Interview with Phil Gomes
Dear PR & Communication students,
I’ve been saving the interview I did with Phil Gomes for the beginning of the semester, when you’re either more motivated to listen or you’ll listen because you need some motivation.
Phil Gomes, (@philgomes) is vice president of the me2revolution group within Edelman Public Relations. I interviewed him in November 2007 and asked him how you can succeed. One of Phil’s most interesting ideas is that of future-proofing your education – learning things that will still be useful in 10, 15, or 20 years from now. I think both students and educators will find this interview informative and motivational. Enjoy and let me know: How are you future-proofing your or your students’ education?
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Social media and marketing
Shel Israel explains it beautifully:
The essence of social media is that it is humans. Humans connect to humans and they form communities. They own their communities, brands don’t. The perspective of traditional marketing is to take a message and find delivery channels to inseminate into people’s foreheads. This is not social. Social is for a marketing executive to start a blog and ask people why they hate his marketing efforts–then listen–really listen to what people say the way Dell has done and a few others are trying to do.
I can’t wait to share this quote with my PR students. I love it because it explains something that I’ve been thinking about… what happens to cultures and communities when corporate interests intervene (or try to own communities/conversations). This quote explains that one of the things that happens is that the conversation loses its humanity and authenticity. It becomes hollow. It ends.
Silly, what comes to mind is Suze Orman’s line: “People first, then money, then things.” – what a good lesson to teach my PR students!
Related post: The only real social networks are personal ones
Cover Letters for PR job applications
Students often ask me about how to write a cover letter, so I thought I’d compile some tips & info:
- Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) has great resources about the cover letter writing process. Scroll halfway down the page to get to them.
- Advice and sample letters from the Career Center at Virgina Tech
- Clemson’s own Michelin Career Center has resources on resume writing. You can also make an appointment to have your resume critiqued.
A word of advice for students:
- don’t ask professors how to write a cover letter. There’s so much information out there, show me you can teach yourself. You’ll ask me later to write a recommendation letter, and all I’ll be able to think about is how you couldn’t figure out something as simple as how to write a cover letter…
- it’s OK to make an appointment and ask a trusted professor to look over your letter.
- do make an appointment with Career Services and ask them to critique your resume and cover letter. They’re much more tuned in to the market than professors.
For faculty: here’s a guide on how to write a letter of recommendation.