#pr internship

[thecommsjsu]

Wise Public Relations is a full-service marketing communications agency that works with clients in the cannabis and tech industries. With offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and in New York, we have a network of senior-level forward thinkers, idea generators and marketing strategists that become an extension of our client’s marketing communications team. Wise Public Relations is currently seeking an Intern for our San Francisco office who is interested in learning all aspects of the public relations/social media marketing field.  The role will offer an exciting opportunity to truly be hands-on in account work, a learning experience truly different from what other places will offer.

Contact John McCartney at [phone] or at [email protected] if you are interested.

[pnintern]

A Day in the Life of a PN Intern (as told by Emma Stone)

All my life I never identified myself as a ginger. However, most of my peers and I am sure many of you would classify me as one. Because Emma Stone is hilarious (and a fellow ginger) I thought there would be no better way to illustrate the life of a Porter Novelli intern (aka me) than by using her humor to take you through my day.

6:00 a.m. Wake Up Call

Rise and grind! Time to wake up and get ready for work.

The Commute

Every morning I take the train to Grand Central Station. It is complete and utter chaos, with everyone rushing to get to work. From there, it’s three long subway stops until I arrive at the office!

Starbucks Run

One of the biggest perks of working at Porter Novelli in New York City is the Starbucks located in the main lobby. So of course, it’s my first stop for my morning caffeine kick. Let’s just say that my mom is not happy with my Starbucks bill...

Emails, Emails, Emails

On a typical morning, my inbox is overloaded with emails. As I filter through them, I find myself prioritizing which tasks are of the utmost importance and which can wait until later in the day.

Breakfast Club

Every Monday morning we have breakfast club. The office meets to discuss any news regarding the company and to give “snaps” or kudos to coworkers for the great work they’ve done!

Class Time

As interns, we are often scheduled to take classes that help us learn more about the public relations industry. I must say I feel like a genius after these classes, which have focused on topics such as Excel, media relations, media monitoring and writing.

Bon Appetit! Time for lunch

Another perk of our NYC office is the proximity of all the restaurants around to grab lunch! My favorite place is Eataly, an Italian cafeteria. For all my Italian food lovers, you can check out the different restaurants Eataly has to offer here.  

Let’s Get Down to Business

After lunch, my manager will have work assignments waiting for me. While I may not always know how to begin or complete some of the assignments, my manager is there to help and guide me every step of the way.

Thirsty Thursday

Every Thursday afternoon, the office hosts a happy hour, which brings everyone together for a nice break. After a long week, we could use a pick-me-up to get us to the weekend.

Home Sweet Home

When the clock strikes 6:00 p.m., that means my 8-hour shift has come to an end. I am excited to go home and binge watch some Netflix but also look forward to seeing what my next day entails.

Paycheck, Time to Shop!

While work can sometimes be long and challenging, the benefits of working at Porter Novelli make it all worthwhile. Getting a paycheck is a plus, but my internship experience has brought me so much more. The skills I have learned, the friendships I have made and the amazing New York City that I was able to explore will never be forgotten!

- Sabrina Jacobellis, PN intern

[pnintern]

Getting to Know the Practices: Health + Social Impact

While you could say that any of Porter Novelli’s (PN) practices – or Porter Novelli as a whole – work hard and play hard, it’s especially true for the Health + Social Impact team here in Atlanta.

My first introduction to the Health + Social Impact team was during a shadow visit in February 2016. Immediately, I could tell the team’s dedication to doing good and standing up for the right idea simply by the client roster, most noticeably several divisions of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) such as the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases and National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. When I joined the Health + Social Impact team in June 2016, it became more and more clear that this team is dedicated to changing the world, in close partnership with the SPAR and Radar teams and colleagues from all over the network.

