Friday, December 12, 2008

Congratulations to Rachel Sprung, Mary Kate Joyce & Nahila Campos

Last night BU PRSSA hosted our Holiday Party at Z Square. We would like to thank all of you who came out to celebrate the end of the semester!! We would also like to congratulate Rachel Sprung, our new treasurer; Mary Kate Joyce, PRSA Liaison; and Nahila Campos, Social Chair! We are excited to start planning for our spring semester!!

For all of you that are leaving BU for the semester to study abroad have an AMAZING trip and enjoy every moment... keep up with BU PRSSA through our blog! We would love to know about all your amazing adventures!

From BU PRSSA good luck with finals and enjoy the holidays!!

Sunday, December 7, 2008

E-Board Elections: Thursday, December 11th @ 5 p.m. in Z-Square

Just a quick reminder on the upcoming election, Thursday, December 11th at 5 p.m. It will be held during our holiday party at Z Square. Elections for the following positions are open: Treasurer and PRSA Liaison. Descriptions of both positions are below. I encourage you all to consider running, there is no limit to experience or years in PRSSA! Both positions will provide you with great experience within PRSSA planning weekly meetings, future events and networking with speakers and professionals.

To Apply: Send your name, email, grad year and a 2 minute informal speech on why you want this position, your qualifications and what you plan for the spring semester.

Treasurer - gather membership dues from Spring semester members- prepare short presentation for member dues collection - review budget- be sure all financial transactions are appropriate- work closely with SAO and the AB office- attend all weekly e-board meetings

PRSA Liaison - contact PRSA for upcoming events- research events in Boston and other cities for possible conferences- attend at least 2 PRSA events over the semester- Work closely with PR:Advanced Coordinator for the Conference- research networking opportunities for the Chapter - attend all weekly e-board meetings

Please send your information to buprssa@gmail.com by Tuesday, December 9th @ 9 p.m. We look forward for two of our members to join the e-board! Also, we look forward to seeing you all at the PRSSA Holiday party at Z-Square, food and drinks will be paid for by BU PRSSA and there will be a raffle with some great gifts!! Hope you can all come by!!

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Plurk?!

Mike Volpe, VP of Marketing for HobSpot, on the value of and possible future of PR:


Mike Volpe, VP Marketing HubSpot - Value of PR Firms from Bob Collins on Vimeo.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008


Spring Internship Opportunity: Interestd in Financial Communications and Strategic Consulting...



Who is FD?

FD is the world's leading business communications consultancies. FD works with a range of clients from the world’s largest multi-national corporations to emerging leaders in high-growth sectors. FD combines a broad international footprint, a deep knowledge of key business sectors and an integrated corporate communications, investor relations, public affairs and business consulting offer that is unique in the industry. FD has offices in Boston, London, New York, Bahrain, Beijing, Cape Town, Chicago, Dubai, Dublin, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, Manchester, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Stockholm and Washington. Named PRWeek’s International Consultancy of the Year for 2006, FD is a division of FTI Consulting, Inc.


Internship –

FD’s internship program exposes students to a variety of facets of communications consulting. Sample activities include online research, media tracking and list creation, coverage reports, peer research analysis and other assignments. FD interns have the opportunity to work closely with every level staff member, from account executives to senior staff.

Requirements Include:
Undergraduate junior or senior
Strong work ethic and a willingness to learn
Thorough researching skills
Internet-savvy
An ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously
Clear, careful writer and proofreader
PC proficient, including Word, Power Point and Excel
Prior experience with Factiva, Cision MeidaMap and/or ThomsonOne is a plus

Please send a cover letter and résumé to Bob Joyce at bob.joyce@fd.com.

Monday, December 1, 2008

PRSA Boston & Publicity Club of New EnglandAnnual Holiday Bash!Monday, December 8, 2008
Join PRSA and Pub Club Peers For a Fun, Relaxing Evening at Our Yearly Joint Holiday Get-Together and End-of-Year Celebration! Mingle, network and catch up with old friends as we toast the season and nosh on eclectic appetizers at M.J. O'Connors Irish Pub in the heart of Park Square in Boston's Back Bay.

WHEN
Monday, 8 December, 2008 6:00 - 8:30 p.m.

WHERE
M.J. O'Connors Irish Pub
(Next to the Boston Park Plaza Hotel)
27 Columbus Avenue
Boston, MA 02116617-482-2255
http://www.mjoconnorsboston.com

FEE
$10 for Students!!!!

RSVP
Friday, 5 December, 2008

Visit http://www.prsaboston.org/prodevcalendardetail.asp?ID=10 to sign up

GET THE JOB!!!



