Networking Know-How

This semester, I willingly chose (was forced) to take public relations campaigns. PR campaigns is the class dreaded by most and feared by all.  Mostly because of the huge project we complete in about three weeks. The project is extremely daunting yet I’ve learned so much about public relations and about my strengths as a future PR executive. I have learned that I need to focus on my writing skills and how to format my ideas on paper. Raw ideas are great, but if they are not formatted correctly, they mean next to nothing.

While recognizing my opportunities for improvement, I also assessed my strengths. I am great at creative. I am great with coming up with concepts and marketing tactics that others might not have thought of. Simply knowing my strengths will prove advantageous to my success post-graduation.

Yet, neither knowing my strengths and weakness has been the most valuable lesson of my UNT 4460 campaigns class, it was the PRSA communications summit. More specifically, it was the networking at the PRSA summit.

I believe I am a natural introvert. I remember as a child hiding behind my mother’s leg when she would try to introduce friends to me. That characteristic has morphed into this happy medium I like to call “extroverted-introvertedness.” This means that with people my own age, I am the most ambitious and outgoing person in the room. I can make friends with anyone and become the light of the party. Yet in the business world, I become introverted. Every word I say is a calculated move, which often results in my coming off as shy or standoffish.  As a public relations executive, the majority of your business will come from relationships and connections with various people. A previous intern captain once told me, “You are only as useful as your address book.” I believe this saying to be completely true.

Needless to say, networking is crucial. It’s not all about whom you know, it’s how you know them. Are you on a friendly basis with them, are they an occasional client of yours, are you golfing buddies? Each one of these scenarios can result in work and potential revenue. 

During a previous internship with Dykeman Associates, I learned the basics of networking.  The CEO, Alice Dykeman, would bring her interns to whatever networking event she was attending for that week. I learned the proper way to shake hands, eat a meal that had multiple utensils, and to always have business cards ready to distribute.

I employed all these tactics at the PRSA communications summit and to my success landed a pretty amazing deal with Chevy for a fully-paid NASCAR experience. Another classmate from the same class landed a full-time PR job from networking and connections alone. Networking has the power to produce employment opportunities, generate new revenue for companies, and widen your social network. For these reasons, and so much more, is why I believe how to be a successful networker as one of the most valuable lessons I have learned in my public relations campaigns class.