As far as work goes – it can be challenging at times, but it’s always rewarding. Every day, we’re working hard to affect people’s deep-rooted behaviors around some of the most challenging (and sometimes controversial!) health and social issues, such as administering vaccinations in all stages of life, identifying developmental milestones in children, applying for social services benefits and managing chronic health conditions like diabetes, arthritis and heart disease. In addition to client work, members of our team lead PN Atlanta’s Social Impact + Sustainability circle (focused on bringing Porter Novelli’s mission of “doing well by doing good” to life) and our global partnership with CARE International. Our team is notorious for getting in early and staying late, but we’re always up for a challenge.

As far as fun goes – we have a lot of it! We recently retired our Kardashian relationship web, which outlined the many celebrities connected to the famous family. We love swapping photos of puppies, sharing stories of our weekend adventures, trying new exercise classes, admiring online shopping deliveries, and of course, eating delicious food together.  

Fortunately, our team is open to those with a passion for making a difference through the work we do, even if you don’t have a vast background in health-related PR work. Like all of the PN teams across the network, we value curious and innovative thinking, strategic execution and doing what’s right – for our clients, and the world. If the Health + Social Impact team here at Porter Novelli sounds like it could be home, please reach out!

-Katie Cartwright, Account Coordinator, PN Atlanta

[pnintern]

Maximize Your Internship With These Simple Tips

An internship can go 1 of 2 ways. It can provide a high-impact learning experience, or it can be a “resume enhancer.” The latter is more cynical and the former is ultimately what everyone hopes to experience. Since I started interning at Porter Novelli in October I’ve thought a lot about ensuring that I am gaining the most out of my experience. Thus far, it has been nothing but great and experiential. For others who are considering it, below are some of my insights into making the most of an internship.  

1. Be Resourceful—People won’t always be giving you something to do—be resourceful. Go through old emails or go on the company’s shared drive and look through client folders. You will learn more about the clients through reading old press releases, content calendars, strategies, etc. Not only will it will familiarize you with the company and with what each team does, but you might find an interest area that you want to learn or work more with that you wouldn’t have necessarily known. Be proactive, take initiative and get involved with as many opportunities as you can. The time flies and it is up to you to make the most out of your experience.

2. Take Notes –Ask questions and shadow employees. All of these things help familiarize you with the work you’re doing. As an intern it’s easy to feel shy or insecure but you are not expected to know everything. Be confident, go out of your comfort zone, and push yourself to be a little better every day.

3. Create Goals--Make a list of both learning and career goals—distinguish between the two and track them both. Career goals could include clarification of work-related interests and values; exposure to different clients within the company and networking, while learning goals are learning how to create a PowerPoint, or building your knowledge of Microsoft office.

4. Track Your Projects—whether this is for personal preference or your manager asks you to do it, it is important. At the end you’ll want to look back on what you learned about yourself — your abilities, skills, interests, values and accomplishments. How will the new skills and knowledge contribute to your future career plans?

Ultimately, focus your energy in the field on understanding yourself as an intern, becoming an engaged learner, realizing what drives your passions, getting clarity on the purpose, role and goals of your internship and thinking about your ability to be an informed, involved and ambitious intern. This will help prepare you for the day you (hopefully) become an employee.

-Ally Lee, Porter Novelli DC

[pnintern]

Getting to Know the Network: PN London

Having a strong workplace culture isn’t something that can be conjured up from nothing and, as any seasoned public relations (PR) professional will know, good content is the basis of a compelling campaign. In London, a city awash with “fun”, “young” and “vibrant” agencies, spanning multiple industries from advertising to financial PR to digital marketing, an internship or grad role has to offer more than the promise of a “good workplace culture” to whip up enthusiasm.

