By Meghan Caprez
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PRSSA National Conference is an amazing opportunity to explore the different industries you can be part of as a public relations professional. A lot of people tend to be unsure where they want to end up after graduation, but I’ve known since I decided on public relations as my undergraduate major that I wanted to work in the entertainment industry. Thankfully, I was able to attend a session entitled, “Y’allywood: The Hollywood of the South” at National Conference, where two incredible professionals offered advice about preparing for a career in entertainment PR.
 
Nikki Barjon of The Barjon Group and Nicole Garner Scott of The Garner Circle LLC made it clear that working in the entertainment industry is tough, and they offered the following three tips to break into the career of your dreams.
 
1. Intern
While your formal education is important, Garner said an internship is the best way to train for your career. The more internship experience you have in the industry you’re looking to enter, the bigger the leg up you’ll have when you get to the “real world.”
 
Don’t be afraid to go for the big internships, either. If you want to work at Disney, intern at Disney or at a company that does something similar to it.
 
2. Take the Right Courses
It can sometimes be difficult to deviate from your program’s roadmap, but use your elective credits to your benefit. Want to work in the fashion industry? Take some classes in Kent State’s fashion program, ranked fourth in the nation. Want to work in performing arts PR? Take a theatre management class. Set yourself up for success by laying your foundation of knowledge in the industry you’re most interested in.
 
3. Network
Networking is critical to our success in public relations. We hear this all the time, but what does it really mean? Networking means building give-and-take relationships, and Barjon reminds students that it is important to give.
 
Barjon said a good example of a student wanting to network will say, “I know Martin Luther King III is your client, and Martin Luther King Day is coming up. Can I volunteer at any events to learn more and see what you do?” That way, they are helping her at an event as well as making connections with her and her team.
 
In entertainment, it is easy for egos to get in the way of learning and growing. So when you’re approaching professionals in the industry – whether it’s at an internship, in the classroom or while you’re networking – take everything you think you know more than other people, and throw it out.
 
“Empty yourself like a cup full of water,” Barjon said. “If there’s so much of you in the cup, it will overflow.”
 
To see the full presentation of “Y’allywood: The Hollywood of the South,” visit http://prssa.prsa.org/events/Conference/Program/2015Presentations/GarnerPresentation.pdf. 

By Jessica Barone
 
At PRSSA National Conference this year, I learned about crisis management with the help of Roger Frizzell, chief communications officer for Carnival Corporation, and Mike Flanagan, partner at the LDWW group.

They discussed how to handle a crisis before (which can be difficult), during, and after the crisis.
“It’s how you manage the issues along the way,” Frizzell said.

You may not know when a crisis is coming; however, you can get yourself prepared for tomorrow’s crisis. It’s all about the relationships you make with the media before a crisis happens that can either help you or hurt you.

It is important to handle the reputation of the company after the crisis. You need to pick someone to take credit for the change: a change maker. This is critical in post-crisis management. You need to have a “pillow of good news,” or positive media coverage, so that in the instant something bad happens, it will help soften the blow.

You need to change the conversation with the media, enlist third parties because their voices are more meaningful and measure everything because you can never let research fall behind in importance.

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​Top 10 post-crisis steps:

1. Be open and responsive to media
2. Steal good ideas from others
3. Take risks
4. Thank others regularly
5. Put in calendar
6. Report updates regularly
7. Be at the table
8. Understand defying moments
9. Leverage new tools
10. Leverage agency to partner

 
Public relations can really impact a brand if done correctly. When Carnival had an incident where one of its ship’s engines caught on fire, for example, it hurt its brand and reputation. It was known as “the poop cruise,” but Carnival came up with a game plan to regain its publics’ trust.

Game plan:

1. It wasn’t about talking, but showing.
2. Use corporate story.
3. A great CEO is leverage.
4. CNN had killed Carnival in coverage; therefore, they became a focus to help gain the public’s trust back.

In this industry it is important to take crisis management seriously. Preparation and research is key in helping a company or brand recover from a crisis. The job is never done after a crisis.
“In this business we are always dancing,” Flanagan said.