January Event Recap

Enhance Your Communications Programs with Podcasts

By Isabela Roselione

Founder and owner of Media Maven, Christina Nicholson, joined FPRA Orlando Thursday Jan. 14, 2021 to share her podcast prowess. Nicholson started her career off as a TV journalist and has experience anchoring, reporting, writing, blogging, and the list goes on. She is an expert at storytelling and has honed in on the craft of podcasts. Nicholson gave the inside scoop on podcasting problems, benefits, and how to get your client on the best podcast.

Podcast Problems  Podcasts have become the new blog, it seems everyone has one. There are over 1.75 million podcasts, 55% (155 million) of individuals in the U. S. have listened to one podcast (Infinite Dial 20) and podcast listenership has grown 37.5% in the last three years. Now, we know there are a million podcasts options with a variety of topics and more and more people are tuning in and subscribing, the options are endless. What could possibly be an issue for a PR practitioner?

• You don’t know which podcast is a good fit for your client.
• You don’t know if a podcast is even “good” and you can’t measure download numbers.

Podcast Solutions

Christina Nicholson recommends starting small with the search for the perfect podcast for your client to be a guest on, and get as specific as possible with subcategories for the topic; afterall, there are over a million podcasts to choose from. Following your gut and using your best judgement to decide if a podcast is “good” is smart; be sure to check reviews and see when it was last published. Now that you have chosen a podcast, the pitch is next and the approach is different than pitching to traditional media. Nicholson recommends connecting with the podcast creators on social media, doing your research and knowing how they want to be pitched is crucial to landing your client as a guest. It is also important to note podcasts sometimes are only posted weekly or monthly so, depending on the topic, your client does not have to be discussing the most up to the minute, relevant information. The importance of media training was noted as your client prepares for the podcast recording. It is also encouraged to have a giveaway and to mention where the audience can connect with your client, whether it be on social media, their website, or the storefront.

Podcast Clout

This research can be time consuming and we don’t all have eager interns to be googling away finding the perfect podcast, laying groundwork by liking posts and tweeting. In addition to starting her company, Media Maven, Nicolson has created a program that aggregates the top podcasts in each category from Apple Podcasts, and allows you to search podcasts by keyword. This time saving program is called Podcast Clout and allows you to automate hours of work into seconds. https://podcastclout.com/

Podcast Takeaways

Christina Nicholson provided practical and relevant advice for students just entering the field and even for the most seasoned PR practitioner. It is important to follow your personal experience when choosing a podcast for your client, but it can be helpful to try new tactics to fit the podcast host’s needs. Nicholson answered questions from the virtual audience and closed out the presentation with a bit of advice if the daunting task of creating your own podcast should call to you: “the best way to grow your podcast is to be a guest on someone else’s [podcast].”

To learn and hear advice from a new perspective is always refreshing. There will be similar professional development events from Orlando’s FPRA chapter and more information about these events can be found on the social media pages and website.

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Quotes Corner

Looking Back at 2020 and to Our Hopes for the New Year

By Monique Mendez

Out with the old, in with the new. Although 2020 swept us into a wave of uncertainty, the world was brought together in an entirely unique way. Our homes became our offices and our friends became boxes on a video call. However, amidst these uncertainties, the public relations community stood alongside each other and supported their fellow PR professionals.

Quotes, the Ad/PR Club at UCF strived to do the same for their student members. The board brainstormed ways to get members involved and educated about the field of PR without leaving their couch, providing a toolkit of resources on the Quotes website. The COVID Resources page offered personal and professional resources to students, ranging from recorded FPRA webinars to online courses and podcasts.

Despite immense changes being implemented across the university, Quotes aimed to create a safe space for students to engage and learn about the PR field virtually. The team hosted virtual events throughout the fall semester, such as Creating a Digital Portfolio and Resume Writing 101. Additionally, the team launched their second annual Virtual Intern Pursuit to match students and employers for internships.