Luckily, Porter Novelli (PN) London isn’t about platitudes. In fact, I don’t think I’ve come across one yet. The fabled drinks trolley, wellbeing benefits, lively colleagues and enthusiastic after-work drinks scene are certainly alive and well chez Bankside 2 (our shiny new home, stay tuned for more on this). However, workplace culture is built on something more fundamental. One of the things I’ve learned in my nine months here is that PN embodies a shared drive amongst like-minded people. Now bear with me here. Being a horribly typical English person, I don’t normally buy into the happy clappy slogans that accompany agencies on the lookout for bright new interns. But, PN’s mantra to ‘think higher’ is simple, it works and it underpins everything we do.

The Big Move

On a rainy afternoon in late May (I can’t be sure if it was actually raining, but you can usually count on it over here in London), our agency huddled together to be told some BIG news. We were moving across the river to set up new HQ in Bankside. As a newcomer at the time, ‘Bankside’ wasn’t a familiar term and the prospect of moving offices sounded like an awful lot of hassle.

However I soon learned that PN London was upping sticks to move on to bigger, brighter and (metaphorically and literally) higher things. Bankside is Omnicom’s flagship building in London, holding fifty plus agencies from a variety of different industries, all under the Omnicom umbrella. We’re now two floors down from fellow PR agency Fleishman-Hillard Fishburn, a stone’s throw away from our advertising colleagues at AMV BBDO and next door neighbors with C-Space, a customer engagement agency. Instead of hiding behind emails or occasionally picking up the phone, we can speak face to face with our Omnicom partners, helping us collaborate fiercely on campaigns, share expertise on clients and their customers and just chat over a cup of tea. By simplifying our everyday communications, we’ve added new vigor to our campaigns and made our workplace that bit more exciting.

Naturally, the big move was followed by a big party. Atop the seventh floor, our agency, clients and colleagues from across the globe came together to raise a glass (or three) to twenty years of PN London and to celebrate its next step. After sixteen years in the same place, the office move catalyzed new inspiration. Bankside is buzzing with creativity, we’re in the heart of the media industry and, with so many agencies under the same roof, collaborative opportunities are ripe and ready. And who could fail to think higher when you have panoramic views across London’s skyline?

Vision Day

I know what you’re thinking. If you’ve moved into one big cross-agency office, then how does PN London maintain a sense of individual identity? That may not have been exactly what you were thinking, but it’s a valid point.

Here at PN, collaboration isn’t just about cross-agency communication, it’s about working within our teams and across practices to come up with the best ideas, producing work we’re proud of. Being a cross-practice agency, we have multiple perspectives, with healthcare, tech, corporate, brand and digital teams all sitting under one roof. Yet sometimes imminent deadlines and force of habit get in the way of capitalizing on these additional sources of creativity.

One way in which PN London has made sure we’re collaborating whenever possible is through our Vision Day. This is an annual event where the whole team meets up in trendy East London to collectively come up with ideas on what we can do to improve.

This year, we got inspiration from a variety of industry speakers, learning how to use VR to create meaningful campaigns and how consumer research can shape a brand, and then we were off!  From creativity workshops to culture brainstorms (oh how we brainstormed), PN London came up with more ideas than you can shake a stick at. Look out for the ‘Wouldn’t it be cool’ box hitting our London offices and the introduction of ‘Tate Tuesdays’ (where we nip round the corner to the Tate Modern for a zinged-up brainstorm); it was abundantly clear that the agency certainly isn’t short of inspiration. 

Days like this aren’t just testament to what the team can do once we emerge from the safety of our desks; they also demonstrate the conviction behind our ‘Think Higher’ mantra. So much work and commitment went into this day and into the principles that make our workplace tick and we can already see some of our spontaneous ideas actually being integrated into the office. Lots of companies have away days but the energy and motivation that ran through ours was certainly unique.

The Think Higher Fund

Finally, thinking higher is about everyone as individuals. Whilst we’re all part of the PN London team and a part of the Omnicom network, bouncing off other people only works if you’ve got chops yourself. Luckily, thinking higher has its own fund, dedicated to providing us as individuals with the opportunity to do something to help us think higher.

