My transition from intern to full-time account coordinator at Nuffer, Smith, Tucker required much more effort than the average stealthy operation. While I failed to refill the candy dish my first week, I did take away a few important lessons in office warfare. First thing to note is there may be a secret preference in smartphone brands and also their color and what kind of phone cases the office considers as “cool” and “not so cool” like team mascots and battery packs, respectively. I also discovered that Saturday Night Live videos make for great conversation starters when seeking classified information and that I am definitely in for a tricky but hilarious challenge when the next team building retreat rolls around.

While all of these are equally important, my favorite lesson is one I think applies for most new graduates/agents. I realized that for most of us, soon after we are handed our diplomas we move straight into Mission: Find A Job (any job). While this is an admirable assignment, I discovered that the mission I was on had a special target. Not only was I on a search to find a job, I was on my way to finding a company with people who made me want to work harder, learn as much as I can and form relationships that moved beyond, “tell me what to do and I’ll do it.”

Finding a job after graduation is very important, believe me, I know. However, finding a place to learn, grow and prosper was the reason we embarked on this mission in the first place. To all of my current covert agents infiltrating agencies and offices, keep going, work hard but remember your job needs to be just as good a fit for you as you are for it.

Good luck my friends,

Agent Jazmine Allen

P.S. Having the most recent AP Stylebook in the office makes you a prime ally.

Perpetually curious. Always questioning.  Thirsty for knowledge.  Unsatisfied with the status quo.  This is what being an “explorer” means to me. I believe it is a trait developed early on in life, perhaps even innately. On some level, you either got it or you don’t.  At Nuffer, Smith, Tucker, I’d like to think we all “got it.”

Earlier this year, we adopted a new value: Push ourselves, each other, our clients and our profession to explore.  While we finally put pen to paper on this one, the value is one that I believe has always been at the core of NST.

In a dynamic industry, success isn’t possible by resting on your laurels. What worked in the past, may not work in the future. Change is a word we must be comfortable with. More importantly, we must embrace and push for it by continual exploration.

I recently asked our team to tell me what “exploration” means to them. Here’s how they define exploration:

• Moving past the “guide book” to see what else is out there.  Is there a different route that we can take? Is there a new way of tackling a problem that has not been thought of before? Are there new tools we can use to go farther than we have been able to go before?  (Bill Trumpfheller)
• Taking chances and not worrying about outcome because all that matters is the experience/knowledge you will gain from having the courage to take that chance in the first place (Mary Correia-Moreno).
• Learning through experiences, having a desire to know and do more, and being present and aware no matter where we find ourselves (Jazmine Allen).
• Avoiding complacency and constantly innovating; no block-and-tackle tactics (Price Adams).
• Not only learning about the latest trends, technologies and ideas, but also learning (or even re-learning) the basics – including grammar and writing style – that ultimately create the sturdiest foundation on which to grow (Natalie Haack).
• Wondering. Searching … an ambitious drive to find the next great adventure (Michelle Livermore).
• Constantly investigating trends and what others are up to, searching for new techniques and ideas, helping clients see things in new ways, and creating campaigns that help them navigate through the noise (Greg Kershaw).
• It’s about movement. It’s about exploring what I’m not familiar with and using what I’ve discovered to grow and better myself. It’s about having that itch or desire to constantly be doing so and being propelled by the excitement of what exploration can deliver (Krystin Williamson).
• Constantly having your eyes on the horizon, looking forward at what’s to come, and actively planning for the future – even if it’s unknown (Katie Rowland).
• Trying to improve upon the method of solution that I’ve used before and always striving to improve upon my own work using the latest and greatest practices (Aaron Blomberg).
• Not letting the fear of failure prevent you from trying something new and taking a risk. This can apply to going after new business, pitching a new campaign idea to the client, etc. (Rebecca Howe Schmidt).

Reading these thoughts from our team reminds me – once again – what makes Nuffer, Smith, Tucker so special, and why on Monday mornings when others dread going to work, I don’t.  It’s this culture of exploration that unites and drives us.

AT&T Park, San Francisco

The return of baseball season is an exciting time at Nuffer, Smith, Tucker– it’s something to follow, discuss and tease each other about.  It represents hope (although Kerry has expressed “limited optimism” in the Padres management this year) and a renewed excitement in our downtown office, where we have a great view down the third-base line at Petco Park.

