Young Pr Pros

This week, Kristine Simpson and Julia Kent answer a big question: how can young PR professionals get rid of any negative PR stereotypes. A question, Kristine asked while she attended Conversations 2013, the CPRS National Conference in Gatineau. As you go through the lessons below click on the bold links. they will direct you to the full interview on YouTube.  Here is what she learned: Evan Solomon, a reporter by trade, reminded us that the PR industry lacks authenticity. Lack of authenticity results in mistrust. He says we need to get that trust back by being spontaneous and breaking free from canned messages. On that note, Kristine reminds our readers it is all about building relationships and makes reference to an article called Media Relations 2.0. The standard news release is dying, build a relationship with journalists instead. Dan Tisch says we too often define ourselves as the things we do - i.e. media relations, social media - when we should be looking at the value of what we do. Dan also encourage

Young PR Pros producer and host, Kristine Simpson, will be attending the CPRS National Conference this weekend as a roving reporter for the podcast. Her job while she is there is to get answers to one big question: What can young PR professionals do to change the negative stereotype of our industry? PR is not just PR anymore, PR is marketing, it is social media engagement, it is corporate communications, it is media relations, it is public affairs, and so much more. We are not spin doctors and we are not all like Samantha Jones from Sex in the City. We are here to build meaningful relationships between an organization and its audience. This year's CPRS National Conference is called "Changing the Conversation". Kristine will talk with the top minds in our industry to find out how young professionals can change the conversation around our industry. What can we do today that will make our industry better? What can we do within our industry to change a business, a society, or even the world? PR is so much more

This episode was sponsored by CPRS Ottawa-Gatineau. Attend the CPRS National Conference in June. Visit conversations.cprs.ca for more information. This week concludes our three-part series called Navigating Your Career. First we started with Getting the Job with Ken Anderson, then we explored how to Keep and Excel at Your Job with Tracey Baker. In episode 54 we chat with Charlene Gaudet, a director of communications in the Government of Canada. Charlene shares with us how to determine if/when a young professional is ready for a more experienced/senior role. Julia Kent shares her story of moving up in her own company, while Kristine Simpson talks about the importance of making a business case when asking for a more senior position. Young PR Pros sat down with Charlene to ask a few question at the CPRS Navigating Your Career event last month. Here is the full interview: You can also listen to her entire talk, including a more detailed review of the Accredited Public Relations designation, and more: Click here.

This episode was sponsored by CPRS Ottawa-Gatineau. Attend the CPRS National Conference in June. Visit conversations.cprs.ca for more information. Last week we aired the first episode in a three-part series called Navigating Your Career. At the CPRS Ottawa-Gatineau event called Navigating Your Career: The First Five Years, Kristine Simpson got to interview three professionals and ask about differen stages in building your career. Last week we spoke to Ken Anderson about getting the job. This week we talk to Tracey Baker, Director, Education, CPRS National, about keeping and excelling at the job as a newcomer. We started the episode with a conversation about the Public Relations Knowlegde exam. Just one of many examples of how you can demonstrate initiative and stand out among the crowd of thousands of graduating students. Then we discussed the importance of being associated with a professional association. We talked about the benefits of networking with other members of the association, volunteering and profe

This episode was sponsored by CPRS Ottawa-Gatineau. Attend the CPRS National Conference in June. Visit conversations.cprs.ca for more information. Julia Kent is back from her holidays. She is well rested and thankfully avoided any sun burns! A couple of weeks ago, Kristine Simpson attend Navigating Your Career: The first five years hosted by CPRS Ottawa-Gatineau. For the next three episodes we will navigate through three stages of the first five years of a young professional's career. Along the way, we will hear from three experts. The first stage is getting the job. We catch up with Ken Anderson, vice-president at Delta Media PR, who talks about how to determine the right fit for your first job. Ken says three things: Target your approach. Find the organizations that fit your skills and interests. In an interview tell them what specifically interests you about that company and why. This demonstrates your intelligence and eagerness for the job. And finally, relate your education, experience and interest to w

Last month, during the CPRS Ottawa-Gatineau Dine & Discuss event, host Kristine Simpson captured a list of great advice from PR and communications professionals in different industries and at different levels. We asked six professionals the following question: how can young PR professionals leave a lasting impression on their employers as well as the PR and communications industry as a whole. Julia Kent and Kristine discuss each advice and share their favourite advice and which advice resonated with them the most. If you missed the video last week, here it is again. We want to hear from you. Which advice resonates the most with you? Which advice do you agree with/don't agree with? Post your comment on our blog or on our Facebook Page, or on our Google+ page, or in our LinkedIn group, or on Pinterest, or send us an email at youngprpros@gmail.com, or send us a message on Twitter @youngprpros, @kristinesimpson or @kentjulia.

