Coffee Break with a PR Pro

On Wednesday morning, I had my first ever coffee date with a PR pro.

@Karenredshoespr was nice enough to spend an hour with me. Here’s what we spoke about… but first let me start out with a little background of how I know her.

I know the Red Shoes PR team indirectly through Twitter and other PR involvement. I also interviewed for an internship at Red Shoes PR at the beginning of summer and have stayed in touch ever since.

We mainly spoke about relationship building and how to become a better student of PR.

I saw some similarities between what a PR professional and a reporter do with their sources.

@Karenredshoespr uses many ways to connect with clients and the media. She actively uses Twitter and Facebook to stay connected. She attends tweetups with other local professionals and makes sure to meet with them outside of work-related gatherings – networking really never stops. I warn you though…she’s a seasoned professional and has been networking with professionals for awhile.

One can easily see that a PR pro must change how they interact with each individual. One person’s idea of a professional gathering is what another may deem unprofessional.

Though it’s great to network and have fun, I suggest following a rule of thumb because we are students…. if you have any questions about whether or not it’s okay to do something, DON’T DO IT! At this point in your career, I suggest to not even try feeling professionals out to determine what’s okay. They’ll most likely respect your decision to be professional.

As students, we could suggest informational coffee dates with professionals and attend their networking sessions. Start meeting people in the profession early!

Now for a little story…

Imagine going to an event feeling like you’ve had a rough workout just before. There I was… basically dripping in sweat because I was so nervous to be in my first networking session. I shook someone’s hand I met…. only to have them not say nice to meet you but instead they wiped their sweat soaked hand on their pants and walked away… and that was just the start of my networking.  Sure, I was probably on the extreme end of things but man was that rough!!!

Since then… I think I’ve become a better student of networking because I’ve had a lot of practice.

You live and learn from your experiences. The only way you’ll get better at networking is if you practice.

It may sound silly but if you feel like you’re not ready to go to a PR networking session… try connecting with other students. Utilize your current network of friends to meet more students in other fields. You may not know it… but this is networking.

@Karenreshoespr also suggested that it’s never too early to start networking in a city or region you’d like to work. There are plenty of tweetups and other opportunities to connect with professionals in those cities.

How do you find them? Use social media tools like Twitter to find out where the professionals are meeting is easy. Check out who PR professionals are following on Twitter. Because of doing that, I was lucky enough to meet @PRsarahevans who is hosting an event in Chicago for PR professionals, bloggers and journalists. All you have to do is find them. These events are there and waiting to be found.

Once again… thank you to Karen for taking time out of her busy day for some coffee.

Thank you for reading and till next time…. start networking!