In The Spirit of HAPPO: Get The Scoop on Tom O’Keefe

What is HAPPO? Co-founded by Arik Hanson and Valerie Simon, Help A PR Pro Out [HAPPO] started in February 2010 and developed into a social media movement to help connect out-of-work PR pros (or soon to be job seekers) with employers to build relationships and network. Use the hashtag #HAPPO or follow @HelpAPRProOut on Twitter, or check out their Facebook fan page or LinkedIn group. Today, I am happy to let my friend, Tom O’Keefe, take over my blog in the spirit of HAPPO.  He holds a B.S. in Communications with a Business minor from Villanova University and is currently teaching through the Jesuit Voluneteer Corps until August 2010.  In the short time I’ve known Tom, I can tell you that he will be an incredible asset to any Public Relations agency.  Don’t believe me?  See for yourselves below.

The Bare Bones

Name: Tom O’Keefe
PR Experience: Buchanan Public Relations Intern (September 2008 to April 2009). Brodeur Partners Business to Business Team Intern (May 2008 to August 2008).
Position Sought: Entry-level public relations, marketing, and/or social media.
Where: Baltimore, Boston, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, New York.
When: September 2010.
Education: Villanova University. B.S., Communication. General Business Minor.
E-mail: TomOKeefe1 [at] gmail.com
Twitter: @TomOKeefe1
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/tomokeefe1

The Meat and Potatoes

Hello! My name is Tom O’Keefe and I would be a great addition to your public relations team. I am a diligent, reliable, and outgoing recent graduate with internship experience in business-to-business, law, health care, technology, and financial public relations. I am a critical thinker and a problem solver who enjoys interacting with others to reach common goals.

Since October of 2008, when I first joined Twitter, I have gained a solid understanding of social media through direct participation and client monitoring. In the changing world of public relations, I am constantly reading, learning, and exploring in order to attain a better understanding of the many tools available to help clients. I am eager to capitalize on these tools in my first full-time public relations job.

I have had two fantastic public relations internships. Most recently, at Buchanan Public Relations, a small agency in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, I was able to write press materials, help plan events, and explore social media for client implementation. With Buchanan, I gained the valuable hands-on experience needed to enter into the public relations field, while working with a dynamic team of professionals and executives.

Previous to working with Buchanan Public Relations, I interned with the Business-to-Business Team at Brooder Partners. There, I learned the “ropes” of public relations. I analyzed editorial opportunities, created media lists and clip books, and pitched media members for clients. It was my internship with Brodeur Partners that exposed me to the world of public relations and convinced me that it was the right profession for me.

Currently, and ending in August, I am completing a year of post-graduate service with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps as a teaching assistant for a high school in Baltimore, Maryland. As a teacher, I have been able to work on relevant public relations skills such as clear and effective communication, speaking to groups, facilitating conversation, handling crisis situations, thinking on my feet, and, most of all, patience and flexibity. After teaching for a year, I am confident that I can handle most any situation thrown my way.

Now, I am hoping to gain employment with a dynamic and fun public relations team with room for growth beginning in September 2010. Though I am open to other places, I am actively searching in Baltimore, Boston, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, and New York City.

With my various experiences, always-positive attitude, and passion for public relations and social media, I can be a valuable part of your public relations team, helping your clients to achieve the results they need.

I welcome you to e-mail me (TomOKeefe1 [at] gmail.com), follow me on Twitter (@TomOKeefe1), connect with me on LinkedIn, or read my volunteer blog. I look forward to hearing from you!

[A special thanks to Christa for offering her blog as a space for this. It means a lot, Christa! Thank you!]

The Fine Line Between Persistence & Just Plain Annoying

You know that feeling.  When someone is being lazy, not getting back to you, making you wait around, but you don’t want to wait anymore?  You want to settle things for yourself, or at least help them along?

Image from Flickr.com

That’s where persistence comes in. Persistence is a tricky thing.  Something you need to work on and fine tune.  Why?  Because if you don’t, you can come across as annoying.  No one wants to be annoying, whether you’re exercising persistence in your personal or professional life.

There is also the fine line between persistence and giving up.  Some things are worth your energy, some are not.  You have to pick your battles.  However, once you’ve chosen the battle, let the persistence begin.  Here are some things I’ve learned in recent professional and personal issues of picking my battles and not giving up.

