, check out Facebook.

 

What other lessons would you share?

This year marked my fifth anniversary with C.Fox Communications, and this August, my third full time year with the agency. Before I embark on another year of new projects and experiences, I wanted to reflect on a few lessons learned along the way.

1.       Always have a thought: This is especially important for young professionals, and it means a range of things to me. First, don’t just sit there and wait to be told what to do. Think about the situation and take initiative. It’s fine to ask questions, but you can demonstrate leadership and learn more in the process, if you offer your take alongside them.

Always having a thought is also about speaking up. As Michele Moore, PR Manager for Text100, put it in this great PR Daily post about the best PR advice you’ve ever received, “When you walk into a meeting with a client, say one smart thing and ask one smart question.” Show your value; prove that you’re thinking critically at every stage.

2.       Responding fast makes all the difference: This is a simple lesson, but an excellent habit to form early on. In a world of 24/7 connectivity, colleagues, clients, and media appreciate a quick response – even if just to acknowledge you’re working on it, and let them know when to expect an answer.

 

For colleagues, a fast response can help a day run smoother. For clients, it ensures they feel taken care of. And for media, well, it can make or break a story opportunity, and is critical to building a relationship.

 

3.       Remember that “attention to detail” isn’t just a buzz phrase: As Brian Fox, our managing director, says on his bio page, “Relentless attention to detail is a competitive advantage.”

 

A significant part of attention to detail is proofreading – ensuring your writing, format, and design is correct and consistent. But I think, as paradoxical as this may sound, that it’s also about understanding the big picture. You must be able to take a step back and look at the overall strategy of a project in order to notice when small details are missing or wrong.

Finding Balance in Giving Back

 

It’s never easy to get up before 8 a.m. on Saturday. This is especially true if you don’t have kids, a good reason, or an obligation to drag you out of bed. But last Saturday I had exactly that. Not so much an obligation, but a great reason to make my way to D.C. Central Kitchen (DCCK).

It was shortly before 9 a.m., and I was standing in their breakroom preparing for the day. Small cups of coffee filled many different hands – some young, more mature and from many different backgrounds – but each were the hands of eager volunteers. After a few minutes, a few smiles and hellos, I wished that I found myself in this room more often.

I spent my first hour with a peeler, standing in front of a large box of cucumbers. With each cucumber peel that fell into the clear plastic bin in front of me, I was energized by a sense of purpose. It was the feeling of doing good, the knowledge that I was part of something bigger than me that morning. That is to say, bigger than my usual Saturday morning routine of bagels and coffee.

Through laughs, smiles, the task of peeling and chopping hundreds of fresh vegetables, the morning flew by. I could not believe how quickly this group was able to prepare 140 trays of garden salad. Our three hours of preparing meals would feed four to five thousand people on this Saturday.

We live in an area where the socioeconomics of the region afford many residents the ability to give financially, which is a blessing and necessity. But sometimes the feeling of knowing that you rolled up your sleeves and delivered on doing your part is priceless. For organizations like DCCK, they rely on their community to do exactly that – roll up their sleeves and get busy, but don’t forget your hair net.

I am lucky enough to work for an organization that places an emphasis on mission. So, in my case, inspiration to do better and make a difference is never far away. But inspiring the uninspired and affecting change requires sharing the everyday stories of good that surround us.

At the end of the day, we are storytellers looking to tell the inspired story of many great organizations, like DCCK. What stories of service and volunteering have changed your view of the world? I invite you to share your experience with us.  Go on, get inspiring!

 

 

 

C.Fox Media Training Maxims

At C.Fox Communications we often use simple maxims when media training clients. Two of our favorites help our clients understand how to control their message and reestablish a stronger footing during interviews and public presentations.

It’s amazing how often we see people in the public eye ignore these simple words of advice. Recent events in the Presidential campaign show us just how easily slip ups can happen.

“When you don’t like the conversation, change the subject.”

It seemed only yesterday that Presidential aspirant Mitt Romney was being hounded by his opponents and the media about releasing more than one year’s tax return and a summary of another.   Then Harry Reid, the Democratic leader of the Senate, openly accused Romney of paying no taxes for ten years, but offered no proof.  Romney then named his pick for Vice President, Congressman Paul Ryan and the discussion over taxes disappeared.  Nice change in subject!