CNN.com
By John Smith
CareerBuilder.com senior v.p. of enterprise sales


After several long months of unsuccessfully posting his résumé and applying to jobs online, Alex Ballin, 24, decided to take his job search into his own hands.
The 2008 graduate from Radford University planted himself at a busy intersection in downtown Roanoke, Virginia, sporting a white sign that read, "Talented B.A. Needs Career" along with his business suit.
He wanted to get employers' attention and it wasn't happening from simply submitting applications online. One employer thought Ballin's efforts showed drive and ambition and tossed a business card out of his car to Ballin. He got an interview a week later.
While Ballin's tactic was a more extreme -- and literal -- way to grab an employer's attention, with such uncertainty surrounding the economy, these intense and creative approaches are a must for today's job seeker.
"In today's competitive job market, freelancers and applicants need as much leverage as they can muster to land their next gig," says Cindy Caldwell, a creative recruiter with Randstad Creative, a specialty division of Randstad Work Solutions.
"The résumé needs to stand out above all the rest, without being unprofessional. The samples need to be presented in such a way that is easily accessible to the employer -- waiting around for a slow Web page to load or using a MySpace page as the portfolio site is not going to make the cut."
iReport.com: How are you making yourself attractive to employers?
When Linda Jay Geldens, a freelance copyeditor, went to a computer conference and received the internal newsletter for Apple, she saw that it was "riddled with errors."
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"I wanted to be the freelance copyeditor of the Apple Computer internal newsletter," she says. "I circled all the mistakes in red pen, made an appointment with the newsletter's editor, walked into his office, threw the newsletter on his desk and said with a smile, 'You need me!' He hired me instantly."
Do you want to be hired instantly, too? Here are some standard and creative tactics that will say, "Hire me!" to employers during your next job search.
Throughout the job search
• Apply at companies that aren't seeking candidates. "Read the business pages to find out what businesses are growing," says Laura George, author of "Excuse Me, Your Job is Waiting."
"Send such companies a résumé and a letter explaining what you can bring to the organization. If they have a need and see talent, you may be saving them the time and trouble involved in a talent search."
• Pick up the phone. "What gets my attention is a phone call and real live voice. Most communication is done via e-mail and you don't get the total picture of a person without that verbal communication," says Barbara Zaccone, president of BZA LLC, a strategic design company. "A perfect example would be a follow-up phone call after the interview. No one ever does that. And I mean no one."
On your résumé
• It's never one-size-fits-all. "Don't try to sell what you are selling; sell what the employer is buying. Make sure your résumé fits the position and the organization where you are seeking employment," George says. "Hiring managers look at skill set, education, experience and where you got that experience. They want to make sure you are going to be able to do the job and fit into the corporate culture."
• Make it easy on the eyes. "Envision a hiring manager looking at a résumé like a driver going by a billboard. Try to make it absorbable at high speeds," says Gwen Martin, managing partner of NumberWorks, a Minneapolis, Minnesota-based staffing firm. "Use bullet points and leave white space so it's easy on the eyes to read. Give the bird's eye view -- you can give the story behind the résumé in the interview."
Wendy Enelow, author, trainer and career consultant, strongly suggests using a typestyle other than Times New Roman. Stay conservative and use fonts like Georgia, Tahoma, Bookman or Verdana.
• Include success stories. Write down several career achievements of which you are most proud, suggests Joanne Meehl, author of "The Résumé Queen's Job Search Thesaurus and Career Guide."
"Choose one or two of these career success stories to go on the résumé, in very brief form, near the top of page one," she says. "These examples of what the candidate has done and can do, grab the employer's attention."
• Analyze keywords. Analyze several job postings in the field for which you are looking for a job, says Cheryl Palmer, certified executive career coach and résumé writer. "Develop a list of keywords from those postings that you incorporate into the résumé under a subheading entitled 'core competencies.'
Employers search their database of résumés by keyword, so having these terms on your résumé increases your chances of your résumé being selected for further review."
In the cover letter
• Lose the "To Whom It May Concern." That went the way of the 20th century, says Lynda McDaniel, a business writing coach. "Try to get the person's name. If not, simply say 'Greetings' or 'Hello.'"
• Forget the "This letter is in regards to your ad..." "People reading these letters are already bored with the reams of pabulum they have to read. Do you really want to make them comatose?" McDaniel asks.
• Show, don't tell. "Share a good story about what you've accomplished. Stories show why you're the best candidate. They also show you've got a head on your shoulders," McDaniel says.
During the interview
• Identify why you are a good fit. "Often people peruse a job for no other reason than it is available," says Danielle Weinstock, author of "Can This Elephant Curtsy on Cue? Life Lessons Learned On A Film Set For Women In Business." "Until you can determine why you and the company are a good match, you can't sell yourself."
• Keep your responses job-related. Many job seekers start off the interview on the wrong note when they respond to the statement, "Tell me about yourself," Palmer says. "Job seekers give a personal response instead of a professional response.
Your response will say, 'Hire me,' if you tailor your responses to the position you are applying for. Review that job announcement the night before the interview and write out some bullet points for yourself to speak to the employer's needs."
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PubClub Special Event!!!

