Apply for the 2012 Trevett Award Now!

Each year, PRSA-LA recognizes one outstanding young professional in the chapter with the award named after Tom Trevett, APR, co-founder of the chapter’s Young Professionals Section–the first in the nation. The Trevett award recognizes outstanding young PR pros who have demonstrated excellence in their work, advocacy for the profession and a commitment toward community service.

In addition to coveted recognition of colleagues, the winner receives a trophy and monetary prize ($1,000) awarded at the PRSA-LA PRism awards banquet. Second place receives $500. Each recipient is strongly encouraged to use at least some of the winnings for professional development.

All young professionals in the greater Los Angeles area, who are employed full-time in public relations, have five years or less of professional experience and are members in good standing with PRSA-LA are eligible. If you are overqualified for the award, we ask that you encourage your eligible colleagues and associates to apply. Please note that the application does not require a nomination.

The deadline for all entries is Wednesday, October 19, 2012. We strongly encourage you to apply for this honor. Click here to download your application. Further details can be found online at http://www.prsala.org/Trevett-Award .

You’re Invited! Entertainment PR Panel

This event has been POSTPONED. Please check back for rescheduling information and other upcoming events.

You’re invited to the PRSA Young Professional’s first panel of the year on June 6, 2012! Learn the tricks of the PR entertainment trade while meeting numerous professionals in the industry. Hear first-hand from PR pros at:

• Sony Pictures
• Walt Disney Studios
• USA Network
• Cartoon Network
• Warner Bros. Pictures

The panel will be located at PMK*BNC agency at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood (8687 Melrose Avenue) from 7:30 to 9 pm.

Please RSVP to Karlos at karlosgaona@mac.com by June 5th 2012. Hope to see you there!

Tonight! December 14th, don’t miss the last mixer of the year!! Also new board positions are open!

Hello Everybody!

This has been a great year, tonight come join us as we are holding our final mixer of 2011. Come mingle, network, meet those in the PR, marketing and communications fields and enjoy some free appetizers with  the young professionals of PRSA-LA.

The cost to attend the mixer tonight is FREE for everyone!

As the 2011 year is coming to an end we will be having board positions for the 2012 LA Young Professionals Board opening up and would love to see anyone who is interested in joining and holding a position come and apply or learn more about it!

Where: Barney’s Beanery in Santa Monica (upstairs)

1351 3rd St. Promenade
Santa Monica, CA 90401

Time: 7:00 PM – 9:30 PM, Wednesday, December 14th 2011

Cost: FREE!

 

Don’t Miss the Entertainment and Sports Panel at Dodger Stadium Wednesday the 14th!

This will be a fantastic event not to be missed!

Come out this coming Wednesday to the great Dodger Stadium and join us at our Entertainment and Sports panel where you will gain valuable insight into the world of sports and entertainment public relations by our esteemed panel of speakers as well as network with Public Relations professionals and peers in the industry!

We have an amazing panel of speakers who will share their invaluable experiences and advice they’ve learned in their many years of professional entertainment and sports public relations and communications practices. Among the speakers there will be Josh Rawitch, Vice President of Communications at the Los Angeles Dodgers, Rita Tateel, President at the Celebrity Source, and Ana Martinez, Vice President of Media Relations at the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.

This is an educational event that is relevant to both entry and mid-level PR and communication practitioners, anybody interested in the entertainment or sports industry and those seeking to further their knowledge in PR, communications, sports or entertainment. We want to help you further your career and knowledge! Hope to see you there!

Date:

September 14th, 2011

Time:

7:00 – 9:00 pm

Location:

Dodger Stadium,

1000 Elysian Park Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90012

 

Cost: $10 for PRSA/PRSSA members and $20 for non-members/guests. (Please note new cost for non-members.)

Don’t Miss the PRSA LA Young Professionals Career Development Workshop!

Are you a recent college graduate or soon-to-be grad, on the hunt to start your career? Have you been considering a career change? Then this is the event for you! Join us for an evening of tips and how-to’s from recruiters, HR reps and talent seekers!

Workshop includes:

• Do’s and Don’t’s of the job search
• Proper interview etiquette
• Resume critiques

Date:

April 27, 2011

Time:

Networking begins at 6:30 p.m.

Workshop begins at 7:00 p.m.
Location:  Chandler Chicco Companies

1315 Lincoln Blvd, Suite 270

Santa Monica, CA 90401
Cost: $10 for PRSA/PRSSA members and $20 for non-members/guests. (Please note new cost for non-members.)

To RSVP and pay with cash or check at the door, please reply to this email.
We hope to see you there!  

