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Wednesday
Jul282010

The Intern Diaries, Part V

It seems as if I just started last week, but it’s finally time to conclude my internship at Euro RSCG Worldwide PR. We’ve given our final presentations and learned so much. Most important, we’ve established great relationships with our colleagues, fellow interns and account executives alike.

Euro RSCG has provided me an even larger network than I already had. I can hold my own next to many entry-level applicants in the job market and have used my passion for networking (internally and externally).

I recognize there is no “right person” to know your name and/or brand. Every person is the right person, so be sure not to overlook anyone or burn any bridges. While interning at Euro RSCG, we learned that everyone is important, from those we met at our “Lunch ‘N Learns” to the top executives we had close interactions with.

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DateJuly 28, 2010 | by AuthorDeAnne Bradley | | tagged , , , , | Comment1 Comment
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Tuesday
Jul202010

Sneak Peeks into the Future 

Being new to trendspotting, I felt a little out of place at this year’s WorldFuture 2010 conference, put on by the World Future Society—as if I was the only person not developing some type of artificially intelligent machine in my basement. But I soon realized that there is a lot to learn and understand now that could help us gain a better grasp on what will happen in the years to come.

Climate Change
Two seminars were particularly interesting to me. The first, “Where Is It All Going?” led by Dennis Bushnell of NASA, addressed climate change and its implications. It used to be predicted that the icecaps would melt by 2040, but humans have sped up the process so much that now the targeted date is a frighteningly soon 2013. Because the ocean could rise about 250 feet, this would affect more than 8 billion people living in coastal locations.

This is but one of the reasons to take a good, hard look at the way we treat our environment. Bushnell said we can still change the outcome if we start altering our behavior now. New technologies are also being developed to help slow this process; saltwater technologies, for instance, are being developed in the Sahara Desert so that we can save our freshwater supply, since it’s already so scarce. This technology harbors the power to grow food and even materials to help make plastics without using crude oil. And creating agriculture in the desert opens the possibility that there will one day be rainfall in this almost lifeless land.

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DateJuly 20, 2010 | by AuthorElla Greenstein | | tagged , , , | CommentPost a Comment
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Monday
Jul192010

The Surreal Life (and Other Trends)

I’ve been spotting trends for almost two decades. Trends are hard to figure and harder to tease out. Doing it right means tracking people, social momentum, brands, economies, companies—all in constant motion. But trends also mean business, especially for people in PR; we’ve got to be in and of the culture if we’re going to keep ourselves, our agency and our clients not only current but also thinking ahead. The wealth of material lately is nuts. Here are a few trends I’ve been teasing out of it this summer:

Get surreal. That’s my advice for anyone looking to understand the American psyche, circa 2010. The Onion just released a spot-on video of a cable newscast in 2137 with a sexed-up anchorwoman, states renamed for corporations and video-game graphics. My only quibble is that it’s so far in the future—we’re almost there now. Seriously, a former CNN correspondent told The New York Times that “about the only funnier cable news is the real stuff.” No one bothers to make things up anymore because real life—brought to us via real-time news—has gotten so bizarre that we need to view it from an ironic distance. (Not to mention that quoting The Onion has become a perfectly legit way to begin a blog post.) Ten years after “Survivor” started, we’ve gotten so used to, and so bored by, reality TV shows turbocharged by 12-step dropouts that it takes new feats of extremism to get our attention. In this age of “Yeah, so?” what would’ve been shocking a few years ago is ho-hum. How did David Letterman end up being hailed as smart and savvy for confessing that he slept with staffers? Does anyone even remember that?

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DateJuly 19, 2010 | by AuthorMarian Salzman | | tagged , , , , , , | CommentPost a Comment
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Friday
Jul162010

Young Love? Or a Made-for-TV Romance? 

This week Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston announced that not only are they back together, but they are also (again) engaged to be married. Unlike most couples, Bristol and Levi didn’t relay the exciting news to their families first. Instead, they landed an Us Weekly cover and told the world.

The news set off a media firestorm, with everyone from CNN to David Letterman reporting. Soon after the announcement, rumors began swirling that the couple’s rekindled relationship was really just a ploy to drum up excitement for a new reality TV show.

Bristol and Levi certainly wouldn’t be the first to use media excitement to land a job. In an age in which celebrity gossip runs rampant on blogs, Facebook and Twitter, C-list and D-list celebrities desperate for the spotlight (and an extra buck) have gotten savvy about personal branding and the free PR opportunities at their fingertips—in other words, they’re working the media to their advantage.

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DateJuly 16, 2010 | by AuthorColleen Cleary | | tagged , , , | CommentPost a Comment
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Monday
Jul122010

The Intern Diaries, Part IV

Who said you can’t use your journalism experience in the field of PR? I had the opportunity to use my reporting skills, à la Robin Roberts, as Marian Salzman called me, for a one-on-one conversation with Marian, president of Euro RSCG Worldwide PR, North America. She got a peek into my Intern Diaries and decided to share her voice for this special entry. I’m sure you will find her words useful.

Q: Could you explain what you meant when you tweeted me “Make plenty of smart noise.”?
A: We like the positive disruption of young minds.

Do you mind elaborating?
We need to have various viewpoints and fewer rules.

Assuming you did that while climbing your way to the top of the industry, how did you build a reputation for yourself as the go-to trend forecaster?
I started off by just being the hardest-working, most curious person I could be and was very very lucky: right place, right time and ultimately smart forecasts. But some of it was humility. I was once a maid and a waitress, so no job was beneath me, and I learned from every role.

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DateJuly 12, 2010 | by AuthorDeAnne Bradley | | tagged , , , , , , | Comment1 Comment
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