But as soon as Romney changed the subject, he dug himself in deeper.

“When you’re in a hole, stop digging.”

Governor Romney inadvertently reignited the taxes issue – or “picked up the shovel” - with the statement that he had looked at his tax returns and assured us he paid at least 13% each year in the past decade. Although he was referring to his “effective” tax rate – that’s what we actually pay after any applicable deductions – surely he must have known that the lowest income wage earners in the US are taxed at 15%. In any event, taxes dominated the news cycle once again.

Once you’ve changed the subject, there’s no rule that says you’ve got to change it back.  Unfortunately, Governor Romney learned this the hard way.

Say What You Want to Say, When You Want to Say It

At C.Fox Communications, our media and presentation skills sessions always include this admonishment:

You can’t always control what others say but you can always control what you say, how you say it and when you say it.

Two events in recent days reminded me of this and both provide lessons for all of us.

The death of Marvin Hamlisch, one of the most accomplished and versatile composers of our time, was announced this way by the New York Times:

“Marvin Hamlisch, the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer who imbued his movie and Broadway scores with pizazz and panache and often found his songs in the upper reaches of the pop charts, died on Monday in Los Angeles. He was 68 and lived in New York. He collapsed on Monday after a brief illness, a family friend said.”

The Times, as well as every other notable news organization, went on at length to re-count his achievements, including winning every creative prize imaginable including an Oscar, a Tony and a Pulitzer. Yet the cause of his death wasn’t reported and is still not widely known.  Perhaps it was because his friends and family wanted his accomplishments to be the focus of our attention. There was no hint of foul play or an effort to disguise the cause – just no mention of it with a consistent reliance on “a brief illness”. And it worked.

The second event came late Friday night when the news broke that Mitt Romney would announce his pick for Vice President the next morning in Norfolk, Virginia. The announcement site might have been considered a tip-off that his selection would be Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell. Yet we learned later that Governor Romney had made up his mind on Representative Paul Ryan before they met clandestinely several days earlier in Brookline, Massachusetts. 

The Romney camp knew that due to the 24 hour media watch placed on potential nominees, efforts to preserve the news would be difficult if not impossible. Disappointed hopefuls would need to be notified and if the news was handled properly in the spirit of “you only have one opportunity to make a first impression”, an event would need to be orchestrated befitting the stature of the announcement.  Indeed, the campaign succeeded at keeping the news under wraps until the 11^th hour – notable in this day and age – and the announcement event on the deck of the USS Wisconsin, set to the Jerry Goldsmith score of the Harrison Ford movie “Air Force One,” went off without a hitch.

Two events – one unexpected and one planned – both benefited from a desire to say what you want to say, when you want to say it in the manner that you want it said.  Impossible?  Well it’s not easily accomplished in this day of insatiable appetite for news but for Terre Blair (Hamlisch’s wife), and Mitt Romney, I’m sure they are glad that they got to tell their news the way they wanted to.

What Marissa Mayer Surely Knows: Pregnancy and Performance in the C-Suite

Much of the debate surrounding new Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer’s pregnancy has focused on the complexity of the situation she’s walking into. In a recent Healthland post, Time’s Bonnie Rochman sums it up well:

Mayer carries a heavy burden … It’s hard to argue that her appointment isn’t a sort of gender bellwether. If she succeeds, she’ll be scoring one for the ranks of intelligent, ambitious working women who also happen to crave kids. If she stumbles — as have four other Yahoo! CEOs, including one woman, in as many years — it won’t be chalked up solely to the sheer difficulty of her task. It’s practically inevitable that her pregnancy will be cited.  

I’m fascinated by the questions that have arisen: Can pregnancy impact a woman’s performance in the C-suite? And should society even be asking that question?

With all due respect, I say, why not? That’s because based on my own experience, I can answer affirmatively: Yes, pregnancy affects performance, and in my case, it was for the better.  In fact, my own pregnancy taught me valuable lessons that today help me guide organizations through major transitions.  Let me explain:

After learning that I was expecting my first child in 2009, I spent a good amount of time planning how I would manage my own transition through maternity leave.  As any business owner knows, no time is an easy time to step away from the business. But there was obviously no changing the timeline on this one. The good thing in this transition, of course, was that I had several months to prepare myself - and my staff - for the impending (and exciting) changes.