If you’ve walked by my desk, it’s not hard to tell I’m a San Francisco Giants fan (hint: you may’ve noticed the “Beard Yourself Like Brian Wilson” poster behind my computer or the Barry Bonds bobblehead on the file cabinet), but above all else, I’m a baseball fan.  I can watch a 0-0 tie going into the 9^th inning of any game and be perfectly happy.  I’m intrigued by matchups, left-handed pitching vs. right-handed hitting, fielders playing close against certain hitters, late inning switches… It’s all fascinating and predicated on the idea of playing to one’s strengths.  Sure, you can put a lineup out there and hope for the best, but good managers are active – they know their competition inside and out, they know who hits better against certain relievers, and they’re thinking several steps ahead for the good of the team.

Public relations done right is a lot like baseball.  It involves analyzing trends, assessing your competition, identifying your strengths and key differentiators, and putting together a solid game plan for success.  We’d be happy to help you think through some of those things for your business and how to best utilize that information to reach your strategic business goals through branding, media relations, online marketing, social media and/or graphic design.  And, if you want to talk baseball, we’d like that too.

“Hitting is fifty percent ‘above the shoulders.’” – Ted Williams  

It’s the announcement that everyone in marketing has been on the edge of their seat waiting for – Facebook Timeline for brands. Recently, a few NSTers were able to sit in on some webinars about the new features.  We had so many notes on the new features that we’ve broken them out into a three-part blog series, starting below with “above the fold” features.

Although the changes affecting brand pages will require us to make a few tweaks to our clients’ pages, overall, we’re excited!  Some of the features are downright cool, like the new cover photo.  Here are a few of the new elements you should be aware of:

• Default landing pages are no more.  Visitors will automatically go to a brand’s wall, or Timeline.  This, along with some of Facebook’s other changes, highlights the importance of posting and engaging with fans regularly.
• Brand cover photo.  Brands now have an 851 x 315-pixel area at the top of the page for a cover photo, which will be public to everyone.  This can be a fun or artsy photo or design, but cannot include:

• Smaller profile pictures.  At 180 x 180 pixels, the profile photo overlaps with the cover photo.  There are some creative ways to have this work with your cover photo, as these brands show, but the profile picture is still a prominent feature when interacting with a brand, so it’s important to have it work by itself too.
• Application changes.  The applications that were previously listed as tabs on the left sidebar will now appear as boxes below the cover photo (see Coca-Cola’s four applications above: Photos, Likes, Home, Your Stories).  However, there are only four spots immediately visible and one will be taken up by photos, which is a static feature.  Therefore, you should design custom icons (110 x 74 pixels) for at least three other tabs that will be visible “above the fold” without clicking to see more.
• Once visitors click on those application boxes, the tabs they see will now also have a larger area (810 pixels wide).  Current tabs (at 520 pixels) will be centered, but you should consider filling the extra space.

What are your thoughts on losing the welcome page option and gaining the cover photo?  Leave us a comment with your thoughts and stay tuned for Part 2 in our 3-part series on the subject.

How many times have you heard “We’ve got to tell our story to the public. We need to make them understand our position. If they could only see the ‘big picture’”? The assumption is that if we can just get our target public to understand, they will do what we want them to do.

But there’s a big flaw in that assumption writes Kerry Tucker and Bill Trumpfheller in the recently released second edition of McGraw-Hill’s “The Handbook of Strategic Public Relations and Integrated Marketing Communications,” edited by Clark Caywood of Northwestern University.

For the most part, people don’t care about an organization’s problems. They’ve got enough of their own. And simply communicating information to obtain a desired behavior rarely works. More than 30 years of research across a wide range of disciplines and issues have shown providing information alone on an issue, product or service will not significantly change the behaviors of a given public.

While people naturally resist change; communications strategies and messages (and tactics) can be organized to increase the odds of breaking through the information clutter we all face daily. They can do so by contrasting existing behavior, facilitating discomfort with existing behavior and offering help in adopting a new action.

Nuffer, Smith, Tucker’s proprietary framework to evaluate communications against behavioral principles is organized around four basic questions (internally, we call this “The Model”):

1. What is the need, concern or interest for the target audience?
2. Is the desired behavior clearly packaged as a credible solution to the need, concern or interest?
3. Have you presented the benefits of action and consequences of inaction to create discomfort for the current behavior?
4. Have you helped the target audience mentally rehearse the desired behavior? Have you included a call to action?

