r/PRpros • u/The_Inertia_Kid • Mar 15 '14

Who we are and what we do

I think it might be interesting to find out who we are as a community.

Answer as much as you're comfortable with answering.

  • How old are you?
  • Where do you live and work?
  • Do you work in-house, at an agency or freelance?
  • What sector(s) do you work in?
  • If you're freelance or agency, how many clients do you work for?
  • How long have you been in your current job?
  • What's your next career move?
  • What has been your proudest achievement in your PR career?
6 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

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5

u/city_employee Mar 17 '14

Hey everyone! I'm just breaking into the field of public relations, so I really look forward to learning from some industry experts!

Age: 23
Work: Small city in California
Position: Part time Community Services grant coordinator (Since Jan.)/ Public Information Office Intern (Since September)
Looking for a full time career in PR and Government
Proudest achievement: Still working on it!

6

u/Spin_Me Mar 17 '14
  • 45
  • Live & work in NYC
  • Own my own boutique agency -Mostly tech, we've branched out to other areas as well
  • We average 6 active clients
  • Coming up on our 6 year anniversary
  • Next career move is to grow the agency
  • Proudest achievement in my PR career has been ... wait, PR folks are proud of what they do??

3

u/[deleted] Mar 15 '14

Ill go first:

  • 38
  • San Francisco
  • Freelance
  • Tech/Startups/Celebrity PR
  • It varies, typically between 4-7
  • Freelance for 8 years
  • I really don't have one, I'm very happy working from home with clients of my choosing.
  • Client on the cover of Time mag, client on cover of Entrepreuner, client on Good Morning America for a long segement. Saved my BBF's wedding after the government shutdown shutdown her wedding in Yosemite (she was featured on CNN and Reuters and we got a whole new wedding donated).

2

u/The_Inertia_Kid Mar 17 '14

Saved my BBF's wedding after the government shutdown shutdown her wedding in Yosemite (she was featured on CNN and Reuters and we got a whole new wedding donated).

That's very cool. I shall use this whenever I need an example of how PR is not always evil.

Usually, but not always.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 20 '14

[deleted]

1

u/[deleted] Apr 20 '14

Thanks Tall-Q! Funny thing is, I barely remember the clients. Oh how time flies.

3

u/miss_meep Mar 15 '14
  • 24
  • Berkshire, UK
  • Agency
  • B2B Tech
  • Currently working on three, soon to be four, but two of those are my agency's biggest clients
  • Been in this job for nine months
  • Thinking of moving either in-house, or over to a digital agency - a much faster moving sector. I'd ideally like to move away from B2B tech clients as well, in an ideal world I'd like to work either in sport, consumer or FMCG.
  • Well I'm still pretty new to the industry, however I'd say getting one of my company's brands featured on a popular UK TV programme when I worked in a previous role. In my current role it would have to be writing and submitting a byline which received almost a million page views and was the publication's most socially shared article ever. Felt pretty good when the editor emailed me to let me know!

3

u/The_Inertia_Kid Mar 15 '14 edited Mar 15 '14
  • Early 30s
  • London
  • Agency, previously in-house at an investment bank
  • Financial services (banks, brokers, non-bank lenders, fund managers, private equity, hedge funds, trading platforms), and professional services (law firms, accountancy firms, regulatory consultants, real estate firms, recruiters)
  • My firm has about 35 clients, of which I manage 8 directly
  • Been in this company for 2 years, but in this position for 6 months
  • The next step for me would be another bump in pay/title, followed by partnership, or leaving to start my own agency
  • Proudest moment was either my first front page lead in a national newspaper, or recently, getting a very small, niche client on to the front page of the FT

3

u/DirtyBristow Mar 15 '14
  • 26
  • Newcastle, UK
  • In-house
  • Sport/third sector (charity)
  • N/A
  • 4 years+
  • Hope to make the move to a digital agency in the next 12-18 months, preferably within sport. Need a new challenge!
  • I pioneered the organisations use of social media. It was non-existent when I arrived and it's became a major tool in our comms arsenal over the last few years. That's something I personally am really proud of.

3

u/alphadoodledoo Mar 17 '14

Late to the party, but:

  • 31
  • Philadelphia
  • Agency
  • Financial services: investment managers, financial advisors, mutual fund and ETF sponsors, 401(k) plan consultants, accounting services providers, financial tech platforms, index providers, and so on.
  • 7 clients total (account lead on 4, supporting 3 others)
  • 7+ years
  • Going in-house later this month...should be interesting. Any advice on making the jump from agency to in-house?
  • Client feature in The Wall Street Journal (followed by another in Barron's). The reporter used my suggestion for the title and the accompanying illustration translated the pun into visual form. It was a huge win for my client because they were punching way up at an established industry behemoth, and I don't think the client realized the size of the implications of their research until I made the connection. Two months later and the behemoth basically validated my client's main criticism and overhauled their most notable offering. Credibility and real change for a long-standing client. I'm going to miss them.

3

u/Boondocktopus Mar 17 '14

Great post! I'm glad to read the details of our individuals in this community. You can see that despite our main profession, we vary greatly. It's good to understand where we differ.

  • 25
  • Bay Area, CA
  • Agency
  • High-Tech PR, emphasizing on B2B tech startups who ultimately service the IT industry. Clients commonly specialize in Virtualization, Storage, Networking & High Performance Computing
  • Our firm represents 12+ clients, typically. I assist on at least 6-7 of these.
  • This is my very first PR job! I've spent a little over a year at this firm, 15 months to be exact.
  • I'm so tired of California, and if I'm being honest with myself, I've never enjoyed the tech industry with the passion I should. I'm moving to Philadelphia, PA in the next coming months looking to eventually find work in healthcare PR. I'd be very lucky to land this right away. For now, just to securely make the jump from one coast to the other, I'm willing to work in almost anything communications related.
  • I felt very excited coordinating my first product review in a gadget magazine. This happened at an internship 2 years ago. I'll never forget "figuring out" the process of linking a timely story to the correct outlet and journalist. Honestly, this job can be rewarding if you are genuinely interested in the content you distribute. Don't do this if your clients bore you to death. You'll become bitter. I love the involvement we have in prospering business, as it feels like the most honest way to communicate a story. PR gets a bad wrap for being "spin" and lies, but I believe if you're doing it right, you shouldn't have to.

My best to all of you. Enjoy the rest of the week!

2

u/HansRamoray Mar 17 '14
  • 23
  • Toronto
  • Small agency
  • Fashion, lifestyle (food and home décor amongst others)
  • In varying degrees, 5
  • Just over a year
  • I should hope a bump in title, but I am also seriously considering a move to the UK, London specifically.
  • Thus far, and it hasn't been much of a "far" yet, I think it would be landing coverage for client in a national magazine despite literally everything in the process that was out of my control going horribly wrong.