Career Advice

In this regular series with the Institute of Public Relations, veteran communicators relate lessons learned early in their careers that continue to help them. This installment features Shirley Powell, SVP, Cox Automotive, who received a great education from her first boss. One of his toughest lessons remains with Powell to this day.

In a far-ranging interview, new PRSA chair T. Garland Stansell discusses the need for PR pros to be courageous enough to accept and shape change, his goals for the 30,000-member organization and the challenges of communications measurement.

Plenty of PR pros have made predictions for the year ahead. We go farther. As we embark into a new decade of opportunities, what will PR look like in 2030? A trio of brave PR prognosticators looks 10 years hence. In spite of huge technological change, at least one PR pro sees relationships maintaining their importance in 2030.

Nearly every day a story appears in the media that relates to PR and communications. Reading them can provide a tuition-free education in PR, argues veteran PR pro Arthur Solomon. This article concludes his two-part series that reviews instructive headlines from 2019.

Veteran PR professional and former journalist Arthur Solomon is back with his annual series pulled from the headlines. His contention is that a daily perusal of the news can provide PR pros with a tuition-free education, often covering areas that college and graduate programs miss. Part I of this series concentrates on career advice.

As a public service for PR pros and those who care about them, we provide a quick guide to gifts every communicator could use as we head into the new year. The good news is that communicators aren’t necessarily interested in big-ticket items. Gifts that save time and make life a bit more comfortable top the PR pro’s wish list at holiday time.

In our regular Lessons Earned feature, former Cargill and State Farm CCO Mike Fernandez recalls three examples when it was advantageous to be fearless. This attitude led a 23-year-old Fernandez to confront a senior member of the Senate. It also prompted him as a new CCO at two well-known companies to whack at sacred cows.

Many business leaders believe they know how to relate to their millennial staff. They share a lot of material via social media and during town halls. While millennials will acknowledge the sharing, they’ll also say the messages shared seem inauthentic. To counter this, veteran PR pro Deirdre Breakenridge crafted her 12-part FEEL plan that helps build genuine communication between leaders and millennial staff. She discussed it during PRNEWS’s Top Places to Work & Agency Elite Awards in NYC earlier this week.

The 2019 Top Places to Work & Agency Elite Awards highlighted the best agencies, communicators and campaigns in the business, honoring those that set a high watermark with inclusive workplace culture and future-focused campaigns. PRNEWS hosted the luncheon Nov. 21 at New York City’s storied Yale Club, in the heart of Manhattan. 

At PRNEWS, we thought about how to utilize Slack to connect our readership and community. How could we leverage the relationships we’ve built with amazing contacts to benefit those outside of our circle, and bolster an entire community? And with that, we created the PR and Communications Pros Slack group.