The sidewalks were slushy, the wind a little blustery, and there was water dripping from all the tall buildings' rooftops like a spontaneous, rain storm along most of the downtown Saint Paul city blocks.
What a wonderful day for a walk to the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (SPCO) headquarters about three blocks away from McNally.
Regardless of the weather, or the slushy conditions of the sidewalks, it wasn't a bad walk at all. The SPCO-HQ, we'll call it, is located on the third floor of the Hamm building. We went there to meet with Communications Manager Kelly Belich to discuss press releases.
My experience in communications is little but steadily growing and what I have and am currently working on tends to seriously bring the geek out in me. I absolutely love designing press kits and writing press releases. So, needless to say, this little Jenna was excited.
Anyhow, Kelly gave us a lot of really great examples of press releases she has put together for the SPCO and also gave a ton of fantastic tips to creating our own press releases. Not only was she a good, clear speaker (crazy, huh? since she's a professional communicator and everything...) but she was realistic about the things to include and what not to include.
With the growing necessity and reliance of the internet, the communications world is moving faster and faster. That being said, a lot of those traditional communication standards are not only no longer valid, but tend to be...well, annoying to those receiving the communication. So, it was nice to hear the new, more acceptable layouts for press releases rather than the same formula press releases that have been the standard for decades.
The timing of this particular trip could not have been any more perfect. As most people know, I am the publicist for Covalent Records, the new student run record label out of McNally Smith College. I went into this position with virtually nothing but a journalistic background, dealing exclusively with band and concert reviews and articles about upcoming events, shows and concerts around my hometown area. Since my initial involvement with Covalent, however, I've been asked to do more than just writing and I love getting out of my "communications comfort bubble" and really diving into the PR world.
I guess you could say that I had a really great time learning all about press releases and getting those press release tips from Kelly. I'm not afraid to admit that I am more than excited to apply these new ideas and tips to my own current projects in and outside of school.
PS
How cool is the SPCO logo, by the way?
1 comment:
Nice review of our site visit to the SPCO, Jenna--I almost felt like I was there ;-)
Anyway, I agree that Kelly did a great job and really getting into the nitty gritty of the press release biz, in ways that should help all of us in getting our work published.
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