Public relations campaigns systematically strategized, packaged and delivered to target publics with specific, supportive behavioral outcomes stand a much better chance of breaking through today’s clutter and moving the proverbial needle, writes Tucker and Trumpfheller.

Order a copy of the book for your bookshelf.

In December, many publications, analysts, reporters and columnists rush to put together their “top 10,” “best of” or “worst of” lists recapping events in the past year and making predictions for the next. We’re all about lists (Come on, we’re PR people. We can’t help but love concise delivery of a message.), but instead of creating our own, we thought we’d share some of the lists that resonated with us, as well as some views on what to expect in 2012:

The Top 10 Best and Worst Communicators of 2011

http://www.ragan.com/Main/Articles/44113.aspx

Social Networking Lessons of 2011
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/222413

Top 10 Viral Videos of 2011

http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/12/09/the-top-10-viral-videos-of-2011/

Top 7 PR Disasters of 2011

http://www.ragan.com/Main/Articles/Top_7_PR_disasters_of_2011_44046.aspx

Marketing’s Biggest Social Media Blunders of 2011
http://adage.com/article/special-report-book-of-tens-2011/marketing-s-biggest-social-media-blunders-2011/231503/

#PRin2012: 12 Trends That Will Change Public Relations

http://prsay.prsa.org/index.php/2011/12/19/12-trends-for-public-relations-in-2012/

8 Social Media Trends for 2012
http://spinsucks.com/social-media/eight-social-media-trends-for-2012/

5 Things PR Pros can expect in 2012

http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/10255.aspx

We’d love to hear your comments/additions to this list.

As a public relations firm, we’re inherently creative in the work we do. Whether creating a unique brochure, brainstorming new tactical recommendations or developing an unorthodox problem-solving strategy, we all play a part in developing fresh and innovative solutions for our clients.

As Teresa mentioned in a recent blog post, NST recently added a new core value to the way we do business – to not accept the status quo and focus on constant learning and exploration – and creativity is a big part of that.

But, being creative is easier said than done. It’s not necessarily an inherent trait that we do or do not possess, but instead a skill that we can sharpen. I recently stumbled upon an article from Psychology Today that explored this notion of creative thinking. Here are some of my favorite bits and pieces:

•  Believe in your creativity – “Creative people believe they are creative. People who believe they are not creative, are not.”
•  “Creative thinking is work.” And sometimes the results aren’t perfect, or even (gasp) down right bad.
•  “There is no one right answer … Nothing kills creativity faster than self-censorship of ideas…”
• “Expect the experts to be negative.” Beware of the been-there-tried-that mentality.
• “Always approach a problem on its own terms.” Not yours. Leave your own bias off the table.
•  “Don’t get discouraged.”
•  “There’s no such thing as failure,” as long as you learned something from it.

Take a look at the full article, which contains some great anecdotes on how some of the greatest minds in history exhibit these traits.

Recently, I was driving home from a meeting in Los Angeles with a colleague, when she asked me (somewhat out of the blue) what I thought her strengths and weaknesses are.  Put on the spot, I considered her question and it struck me that perhaps one of her biggest strengths was the fact that she was asking me this question at all.

Lao Tzu once said: “He who knows others is wise. He who knows himself is enlightened.” The concept of self awareness – and its relationship to great leadership – was the crux of a recent seminar as part of LEAD San Diego’s 2012 IMPACT class.

“Leadership development is a lifelong journey,” said George Reed, University of San Diego professor, who presented to the LEAD cohort of 60 participants.

Reed offered the class tools to help assess their personality and change leadership style, including the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), which measures psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions, and the Change Style Indicator, which measures preferred styles in approaching and dealing with change.  These are just a few of the tools offered to help leaders become more self aware, and while the results can be interesting, the real value of these tests is not in the results themselves, but in what you do with them.

Reed argues that results shouldn’t be used to describe your personality “type,” but rather results should be used to help guide your actions – even if that makes you uncomfortable.

“Like right-handedness or left-handedness, personality is hard wired … Leaders must work against their preferences all the time,” said Reed.

I walked away knowing that not only am I a “ISTJ” (preferences toward Introversion, Sensing, Thinking and Judging) on the Myers-Briggs scale, but also – and more importantly – I was more self aware and curious about others who I interact with both professionally and personality.  While every assessment and tool has its flaws, each can also provide good insight to help inspire improved leadership, which is a principle at the core of LEAD San Diego.