With 2021 already upon us, Quotes is excited for the new year and all the virtual events currently in the planning stages. Also, the team is looking forward to the unique social media campaigns planned with FPRA. One in particular will encourage graduating seniors to join FPRA Orlando as a student-to-professional member once they graduate.

Overall, Quotes will continue engaging members and promoting professional development, networking, and the understanding of public relations. To 2021, a year of growth.

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Quotes has launched a COVID-19 resources page available for all students! It includes detailed resources for finding internships and furthering your professional development. View the resources page here.

Have something to add? Email quoteswebmaster1@gmail.com.

Member PRofile: Michael Lawrence, APR

Title & company: Communications Officer, Seminole County Public Schools (SCPS)

Give a brief explanation of your job: My main role is to serve as the spokesperson for Seminole County Public Schools (SCPS) and handle all media/public relations needs.  In addition, my other responsibilities include supervising our Community Involvement Department and our Communications Team comprised of Graphics, Marketing, Multimedia, and Web staff supporting our schools and district.  For those of you with children in our school-system, I also serve as one of the main voices on your many school district phone calls you probably receive at home throughout the school year.  #SorryNotSorry

How long have you been a member of FPRA and why did you join? I’ve been a member of FPRA for so long I actually don’t quite remember when I started.  I believe I joined after college once I started officially working in the PR industry as a way to network and learn from my fellow peers and professionals.  I’m guessing it’s likely been for approximately 17-19 years.

Can you share with us why you’ve decided to remain an FPRA member? In my opinion, there’s many benefits to being an FPRA Orlando member.  For me, it’s an opportunity to network and learn from my fellow PR practitioners.  Everyone in the Chapter comes with their own unique skillset, knowledge, and experience so, it’s great to be able to reach-out and know you can get help in areas that may not be your forte or bread & butter.  I also really enjoy sitting on the APR panels and assisting with Image Award Judging because I find it serves as a tremendous learning experience seeing how various organizations and/or individuals handled their various PR campaigns.  I always come away from that with a few best-practices or new ideas that I often wish to try myself in future tactics and/or campaigns.  Most of all, FPRA also serves as one big support group.  Only fellow PR practitioners know what we experience in our day-to-day work lives.  We all have similar stories to share and similar craziness we’ve experienced.  I feel like we’re able to lean on each other, laugh, cry and even sympathize together because only we truly know what it’s like to walk in each other’s shoes.

What has been your favorite FPRA event so far? As MANY of my fellow FPRA colleagues probably already know…it’s most-definitely the Image Awards Gala dancing the night away with my fellow PR Practitioners to the beats of the musical group “We Want More” (formerly the Kaj Bros.)!

Tell us about an exciting achievement (personal or professional): My greatest personal achievement hands-down is being a Dad.  However, on the professional side of things, I’d have to say the achievement I’m most proud of and that is the most meaningful/rewarding to me is being a mentor to my many former UCF interns who’ve gone on to have successful careers in the PR-industry and then subsequently watching them shine by paying their experiences and knowledge forward with interns of their own. It gives me great satisfaction to give back and hopefully lend some of my knowledge and experience to those just starting out.  It’s even more fun and surreal when your former interns start hiring your other former interns.  That’s when you know you’ve truly come full-circle and are beginning to quite possibly encroach on 5-degrees of Kevin Bacon status in-regards to UCF PR interns.

What was your first job?:  Technically, my very first job was in high school opening the Target in Oviedo, FL where I started as a Cart-Attendant/Cashier.  But, my first serious full-time professional job after graduation from UCF’s Master’s Program (Mass Comm.) was with the non-profit organization Senior Resource Alliance where I served as the Marketing/Communications Manager.

Fun fact: I’m really into all things Sports, Star Wars, & Punk Rock/Ska Music.  UCF Games, Warped Tours, & chillaxing on the beaches of Scarif are my jam.

Contact Information:

Michael Lawrence, Communications Officer

Seminole County Public Schools (SCPS)

400 E. Lake Mary Blvd.

Sanford, FL 32773

(O):  407.320.0471

(E):  michael_lawrence@scps.k12.fl.us