Earlier this week, I enjoyed (finally) meeting Deirdre Breakenridge and attending her presentation on the "Hybrid PR Professional" with Cincinnati PRSA. Deirdre is addressing how the skill sets in our industry are expanding and changing along with the myriad of changes we see every day across journalism, public relations, consumer habits and technology. It's an important discussion and she's agreed to continue the conversation here. Look for that in a couple of weeks.
These skills are critical as the tools get cheaper and yet more powerful. This results in more messages and less consumer attention. Deadlines? They don't change. But the point is that without these skills PR professionals won't be able to truly do their job. This extends beyond telling a story and the quality of the story to how, when and where we tell it.
Conducting a Twitterview
Below is my recent example of hybrid skills in play. Working with NPR on a story, I learned they were having a hard time contacting a source -- a CEO of a Fourtune 1000 company. This CEO is active on Twitter and, as a result, I had context with him. Below I've charted how this unfolded -- from ask to interview 140 characters at a time.
As the Storify embed is wonky on Blogger (hint, hint), I'm linking to it here too.
UPDATE: Related Links around the #NOCincyBananaSplit story, include
NPR's "A Twitter Push to Keep Chiquita from Splitting" -- note NPR's use of Storify.
Delicious Stack of all #NOCincyBananaSplit activity.
#NOCincyBananaSplit Tweet Generator should you be interested in joining the cause.
"These skills are critical as the tools get cheaper and yet more powerful." As a journalism student I found this statement to be profound and accurate in describing the abundance of tools social media provides PR practitioners.With so many helpful and effective tools available for PR professionals, the ability to reach your audience and have them hear your message expands. As I learn about new tools in my PR classes I am aware that in six months these could be obsolete. I believe that to be successful in PR you have to stay on top of the latest innovations and be willing to change with the times.
ReplyDelete