My First Intern Spot

Malcolm Regester

Starting the year off with an intern position with Obsidian is a relief. After having numerous interviews with employers and filling out tons of applications, I was excited about my first opportunity to use my degree in public relations at the Memphis firm. 

My first week was amazing. I started with an orientation of the building, learning about processes and meeting the staff both locally and in Dallas, Texas. As time passed, I began getting acquainted with “Corporate America.” I realized that no one tells me to go on break any more; whenever I choose to take one is up to me. No more inconsistent work schedules and no more searching for a silly nametag. The workload hours of 30 to 40 hours a week was no longer an option; it was a necessity.

Out of all the jobs I’ve had, this is the only one I would actually do happily for free. (I’m in a Level 1 position, and Obsidian does offer a Level 2 paid internship). I get a thrill when I’m asked to do a task for an account manager or to search the newspaper for client mentions. I take pride in working for a respectable firm that handles PR for more than 50 accounts on any given day. I enjoy the perks of having a connection to the real world – outside the walls of academia.

During my time here, I hope to learn the pros and cons of working in a public relations firm to see if agency life is a good professional road for me. Specifically, I would like to learn how the firm handles crisis management. Crisis management was one of my favorite topics in undergraduate studies. I admire it because it spurs creativity in a high-pressure situation.

I also look forward to networking with our clients and our colleagues. Obsidian has a great reputation in the community, and I would love to share their story with other people who are unaware of their work. I plan to improve my writing, learn about the client needs and give my best effort while I’m working in the intern position.

I am excited to know what the future brings working for this firm. I honestly believe this internship is a stepping stone for me to launch a successful career in public relations.

Electing a Pope in the Modern World

Kelli Eason

Eight years ago, I was sitting in my trigonometry class at St. Louis Catholic High School in Lake Charles, La. While I usually dreaded the math class, that day was different. That was the final day the 2005 papal conclave – the first in my lifetime – which elected Pope Benedict XVI. We watched the white smoke billow out of the Sistine Chapel live right there in my class. Little did I know that I would experience another rarity (a papal abdication) and another conclave so soon. Nor did I realize how much would change.

Just like the most recent Olympics and presidential election, the digital world we live in makes this papal election quite a different animal than it ever was before. Consider the following:

·   Fantasy Conclave – This friendly competition is not unlike fantasy football except there is no money involved, and prizes are provided by sponsors. You choose the cardinal you believe will be the next pope, the day on which he will be elected and the name you think he will choose. (I went with Cardinal Rivera Carrera from Mexico, day three, and said he would choose the name Leo.) I’m sure my grandmother never expected something like this.

·   Pope Alarm – This digital notification service is only for the most dedicated conclave watchers. It sends a text message, email or both to registered users to notify them as soon as the white smoke appears, confirming the next pope. This may include a text in the wee hours of the morning as Rome is anywhere from five to eight hours ahead of the United States.

·   Papal watchers on Twitter – Mashable published a handy dandy list of five of the top papal watchers to follow during the conclave. The list includes a reporter who first broke the news of Benedict XVI’s abdication because she understands Latin.

This papal conclave also brought to the forefront the idea of campaigning for certain candidates. Although the church works very hard to maintain the secrecy of the ballots and the conclave, it seems that the more connected we are, the more speculation there is. I found several interesting articles on this phenomenon:

·   The Sweet Sistine – Tapping into the popularity of March Madness, the Religion News Service put together this bracket of what they believe is the most likely list of candidates. They even included odds provided by Irish bookmaker paddypower.com.

o   If you’re interested, here’s the final bracket developed from more than 40,000 votes.

·   A possible American pope – There has never been an American pope, but it seems that the American media was pretty excited about the fact that…there could be. There was a lot of buzz surrounding Cardinal Sean O’Malley from Boston and Cardinal Timothy Dolan from New York.

·   A wide open field – There was no clear favorite, which may be why so many people were campaigning and speculating and hoping to influence the outcome.

The church hasn’t changed much in the last few hundred years, so I didn’t count on social media, citizen journalists or the 24/7 news cycle altering the process or the outcome. Still, it made for quite an interesting conclave, and it sure was fun to feel like a participant…even if it is just part of the Fantasy Conclave! Unfortunately, I was nowhere close to winning the fantasy league. Not many people were. Only 0.7 percent of participants, or 41 people, chose Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio. Only six correctly predicted that he would be chosen on day two, and no one was anticipating that he would choose Francis as his papal name. But I guess congratulations are in order for Michael Brennan of Wisconsin, who officially won and gets bragging rights for the remainder of Pope Francis’ tenure!

If it's worth a response, think it through

Kim Morrison

It was a day like any other day in the late 80s/early 90s, and since it was a day that ended in the letter ‘Y’, my little brother and I were fighting. While growing up, we were constantly fighting. Someone did this, someone took that, someone looked at the other crazy… You get the general idea.

