There are some lessons even the most diligent of students can’t learn from the best of instructors. Only seven months ago, I was still a student. In June, I began my internship at Buchanan PR, where I have learned crucial skills to set the framework for career success. The following are the surprising but useful PR lessons that my experience at Buchanan PR has taught me:
It was sometime in elementary school—when calculators were unjustly banned from use during tests—that I decided to break up with long division and started serious relationships with reading, writing, and art (we’re even Facebook-official).
When high school and college rolled around, I decided I didn’t want to starve as an artist later in life, so I began to pursue writing. Seven failed novel attempts later, I discovered public relations and immediately felt at home.
Fast-forward to this past December, when I began seeking a summer internship. Googling “public relations + Philadelphia” produced more results than any human could possibly wade through, so I narrowed it down and applied only to the firms that seemed human, had a great social media presence and whose websites were beautifully designed. Hello, Buchanan PR.
Search engine optimization (SEO) determines where and how businesses rank on search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo. As the competition for online real estate continues to heat up, B2B and B2C marketers have planned to increase their SEO budgets by 43 percent and 45 percent, respectively.
With marketing departments increasingly seeing more value in digital services, PR professionals must understand how to best incorporate SEO tactics into their service offerings.
By Emily DiTomo & Emily Geesaman
Last week, representatives from Buchanan PR had the opportunity to attend a PRSA Philadelphia seminar on “The Principles of Measurement: Best Practices and Real-Life Case Studies.” Presented by Ketchum Global Research & Analytics’ Caroline Eichman and Mary Elizabeth Germaine, the event focused on the seminal question for all PR pros: How can we successfully apply the principles of measurement to public relations, and in turn demonstrate quantifiable ROI for what we do?
For the past six weeks, I have had the honor of participating in the annual Nancy Bacher Long PR Institute, PRSA Philly’s intensive training program for junior-level public relations practitioners. Participants are split into mock agency teams that compete to create a comprehensive communications plan for a local nonprofit.
I am not a good flyer. But when your daughter is spending a semester abroad in London, you have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the city with a personal travel guide, so my husband and I recently bit the bullet and climbed on an airplane to fly over the pond. We had a great time for five days, and then it was time to come home.
As an avid viewer of Mad Men, I have an ongoing love-hate relationship with the hit series’ main character, Don Draper. One episode I’m critical of his womanizing, demoralizing behavior and the next I’m in admiration of his creativity and uncanny ability to command a situation. 
This intended roller-coaster effect has left me drawing parallels between back-in-the-day and modern-day techniques of advertising and PR.
When family members and friends asked me what I would be doing after graduating from Franklin & Marshall College in December, it was with a great deal of trepidation that I shared my plans: “I have an internship.” The title “intern” often conjures up images of coffee runs, copy duty and menial work in general. 
But, luckily, my internship at Buchanan Public Relations shattered all previously held notions about the insignificance of interns, and it is with pride that I look back on my past four months here.
Last weekend, I traveled to the Waldorf Astoria Orlando for the wedding of one of my closest childhood friends. I had booked round-trip transportation to and from the airport and, when my return shuttle never arrived, I immediately assumed I’d be on my own. After briefly explaining my situation to the hotel concierge, she stepped out from behind the desk, whispered something to a bellhop and – in a matter of minutes – something amazing 
happened.
Another senseless tragedy. Another brand lacking compassion.
More people use Twitter today than ever before, making it the place to share breaking news. Twitter’s reach is especially evident during times of crisis, when many of its 200 million users flood the network with much-needed information, real-time updates, positive thoughts and prayers.
But without fail, it seems every major tragedy in the last year has been followed by an insensitive tweet from a brand trying to use the event to their gain. And also without fail, this strategy backfires – each and every time – in the form of a social media crisis followed by negative press, a tarnished image and lost customers, not to mention even more upset for the families and friends of the victims.
