Tag: Counselors Academy

PRSA’S COUNSELORS ACADEMY MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: Q&A WITH BARBARA HYMAN, APR

Margot HorganBlog, Counselors Academy, Professional Development, Public Relations, , , , , , , , , 2 Comments on PRSA’S COUNSELORS ACADEMY MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: Q&A WITH BARBARA HYMAN, APR

Our very own Dana Hughens is the PRSA’s Counselors Academy Conference Chair for the 2013 conference June 9-11 in Austin, Texas. As conference chair, she has the privilege to work with other members of the conference planning committee, which consists of senior-level PR counselors and agency owners from across the United States and Canada. We caught up with these PR pros to find out their secret to success and what they love most about Counselors Academy.

Introducing Barbara Hyman, chief operating officer of Hopkins Public Relations in Texas. Barbara is an accredited member of PRSA and will play a large role with the social and dine-around aspects of the 2013 Counselors Academy Conference. Read what Barbara has to say about her experiences as a PR professional below!

Getting to know you…
Name: Barbara Hyman, APR

Agency: Hopkins PR

Position: Chief Operating Officer

First job in PR: Asst. Director of Communications, Peachtree Center, Atlanta

Your insights…

Most loved thing about being in PR: Making a difference for our clients, making them happy

Best source for breaking PR news: Don’t rely on just one

Number one recommendation to new PR professionals: Get a handle on finances and budgeting for your projects; understand the importance of numbers to an organization

About Counselors Academy…

Most valuable aspect of being a Counselors Academy member: Meeting really great people

Role on the planning committee: Social/dine-around

Best thing about the Counselors Academy conference: Getting super ideas that impact our agency

Most fun memory of a Counselors Academy conference: Finding out that my conference mentor was a scotch-drinker, too – and having one, or two, together

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PRSA’S COUNSELORS ACADEMY MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: Q&A WITH ANN BARKS

Margot HorganBlog, Counselors Academy, Professional Development, Public Relations, , , , , , , , , 2 Comments on PRSA’S COUNSELORS ACADEMY MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: Q&A WITH ANN BARKS

Our very own Dana Hughens is the PRSA’s Counselors Academy Conference Chair for the 2013 conference June 9-11 in Austin, Texas. As conference chair, she has the privilege to work with other members of the conference planning committee, which consists of senior-level PR counselors and agency owners from across the United States and Canada. We caught up with these PR pros to find out their secret to success and what they love most about Counselors Academy.

Welcome our next blog series guest — Ann Barks, APR, Chair of the Welcoming Committee for the 2013 Counselors Academy Conference. Ann is the founder and owner of Ann Barks Public Relations. For recommendations and insights from Ann keep reading!

Getting to know you…

Name: Ann Barks, APR

Agency: Ann Barks Public Relations

Position: Owner/Consultant

First job in PR: Public Relations Coordinator/Legislative Liaison, Tennessee Mothers Against Drunk Driving

Your insights…

Most loved thing about being in PR: It allows me to use both my creative and nerdy sides – and I never get bored because there are always new things to learn or explore.

Best source for breaking PR news: The industry people I follow on Twitter.

Number one recommendation to new PR professionals: Get education or experience in business, not just public relations. With business education, you can communicate more effectively with the C-Suite leaders, meaning you will better contribute to and guide the organization in reaching business objectives.

About Counselors Academy…

Most valuable aspect of being a Counselors Academy member: Learning from and interacting with fellow members, who are collegial, inspiring and forward-thinking public relations leaders.

Role on the planning committee: Chair of the Welcoming Committee

Best thing about the Counselors Academy conference: I always walk away with tactics and ideas I can immediately implement with clients. It also has helped me stay tuned to how to use new tools, technology or thinking about communications.

Most fun memory of a Counselors Academy conference: Just one? OK… Watching my fellow members dance with Second Line umbrellas last year in New Orleans.

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Festive masks in New Orleans at the 2012 Counselors Academy Conference
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PRSA’s Counselors Academy Member Spotlight: Q&A with Abbie Fink

Margot HorganBlog, Counselors Academy, Professional Development, Public Relations, , , , , , , , , 5 Comments on PRSA’s Counselors Academy Member Spotlight: Q&A with Abbie Fink

Our very own Dana Hughens is the PRSA’s Counselors Academy Conference Chair for the 2013 conference June 9-11 in Austin, Texas. As conference chair, she has the privilege to work with other members of the conference planning committee, which consists of senior-level PR counselors and agency owners from across the United States and Canada. We caught up with these PR pros to find out their secret to success and what they love most about Counselors Academy.

Meet the first guest of this blog series – Abbie Fink, Vice President of HMA Public Relations in Phoenix, Ariz. Abbie was recently selected by the Phoenix Business Journal as one of the Top 25 Most Dynamic Women in Business and held the position of co-chair for the 2011 Counselors Academy Spring Conference.

