My eighth week at the OBA

Last week at the OBA, I enjoyed a new experience. I was given the opportunity to work with one of the communications specialists on staff in sending press releases out. The releases I composed regarding the OBA Law Day Contest winners were proofed and ready for release. The OBA Director of Communications requested that the releases be sent out by Friday afternoon, so we began the process of identifying the appropriate publications to contact. The releases were written for each county that had first place, second place or honorable mention recipients. The communications specialist I worked with taught me how to use the Oklahoma Finder Binder to locate newspapers in each county to send the releases to. The releases were then e-mailed to the appropriate contacts at each publication with attached photos of the winners and their work. It was interesting for me to learn the protocol for how the OBA’s public relations staff pitches news releases. It was also interesting to learn about the process of press release distribution and the importance of providing the media with accessible, useful, relevant information. I also learned firsthand how significant e-mail subject lines are when corresponding with reporters.

I’ve enjoyed having the opportunity to research information for press releases and compose them. I feel that I now have well-rounded knowledge of that sector of media relations. It is also nice to be more familiar with the names and locations of various Oklahoman publications.

It came in handy that earlier in the week I was asked to update the OBA’s Finder Binder. I transferred the personal notes of staff members to the new pages of the 2010 edition. It was interesting to see how relationships with media contacts made the reference more useful. I learned how building a rapport with reporters can make publication of a release more likely and can also make the distribution more accurate.

This was also a chance for me to apply textbook and classroom information about public relations ethics to a real world situation. I can understand now how easy it would be resort to inappropriate “bribes” or “favors” in relationships with members of mass media when trying to gain exposure for a client. The most worthy news should gain the most coverage regardless of which source the reporters personally favor the most. Keeping practices professional and ethical ensures that public relations staff work hard to keep their clients in the media forefront as a result of skill and merit.

Last week, I also gained some experience with creating visually favorable layout and design elements of documents. In previous weeks, I drafted the Law Day certificates for Oklahoma students who were acknowledged for their work. Last week, I printed the certificates off on the paper that had been ordered and learned how small details can make a lot of difference in the overall effectiveness of documents.

My seventh week at the OBA

In addition to some tasks I’ve become accustomed to performing as part of my internship at the OBA, I got to learn some new things such as utilizing the news clipping service that the communications department is subscribed to and updating OBA awards archives. As all public relations offices do, the OBA monitors their media hits. A certain communications service e-mails one of the communications specialists on staff each time the OBA is mentioned in a news article and most of the time when a release authored by one of the OBA communications department staff members is published. I learned how to access this service and review the media hits it finds. It’s obviously a good way to measure effectiveness of public relations strategies and it’s also been a great way for me to monitor which of my releases gets picked up. The more releases I write that get published, the more confident I feel in my news writing skills.

The OBA presents annual awards to its members for various achievements such as community involvement and professional accomplishments. The honors are published in the October issue of the OBJ each year and then recorded in a database that keeps track of each award recipient and each member’s honors. I recorded this years honorees. This task was one of the many opportunities for me to learn the value of accuracy in documentation.

I also learned about writing photo cut lines last week. (It was about time!) I can see how this could be a service to reporters who receive electronic releases. This was yet another case of the need for accurate reporting and attention to detail. Names are important and so are readable captions.

A valuable tip I would like to offer fellow aspiring public relations professionals is: make news releases relevant to the public by including names, locations and public-specific references. The OBA Communications Director is kind enough to offer me useful advice when she sees an opportunity, and this tid bit is something that I’ve been able to apply to my work.

media hit

Another one of my mock trial press releases was picked up:

http://www.jenksjournal.com/articles/2010/02/22/news/doc4b830c89095c9267847636.txt

My sixth week at the OBA

Last week, I was in the office on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, as usual, and worked more than 18 hours. I finally recorded my voice mail message for my office phone. I feel so grown up and professional now!

On Monday, I began sorting through all correspondence that had been sent in with announcements to be released in the Bench&Bar Briefs section of the March Oklahoma Bar Journal. The entries always have to be edited for content and length and re-formatted to comply with OBJ and AP style. Then, once I finish editing, I compile them for publication.

The final round of the OBA State Mock Trial Competition was held Tuesday evening in the Bell Courtroom at the OU College of Law and results came in Wednesday morning. The rest of my Wednesday was spent composing press releases announcing the first through eighth place winners. So far, one of my releases has been picked up and can be viewed here:

http://adaeveningnews.com/acsnews/x966922254/Ada-teams-place-2nd-7th-at-state-mock-trial-championship

This is my first published press release!

The results for the Mock Trial Finals are as follows:

1st - Christian Heritage Academy

2nd - Ada High School (White team)

3rd - Clinton High School

4th - Okarche High School

5th - Jenks High School (Red team)

6th - Owasso High School

7th - Ada High School (Maroon team)

8th - Jenks High School (Blue team)

On Friday, my day in the office was spent writing press releases for each county in Oklahoma that had students place in the OBA Law Day art and writing contest. I composed more than 50 releases and turned them in for editing.

I also spent time throughout the week taking care of the usual brochure orders and handling requests for past OBJ articles.