Aspiring LA Publicist Last Day with A Bittersweet “Hooray”

Three months have come and gone since I first started as an intern at this LA Public Relations Agency. So much has changed within the office (new employees, MORE interns) and a lot has changed within me. My whole life I wanted to move to Los Angeles when I grew up, and for the past few years studying public relations I saw how I could make it happen. I knew it had to start with an internship. THIS internship. Being at a Public Relations Agency in downtown LA was the perfect introduction to “city” life.

I learned about the working of Los Angeles and getting around, but more importantly I learned about Los Angeles public relations. I learned about all the steps it takes to get a client a press booking and about how many phone calls have to be made in order to make sure YOUR client is getting the opportunity instead of a competitor. I learned how to write more concise and creatively with social media updates, and above all I learned that there can never be to days alike. One day everything for every client seems to be “smooth sailing” and the next you’re finding out something has been pulled from the gift guide or the venue didn’t get approved so we have to move an event.

It was pretty great to see and work alongside a group of women that constantly move forward and are so willing to teach and answer questions. As I finish this internship I will be heading back to Utah to graduate and then moving to Florida for whatever comes next. No matter what that is, I know there are a group of girls at a pr agency in LA willing to help and only a phone call, email, tweet, facebook comment or instant message away!

xx Courtney

Big Changes in a Small World

Interning at this Los Angeles public relations agency has helped me realize how important it is to be aware of what’s going on in the world around me. The world is constantly changing and working in public relations, those changes can make or break opportunities for clients to build and create relationships. So, while getting my “daily dose” of news this morning I came across the article “Fuel ‘surcharge’ a fare increase with a fancy name” on CNN.com.

It discusses the  raising of airfare because of the increase in gas prices due to the instability of the oil industry. As insignificant as gas prices are with the recent natural disasters in Japan, the article opened my eyes to the direct connection I have to what’s going on in the world so far away from me and my internship at a Public Relations agency in Los Angeles. As I look to the future when I move from intern to a full-time  LA Publicist I look forward to realizing the connections my clients have to the world and playing it to their strengths as well helping build a strategic plan for anytime they face a weakness.

Who knew a simple article about airplanes could get me to think about all this?

xx

Courtney

Respecting the Past and Looking to the Future

This past week I saw the TV show “Who Do You Think You Are?” for the first time. It’s a concept Lisa Kudrow came up with where each episode follows a celebrity on their personal journey of geneology work. They spend time learning about where they come from and who there ancestors are. In one episode Rosie O’ Donnell found out about distant living relatives in her family tree. She meet them and learned even more about her family history. From watching, the thing that surprises me the most is how much of the information can only be found in old written records.

Who Do You Think You Are? Season 2 Sneak Peak!

Working in public relations with all of the social media tools and online sources to build relationships, it is easy to forget where we came from as an industry. There was definitely a time when practitioners couldn’t rely on profile pages, blogs, or email to get the job done. The world today is constantly growing smaller as our ability to keep in touch gets increasingly more convenient. I am grateful to be working in PR today, with the constant reminder social media offers in regards to networking, staying connected and building relationships must take priority.

This show reminds me that while I look to the future of PR and where the industry is moving, it’s important to respect where it came from and how it got this far.

xxx

Courtney

Learning How to Live in Public Relations

I’m graduating in April with a degree in public relations, and as that graduation day creeps up my thoughts have turned to the realities of life. Right now the realities of my life are that I’m interning in Downtown Los Angeles at a pr firm. It was such a blessing to be taken in and get the chance to fulfil my dream of living in LA. I love public relations and this experience will help me thrive as I start my career in PR. Now, the realities of my life after graduation are a very different story. As I’ve started trying to figure out my future I remembered a speech Bill Gates gave titled 11 RULES YOUR KIDS DID NOT AND WILL NOT LEARN IN SCHOOL.  I wanted to share it because is serves as a constant reminder of the person I want to be and the work I need to put in to truly fulfill my potential as a publicist in LA or elsewhere. Reading through that article has motivatd me to look forward to the workload and time pr demands. If there’s one thing I’ve learned interning it’s…the work is never done. We are constantly doing a dozen different things to keep our clients happy.  As I’m searching for my first job out of college right now I’m grateful for the opportunity to intern in LA with Konnect PR, and look forward to what this experience can help me do with my future.

Whether you work in a pr agency or a store in the mall, I hope you Bill Gates is able to bring you insights just as he did to me.

xx Courtney

A mini-scoop on personal PR.

Yesterday one of our AEs got a phone call  from someone trying to sell advertising. He wasn’t trying to sell Konnect PR on advertising themselves, but after the call that’s the thought that crossed my mind.

After thinking about how pr agencies don’t use advertising I realized something else. They don’t really hire one another to do their pr, and I haven’t come across an agency that has actively taken themselves on as a client either. This had me a little confused becaues as a public relations firm in Los Angeles we’re good at branding and bringing awareness to our clients’ products and services. So why don’t we use  pr to build a name for ourselves?

I asked the girls in the office about it and one response discussed the competition between  public relations firms  to be more about awards among respected organizations and associations within the industry. I think working hard and doing a great job is important and it’s definitely nice to gain recognition for that work.

I still wonder….  if sometimes a little personal pr could do some good. 

xx Courtney

What Makes Something Tip?

Okay so today in my list of tasks I was trying to find appropriate people to be a spokeperson for one of our clients. In doing so it really got me thinking about the book “The Tipping Point” by Malcom Gladwell. If you haven’t read it you NEED to. Not just that, but also his other books “Blink” and “Outliers.” Anway, the book talks about what makes a person or a product the hot new “it” thing. What makes something tip and become irresistable and then again at some point tip back into the realm of things forgotten.

I thought about this because in my search I came across several celebrities names. Some that are in the spotlight like crazy right now, then others that have been forgotten as their careers have faded. It then got me thinking about how to tip our clients products and further more how to “tip” the PR firm. Possibly even how to just simply tip myself! I’m graduating in April and I’m going to need a job. If I can put some of the tip and tricks into practice while here at Konnect PR…. just maybe I can get myself the perfect first job.

Til then, I’m here and I’m loving it!

xx Courtney