Persist Unto Others As You Would Like To Be Persisted To
No one wants to be annoyed.  So when you’re deciding how much to be in contact, say, about a recent job application, put yourself in their shoes.  Would you like a 20-something emailing you EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. about the status of a current resume submission?  I don’t think so.  Of course it depends on the situation, but I limited myself to one email a week when I was applying for jobs.  Enough to keep yourself noticed and on the employer’s minds, yet spaced out enough that your email isn’t looked at then sighed heavily at.

Once, Twice, Three Times and Still No Luck? Take Matters Into Your Own Hands
Let’s use a scenario that happens all the time in the work place- you’re working on a project, with strict deadlines, and others involved aren’t responding to your emails about the job.  Everyone experiences this at least once in their professional life.  But these are the times to be persistent- make things happen for yourself, so you can say you did everything to get this job done.  Persistence is a great tool to help advance yourself professionally…just like risk taking, at least you can say you held up your end and did everything you could in this situation.

Know When To Raise The White Flags
Half of being persistent is knowing which situations are worth the effort.  Is a friend- someone you used to be very close with and you’ve known for a long time- being standoff-ish all of a sudden?  Not returning your calls?  Ignoring your Facebook messages?  Feeling hopeless and ignored?  Might be time to surrender and let this one go.  You are clearly not a priority for this person, so why should they be one of yours?  Spend your time and energy with people who matter and, more importantly, treat you the way you treat them.  [And more often than not, if they are truly a good friend, they'll realize they're being a jerk and come back to you.]

What does persistence mean to you?  Do you exercise persistence more in the work place or in your personal life?  What is your fine line between persistence and annoyance?

Some HAPPO-ning Things Go On Through Twitter

Can we talk about how amazing social media is for networking with other professionals in your industry?

On Friday, February 19, the PR pros of the Twitterverse came together for an event called Help A PR Pro Out (HAPPO).  PR pros from around the country used the hastag #HAPPO included in their tweets to alert job seekers about great new opportunities.  When a community as large as the PR industry comes together to help out others, it really brings out the good in everyone and makes us feel that much closer.  As lucky as I am to have a job right now, I couldn’t help but follow the HAPPO-ness going on and participate as much as I could.  There are some preliminary feedback about how the effort went for PR pros all over the place, and the numbers to me are astonishing (information from Examiner.com):

• 1218 fans on the HAPPO Facebook Fan page
• 10,000 mentions of HAPPO between February 5 and February 20
• The HAPPO blog has (so far) 18,456 views, including 5,194 on February 19!

So, if you are looking for employment, here is my advice to you. Get on Twitter. Start networking with professionals in your industry! When used correctly, Twitter is a great way to connect with other people in your field, display your work, and find job opportunities in your metropolitan area.

I mean, what do you have to lose?

Blah, blah, blah

I really do have a lot to say. According to my mother, that is. NYTimes was the first app I downloaded to my iPhone a year ago, CNN.com is my homepage. And of course, I scan the local newspaper every morning when I get into work.

Combine that with my increasing obsession and fascination with social media and you’ve got yourself a mouth that won’t stop running.

So here I am, with blog #2 and a whole new perspective…on everything. I recently started working full-time at a non-profit organization in Central New Jersey as the Communications Assistant there, and my boss and I sure have a lot to talk about other than social justice and Quark files. However, when I get home to my family, including an 11 year old boy playing the role of “brother,” the fun stops there. Needing another outlet for my word vomit (thanks, LiLo), I turned back to blogging. Let’s see how successful I am this time around.

Some food for thought: Ruder Finn UK’s Laura Strong wrote a post regarding social networking and partnerships between those sites, most recently LinkedIn and Twitter. More specifically, she mentioned three guidelines which I believe should become the “Golden Rules of Status Updating”:

Don’t be rude or abusive about people, projects or a company.
Don’t post rumours or revelations – Twitter never forgets.
Think before you type – some things are better left private.

How’s that for a little cerebral snack? As a recent college graduate (May 2009 represent!), keeping my social networks as clear and censored as possible was my number 1 goal while job hunting, and still is. The lines between audiences with regards to Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are slowly blurring and while others see each audience for each site as the same, I do not. I think it’s only a matter of time before you crash and burn if you do.

Agree, disagree, or feel neutral? Dish it out here and give me something else to talk about.