Anyone working at PN London can apply for a grant – if you can explain how it helps you think higher, then chances are you’ll be able do it. In January this year, I’ll be starting a News Journalism course to think outside, around and above the box when pitching in stories to journalists. Simon from the Digital team is starting singing lessons to gain more confidence in big new business pitches (the idea being that if you can sing in front of others, speaking is a walk in the park). Initiatives like these not only demonstrate action taking place behind the face value of ‘think higher’, but a genuinely collaborative and supportive relationship across all levels in the company.

It’s difficult to sum up the essence of any agency in writing and it’s easy to be cynical when confronted with PR values flying in from all angles. It ultimately comes down to the adage that actions speak louder than words. For me, moving into a collaborative Omnicom HQ, taking ourselves away from our desks to think higher and paying for employees to go one step further outside of work speaks volumes about PN London’s workplace culture.

-       Lisa Cave, account executive, PN London

[pnintern]

The Benefits of Working Hard and Taking Risks at PN

I’m sitting in staff meeting on a Tuesday morning and drumming my hands against the table when our Managing Director says “drum roll please” for the 2016 Q1 Client Service Star Award winner. I started cheering with the others after the winner was announced until I jolted back to reality and realized the face on the screen was me! Embarrassing for a moment, yet exhilarating once I (shockingly) realized that my coworkers and client had nominated me for such a prestigious company award.

Q1 – Q3 winners from the Atlanta office pictured above from left to right: Julia Hemingway, Harold Reid, Stephanie Pham and Nicole Bragg.

What is the Client Service Star Award, you might ask? Porter Novelli (PN) offers us the opportunity to nominate someone who exhibits “outstanding dedication and contribution to the agency and commitment to serving clients with excellence” on a quarterly basis. Forms are submitted (either by colleagues and/or clients) and Managing Directors from each office select a winner(s).

Who is eligible to be nominated? The great thing about this award is that all employees from Intern/Consultant and above are eligible to be nominated! You also don’t have to serve clients directly to be nominated – support staff, creative and planning team members ultimately contribute to what we deliver to clients at the end of the day, making everyone eligible for nomination.

So how do you deliver excellent client service, you might also ask? Here are a few ways to stand out:

Build and nourish long-term relationships that clients value by bringing creative thinking and new ideas.

Demonstrate deep knowledge of the client’s business to show your passion and bring added value.

Think bigger, better and different to lead your clients to success.

Honor your commitments to show accountability.

Deliver the highest quality work product each and every time.

Below is  what former winners from the PN Atlanta office have to say about the Client Service Star Award:

“Client service is at the core of everything we do as PR professionals, but it’s in our PN DNA to pour our heart and soul into everything we do. Being recognized for going above and beyond what the client expects is just one of the ways PN shows appreciation for the long days and late nights that go into planning and executing for our clients.”

– Whitney Jinks, Account Executive, Corporate + Consumer Practice

“The Client Service Star award has been a great way for the office to recognize some of the outstanding work coming from our coworkers. It’s a nice reminder of why we’re working in the industry: to bring our best and greatest work to our clients.” 

- Stephanie Pham, Analyst, PN SPAR

Our ideas set Porter Novelli apart from our competitors. Big ideas often require us to take a leap of faith, and luckily, taking risks at Porter Novelli pays dividends regardless of the outcome.” - 

Kaylea Notarthomas, Senior Media Analyst, PN Radar

Aside from the Client Service Star award, the PN Atlanta office spearheads an award that is truly unique, celebrating employees for taking risks that result in undesirable outcomes – The What the EF (Epic Fail) Award.

Pictured above: Epic Fail magnet awarded to the What The EF winner, along with nifty DIY mugs/water bottles from Atlanta’s Jana Thomas, amongst other prizes.

