Ragan.com, a website providing news and advice on public relations and marketing, recently published an article called 53 Signs You Work in Public Relations. Taking a page from the familiar “You know you’re a {BLANK} when…” joke setup, the article is a collection of reader-generated anecdotes about public relations professionals. The article lists popular, humorous and exaggerated attributes of today’s PR pros.
I believe that some of the signs are exaggerated, but others are spot on (at least for me). Here are my favorites (and I believe accurate) anecdotes from 53 Signs You Work in Public Relations:
11. You proudly put “PR pro” in your Twitter bio, knowing it is the one place you don’t have to explain your job
16. “Relax” time is in the shower when you always seem to come up with the best PR pitches
17. After your coffee, you spend 20 minutes deleting Google Alerts of clients, competitors, and everything in between
38. You read/hear about a company’s crisis and instantly think, “I wonder who their AOR (agency of record) is”
42. You actually take surveys. It’s good client karma, right?
43. You think and speak in 140 characters or less
44. You call taking any photo a “Photo-op”
48. Client’s products are decorations on your desk
However, every firm has its own culture and quirks that shapes its employees. So in honor of a big Maven announcement (‘embargoed until’) next week, here are a few good signs that a PR Maven is among us:
You Know You’re a PR Maven When…
1. You start using ‘circle back, debrief, touch base’ on a daily basis, even when discussing weekend plans with friends and family
2. Deciding where to go to lunch is an item on the agenda when it involves more than one Maven for a holiday, birthday, or client meeting
3. You’re always thinking about how to “repurpose” blog entries, articles and white papers
4. You cannot get enough green (have you ever heard, ‘Go Green?’ The subliminal message is a new business driver for Maven but we don’t recommend it for clients. You can’t imagine how long it took us to get the ‘green’ movement going)
5. You eat lunch at 11 am because you have developed a Pavlovian response to the microwave beeping after Jess heats up her lunch at 10:55 am
6. You redefine what it means to multitask, while drafting a release for a healthcare digital marketing client, editing a legal newsletter in Mail Chimp, emailing two real estate reporters and posting to your company’s Facebook page — all within 30 minutes
7. You look forward to Monday morning company status update meetings because it is nice to chat about our own and our clients work from the big picture and minute details (plus someone usually brings treats)
8. Links to breaking headline news stories get forwarded around the office faster than an email chain letter threatening three years of bad luck (news of amazing discounts is the second fastest forward)
9. You want to put your company logo on everything (to date: mouse pads, water bottles, t-shirts, doggie bandana, office walls and post-it pads – come get a post-it pad because we have a LOT! Yes, Sarah made most of the stuff so it is mostly her fault…)
10. You depend on Outlook’s calendar listings and organized email folders (color coding is imperative too)
11. You believe personal preferences are as contagious as the common cold among coworkers, especially Rebecca’s fashion sense, Jess’ recipes and Sarah’s music tastes
12. When something big happens in the news you wonder if it is big enough to qualify for Maven’s annual year-end top 10 list of the year’s biggest PR snafus aka our holiday card (click here to sign up for our newsletter to get this holiday card)
13. You truly enjoy and respect interns and appreciate internship programs (the best way to learn about PR is ‘in the field’), especially Drexel University’s amazing Co-Op Program and dedicated students (Go Dragons!)
14. You get really excited when a prized media outlet publishes its 2012 editorial calendar, which can be anytime between September and December (it’s like Christmas before Christmas)
Stay tuned to our website, blog, Facebook and Twitter for more Maven breaking news, anecdotes and insight!