Kristine Simpson and Julia Kent play the final interview grabbed at the IABC Ottawa event After Graduation hosted at Carleton University. We talk to Kelly Rusk, president of IABC Ottawa and a senior account executive at Banfield Seguin. Kelly talks about her mentor and how she maintains and grows the relationship. Kristine and Julia quickly see that finding a mentor resembles a love story. You will know when your mentor is "the one" and you need to balance the relationship by giving as much as you take. Apart from our love stories, one lesson to remember is to not worry about formalizing the act of finding a mentor. Remember a mentor is anyone you go to and seek advice and/or look up to. We want to hear from you. Tell us your mentor love story. Post your story on our blog or on our Facebook Page, or on our Google+ page, or in our LinkedIn group, or on Pinterest, or send us an email at youngprpros@gmail.com, or send us a message on Twitter @youngprpros, @kristinesimpson or @kentjulia.

This week, Kristine Simpson and Julia Kent debate cold calling companies to seek job opportunities. Kristine believes cold calling companies to set up informational interviews are a good way to get your foot in the door. Julia, however, believes there are more personal ways to makes connections than cold calling. To get a third opinion, we play an interview clip with Geneviève Tilden. Kristine met with Geneviève Tilden, a Masters communication studies candidate at Carleton University, at the IABC After Graduation event in March. We play a short clip of an interview with Geneviève and her advice on how to cold call companies. So the debate continues. Would you cold call a company for the purpose of trying to get a job? Vote in our Facebook poll and share your opinion and ideas in the comment section of our blog. We want to hear from you. Don't forget to vote in this week's Facebook poll. Post your opinion or ideas by leaving a comment on our blog or on our Facebook Page, or on our Google+ page, or in our Link

The snow is melting in Canada, and the smell of spring is in the air. That means two things: panic and panic for our young professionals currently in school. Panic for end-of-year exams and panic for finding a job in time for the summer. What do hosts Kristine Simpson and Julia Kent suggest you do? NETWORK! We catch up with Kayla Isabelle, president of the Carleton Communications Society, at the IABC Ottawa Student event After Graduation, to talk networking. Julia reminds our listeners to move away from the formalized sense of networking and remember that teachers, friends, classmates and colleagues are all part of your network. Don't get psyched out by the formalized word "networking". Kristine suggests to bring a friend if you are a little shy or introverted. And, she stresses the importance of having business cards. We mention Vistaprint as a great resource to print professional and inexpensive business cards. We want to hear from you. Share your networking tip. Post your opinion or ideas by leaving a comm

Back in November 2012, Julia Kent went back to her alma matter to talk with young journalism students looking to transition in to public relations. This week, she went back to share more of her infinite wisdom. Julia was joined by Lauren Moore, VP Communications at Ford Canada and Carrie Bendzsa, Media relations manager for IMB Canada. The panel touches on everything from networking, hard skills for PR pros, tips for making connections, juggling getting experience while still making money and the world of agencies and how it is a good place to build a foundation. We want to hear from you. Share your opinion or ideas by leaving a comment on our blog or on our Facebook Page, or on our Google+ page, or in our LinkedIn group, or on Pinterest, or send us an email at youngprpros@gmail.com, or send us a message on Twitter @youngprpros, @kristinesimpson or @kentjulia.

This week, hosts Kristine Simpson and Julia Kent talk about an important subject for young professionals in general who have just landed their first job and are now accumulating a salary. This episode is all about finances for the young PR pro. Kristine found this great article called Financial Checklist for Young Professionals on Ms. Career Girl, a blog about career change, personal finance, dating and relationships, life after college, job searching and entrepreneurship for young women. But a lot of their articles can be beneficial to both sexes. Kristine and Julie cover four main topics: Student debt tips: bank debts vs. OSAP, which should you pay first? What is a credit report and why is it important to young professionals RRSPs are not just for retirement anymore, you should start saving early The importance of sitting down with a financial planner/adviser Our hosts want to reiterate that neither are experts in the field of financial planning and this episode is meant to get young professional thinking