They say pregnant women experience a “nesting” period in the months and weeks before Baby is born.  In my case, nesting kicked my finely honed planning skills into overdrive – as well as my sense of humor. To wit, Brian and I devised an elaborate plan - lovingly dubbed the "birthquake" – that was designed to spring into action on the day that I went into labor. In the weeks leading up to the delivery, we regularly held all-staff “birthquake drills” to make sure our plans were airtight.  We ensured that staff knew how to engage the IT company if the server went down, how client emergencies were to be handled, who was in charge of collecting mail, sorting bills, and reporting to me (or Brian) at the end of every day. 

As important as the advance planning was, I knew that clear communication with my staff was equally, if not even more, important, in light of the looming transition.

In the weeks after my daughter was born, although I stayed home for a few additional weeks, I made it abundantly clear to all staff that I was available during a specified window of time every day to guide them, while still being given the time I needed away as a new mom. When questions came up, as they always did, staff knew when and how to reach me, and frankly I think we all got better at time management as a result.

All organizational transitions are unique, and unfortunately many of them don’t involve happy occasions like the birth of a new child. But, what ties a successful transition together— regardless of the reason for that transition— is preparation and communication.  Clear, consistent, and constant communication.  It helps everyone understand and prepare in their own way for the change that is about to come, and if done right, it can serve as an opportunity to build and nurture the team in a new way.

There’s no way to know how Marissa Mayer will balance her responsibilities as CEO and new mom, but I have no doubt that with the right people around her, and her own version of a birthquake plan, she can do it just fine. 

The Social Media Olympics

 

With Jordyn Weiber tweeting before her trials and the U.S. men’s and women’s swim teams doing their own rendition of “Call Me Maybe” on YouTube, the 2012 Summer Games will go down in textbooks as the first Social Media Olympics. While this presents new communications challenges for the International Olympic Committee (IOC), it also provides exciting new opportunities that will allow fans and athletes to bask in the glow of the Olympic Torch a little longer.

Managing the Buzz

With information pouring in at lightning speed, and from all directions, it isn’t too surprising that the IOC would take to Twitter and Facebook while the world turns its attention to London. But because social media is largely an open forum, the IOC must be vigilant of the information being shared by the Olympic community and the general public. Although this is no small feat for any organization, small or large, the IOC is rising to the occasion. It has produced four pages of social media guidelines for Olympic athletes, coaches and support staff, and even spectators.

Under the Microscope

Millions watching the Olympics on television and following along on their smartphones and computers will have a lot to say, good and bad, that could impact the overall perception of success when the Olympics are over. Even a small slip up can evolve into a PR crisis for the IOC when a few million spectators are tweeting about it. Or, what if a social media-savvy athlete is having a bad day and decides to speak out?  U.S. runner Kerron Clement tweeted this message as Team USA made its way to the Olympic Village:

Clement has a larger fan base than average (7,810 followers), but if a tweet like that came from Michael Phelps (275,679 followers) or Lebron James (5,519,594 followers) it could be damning.

Olympians: They’re Just Like Us

Even though there are risks that come with social media, the IOC is embracing the good more than the bad. They’ve created an Olympic social media epicenter, “The Hub,” where fans and athletes can interact with each other across a variety of platforms. The Hub humanizes the Olympians by providing an inside look at their lives, from training to their free time. For example, Michael Phelps seems a lot more human when he tweets about one of his favorite television shows:

 

And not only do our favorite athletes seem more relatable, but they share their inspiration, which gets us pumped up too:  

 

Not everyone can afford a seat at the Olympic Games or even a seat on a plane to London. But that’s the beauty of the IOC’s extensive social media approach. It makes the Olympic experience more accessible to everyone. And that’s what social media is all about.

