Last night I was privileged to hear, Heather Whaling,
(@prtini) speak at our Ohio State PRSSA meeting. Whaling spoke about how she was able to start
her business, Geben, and share some advice about the PR industry. Whaling is
one of the most passionate and confident PR pros that I’ve ever heard
speak. She gave some of the best advice
on business startup and PR that every communication student should hear before
stepping into the professional world.
Some key parts of her speech stuck with me were:
- “When someone says I can’t do something I say, yes I can.”
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Her boss basically told her that social media
was not important to the client and she disagreed. That was the start of launching
her own company.
- For Geben she made a PR plan not a business plan.
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Always remember that the PR plan is one of the
most crucial components of a company’s success.
- What you need to work for start-up firm or small boutique firms
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A desire to build something
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Innovate best practices
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Disrupt the status quo
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Bring on the crazy- Always be able to change
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Excel in a social world
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Be competitive and collaborative
- “Make a company that people want to work for and people want to work with.”
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This was her goal for Geben. She has created better relationships with her
clients and her employees because of it.
Happy employees are efficient employees.
- “Being able to know when to say no is sometimes the best business decision.”
o
This is great advice for choosing clients but
also great advice for graduates heading out into the professional world. Every company doesn’t fit every person or
client. Choose wisely to ensure
success.
I decided to share this event with my followers and tweet
important parts of her presentation live. Though, I believe that tweeting an
event is a great technological advancement there are also some aspects to
consider whether or not you should tweet and event. I will go through a few of these aspects
here.
- How do you tweet?
Do you prefer tweeting on your laptop or your phone? I believe that this is a personal
preference. Due to the fact that the PRSSA
meeting was in a classroom I had the ability to have my laptop out and tweet
that way. If I was at a concert or
sporting event live tweeting using a laptop is not feasible. I think that it is easier and quicker to
tweet on my laptop then on my phone. I’m
also able to follow the hashtags more easily on my laptop then on the phone. There
are negatives to using a laptop to tweet. A laptop can by noisy when you are typing
on the keyboard. If the event is smaller
and more personal it might be awkward to be tweeting while the person is
speaking. Many times during the meeting I
would try to type quieter because I felt as if I was being rude. Considering the venue and the amount of
people at the event should be considered prior to tweeting an event so you know
which tool to use.
- Is tweeting while a person is speaking considered rude?
Sure, I could argue that I was paying more attention and
retained more of Whaling’s speech than some of the other members because I was
tweeting during the event but what did Whaling think? If I was speaking and looked out to the
audience and everyone was looking down at their computers or phones instead of
me, how would I feel? While, I tried to
make eye contact with Whaling and look up from the screen as much as I could I’m
sure there were times when she looked out and just saw me looking at the
computer. Of course I know that I was
paying attention (and now so do all of my followers) but I think that live
tweeting takes away some of the professionalism of the audience that should
come with going to a speech. The size of
the audience is a big factor for this point.
If it’s a small group then it might seem rude to the speaker because they
are looking to make a relationship with the group. If it’s a big concert or event then the
person might not even know what the audience is doing. Overall, I think that there is a way to tweet
without being rude. Even if you are
tweeting at an event you should still try to stay involved with what is
happening in real life, not just the virtual world.
- Would your followers gain from your tweets about this event?
Twitter is a great way to communicate with the world. If you hear something at an event that can
help or be of interest to your followers I think you should tweet it
immediatley. Key concepts from Whaling were
posted on my personal twitter, other member accounts and @OhioStatePRSSA. This
gave members and followers who were unable to attend the meeting the ability to
hear some of what Whaling shared. I had
a friend that wanted to hear Whaling but needed to study for a midterm the next
day. She said that the tweets were
helpful because she could still take away some advice from the meeting even
though she wasn’t there. If I had missed
Whaling’s speech I would have been happy that I could still hear parts of what
she said. Twitter is a great way to
share quality advice and information with followers.
If you ever get the chance to hear Whaling speak I would
recommend it. You will walk away
thinking about making professional decisions and living your life in a
completely different way. Until then
keep watching twitter for great advice from @prtini as well as other students
and professionals that might be tweeting great information and advice. I believe the answer to the question “To
Tweet, or Not to Tweet, That is the Question” is always tweet!