The caveat with this award is that it’s not up to others to recognize your mistakes. To be considered, the award calls for a self-nomination. An epic fail does not mean you called your client the wrong name or sent a document with typos in it or missed the delivery time for FedEx. We ask employees for the big fails, including getting your hand slapped for taking a risk, miscalculating budgets and discovering too late, intentionally good efforts leading to a PR blunder and beyond.

“Getting to great, breakthrough ideas for our clients requires that we think bigger and be willing to take risks, try new things and employ 'what if' thinking. The only way to truly encourage this type of approach is to also be willing to celebrate our attempts...even when they don't succeed. This is why I love that we recognize both our client service stars and our epic fails!” 

- Melissa Taylor, Managing Director, PN Atlanta office

“The Client Service Star award recognizes stellar work and dedication to our clients. Porter Novelli Atlanta takes things a step further by removing the “fear of failure” element, so even if our risk results in a flop, we can use it as an opportunity to learn (and earn some cash!).” 

- Kaylea Notarthomas, Senior Media Analyst, PN Radar

Q3 winners pictured above (from left to right): Kaylea Notarthomas with the What The EF Award and Nicole Bragg with the CSE Award.

Remember that taking risks can lead to both positive and, at times, negative outcomes. Luckily, I work for a company that rewards both to promote growth. To conclude this post, I’ll leave you with this well-known quote:

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

- Julia Hemingway, Assistant Account Executive, Technology Practice

[pnintern]

PN Profile: Omnicom-Grady Fellow Tori McKenney

Not long after starting my time at Porter Novelli (PN) Atlanta, my dad and I were chatting about my recent graduation from University of Georgia and my post-grad experiences. After I finished excitedly chatting away about all the cool things I was getting to try, different teams that were welcoming me and how I genuinely already loved what I was doing at work every day, my dad said with a chuckle, “Well, I’m sure glad you found PR!” When I responded, “Yeah, thanks to you!” I was surprised by how surprised he was.

Apparently, he had no memory of sitting at a family-favorite restaurant right before my senior year of high school while he and my mom questioned me about my college plans. At one point, he casually threw his hands up and nonchalantly said, “I don’t care what you think you’re going to do, but you are going to graduate with a degree in public relations.” For the record, my dad comes from an engineering background. He actively stays away from social media and communications as a whole, so this statement didn’t come from a place of trying to push his livelihood onto me. It came from sincerely knowing me and what would make me happy in a career. Before this I had never heard of PR, but there I was five years later standing in my kitchen with  a degree in public relations baffled that such a defining moment in my life was completely forgotten in his.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized moments like this are what makes me love the communications field. As a communicator, you have the ability to show people things they have never seen before, share knowledge they wouldn’t have known otherwise and shine lights on moments in time that would have gone unseen. You may be a catalyst for changing someone’s world and you may never know it.

Even though I was pretty sure my heart was set on PR, the communications field is exceptionally huge. There are so many options to explore! Not only that, but all practice areas of communications are becoming more entwined. The lines between PR, advertising, marketing, analytics, digital content, media buying and more are becoming increasingly blurred and will only continue to become more so as time goes on. It’s important to have an understanding of all the working parts in order to see the big picture most effectively fit together.

Luckily, not only has Omnicom Group and UGA’s Grady College designed a program to learn about all these moving parts, but the program also offers experience which enables deeper understanding. The Omnicom-Grady Future Leaders Fellowship is designed to give three graduating advertising and public relations students skills and working knowledge in both PR and advertising. After completing the fellowship, these young professionals then can bring a holistic landscape view to share with those they meet in their careers. Each fellow spends three months at an Omnicom PR agency – either Porter Novelli, Ketchum or FleishmanHillard—in addition to three-months at advertising agency BBDO.

