Meeting Minutes: Edelman 2/10

Hello there Mkt Soc members! For all of you who were able to make it out to our Edelman event, thank you so much! It was a great event with some great representatives from Edelman and great questions from members. For those of you who weren’t’ there (or if you just want to re-live that magical hour and a half), below are the minutes from the meeting that cover some of the main points from the presentation.

The representatives from Edelman were Lisa (HR), Erica (Financial services) and Megan (CSR).

-Edelman is the largest independent PR firm with 13 offices in the USA and 55 globally with their newest one in Abu Dhabi. They are divided “practice areas” that include Health care, Financial, CSR, Technical, Media services and business communication among others. They work with an extensive list of clients including Walmart, Johnson & Johnson, Starbucks, UBS and Pfizer.

-The difference between PR and Advertising was discussed and Megan made the point that PR’s purpose is to engage third party influencers to gain credability for your client.

-Both Erica and megan discussed the importance of staying up-to-date on what is going on in the media. They read on average 3 to 4 newspapers on their way to work and as part of their “media monitoring” in the morning.

-As far as advice on how to get into the PR industry, Erica and Megan shared their backgrounds, both of which included several internships. They all stressed the importance of INTERNSHIPS and networking in order to get one’s “foot in the door.” Erica discussed how she interned for Ogilvy and Mather PR while she studied abroad in China. Megan had 5 internships under her belt when she applied at Edelman and stressed taking advantage of opportunites in NYC.

-Megan and Erica discussed how the current economic crisis has affected their business and the PR industry. Both say it has evened out because on one hand you have clients that leave because they no longer have the financial resources to put into PR but on the other hand you have new clients that need more help now. They explained that, especially in the financail sector, their is a high level of mistrust for big business and that creates a need for better “public engagement.”

-Lisa added a few comments about the internship program. They offer summer, fall and spring internships. The summer program is highly competitive.  She said that in applicants she looks for 1. strong academic background aka high GPA 2.all applicants will have to take a writing test 3. demonstration of being able to multitask and that she recommends reading the news before interviewing with her.

You can apply for the summer program via Careernet or by sending your resume to Lisa directly.

Contact info: Lisa Sahliyeh, Human Resources, lisa.sahliyeh@edelman.com

visit edelman.com to find out more.

love,

Mkt Soc e-board

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