 

 

 

Beating writer's block, the C.Fox way

As regular creators of content, we at C.Fox were intrigued to find an article in Advertising Age that reported the findings of a global study on creativity. According to the study, which was conducted by Adobe, only 25 percent of people feel they are living up to their creative potential despite the fact that six in ten interviewees feel creativity is valuable to their country’s economy and two-thirds feel it is valuable to society. Given our role as communicators, creativity is a crucial component of each and every workday here in our collaborative Silver Spring digs. At the same time, we recognize that creativity can’t be forced – only encouraged and nurtured.

Inspired by the Adobe study, as well as a subsequent Advertising Age piece that profiled Marla Kaplowitz’s (CEO of MEC North America) tips for generating great ideas in media, some of the staff here at C.Fox have compiled a list of our own suggestions for stimulating creativity and coming up with big ideas. Some are a little quirky, but hey, to each their own!

Carrie: I normally just have to step away from it for a little while. A walk with the dog can do wonders. The other thing that works for me is simply talking through it – hence the “Big Thinks” in our office. (A note: “Big Thinks” are when we pull the entire staff into a conference room, lay out the problem and see what solutions we can come up with together. It’s amazing the results we’ve seen from these group sessions.)

Brian: I like to look at a topic through the eyes of another culture when I’m stumped. For example, Western cultures look at things like homework and tend to say "Don't our schools give out too much homework?" while Eastern cultures tend to say "Why don't our schools give out more?" Generalities and stereotypes can of course be perilous, but sometimes just stopping and looking at an issue from a radically different point of view can spark a fresh way to message a topic – one that can be unexpected for a reader or viewer and can pull them in.

Julie: I've used Google Images before when I'm in need of some inspiration around a concept or idea. Sometimes a seemingly unrelated image can spark an idea for a new way to write about something.

Arron: Personally, one of the best things I can do when I need a creative solution to a problem is to go to sleep! I often find that I come up with good solutions, ideas, pitches and language for press releases when I'm falling asleep or starting to wake up. Sounds odd, but I like to keep a notepad on my night stand to capture these random thoughts. Perhaps it’s because my mind is fresh and clear instead of being bogged down thinking about every other task that has to get done in a day.

Andrew: I like to take a walk. Whenever I step away from something, I usually seem to subconsciously solve it or develop ideas. It's important to always have my phone (with Evernote) or a pad of paper with me when I walk.

Eileen: One of the things that helps me really start to think about an idea more clearly is listening to music. It seems like it would be distracting, but when I plug-in my headphones and turn on Pandora (currently listening to: Summer Hits of the ‘90s!), I’m able to tune out everything else in the office – and all the other things on my mind – and just write. I’m also big on looking at cute pictures of dogs to take a step back from the task at hand. If this is your cup of tea, I highly recommend The Daily Frenchie Tumblr page…

What are some of your go-to techniques for overcoming creative blocks?

Does being too plugged-in mean we're too checked-out?

Sherry Turkle’s recent New York Times article, titled “The Flight From Conversation,” really got us thinking – how much has technology changed the way we interact with each other? Are we actually having meaningful conversations with the people in our lives, or just connecting with them quickly (and often impersonally) to gather information we need or are interested in? Do the Facebook posts, tweets, g-chats and text messages that we’ve all grown so accustomed to actually count as having a conversation? And do these incessant interactions – and distractions – prevent us from truly having a conversation with those people we actually see in-person each day?

We’re all guilty of it. Sitting down to dinner with a friend and expending so much of our attention on customizing exactly how, when and what details to share with the world about our dinner – through check-ins on Facebook and FourSquare, TwitPics, and so on – that we walk away from the interaction feeling as though we must have missed something. What was that story our friend was sharing about her boss? Her hair looked shorter, didn’t it? When are we supposed to get together next, or did we leave that open-ended? Even though we appeared engaged during the get-together, and even felt as though we were by offering commentary in between our Facebook status updates, a lot of the details slipped through the cracks and failed to register.

Turkle’s “Goldilocks Effect,” where we present not too much of ourselves and not too little, but just the right amount, is ever-present and although it allows each of us to put our best foot forward at all times (or so we think), it prevents us from showing a true sense of the vulnerability and uncertainty that makes us all human. So, while technology has given us the ability to connect with more people at virtually any time of the day from any place in the world, it’s arguable to say it’s made at least some of those connections substantially less significant.