Best,

Katherine Vander Ark, Katie Keilman and the Young Professionals Board of 2011

SAVE THE DATE! PRSA-LA YP’s March Mixer

WHAT:

Are you interested in a variety of public relations sectors but aren’t sure which one is right for you? Join us at the first event mixer of the year for a chance to network with multiple public relations professionals representing a wide range of areas!

PR fields represented include:

• Healthcare
• Entertainment
• Sports
• Corporate
• Multicultural
• Nonprofit
• Environmental
• Technology

Parking: There is valet directly in front of the restaurant on the right hand side of Culver (just past Irving Place). Or there are two parking garages on the left hand side of Culver. One of them is located on Cardiff Ave (stay in your left hand lane and turn left onto Cardiff and parking garage will be on the right hand side).

Cost: $10 for PRSA/PRSSA members and $20 for non-members/guests (cash or check will be taken at the door) 

To RSVP contact Katrina Keilman, PRSA LA YP Programming Co-Chair at katrinakeilman@gmail.com.

 

WHEN:

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Networking begins at 7:00 p.m.

 

WHERE:

 Rush Street – 9546 Washington Blvd. Culver City, CA 90232
*Food will be provided

The Best Practices for Public Affairs & Government Relations

Check out the recap of PRSA- Young Professional’s  first event of 2011

Speakers:
-Sara Costin, VP at Consensus Inc.
-Michelle Vega, VP at Edelman
-Eneida Talleda, VP at Hill & Knowlton
-Alfredo Lee, AE at VPE Public Relations

YP PRSA LA held our first meeting last week  at Hill & Knowlton. Our panelists have experience in government, non-profit and public affairs.

Government cuts has made for difficult times and interesting opportunities. Prior to the economy crashing and funding coming to a halt, the government had plenty of funding for public affairs projects and PR. Sara, who works on nation wide transportation and metro projects detailed how the former massive budgets for projects has been cut in half. Many clients still expect the same amount of work, if not double for half the pay.

Michelle explained that this is where the creative aspect of PR is key, to make projects just as effective as before. It also opens up new opportunities such as working on pension plans for government employees. Meghan made it clear that no matter the budget on a project, you must focus on the client’s bottom line. Her experience working in a government job then transitioning to a corporate position provided her with knowledge to connect with the community and engage the stakeholders.

Alfredo has a plethora of information about his experience with social media while working on campaigns in education, with government groups, even providing on call support for Prop 8. For each campaign, he discussed the need to have a strategy, ways to approach the public and engaging in dialogue.

After covering positives and negatives of working in public affairs and government relations in the last few years, the panelists shared some helpful information and advice. Michelle advised always staying on top of current affairs and what is going on locally, nationally and internationally- this will always help you position yourself with your audience. Sara believes that patience is key if you want to work in this field. Mostly importantly, love what you are doing- try different positions, new companies, and a variety of sectors until you find what best suites you because when you enjoy your work, you’ll always be more successful.

Quality Time with PR Minds

“It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

The thought of waking up at 6:30 a.m. on a Saturday to schlep myself over to Santa Monica would normally have been a nightmare for me, but October 2 was different.  This was my yearly opportunity to use my PR mind for good outside of the daily office setting.

Every year since 2004, PRSA-LA has put on its “Quality Time with PR Minds” event at which PR professionals come together to help non-profits tackle their communications challenges.  More than 200 non-profits have benefitted since this program started, and we helped 20 of them in 2010.  This year was also a particularly unique one for me, as I was able to participate in the event on both sides of the table—brainstorming as a PR professional during three sessions and attending one as a representative of my non-profit group, the Volunteers of the Burbank Animal Shelter.

The feeling you get, knowing you have put everything you’ve learned on-the-job and in the classroom to good use helping non-profits with their communications or organizational issues, is indescribable.  They are all unique organizations with important missions and enthusiastic staff, but they’re missing the PR expertise that only a professional like you can provide.

I encourage each of you young professionals to look into taking on a pro bono project every once in a while.  Whether it’s volunteering at next year’s Quality Time event, lending your website skills to another non-profit or writing a press release for a friend’s start-up company, you’ll get real-world PR experience, items to add to your resume and an incredible feeling of satisfaction.  It’s a win-win.

A special thanks to our very own VP Kristin Wood for taking the time to write about her experience at the PRSA Quality Time event.  I can attest to it being a great event, as I volunteered last year.  Please leave a comment or contact us for more information on Quality Time and the numerous volunteer opportunities available to you right here in the LA area.

Event Info: Focusing on Healthcare

Join us this Wednesday, September 15, for a PRSA-YP meeting where we will be discussing best practices in healthcare communications and public relations.  The panel discussion will highlight the diverse aspects of the healthcare industry featuring case studies and offering real-world examples of successful campaigns.
 
