September 2009
2 posts
You know you're in a PR agency when...
the new token ”ethnic” colleague is rotated out every 6 months.
The secret to a successful public relations career
Follow these fool-proof steps and you’ll be skyrocketing to agency superstardom in no time:
1. Speak loudly and obnoxiously. When people can’t possibly ignore you, they can’t pretend that you don’t exist. ;)
2. Rinse and repeat. Pretend you know what you’re doing by repeating what others are saying to you. You’ll come off as super intelligent because you think...
July 2009
9 posts
You know you're in a PR agency when...
e-mail correspondences are full of passive aggressive smiley faces, exclamation points and the thinly veiled, “make sense?”
You know you're in a PR agency when...
everyone around you says “you know” and “obviously” at the beginning of every sentence.
Welcome to the Suck
Today, I’ll examine the intricately crafted “welcome to the team” e-mail. Nothing spells insincerity and pretension more than this single e-mail officially welcoming a new teammate into the fold. Now, there are three types of welcome e-mails:
1) The e-mail that is full of crap because everyone knows the wrong person was hired, or the wrong intern was promoted. This happens when...
You know you’re in a PR agency when…
Disgruntled employees are furiously drafting blog entries in e-mail to give off the impression that they are being productive team members and working.
Lingo, Dingo, Bingo!
If your goal is to make a good impression on the less-than-enthused PR professionals you will either interview or work with, you’ll need to whip out the PR dictionary titled, PR Bible of Stupid Lingo that Should be Banished to the Depths of Hell (PRBSLSBDH). There is this insatiable appetite among PR execs to be above the curve with all sorts of new lingo, sayings and expressions. What drives this...
You know you're in a PR agency when...
The occasional dog that visits the office is showered with more praise than you could ever dream of receiving for simply knowing how to sit and lie down.
"Only a Sith deals in absolutes"
One of the more memorable moments from “Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith” is when Obi-Wan Kenobi confronts the burgeoning Darth Vader and says of the young padawon’s demands that “only a Sith deals in absolutes.”
Oh contraire, Obi-Wan, I dare you to consider the PR professional.
Despite this core belief that the work PR pros do isn’t brain surgery,...
You know you're in a PR agency when...
People can’t stop talking about how twitter will revolutionize key message penetration (just like Facebook, MySpace and Youtube before it).
On being flexible
Just as ROI is a phrase that is used in PR for the express purpose of dodging a bullet, “flexible” is often used to silence opposition, rational disagreement and/or discussion. The person who uses - no, abuses - this phrase typically fits a certain profile:
Intolerant
Susceptible to brown nosing
Totalitarian
Elitist
Not as wise as he thinks he is
Middle manager
Underling: Hey, I...
ROI (Return on Investment)
The most unlikely place you would think to hear the phrase “ROI” would be a PR agency. But if you’re a seasoned PR pro, you understand the power of wielding this phrase, in front of clients, budget conscious senior management and fresh-faced underlings.
What is ROI? It’s what you say when you haven’t done your budget research, want to come off as analytical or sound...
June 2009
4 posts
1 tag
You know you're in a PR agency when...
You walk past a colleague in a hallway and she pretends you’re not there. She might even give you a dirty look if you’re lucky.