I am incredibly grateful to be a 2016 fellow. Though I am confident PR is where I want to focus my efforts during my career, I am thankful for the experiences and knowledge this fellowship has given me. I walked through BBDO’s doors on the first day knowing nothing about advertising. By the time I completed my internship there, I had constructed an entire new business pitch, practiced my design skills, learned the process of media buying, understood relationship management between clients and creatives and so much more. The knowledge I gained during this experience continues to  stay with me throughout my days at Porter Novelli and has shaped the way I think about strategy, messaging and internal relations, and I am sure lessons learned during this fellowship will stay with me as a foundation throughout the years of my career.

The field of communications is a big one—make sure you take every opportunity to explore it.

[pnintern]

Branching Out and Rooting Down

Are you new to a job or internship and hoping to discover more of what makes your city unique? Furthermore, are you hoping to plant your roots and make meaningful connections with cohabitants of your updated zip code? If so, then look no further – community programs like ChooseATL After 5 are here to help.

Within the swirl of things to check off your list when relocating to a different city, it can be easy to forget to make some time for you. It’s imperative to acclimate yourself and genuinely embrace your new surroundings in order to make for a smooth and happy transition. Many people inadvertently neglect this important bit of advice, amidst the already time-intensive other adjustments required, like updating your address, getting a handle on your new position and company culture, unpacking for days and finding a new dentist, doctor, preferred grocery store – the list goes on.

However, cities like Atlanta have recognized the need to plug citizens into the local scene and introduce newbies to what gives their metropolis staying power. As an intern, exploring this is a key element in deciding if you’d like to extend your stay and make your temporary city a permanent home. For those moving into a new position or industry, it is an equally valuable opportunity to welcome an exciting, yet often daunting, life change.

ChooseATL After 5 is Atlanta’s premier activation of this type of genius city showcasing. The website says it best:

“The vitality of our region is contingent on positioning Atlanta as the ideal place for highly-skilled talent to live, work, play, and make their mark on the world.”

Furthermore, the mission of this program includes introducing interns “to valuable experiences that illustrate Atlanta’s culture and lifestyle, which in return will retain young talent and grow our region.”

How do they do this? They do it by achieving a few important goals, which my friends and I had the fortune to experience firsthand this past summer as young professionals new to the city of Atlanta.

Experience the city like a local.

During the event we attended, which was appropriately named the Atlanta BeltLine Crawl, we meandered through one of the city’s most eclectic areas near a charming neighborhood called Little Five Points, where street art abounds and running trails adorn a once-functional railway corridor. Along the trail, which many of us had heard about around the office and been dying to experience firsthand, we sampled popsicles, hors d’oeuvres and cocktails from some of Atlanta’s most delicious (and unique!) restaurants and food carts. It was like being let in on a wonderful secret that the casual visitor to Atlanta might often miss.

Network with peers and executives.

At events planned by ChooseATL After 5, executives from nearby businesses provide short talks filled with tips on making an impression during your first few months in a new locale. They’re also available for the ever-important networking opportunity and to answer any questions attendees have. Then, as the interns embark upon the event’s planned activities, the chances are endless to get to know one another and build a contact list with like-minded professionals in a similar stage of their career.

The fun doesn’t stop after the event. ChooseATL After 5 (and countless other programs like it nationwide) also maintain impressive social channels to provide continuous insights on how to discover your city’s hidden gems to one day #ChooseATL for good.

Get the VIP treatment.

What other opportunity offers the chance to experience a TopGolf outing, curated tour through some of the most celebrated local cuisine and exclusive tour of the Center for Civil and Human Rights, rounded out with a rooftop reception overlooking your sprawling cityscape – FOR FREE?! Again, there are countless opportunities like this one around the country, even if you don’t live in the great city of Atlanta, just begging to be discovered.

I can say without a doubt that being part of this community program was one of the most fulfilling parts of my first summer here. I encourage you to search for those programs like this one in your new home. They’re there, and the incredible people and experiences you’ll enjoy are waiting for you, just around the corner. All it takes is a little bit of curiosity and a big batch of enthusiasm.

Happy discovering!

-        Kristen Ellis, Account Coordinator, Atlanta