The highly experienced lineup of speakers includes: Arwen Rahn, Chandler Chicco Agency; Michael Nelson, Hill & Knowlton Healthcare Practice; and Nancy Caravetta, Rx Entertainment Inc.  Each speaker will share their thoughts on the crucial yet challenging role of healthcare communications and public relations practitioners and will provide insight into establishing a career within the field.
 
Arwen Rahn currently manages the public relations programs for Allergan’s obesity management medical device, the LAP-BAND® System at global healthcare PR firm, Chandler Chicco Agency.  Prior to joining CCA, Arwen worked for Fleishman-Hillard Life Sciences and provided public relations and investor relations counsel to a number of biotechnology and specialty pharmaceutical companies.
 
Mike Nelson, senior Vice President of Hill & Knowlton’s healthcare practice, has advised pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device companies, in both agency and client-side roles. His experience spans all aspects of product and franchise communications, including news media outreach, patient advocacy relations, public policy, and internal communications. At Hill & Knowlton, Mike currently leads client engagements in oncology, pulmonary disease and blood supply safety.
 
Nancy Caravetta, President of Rx Entertainment, leverages the power of celebrity to drive public awareness through facilitating partnerships between well-known celebrities and healthcare products and services.  Nancy’s prior experience includes managing financial management functions and corporate image-building activities as President and Founding Partner of boutique global healthcare PR firm, CPR.
 
Please see meeting details below.  We look forward to seeing you there!
 
Location
1315 Lincoln Blvd., Suite 270
Santa Monica, CA 90401

Parking
-Free parking is available is the parking structure directly under the building
-Head north on Lincoln Blvd. and make a right at Arizona
-Make an immediate right into the alley, and then the first right once you are in the alley into the underground parking garage

Agenda
6:30- 7 p.m. – Networking
7-7:50 p.m. – Program
Arwen Rahn – Chandler Chicco Agency
Nancy Caravetta – Rx Entertainment, Inc.
Michael Nelson, Hill & Knowlton Healthcare practice
7:50-8 p.m. – Q&A

Cost: $10 for PRSA/PRSSA members and $20 for non-members/guests. (Please note new cost for non-members.)

Event Recap: Diving into Digital

Last week, the next generation of local PR practitioners gathered at Edelman for PRSA-LA YP’s third panel discussion of the year, which focused on the timely and topical issue of digital.  Speakers Siobhan O’Neill of our host agency and Heather McConnell of Hill & Knowlton discussed the various digital tools available to PR professionals today and made recommendations on how we, the young professional demographic, can leverage them not only to be the best advocates possible for our clients but also to advance our careers.

Appropriately, @angelcityblues began her introduction by asking us all to smile as she took a Twitpic before giving us a brief background on how she got into the PR field–specifically as a result of having no previous experience in PR.  She is currently an account supervisor in the digital practice at Edelman.

@HMcConnell introduced herself with a story of working at network giant Cisco Systems convincing executives that this “blogging thing” may catch on and they should look into it.  From her experience there, she nailed down an account supervisor position at Hill & Knowlton, handling digital.

Both speakers covered a broad range of topics and emphasized a number of best practices for social media and integration of digital tools into PR plans.

Some takeaways:

• Clients will not always cooperate, and while you may be the expert, they are ultimately paying the bills, so you may need to travel a path you don’t necessarily agree with.  Give them a baseline of what they want…and then start preparing what will work.
• The people who bubble up to the top in social media are really good at talking about…themselves.  In PR this game is about being effective and strategic–not about mindlessly loading up on followers.
• PR is poised to own the social media space in a few years, but for now, it’s a shared endeavor with other entities.  Play nice, but have the mindset that you are a leader.
• Assume that everything you do online is public.  Everything!
• Facebook and Twitter still reach two different audiences.  Most Tweeters are on Facebook, but the reverse is not true.  At all.
• You don’t control your message with social media.  The public does.  Don’t try to bring the people to you.  Go to where they are.
• If you represent a brand, make friends with bloggers and folks via social media.  If they like you, they will defend your brand.
• At the end of the day, what people are really looking for is for companies to be human.  They want people to be real with them.  Authenticity goes a long way.

These are just a few of the takeaways from the discussion last Wednesday night.  For more info on the event, log into Twitter, follow @LAPR and search the #prsaypevent hash tag for all the live tweets.

How are we doing?  This blog and the @LAPR Twitter feed are available as resources for you.  What can we do to make the experience better?  Please leave comments, tweet us or hit my personal page with a DM.  We love feedback!