By Samantha Ross
Nikki Barjon owns her own company called The Barjon Group located in Atlanta, Georgia. Some of the company’s services include public relations, creative and relationship marketing, communication, advertising and much more. Some of Nikki’s clients include T.I, Nike, Puma as well as many other celebrities and athletes. About 98% of her clients are referred to her by others. Nikki used game plans for sports such as football and referenced this terminology towards life and success. The first game plan she talks about is knowing your role. Nikki’s role is being the coach. As the coach, you are the strategist, the problem solver and a miracle worker. “I can never afford to just think about one side.” You always have to think about which way do we go, why do we go this way, and what happens if we go this way. Nikki gave a lot of great advice! Of the advice she gave, one of the tips was to know who you’re playing for. This is where you do research on the company. Find out what they do and really understand it. Go somewhere that aligns with who you want to be. Know your competition. Everyone is going to try and outdo everyone they work with. Know what they do well. Know what they don’t do well. Excel in what they don’t do well in and take chances that others won’t. Nikki talked about points that are vital to your success, and some of those are based on your experience that works, guide your moves, and makes sure that you have a plan. All of these points were part of the playbook. One thing that really stuck with me is how she kept saying how anyone going into sports PR should know that it is high stakes, fast paced and intense. You need to stand out from your competition.You need to show that you were made for this, and you’re not going to back down. Nikki has had a lot of experience working with well known celebrities. You could tell that she’s very passionate about her career, and she’s open to talking to anyone about how you can be as successful as her. Nikki can be reached at [email protected].
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By Latisha Ellison Instead of spending Father’s Day with his daughter, Bill Conner spent the day with the 21-year-old man who received Abbey’s heart; Abbey was an organ donor. When she passed away suddenly in January, her organs, eyes and tissue were used to save the lives of four men ages 20-60. To honor his daughter, Bill biked from his home in Milwaukee, WI to Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. and made a stop in Baton Rouge, LA to meet the man who received his daughter’s heart. The Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency (LOPA) spent weeks planning the meeting, securing media coverage and ensuring the meeting went off without a hitch. The result? A viral video showcasing the benefits of organ donation and a father reunited with his daughter. The LOPA team was at PRSSA 2017 National Conference and shared their success with us during their breakout session. A few key takeaways to be applied to any nonprofit experience: Know your brand and tell its story LOPA is responsible for organizing and advocating for organ and tissue donation, and one of the most important parts of its job is educating the public and debunking organ donation myths. Knowing your brand and its mission is crucial to storytelling and gaining that brand recognition.This meeting allowed LOPA to tell the story of how one young woman was able to save four lives through organ donation. Be flexible Flexibility is a good quality to have regardless of your profession or industry, but utilizing it in nonprofit is imperative. Most likely, you are the only communications person at your nonprofit, so you are wearing many hats. The LOPA team had three main women working on this project, so it was up to them to adjust when things didn’t go as planned. Bill called one of the women the morning of the meeting to tell her that he would be there much sooner than expected. The team had to get to the meeting spot, call the media and other important people to try to get them there hours before they were originally expected to be there. You never know when something will go wrong or not go as planned, so you have to be ready to change the course of action when called upon. Build relationships PR is all about relationship building no matter what your industry is. For this project, one LOPA team member reached out to a friend who is in the medical field to borrow her stethoscope, so Bill could hear his daughter’s heart. That same friend also loaned them a Doppler which allows everyone to hear the heartbeat, as well as a recorder so the heartbeat could be recorded and given to Bill to always have with him. This relationship allowed a special moment to last forever and created a visual that would be shared around the world. Thank you to the LOPA team for sharing an incredible story and insights that can be applied across the board. By Sarah Heber Saucony’s Vice President of Public Relations, Sharon Barbano, spoke with conference attendees about how to find their own strength within the field of PR. Thus, accurately naming her session #IFindYourPRStrong. Saucony is a brand of athletic wear and is mainly recognized among runners for its quality for distance racing shoes. Barbano shared seven principles to live by to find your own “PR Strong.”
Barbano ended her session with one quote that will stick with me for a long time: “Before you have anything else in PR, you have to have yourself.” By Holly Disch As a senior in the PR sequence, I have been struggling to know exactly what I want to do in public relations, and decide if public relations is truly my calling. What I do know is I want creativity and I want my mind to be challenged no matter which career path I end up in after graduation. Going to PRSSA National Conference in Boston sounded like a great idea to see different field opportunities, and maybe find a place for myself in PR. When I saw the session titled Beyond the PR stunt: Creativity in PR job you didn’t know existed, I was immediately interested. As much as I love the idea of PR and storytelling, it seems the same newsletters, press releases, and social media content are being created daily, just with different brands. So I needed to know how to find those creative jobs that will not stick me in a rut. In this session, there was not a specific creative job lists, or ways to get into creative areas of PR, but rather painted the bigger picture of creative jobs that exist. These bigger picture ideas included:
Although this idea is picturesque, I didn’t get an idea of where I can truly find creative jobs in PR without being a design, art, or creative person. He made it clear, PR is everywhere, but I was kind of left unsure of where to find these creative jobs he flaunted in the title. After some short anecdotes, he ended up giving us a useful formula to finding a place in a PR career that we will love. This formula was to know a subject, have a skillset and to know your audience. The underlying principles of PR hold true regardless of subject or audience. Creativity will come naturally when you are doing PR for something you are either passionate about, or have a strong knowledge about. This is where I, and a lot of people, struggle to know where to begin. Expertise starts with your own interests, and this will help anyone find a PR job they love, and hopefully allow you to be fully open and creative to telling that brand’s story! Overall, this session clarified that PR is everywhere, and I need to understand my interests to find a PR job I love. Although, I wish it was more about different creative jobs within PR, these tips helped further ignite my interest in the public relations field. By Natalie Meek Laura Vellidis hasn’t always known that she wanted to go into PR. She knew she loved to talk, and had a passion for communicating with people; PR found her at the right time, in the right place. In this PRSSA National Conference session, Vellidis talked about her experience as a starting professional in the Public Relations field. On the day of her college graduation, she received a job offer form Nebo, a full service marketing company in Atlanta. After spending two years with the company, she established 4 main expectations that aspiring professionals should know when coming into their first job. Expectation 1: You have a lot to learn. As a new professional, there’s a lot you don’t know and a lot to learn. However, a lot of what you learn is by doing things through the real world. During your first few years you will see experience in motion. You will be working with people who have a history of PR experience, which means they have their experience with successes and failures. You are fresh off the boat. In reality, time is what makes you a good PR professional so take the first year to figure out what you do and don’t like. Expectation 2: PR is constantly changing. The field of public relations is ever-changing. The way that we consume news media and speak to each other has changed. This means that what you think is news may not actually turn out to be news. Vice versa, be aware of what is happening in the social world. Creativity is key; do something that differentiates you from other people. Expectation 3: Never stop learning. You have to understand that PR isn’t the only thing going on in the world. This seems trivial, but it’s important. Take the time to learn about other industries. Even more than that, always learn about new programs or projects happening in your office. Ask questions, push yourself and leadership will notice if you are taking interest in extra things. Expectation 4: Stay versatile. Public Relations comes in all shapes and sizes. From corporate to agency to sports to celebrity relations, there are endless possibilities. Don’t discount any realm of PR just because you’ve never experienced it. That being said, don’t get stuck in what you’re doing. Figure out where you thrive. |
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