Barkley Tour in Kansas City

In a previous post, I discussed some things I learned at Kansas City's PRSSA Day that Doug and I attended earlier this month. I also wanted to share about another element of our great day: our agency tour at Barkley.

Each school was offered the opportunity to tour a public relations agency in Kansas City. Doug and I went with some other schools to tour Barkley, an integrated advertising agency in KC.

As soon as I walked into the doors, I felt a creative rush of energy. I felt as if Sterling-Cooper, from the television show Man Men, was just transformed before my eyes and brought into the 21st century.

All of the office was open and clean with random bursts of color throughout the floor. The space encouraged collaborative work and a spirit of creativity with its nearly 250 employees. The entire office was themed around the Barkley rocket, with planet named meeting rooms, and a real rocket ride on the third floor. I loved seeing the inspirational quotes all the walls throughout the office with the theme: "ADD GOOD. SHAKE WELL."

One of the major benefits of agency public relations was clear after this tour: freedom. With the constant strife to impress clients, creativity and fresh ideas are prized. Working within an organization can sometimes put restrictions on your creativity because of tradition and organizational culture. That is not the case of an agency's culture. An organization comes to an agency because what they are doing is not working or because they need a new perspective.

If you are a creative person who loves to collaborate, an atmosphere like at Barkley would suit you well. Doug and I both made some connections to a couple Barkley employees if you are ever interested in learning more about the agency world. You can also check out Barkley's website, Twitter and Facebook page.

Bethany Parry—Vice President: Bethany is a senior at Missouri State University studying Public Relations and Spanish. As Vice President, she promotes professional development, manages communications, and supports the president in anyway needed. You can contact her at Bethany08@live.missouristate.edu or follow her on Twitter at @bparry08.

The 2 Best Ways to Prepare for a Career in PR

This past weekend, Doug and I had the privilege of attending the Kansas City PRSSA Day presented by the greater Kansas City area Chapter of PRSA. Throughout the day, there were two common themes--not social media and not internships.

Every panel, every speaker and every professional advised students to do two simple things:

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No matter what new shiny technology comes our way, the basis of the public relations profession is writing. Take every chance you can to hone in your writing skills. Allow your work to be torn to shreds and listen humbly to your professors and mentors as they give advice. Practice all types of writing because the best way to improve your writing is to write--all the time.

This is one benefit to blogging. It gives you a outline to write and present your writing to an audience online to be critiqued and praised. Writing every day is a good habit to get into. If you are not a good writer, make a plan on how to become a better one.

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Another way to improve your writing is to read everything you can get your hands on: classical literature, the newspaper, modern novels, books about the industry, etc. It does not matter what you read as long as you get away from the computer screen for a little while. Reading is a way to learn from other authors, broaden your vocabulary and develop a writing style. The best writers are better readers.

Reading also helps inform you about the world around you. A lot of public relations involves interacting with people, which means small talk is key. Jersey Shore may not always be the best conversation to have in the limo with a client your parent's age. If you are up to date on the news and have a general sense of classic literature, you have a wealth of sophisticated topics to choose from.

One book to put on your reading list from the Kansas City conference is "Brains on Fire". One of the co-authors, Spike Jones, spoke at PRSSA Day. Check out my blog to read a summary of his presentation.

Obviously, there is much more to public relations than reading and writing; however, it is a great place to start. 

Bethany Parry—Vice President: Bethany is a senior at Missouri State University studying Public Relations and Spanish. As Vice President, she promotes professional development, manages communications, and supports the president in anyway needed. You can contact her at Bethany08@live.missouristate.edu or follow her on Twitter at@bparry08.