SPECIAL EVENT - Think Globally. Act Locally.

Corporate Social Responsibility in Public RelationsWith special guest Professor Gustavo A Yepes López of the Universidad Externado de Colombia (Bogota, Colombia) and special American commentators Sean Greenwood, grand poobah of PR for Ben & Jerry's, Bradley Googins, director, The Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College and Eduardo Crespo, president, Hispanic Market Solutions. The practice of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is subject to much debate and criticism. Proponents argue that there is a strong business case for CSR, in that corporations benefit in multiple ways by operating with a broader, more enduring vision than their own immediate, short-term profits. Critics argue that CSR distracts from the fundamental economic role of businesses; others argue that it is nothing more than superficial window-dressing; still others contend it is an attempt to preempt the role of governments as a watchdog over powerful multinational corporations. The Publicity Club of England is very proud to welcome special guest Professor Gustavo A Yepes López of Bogota, Colombia to discuss his study of 1,008 Latin American organizations and their social responsibility practices. He will bring a global view of CSR at work, while our commentators offer advice on bringing Prof. Lopez’s findings home to the United States. The event will be led by Dr. Robert Brown of Salem State College and Harvard Extension School. Professor Lopez presented his findings at a special global public relations symposium in Scotland in the Spring 2008. His is a nationally known speaker bringing his knowledge to the New England public relations community.

Monday, December 1, 20086 pm
Dinner6:30-9 pm
Presentation and panel discussion John Hancock Hotel & Conference Center40 Trinity Place, Boston, MA

Cost
$65 non members
$40 members
$25 studentsFree for student membersRegister for SPECIAL EVENT - Think Globally.

Act Locally at www.pubclub.org

Internship Opportunity!!!

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund
Spring 2009 Practice Communications Internship

Overview: This position will assist the practice communications manager and other members of the communications department in supporting communications activities for specific practice areas within the Institute, including the Joint Program in Transfusion Medicine, Hematologic Oncology, and other organizational priority areas. The intern will learn about day-to-day tasks through specific projects and works assignments that will help to increase program awareness and grow clinical patient volume.

Specific duties include:
Research best practices and identify successful communications initiatives for other blood donor centers (regionally and nationally)
Investigate/analyze marketplace offerings
Assist with writing, editing, and project management of practice area newsletters and other program materials
Develop fact sheets for practice areas
Assist with development of sponsor/donor/patient profiles
Attend news and recruiting team meetings
Provide general and administrative support as needed
Skills and attributes required:
Proficiency with Microsoft Word, Windows, and Internet Explorer
General computer literacy and ability to learn new programs
Solid written and oral communication skills
Ability to interact well with a variety of people, including blood/platelet donors and recruiting teams, patients and families, communications colleagues, and staff, including doctors and nurses
Sensitivity to a health care environment and the needs of cancer patients and families
Enthusiasm for the cancer cause
Ability to self-start, work independently, and manage multiple deadlines
Detail-oriented

Skills preferred:
Writing experience – please provide writing samples
Schedule:
20 hours a week (minimum)/ TBD within a 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. time frame/
13 week commitment
Credit: All Dana-Farber Communications Department internships are available for college credit. Unpaid internships (non-credit) are also available.

Contact:
Please list the internship name in the subject line of the e-mail, and forward cover letter, any writing samples to: Student_Internships@dfci.harvard.edu.

About Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s Communications Department
As one of the largest hospital communications department in the area, our 40-plus member group is unique in its ability to fulfill many of the functions of a full-service communications agency in house. With numerous awards for our work from the New England Society for Healthcare Communications, Publicity Club of New England, and Women in Communications, our goal is to use our combined expertise to support Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s fight against cancer by:
building awareness of DFCI’s mission and successes among national and international audiences supporting the Institute’s fundraising efforts
helping employees work more effectively
enhancing communication with patients and families
and providing marketing and communications services for the Dana-Farber/Brigham & Women’s Cancer Center and Dana-Farber/Children’s Hospital Cancer Care