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B&T > Media > PRIA Relaunches Mentoring Program With 15 Top Industry Heavyweights
Media

PRIA Relaunches Mentoring Program With 15 Top Industry Heavyweights

Neil OSullivan MPRIA 2
Published on: 25th November 2015 at 10:45 AM
Neil OSullivan MPRIA 2
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On Wednesday, 18 November 2015, The PR industry was bolstered by the relaunch of the Public Relations Institute of Australia’s (PRIA) Mentor Program in New South Wales.

The program boasts 15 senior PR leaders including Ava Lawler (managing director, Weber Shandwick); Jackie Crossman (CEO, Crossman Communications); Jörn Sanda (head of insights, PPR); Lynnette Edmonds (talent director, Edelman) and experts from CBD and regional in-house and consultancy communicators.

The relaunch was hosted at the wonderfully creative surrounds of HSPR (Hausmann Group) based in Paddington, Sydney. Program participants on the night travelled from across the state to be there and those absent were introduced via video, a la Big Brother.

The night had a speed-dating feel with prospective mentors and mentees each given three minute bursts to get to know one another and explain what they wanted to achieve from the program. The next step for the Mentor Program – supported by PRIA’s New Emerging Practitioner Group (NEPG) – is to pair participants before commencing their official six-month commitment from January – June 2016.

Ishtar Schneider, PRIA NSW NEPG Chair, stated, “A mentor relationship can be invaluable for practitioners at any level. The communication industry is constantly evolving and the program will provide a great way for PRIA members to fine-tune their skills and knowledge to meet each new challenge (both personally and professionally) with confidence.”

“I’m thrilled to see such support for the re-launch of the program and we hope to make it bigger and better in 2016. We hope this will become a cornerstone program in PRIA’s professional development offerings in the future,” said Schneider.

Jackie Crossman, PRIA Fellow, CEO, Crossman Communications, said, “One of the important aspects of being part of any industry is the opportunity to be able to give back. I am humbled to be one of the 15 mentors participating in PRIA’s relaunch of the Mentor Program and I am excited about the prospect of working with one of the talented professionals we had in the room on the night.”

When questioned on the program and why he was involved, Peter Baker, PRIA Life Fellow, BakerPR, said, “PRIA’s newly introduced Mentoring Program has the potential to enhance the professionalism of many younger people entering the industry and some older practitioners who feel they need some extra or alternative advice on their career.

“Mentorship is with people who have, in some cases, decades of experience across a wide range of areas, from issues and crisis management, government and media relations and the drafting of strategies to the best way to ‘cold call’ a potential client, how to present ideas to a current client and how use social media to advantage,” he explained. “As a Mentor and past Golden Target winner, I aim to pass on as much of my knowledge as possible, by suggesting the best way to approach tasks and also how not to do things, based on my experiences.”

Neil O’Sullivan, national marketing and communication manager, PRIA, concluded, “It is fantastic to see the PRIA Mentor Program back up and running. We strongly believe that its reincarnation would be a huge offering from 2016 onwards. Mentoring is such a powerful aspect of professional development and it can be the difference in assisting a professional to move onto the next stage of their career. It is also humbling to see some of the biggest PR names in the business participate in the program, their experience and learnings are priceless. Our inaugural participants are very lucky.”

 

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By Neil OSullivan MPRIA 2
PR is notorious for not PR'ing itself, so let me tell you my story and why I'm passionate about communicating stories and impacting social change. My journey started off - like most - with an internship where I was able to move internally into a permanent role. After four fantastic years working to enhance the lives of people with an intellectual disability, I made the best decision of my life to come to Australia.Since then I have in some amazing brand cultures; Special Olympics Australia, Oxfam Australia, and the Public Relations Institute of Australia. Leading marketing and communications activities is all about storytelling, and delivering your message through dynamic strategies to achieve strategic outcomes. My marcomms skills have transferred across various industries; sport, NFP, NGO, PR, industry bodies and membership organisations. What are my USPs? • Exemplary knowledge of social; strategy, customer engagement, brand storytelling, personas, advertising, marketing and events; • Direct management in social; community management, monitoring, social listening, content calendars, content creation (using tools like Piktochart and Hootsuite) monitoring posts and preparing analytical reports. • Managed multiple small and medium sized teams as well as various national volunteer councils and committees. Wealth of experience on variety of boards; • Marcomms expertise; copywriting, blogging, press coverage, media relations, social, video production, website management, CRM system management, EDMs and freelance ghost-writing; • Come with a creative eye with experience across creative design; • A strategic thinker, with experience as a 2IC role; and • History of continual professional development across social, content, leadership, strategic and media relations. ★ Additional specialties: internal/external communications, sponsorship and relationship management, thought leadership, stakeholder and community engagement, budget and issue/crisis management. ★

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