If you’ve turned on the news, you might be well aware that the New York/New Jersey area is in a state of emergency in preparation for Hurricane Sandy. Since most of public transportation is shut down, our office is closed and we’ve been asked to work from home. I rarely have to work from home, but when I do, here are some suggestions to make sure the day is just as productive.

• Get dressed before the day starts to get into the mindset
• Avoid your bed and sit at a desk or table
• Stay away from distractions such as your TV and cell phone
• Ask friends and family to leave you alone.
• Take your usual lunch break
• Reply to emails as usual so your teams know you’re online
• Send a note to colleagues when you leave your work space and when you sign off for the day

To everyone in the area, please stay safe! Remember, PR is not ER and your personal safety always comes first.

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Yesterday at dinner, I was talking with a colleague about being a blogger and being on the receiving end of pitches.  M and I have been listed in Cision since the day we started this blog several years ago and we are pitched by PR professionals like ourselves every day. Since then, I can honestly say we’ve only used maybe 3 or 4 pitches out of the hundreds (maybe the thousands) we’ve received. So why is this? There are many reasons why reporters, editors and producers don’t respond to our pitches and they end up in the trash bin. Here is why…

• Irrelevant. I can’t tell you how many irrelevant pitches we get. If the people who pitched us actually read our blog, they would know we don’t cover what celebrities are wearing or where they’ve been spotted. Delete. Delete. Delete.
• Just the release. This has to be the worst practice. It looks like spam. PR pros will send just their client’s press release (or a media alert) – no introduction, no thought behind why we might be interested. Nada. We won’t spend the time to read just the release– who would?!
• Too much content. Since we’re inundated with emails all day, I can say I never have time to even read an entire full blown pitch. As PR pros, all that time we spend pitch writing and pitching is time wasted when no one’s actually reading the email. Before you send the full pitch, shoot a 2 sentence email asking if I’m interested. You’re more likely to receive a response yes or no.

What are some other PR pitch mistakes you’ve encountered? I’m sure there are plenty…

For some of our avid readers, you know that M and I have had this blog for about 2 years now – which is crazy to even think about. Along the journey we’ve interacted with tons of aspiring professionals like ourselves and continue to be inspired daily to share our advice and experiences while working in public relations and living in the city. We’ve recently been thinking about how we could give our site a little refresh, while keeping the same nyc PR girls look and feel you’ve come to know over the years.

One of our good friends and fellow blogger, Nichole Ciotti at Vanilla Extract, also owns her own marketing boutique in San Francisco called Blinc Agency (check out the website if you get a chance – it’s awesome). Her and her partner Brian were up to the challenge of redesigning our site, with a new logo, sharing features and much more.

As part of the redesign, we’d also love your input and thoughts on how to make our site better and more interactive because after all, this site is meant for you! Please leave your comments below and we’ll take everyone’s input into consideration.

Plus, shout out to the amazing team at Blinc Agency for your hard work! We greatly appreciate it.

Xo

A&M

Yesterday, we received an email question that raises a topic I hadn’t really thought about:

I recently graduated college with my Bachelor’s in Communications and was offered an internship at a local PR firm. Two months into my four month internship, they offered me a job, which I graciously accepted. I am very happy here! My colleagues are wonderful people with diverse personal and professional backgrounds.

Around the time that they hired me full time, they also hired a new Assistant Account Manager. She and I have become very close. She was telling me about her last job and how it was louder than it is here. We are apparently a very quiet firm. A few of my colleagues have recently expressed an interest in being a more interactive office.

We have a suggestion box in the kitchen where you can make requests anonymously. We were talking about suggesting that we liven things up a bit. How should we go about making this suggestion?

A noisy vs. a quiet office is definitely a personal preference. The first internship I had in New York City was in an office with four other people who were silent. You could literally hear a pin drop. This was hard for me because personally I enjoy chatting and socializing with others throughout the day.

The agency I currently work at I would say is in the middle. You hear people talking and a ton of things going on, but that doesn’t mean that the office is ‘œloud’. It’s relatively quiet within your cube but it’s not dead silent where everyone stares at you if you ask a question.

You should definitely go about suggesting specific things that will liven up the office. This could include:

• Mini brainstorms throughout the day
• Open conversations to bounce new ideas off each other
• Play music! We did this in my old office
• Snack breaks
• Bring pets to work- I heard this happens

What other ideas can you come up with to liven up the office? Do you prefer a noisy or quiet workplace?

As we approach the mid-mark of the fall semester, many of you may be already engrained in a PR internship, or are thinking about getting one next semester. As I watch interns come and go out of this office and as a girl who held three PR internships (both good and bad), there are several things you can expect from every intern experience.

• Real World Experience: Something you can’t get from any PR class that’s invaluable. You’ll observe your coworkers account work, their day to day tasks, and see what a PR job really entails.
• The B*tch Work: Whether it’s running to the printer late night, organizing a closet or making name tags, expect mindless work to come with the job. Happily take the work because later down your career path you’ll wish you could go back to this:
• Training: At some places, you can be thrown into the fire, but you should expect some sort of training and guidance from your managers on what to do and what is expected from you.
• Pitching Practice: Those phone calls you’re nervous to make and those emails you’re afraid to send, pitching at first can be overwhelming. Take this opportunity as a chance to stand out and prove your capabilities and confidence.
• Feedback: Something that’s very important. Expect a review on your performance during or after your internship is over. This could determine whether or not they hire you or want you back prior to your graduation.
• Contacts: You’ll meet many new people, both fellow interns and coworkers that you should keep in touch with no matter what! The PR world isn’t that large after all.

What have you experienced in your PR interships?

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We have a bucket list of activities we want to do in NYC, but what about a bucket list for PR professionals? Whether you’re starting as an intern or you’re an experienced SAE, here are some items to you may want to check off your list:

• Watch your campaign idea unfold
• Climb the career ladder in a timely fashion
• Book a national morning show segment
• Land a national magazine placement
• Crack iVillage.com
• Get a two page magazine feature on a client
• Get a newspaper placement in USA Today or NYT
• Win a PR award for a campaign you worked on
• Successfully run an event with a celebrity
• Give a client presentation on your own
• Bring in a new client
• Manage interns (such a good feeling once you’ve already been an intern!)

What’s on your PR bucket list? Crossed anything off?

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