Updated 10/4.

The public relations industry is constantly evolving, but even with new technologies and a changing media landscape, one tried and true tactic continues to be beneficial: the good old fashion media tour. I’m not talking about satellite media tours (SMTs) where we arrange back-to-back interviews from a studio or on-site location. While SMTs have many benefits — including being able to conduct multiple interviews in one day from one location, thus eliminating travel expenses and the time needed to conduct a tour — I’m referring to the act of traveling with our clients for a series of sit down, face-to-face meetings or on-camera interviews with journalists.  While media tours such as these take a lot of leg work, they are a great opportunity to build invaluable relationships with the media.

NST just wrapped up two such media tours (one in English and one in Spanish) for the Citrus Pest and Disease Prevention Program.  In total, we conducted more than 40 media briefings/interviews throughout the state of California, and while the days can be grueling — often starting as early as 4 a.m. for morning show interviews and ending late after traveling a long distance between two cities — the benefits are worth it. We’ve been conducting media tours for CPDPP for several years, which has resulted in the development great relationships with print, TV and radio outlets throughout the state.

Tips for a successful tour:

• Media training is key – Conducting many interviews in a short time frame can be taxing, even for the most skilled spokesperson. Ensuring a media tour spokesperson is well trained is key to a good tour, and ensures the last interview has just as much energy as the first.
• Know your geography – We often book tours on a tight schedule, so it’s critical to know the areas in which you will be traveling, including the travel time between two cities and alternate routes to get to a destination. If you are traveling through a large city, know the traffic patterns and anticipate delays as much as possible.
• Confirm, then re-confirm interviews – Journalists are busy people, and while an interview may have already been confirmed, it’s always a good idea to re-confirm the day prior to the interview. This will ensure the journalist is ready at the specified time, and the tour stays on schedule.
• Be a resource – Remember that not all interviews will result in an immediate story – and that’s OK. One of the biggest benefits of a media tour building relationships with the media. After getting face time with a spokesperson, reporters are more receptive to important news from the spokesperson’s organization in the future. For example, when we call a reporter who we’ve met with on the CPDPP tour, they make sure and take the call.
• Create a “story in a box” – Including photos, videos, background sheets and news releases in one central location will make sure media contacts have everything they could possibly need for a story. Having all the creative and background elements in place, will make developing a story easier for journalists.
• Get creative – For some clients, we conduct media tours annually, but no media outlet wants to do the same story twice. That means, we have to be creative in our pitches. How can we put a new angle on our story? Are there new interview opportunities we can present? Can we create a hyper-local angle? These are just a few of the questions we should ask ourselves when planning a tour.

With crowded email in-boxes and countless voice mail pitches being left for journalists, media tours such as the one described above can help set brands and organizations apart by creating relationships that are often more easily fostered via face-to-face meetings.

Since our business is based primarily on relationships, the NST staff periodically invites local reporters and media representatives to our offices for what we’ve dubbed, Brown Bag Lunches.  It’s an informal, lunchtime roundtable discussion (with a strict no pitching rule – this is supposed to be educational, not a way to corner a poor unsuspecting journalist) to help us better understand the needs of local media outlets and learn how to work better together.

Touring one of the control rooms, where live and satellite feeds are brought into the station.

Getting a firsthand look at the 10News newsroom.

The conversation can cover a myriad of topics, including how outlets like to receive story ideas, best times to reach reporters, a clearer understanding of an outlet’s editorial philosophy, how story decisions are made and specific areas of interest.

A few weeks ago, after approaching San Diego’s ABC affiliate KGTV, we received an invite to come to the studio and sit down with assignment editor Brad McClellan. A small group of NSTers headed to the 10 News Studio, and after a thorough tour (including editing bays, control room, studio and meeting rooms), we sat down for a conversation with Brad to learn more about the station and how we as NST can help the station provide relevant news to their viewers.

We had a very engaging dialog and while I won’t spill all the top secret tips (psst, the best time to call the assignment desk is between 1 and 2 p.m.), we all came away with a deeper understanding of the station’s editorial philosophy and what opportunities are available for our clients.

A big thank you to Brad for taking the time to chat with us, as we know he had a good 8,000 email messages (no joke) to attend to after his recent week-long vacation.