Interview with Janelle Huelsman

The second person that we interviewed for the project was Janelle Huelsman.

Who is Janelle Huelsman?

• Janelle Huelsman is a PR professional who works for Fahlgren Mortine

• No specializations; general PR practitioner

• Practices media relations, event management, social media, writing and account management for a variety of clients

• Works across industries-healthcare, business to business, technology, economic development, higher education and non-profit

The skills you need, according to Janelle:

• Writing

• Adaptability in writing

• Strong understanding of English language/AP style

• Flexibility

• Willingness to learn 

Janelle says that her favorite projects she has worked on include doing social media content for Pelotonia and website copy for a solar panel company.  Additional advice from Janelle was to work hard, immerse yourself in the profession and follow your passion.

Below are some of the key learnings that I obtained while conducting these interviews:

•Writing is absolutely essential in public relations

•Studying English and grammar and learning new styles is important

•Learning doesn't stop after graduation

•Build your portfolio before searching for a career.

•Take advantage of current opportunities.

Interview With Alyson Moses

At the University, I have been pursuing a Minor in Professional Writing.  One of the classes that  I am currently enrolled in for the minor, Artsci 4150, is all about cultures of professional writing.  For the past few weeks, I have been working on a group project for my professional writing course.  For this project, my two group members and I were assigned to contact two professional writers.  Since all three of us were strategic communication majors interested in public relations, we decided to contact writing professionals specific to the field of public relations.

Public Relations professionals focus on both traditional writing, like press releases and media advisories, as well as writing for digital media, such as social media posts, website copy or grant applications.  There are several different types of jobs in the PR field including corporate, agency, and nonprofit.

The first person that we decided to intern was Alyson Moses.  Moses is a PR professional, currently working at The Ohio State University as a lecturer and an adviser for PRSSA.  She was formerly the Senior Account Supervisor at Edelman.  Her specialty was corporate affairs in the agency.  Moses majored in Public relations and minored in both Marketing and Spanish.

Moses started working in the agency setting of Edelman and worked with over 40 different clients selling technology to businesses.  She said the job was kind of a sales job because she was constantly persuading people.  Moses moved from Edelman to Ohio State shortly after her marriage.  She says that her corporate experiences can apply to the classroom: she’s taught executives how to work with the media in the boardroom, now she can take it to the classroom and teach students how to do PR and writing and work for executives too.

Moses's Favorite aspects of PR writing include working with media and people, being a positive force, trying to persuade people, taking different perspectives, participating in events and writing articles.  Some things that she finds to be challenging are that there is always an issue you have to resolve and that you must keep clients satisfied.  Below is some of the advice that Alyson shared with me:

Advice:

•Focus on two things: your client and the media.

•Check the news and trends each morning.

•Have willingness to do things and be positive

•Go for your dreams, but take advantage of the opportunities that are where you're at now.

•Make yourself the PR pro to the people around you

•Get equipped and build your portfolio before searching for a career. 

•The More internships you have, the more connections you can make.

•Use personal connections, don't be afraid to network.

To find out more about the professional writing minor, click here. 

Obama and Will.i.am visit the Oval

On Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2012, Barack Obama visited The Ohio State University while on a presidential campaign.  The well-known music artist Will.i.am accompanied him.  The event was outdoors in the Oval, the center of the Ohio State campus.  It was sponsored by Obama for America Ohio.  To find out more about the organization, visit their website here.  I attended the event, and while there, I planned to tweet actively about my experiences at the event.  However, the event was extremely crowded and my usually great mobile phone service was not working.  I posted the tweets as soon as I got home.

            The doors for the event opened at 2 p.m.  After that, there were a couple of hours before the event actually started, but when it did, it was very exciting.   Once the event began, Mayor Michael Coleman and Senator Sherrod Brown both gave enthusiastic speeches.  Their speeches got the crowd very energetic and excited for the president’s speech.

            When Will.i.am came out, the crowd started to get very excited.  Unfortunately, he was stationed in a DJ booth that was located where no one in the crowd was able to see him.  This caused a bit of obvious disappointment, but the music definitely changed the atmosphere. Everyone in the crowd was beginning to get very eager as the anticipation was rising.

Finally, the president came out to speak, and gave a wonderful campaign speech, filled with inspiring words.  He was very eloquent and the speech was motivational.  The uproar of the crowd was at an all time high, and everyone was shoving their way to the front.  Many people were pulling out their cell phones, cameras and other devices to capture the moment on film.  Despite the technical difficulties, and the rowdiness of the crowd, I had a wonderful time at this event.  To read my tweets, check out my twitter page, here.

My InternPro Twitter Chat Experience

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This past Monday, I participated in a Twitter chat called #InternPro.  This was my third Twitter chat, and like the others, I found it to be very interesting and enjoyable.  This Twitter chat is meant for professionals, both entry-level and experienced, to chat with each other about the steps and strategies that come with obtaining a professional career.  It is put on by an organization called YouTern, whose goal is to connect young talent with internships and mentor opportunities.  The Twitter chat happens every Monday evening under the same hashtag, #InternPro.

twitter.com

Each week, the #InternPro Twitter chat covers a different topic relating to successfully finding careers.  This week, the topic was "Selling Your Experience to Recruiters: Jobs, Internships and Volunteering."  The Twitter chat began with introductions (name, location and most unusual work experience).  A couple minutes later, the questions began.  About every five minutes, the moderator, @YouTern would ask a situational question about applying for employment opportunities or communicating with a recruiter.  Then, everyone participating in the chat would respond with their opinion on the situation, and respond to each others' responses to the questions. 

The questions ranged from selling your "unrelated" work experiences to recruiters to the way that recruiters view your changes in professional focus.  I found it interesting to mentally put myself in each of the situations presented by the moderator's discussion questions, share my opinions and read opinions of other Twitter users participating in the chat.  Overall, I enjoyed the #InternPro Twitter chat, and I plan to attend again in the future.

You can find more information about YouTern at their website here, or by following them on their Twitter page.

Have you ever attended a Twitter chat? If so, what did you think about it?  If not, would you consider participating in one?  Leave a comment below.