Interview with Andrew Smith, Director at escherman

This week for my Interview Series, we have Andrew Smith, Director at escherman, talk about his career path, current role, changes he’s seen in the PR industry over the years and his thoughts on the future of PR.

1. Before working in PR, you spent a couple of years working as a Deputy News Editor at a weekly UK publishing trade title. Can you talk about your experience working there and why you decided to enter the PR industry afterwards?

I started life as an editorial assistant on the Retail Newsagent Tobacconist and Confectioner in September 1985. In spite of appearances, this was an excellent training ground in journalism.

One of my former predecessors in this role at the magazine – Mark Haysom – went on to become Chief Executive of Trinity Group Newspapers  and one of the most powerful people in British newspaper publishing.

May 7, 2013August 23, 2018 by haowordpress Categories: public relationsTags: career path, escherman, interview, linkedin, public relations Leave a comment

Interview with Mandi Bateson, Head of Social at Mindshare

This week we have Mandi Bateson, Head of Social at Mindshare, discussing her career path, her creative process for coming up and executing ideas, technology trends and skills that are becoming increasingly important for marketers.

1. To kick things off, can you tell us a little about yourself and provide a quick overview of your career to date?

I started working as a marketing and events coordinator during a 2 year stint in England in the early 00s. After a few years working in a multitude of B2B marketing communications roles, I was adamant that I would a) never specialise and b) never work for an agency. And yet here I am, loving agency life and in one of the more niche marketing areas in the industry.

April 28, 2013August 23, 2018 by haowordpress Categories: public relationsTags: interview, linkedin, mindshare, public relations, social media 1 Comment

Interview with Ishtar Schneider, Senior Account Executive at Palin Communications

This week we have Ishtar Schneider, Senior Account Executive at healthcare PR agency Palin Communications, talking about her career path, working at Palin, her thoughts on company blogs and emerging PR trends and how she keeps up-to-date with all the news out there.

1. Prior to Palin Communications, you worked in a range of roles — from interning at Edelman to community management to media relations assistant — can you give us a quick overview of your past positions?

Haha well there is a fair chunk, I’m one of those people who always likes to be busy. I worked three jobs while doing Uni full time. One of those was as a media relations assistant for my own school – University of San Francisco. I was lucky enough to be hired into that job when I was only a sophomore so I was able to learn a lot through my 3 years there. It was basically entry level in-house PR experience and I got a really great base for my career in that job.

April 2, 2013August 23, 2018 by haowordpress Categories: public relationsTags: healthcare, interview, linkedin, public relations 1 Comment

Interview with Dan Fonseca, Content Creation Specialist at FirstGiving

This week for my Interview Series, we have Dan Fonseca, Content Creation Specialist at FirstGiving. I had previously interviewed Dan back in June 2011 when he was still completing his degree. This time around, Dan discusses what’s happened since our last interview, his role at FirstGiving, his thoughts on content marketing and more.

1. When we had our last interview in June 2011 you were completing your degree and working at HypeGenius – what’s happened since that interview?

Oh woah, a ton! Well for one thing, I finished up university in December of 2012. I graduated from Northeastern University with a B.A. in Mass Media Communications and minors in Music Industry and Business Administration.

It still feels weird being done but I’m getting used to it. I wake up everyday feeling like I’m 13 and  realize I’m actually 23 with a job and bills to pay. I guess I’m a “real” person now.

March 26, 2013August 23, 2018 by haowordpress Categories: InterviewTags: content, interview, linkedin 1 Comment

Interview with Wai Chim, Writer & Digital Content Specialist

This week for my Interview Series, we have Wai Chim, a digital content specialist and published author.

With her experience as Head of Content at digital marketing agency, Switched On Media, Wai had a lot of interesting things to say about content marketing and strategy as well as some of the emerging trends in the industry.

1. First of all, can you give us a bit of background on yourself and your career path to date?

I’m originally from New York City and have been living in Australia for over six years.

After graduating from university in the US, I took some time off to teach English in Japan and then completed a post-grad degree in Creative Writing at the University of Sydney.

I always knew I wanted to write and after I finished my graduate degree, I landed a job working for a small environmental publication producing quarterly magazines.