This fight was no different. At some point in the argument, I yelled, “I’M GONNA GO TELL DAD,” who was outside talking with one of the neighbors. This started a back-and- forth of uh-huhs and nuh-uhs, and at some point, I took off running full speed out the front door to tell my dad the horrible, awful, stupid, annoying, etc. thing my brother had done. 

As I reached my dad and the neighbor, they were in the middle of a conversation, and while I can’t remember how old I was when this happened, I was old enough to know you didn’t interrupt adults when they were talking. So, I stood there, and anxiously waited to be acknowledged so I could do the sisterly thing and snitch on my brother. I never got that chance.

Before my dad and the neighbor were done talking, my little brother came flying out the front door, flailing, screaming and hollering at the top of his lungs, “SHE’S LYING DAD! DON’T LISTEN TO HER! I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING!” As soon as he got to where we were, Dad simply looked at him and said, “What did you do?”
 
Cute story, but what the heck does it have to do with PR? Don’t be my little brother. Yes, something bad happened, and yes, you should respond, but don’t just wing it and hope for the best. Don’t freak out and just blurt out the first thing that crosses your mind. Stop, calm down and think it over for a minute. Is this worth responding to? If so, then respond in a way that addresses the situation, contributes to the conversation and hopefully places you in a better light than you were in before you started speaking. If it’s worth responding to, then it’s worth responding to properly.

Breaking bad... News, that is.

Crissy Lintner

The other day, an interesting email came across my inbox. For privacy purposes, I’ve removed names:
 
Subject: [Name of Person] Resignation

To Whom It May Concern: [Name], our COO, has resigned.  Please erase her contact information. We will let you know when we have found a replacement COO.          
                           
                                  Sincerely,
                                  [Name], Executive Assistant

When I read this, I cringed a bit, and one of my initial thoughts was, “Well, that didn’t end on a good note, did it? Ouch!” As it turns out, I already knew about the resignation, as the former COO was a contact of mine. I was likely on this list simply because my contact information was included in her contacts list in Outlook. However, given this insight, I knew there was more than a month to plan how to communicate her resignation to key stakeholders and the public – and in what order.

Whether intended or not, the communication that I received came across as a cold afterthought that didn’t give any insight into next steps, who to contact in the meantime should we have a need to communicate with the organization or to use as an opportunity to pull in positive information about the organization.

Whether the relationship between this person and the organization ended on a good or bad note, the image conveyed should always be positive. So, here’s my 2 cents on breaking “bad” news: 

• Take time to plan a response to the situation and develop a well-thought-out letter or email for key stakeholders. 
• Remember the correct order in which you should make this announcement: internal publics (employees, board members/advisors, donors and volunteers, etc.), then external publics (media, vendors, general audiences)
• Remember that emails get forwarded and every email is an opportunity to communicate an important message about your business/organization – your mission, a new program – bright, new plans on the horizon
• Rarely is it advisable to send an announcement that gives an inkling of thought that the resignation ended on bad terms. Even if there was a negative end to a relationship, it’s good to stay above board in all communication. Again, focus on positive language. Announcements should be from an upper-level executive, such as the CEO, rather than an assistant or office manager.

It is never desirable to lose a key team member like a COO or to have to share bad news with your stakeholders. But when it does happen, use it as an opportunity to share other great things, not just close a chapter in your HR history book.
 

Stuck on the ‘Nay’ Train?

Kerri Guyton

Recently, I was talking to a good friend of mine who started an independent product sales business about six months ago. She was explaining about the rut she had hit in her business development, and she thought she might have made a mistake in choosing to do this. She had run out of contacts, made all the connections she possibly could and was honestly tired of hearing “no” (or some form of the word). Maybe it wasn’t meant to be, she said with a heavy sigh.

Everyone feels this way at one point in their career, especially in the beginning of a new venture. She had a good business plan. She was excited about the possibilities and opportunities that this business was going to bring. She just hit her first dry spell, which can be a valuable time in a professional's career if handled properly. A down time is a good time to revisit your business goals, re-evaluate your strategies and tactics and recharge your batteries, so to speak.

I advised my dear friend to take a vacation from the pressure to sell, and take this time to soak up knowledge and inspiration from others in her business. I suggested that she attend her monthly meetings with the goal of listening to the success stories of others and take time to dig into the company's online training resources to learn more tips and tricks of the trade. This is also a good time for her to evaluate her communication tactics and messages - what parts of her sales pitch are working and what can she do to strengthen her call to action. I told her that for certain, the first step she needs to take is to remove quitting from the list of options and to remember that she can absolutely do this.

Occasionally, it’s just time to step off of the “nay” train and into the motivation station!