Getting to know you…

Abbie-FinkName:  Abbie S. Fink

Agency: HMA Public Relations – Phoenix, Ariz.

Position:  Vice President/General Manager

First job in PR: I interned for The Pointe Resorts in Phoenix, Ariz.

Your insights…

Most loved thing about being in PR: No day is exactly the same, getting the chance to work with great people and great projects.

Best source for breaking PR news: Dana!  Seriously, word-of-mouth, industry publications and of course, social media resources.

Number one recommendation to new PR professionals:  Be smart about the world around you – know what’s happening in your community and the industries that you are working in. Continue reading “PRSA’s Counselors Academy Member Spotlight: Q&A with Abbie Fink”

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Clairemont Communications’ Dana Hughens Appointed PRSA’s Counselors Academy Conference Chair

Margot HorganBlog, Counselors Academy, The Clairemont Team, , , , 3 Comments on Clairemont Communications’ Dana Hughens Appointed PRSA’s Counselors Academy Conference Chair

Raleigh, N.C. – February 5, 2013 – Dana Hughens, the founder and CEO of award-winning public relations and marketing communications agency, Clairemont Communications, has been selected as the conference chair for the 2013 Counselors Academy conference to be held in Austin, June 9 – 11. Counselors Academy is a professional interest section of Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)  designed to foster information and best practices sharing amongst a peer network of PR agency owners and senior managers.

“There’s no one better than Dana to chair the 2013 Counselors Academy conference,” said Martin Waxman, principal of Martin Waxman Communications and the 2012 conference chair. “As a successful entrepreneur and agency owner, she has an insider’s knowledge of the kind of content PR leaders need to take their businesses to the next level.”

The conference theme is “Get W.E.I.R.D. in Austin: Wired, Entrepreneurial, Imaginative and Results-Driven” with presentations focused on all aspects of agency management, business development, operational excellence and emerging technologies. In her role as conference chair, Hughens is leading a committee of PR agency leaders to select speakers, plan conference events and promote the conference.

“Each year I’ve attended the conference, I’ve gleaned immediately implementable information that helped me improve my business,” said Hughens “I’m excited to play a key role in delivering valuable content to the PR agency professionals who join us in Austin in June.”

Hughens, who has been a member of the Counselors Academy since 2007, was named to the executive committee of Counselors Academy last year and served as the co-chair of the 2012 conference in New Orleans, La. She was recently video interviewed about the 2013 conference content by Waxman for Inside PR.

“I worked with Dana on last year’s conference, and she is one of the smartest, most dedicated and creative people in the industry. I know she’ll use her talents to make this conference a real standout,” Waxman added.

About Clairemont Communications

Clairemont Communications devises communications strategies that utilize both traditional PR and social media to help clients achieve business objectives by influencing purchases, persuading stakeholders and influencers, and defining brands. Clarity in vision + the promise of monumental results = Clairemont Communications.

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Social Media Tips from a Southerner

Dana PhelpsBlog, Public Relations, Raleigh PR Agency, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , , 7 Comments on Social Media Tips from a Southerner

As my Pinterest bio reads, I’m a midwesterner by birth and a southerner by choice. Technically the midwesterner part could be debated since my hometown in Southern Illinois is close enough to Kentucky that I think it is technically south of the Mason-Dixon Line. But, if that does not qualify me as a southerner, surely the fact that with the exception of short assignment at a PR agency in New York, I’ve spent the past 19 years living in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina does.

That, coupled with being married to a southern gentleman and raising a son in Raleigh, NC, has recently resulted in my heightened awareness (and embracing) of my southern-ness. As I watched friends from all over North America collaborate, socialize and talk at length about social media last week at PRSA’s Counselors Academy Conference, I realized there’s much to be learned about social media from southerner charm. Not following me? Well let me pour you a glass of sweat tea while you keep reading!

  • Use your manners. My son has never walked out the door to go to a friend’s house without me reminding him to mind his manners. It’s no surprise that his regular use of “yes ma’am” has won the praise of all the other moms. Saying please and thank you in your social media conversations will go a long way in earning respect. “Please like my agency’s Facebook page.” “Thank you for commenting on my blog.” Give it a try! Please. 🙂
  • Remember, salt and pepper are a pair. Having breakfast at the New Orleans Ritz, the host hotel of the conference, Abbie Fink asked Chuck Norman to pass the salt. Chuck passed the salt AND the pepper. This was something I learned when I moved further south, and Chuck said he was taught as a child in etiquette class that the two are married and should be passed together. If you blog on behalf of your brand, think of it as salt and pepper. Your brand has it’s attributes, messages and maybe even personality. You have your personality, interests and opinions. Yet it is important for the two of you to move about the dining table of social media as a set. Continue reading “Social Media Tips from a Southerner”
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