February 10, 2013August 23, 2018 by haowordpress Categories: Content MarketingTags: content, interview, linkedin Leave a comment

Interview with Ross Simmonds, Digital Strategist at Colour

This week for my Interview Series, we have Ross Simmonds a Digital Strategist at marketing and advertising firm, Colour. Ross has had extensive experience working in the digital / social media industry and provides some great insights into a lot of content-related topics.

1. To start off, can you tell us a little about yourself and your career path to date?

Definitely. Well, I’m passionate about a lot of things. Whether it’s sports, technology, hip-hop, social media, camping or super heroes – I’ve got a long list of interests. Of all these things I’d say technology and being outdoors doing new things are where my true passions lie. My passion for these things developed along two very different paths in my career. I fell in love with the outdoors while working as a camp counselor and fell in love with technology when I was kid trying to hack into the back end of video games to customize the games to my liking.

December 8, 2012August 23, 2018 by haowordpress Categories: Content MarketingTags: content, digital strategist, interview, linkedin Leave a comment

Interview with Johnny La, Technical Analyst at Fairfax Media

This week I thought I’d branch out beyond the marketing and PR sector and interview my mate Johnny La who works as a Technical Support Analyst at Fairfax Media.

At first the heavy technical language on his LinkedIn profile had me scratching my head for a while and I ended up sending a few emails over asking him to clarify what it is he actually does Fairfax.

But as you’ll see, we got there in the end. Read on to find out about Johnny’s career path, his highlight role to date and his observations on trends in the IT industry.

1. I was taking a look at your LinkedIn profile and noticed that you’ve worked in quite a range of industries – Department of Defence, Marsh & McLennan, Tabcorp – can you tell us a little about your career path to date?

This is actually quite a funny one, as I actually planned to get into more of a technical role. As part of my IT degree, I completed a networking sub-major, but never embraced that side of IT. IT tends to be like that, you usually end up somewhere different compared to what you have planned.

November 22, 2012August 23, 2018 by haowordpress Categories: careerTags: IT, linkedin, technical analyst 1 Comment

Interview with Edward M. Bury, Strategic PR & Integrated Marketing Communications Consultant.

This week for my Interview Series, we have Edward M. Bury, a strategic public relations and integrated marketing communications consultant based in Chicago. With extensive experience in the marketing, PR and journalism sector, Edward had a lot to share, especially about his career path, his stint as a journalist and why blogging is important for business.

1. You’ve been in the marketing and communications industry for over 30 years – can you tell us a little about your career path?

Upon graduation at Illinois State University with a degree in English, my goal was to land a position in journalism. It’s all I ever wanted to do. Fortunately, I received a referral from my Scoutmaster to an advertising executive at the Chicago Tribune. He referred me to an editor at the City News Bureau.  I secured an interview and was offered a job starting at $100 per week. This was January of 1977.  I was thrilled.

November 12, 2012August 23, 2018 by haowordpress Categories: public relationsTags: linkedin, public relations 3 Comments

Public Relations: What are the differences between working in-house and at an agency?

If you’re currently not on the Q&A website, Quora, I recommend you create an account and start participating, now! Ever since I joined, the only other website I’ve spent more time on is reddit – it’s a great place to learn about new things and connect with interesting people. A while back I posted up the question – “What are the differences between working in-house and at an agency?” – because I was interested in learning about how the two differed.  

October 25, 2012August 23, 2018 by haowordpress Categories: public relationsTags: agency, in-house, linkedin, public relations 3 Comments

Interview with Andrew Tran, Social Media Specialist at Vodafone Australia

This week for my Interview Series, we have Andrew Tran, a Social Media Specialist from Vodafone Australia, who has had a ton of experience working with online platforms, managing communities and running social media channels.

Andrew also manages his own blog where he writes about social media and how brands can incorporate it into their business objectives. For this interview, Andrew talks about his career path, his current role at Vodafone, blogging for business and the evolution of content creators. Enjoy!

1. You’ve worked in a lot of interesting roles – community producer, sales specialist, social media producer – can you tell us a little about your career path? How sort of steps did you take to end up where you are now?

Starting from sales I got my break working in eCommerce which gave me a good platform to learn a bit of online sales through SEO and some analytical exposure as well.

After 3 Mobile merged with Vodafone, I was given an opportunity to broaden my skill set in digital with, the intention to come back to the social media realm.

October 8, 2012August 23, 2018 by haowordpress Categories: public relationsTags: interview, linkedin, public relations, social media Leave a comment