While we’ll probably all continue to listen to music on our iPod while commuting and read books on an e-reader while checking e-mail on our phone, it’s worth taking a pause and participating in a few minutes of conversation with a friendly stranger. Or at the very least, putting away the gadgets while your dinner date excitedly tells you about her big promotion, new puppy and summer travel plans. And in an important business meeting? Don’t even think about getting distracted by non-work-related items, lest you look like a fool to your colleagues and business partners!

Ideas Worth Sharing: TEDx comes to Adams Morgan to Talk Forces of Change

My first encounter with TED was about five years ago when I first began working with the X PRIZE Foundation and their fascinating and fearless leader, Peter Diamandis. I felt inspired and empowered by the concept then, and I feel even more so now, hours away from the start of TEDx Adams Morgan.

Peter is often quoted as saying “The day before a breakthrough, it's a crazy idea,” and I sense that today’s lineup of exceptional speakers will bring a few breakthrough concepts of their own. That’s the beauty of the concept, and that’s the beauty of this town. We’ll have academics, urban planners (go Brian English, go!), artists, communicators, and activists descending on Adams Morgan to share a range of ideas with no motive other than to start conversations, to see where they lead, to listen, and to learn—with the shared vision of affecting change for the good.

How we connect and communicate is a force of change in itself. Just look at the evolution of how we search for missing children: from black and white pictures on milk cartons, to Amber Alerts on highways and Facebook, and now to apps that engage GPS tracking to help find lost loved ones, used successfully in Japan following the tsunami. Technology is moving fast and changing how we communicate and connect with one another, but the power of sharing stories, and of learning from one another on a human, one-to-one basis keeps us grounded and keeps us growing.

Today, I expect, will be filled with inspired ideas, and absolutely ideas worth spreading. It’s where we take the ideas from here though, that may be the best of all.

Follow the conversation from TEDxAdams Morgan @TEDxAdmo.

Streamlining your business [and personal] social media strategy

Once you’ve established yourself as a king - or queen! - of content (see our blog for tips on creating content that matters), don’t think your work is done. According to a recent story on Mashable – which we couldn’t agree with more – it’s important to revisit your social business strategy at least quarterly to ensure proper brand alignment. While some of these tips seem to be common sense, we’ve all run into those instances where companies choose not to address commonly asked questions online or, worse yet, create a digital presence and then fail to maintain its consistency or accuracy.

While the suggestions below (courtesy of Josh Peters) are intended for businesses, C.Fox would take it one step further and encourage you to incorporate these into your personal online brand as well.

1. Refine your design. Customize visual elements, such as backgrounds, avatars and profile pictures, to be sure they reflect your brand. Be consistent across profiles and be sure to link to your other profiles whenever possible. The same holds true across personal profiles – use the same profile picture on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and so on in order to represent yourself consistently. When making changes to one of your profiles, think about whether those same changes are relevant to your other profiles.
2. Fill out all important pages. For SEO purposes, the profile, bio and ‘about’ pages are crucial as this is often how search engines pull the meta description that shows up in search results. Additionally, this tends to be the first place people look for more information about a company. Similarly, individuals should think about what they want to be personally known for and be sure to include that information in these pages. When people – such as potential clients or employers – run a search on your name, you want to be sure they are able to easily identify your strengths and interests.
3. Gauge online engagement. With all the effort you’re putting into social media – whether for business or personal purposes – are you getting the return you want? Are people responding to or sharing your posts? Does your network seem to agree with your opinions and find you relevant? If you can’t answer these questions with a resounding YES, it’s time to sit down and rethink your social strategy.
4. Look over internal accounts. From a business perspective, all social media accounts should be tied to a generic company email address – such as social@thecompanyemail.com – to ensure 1) that all employees who to access the accounts are able to do so and 2) that the account isn’t tied to one particular employee who, like in Josh’s story, may leave the company on bad terms and refuse to relinquish access to the accounts. On a more personal note, consolidating all your social media notifications to one email address – particularly to one that is used only for your social media accounts – allows you to get a snapshot of the activity on all your networks in one location and on your own time, rather than being bombarded with notifications on a work or personal account that you use for higher priority items on your to-do list.