This week, our hosts Kristine Simpson and Julia Kent are joined by William Johnson. We profiled Will in our Who to Follow series last month. Will is a communications, event management and student affairs professional at Carleton University in Ottawa. When he is not in the office, he is busy blogging and tweeting. We invited Will to choose his topic for the show and we are glad we did. This week, we profile non-PR books that have provides PR lessons. It is interesting to see the lessons that came out of each book, but it is also interesting to see the variety of books that were mentioned in the episode. We started with Julia who shared lessons of media, government and consumer relations from The Hunger Games. Then, Will shared his lesson of communicating clear and concise messages from Nelson Mandela: Portrait of an Extraordinary Man by Richard Stengel. And finally, Kristine shares he lesson of hard work from Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. You can tell by the laughter that we truly enjoyed having Will on the s

Another week for the Young PR Pros podcast and another profile of a great PR professional to follow on our Who to Follow series. This week, Kristine Simpson and Julia Kent shine the spot light on Sherrilynne Starkie. Sherrilynne is a communications consultant with 18 years experience working for a broad range of clients across industry, both in the private and public sectors. She works at one of Canada’s leadingPR & social media consulting firms, Thornley Fallis Communications in Ottawa, Ontario. This PR woman is a powerhouse with a breadth of knowledge. She has worked around the world and even ran her own PR agency in the U.K. You can find her on her blog, Twitter, Facebook and Google+. Kristine and Sherilynne of course know each other very well as they were coworkers while Kristine worked at Thornley Fallis. If you are not already following her, Sherilynne is a must to have on your Twitter newsfeed. We would love to hear from you. Do you have any questions or comments on today's show? Or do you have any

Kristine Simpson and Julia Kent switch gears this week to talk about Facebook identity theft. Gini Dietrich postsed on her popular blog SpinSucks.com a story her friend that experienced Facebook photo theft. It is quite simple. Someone steals photo off a Facebook profile, then creats a new Facebook profile and makes up a fake name. It doesn’t stop there. The Facebook profile then can like groups and pages such as guns and racist groups (even going as far as using really awful racial slurs). Now, let this story not be a horror story that prompts you to shut down Facebook, but rather a cautionary tale that opens your eyes to some of the potential dangers in the social world. Kristine and Julie discuss in this episodes the importance of being an educated social media engager and knowing about privacy setting. If you want to learn more about Facebook's privacy setting, Kristine wrote a blog post about some of the recent changes to the Facebook Data Use Policy. It is just another step in trying to become an educat

Week after week, Kristine Simpson and Julia Kent share their tips and advice to build and advance your career for the young and young at heart PR pros. This episode is especially for our young at heart listeners. We intertviewed Angela Prokopiak, Director, Communications and Parliamentary Relation at the International Development Research Centre. Angela shared with us her current endeavor to obtaining her Masters in Communications Management from the Newhouse Executive school at Syracuse University. This program is unique as it can be taken fully by correspondence. If you are near McMaster University, Syracuse currently has a partnership with McMaster that allows students to take courses at the Hamilton campus. In order to qualify for the program you need to have a minimum of five years work experience. However, this is just a reminder that it is important for our young professional listeners to realize it is never too early to plan ahead. We would love to hear from you. Do you have any questions or comments

This week, Kristine Simpson and Julia Kent revisit the topic of Kristine's new job. As promised Kristine shared her top tips on landing her new job. Of course, they were all tips she got from listening to the podcast. Kristine and Julia get to learn too you know! Here are some of the tips Kristine shared: Get yourself a visual resume that can be used as a snap shot of who you are. Check out Kristine's visual resume on re.vu/kristinesimpson. Make a Pinterest resume. Why? Becuase Pinterest is awesome. And, Pinterest allows you to tell a visual story of who you are and what you will bring to the job. Check out Kristine's Pinterest resume. And don't forget to ask questions. Kristine asked about five questions at the end of her interview to show her eagerness to work. Julia and Kristine talk about this subject in more detail during episode 20. Julia then introduces a new segment in our Who to Follow series. This week we profile William Johnson, or @socialeccentric as he is known on Twitter. Will is a communicati

Happy New Year young PR pros! We are back at work, school, or whatever it is we do from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday. And Kristine Simpson and Julia Kent are also back, well rested and ready to jump in to 2013. This week we chat about our New Years resolutions. Julia's resolution is no surprise, if you have been listening to the show we all know how much Julia loves to read. So for 2013 Julia's big resolution is to read 24 books. Kristine divided her resolutions in two categories: professional and personal. This is a good trick if you have specific goals you want to attain within the company you work for (i.e. get promoted, get more involved in internal communications, etc). Her personal goals include reading the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings Series, as well as the Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. Her professional resolutions include goals that will help her advance her career. Kristine sees 2013 as the year of the video and plans on doing a v-log once a month and producing more videos of Young PR Pros g