Getting Your Event Attention

By: Kristen Paquet, Sr. Account Executive, Leonard & Finco Public Relations

There is a lot of stuff going on. Events, programs, concerts, tours – they are all vying for our attention and attendance. So what are the best ways to promote an event so you don’t get lost in the crowd? Here are a few tips I have found to be successful:

Develop a calendar listing. A calendar listing should include the event name, date, time, location, web address and a brief overview of what will happen. If there is a cost, be sure that is included as well. Send the calendar listing to local newspapers that have a community events section. They will appreciate getting all of the information at once. You can also use this information to post to online event calendars.

Create a Facebook event. Creating a Facebook event is easy to do. Just add in the details of the event, a website URL and a photo and you’re basically done. The event will show up in your newsfeed so all of your followers can see it and share it with their friends as well. Think of it as a digital word-of-mouth promotion!

Contact local media outlets. Consider reaching out to local media to give you some pre-event coverage. Be sure to tell them about the event and why it would make a good story. Take some time and research reporters and what areas they tend to cover so you are sure you are reaching the right person.

Promote from within. If you are an organization that has people coming through your facility – staff and patrons alike – be sure to take advantage of promoting the event on site by using bulletin boards, post a flyer in a break room, or anywhere else you might highlight daily activities. Share information at staff meetings, in newsletters and even in your email signature.

Promoting your event takes work to be effective, so be sure to give yourself plenty of time to put some of these ideas into action. The more time you have to spread the word, the more likely you will reach your audience and get people to attend! Good luck!

Resume Tips & Tricks

By: Ashley Vickney, Intern, Leonard & Finco Public Relations

Job searching can be brutal, between searching job boards and tailoring cover letters it can be time consuming. One way to get noticed is to have an effective resume. Here are some of the best resume tips that I’ve used in my job search to help you land an interview!

Make it skimmable: Don’t have paragraphs on your resume. Have easy, one to two line bullet points of your duties and projects at jobs. The easier it is to read, the more likely it is to get read.

Stand out, quietly: Depending on your industry, resumes don’t need to stick to the traditional set up, but instead can be designed in a way that is easy to read. Check out some beautifully designed and free resume templates here. 

Leave off the objective statement: These aren’t really necessary anymore, and waste space that could be used for more experience or skills.

Reverse chronological order: List your most recent, relevant experience first. Make it easy for the hiring manager to track your employment history. 

Add volunteer experience: Little extra room on your resume? Add one or two causes you’ve volunteered for and are passionate about. It shows potential employers that you like to give back, and is a great conversation starter. 

Is it important? Every bullet point on your resume should make you look confident and competent. Double check to make sure your bullet points are clear, concise and demonstrate what you did. 

Proofread, proofread, proofread and proofread again: Have a couple people look over your resume for any spelling errors or mistakes. Be sure to proofread every resume you send out!

With these suggestions your resume should stand out from the crowd and get your foot in the door. 

Any other suggestions? What do you look for in a resume?

Phubbing is a BIG DEAL

By: Susan Finco, President, Leonard & Finco Public Relations

So, one of the new words being bantered about these days is phubbing. For those not up on the latest lingo (I hadn’t heard of this word until a few weeks ago), it means phone snubbing. As in, “I was in the middle of a conversation with a coworker and they picked up their phone and starting checking it.” It can apply to any social situation.

If you’re in the midst of conversation, it’s not OK to “check out” for a few moments while you “check in” with your phone. It’s one thing to say to someone, “please excuse me if my phone goes off, but my child hasn’t been feeling well and the school might call/text/email me to pick her up,” and quite another to be at a meeting, eating dinner with, talking with, or collaboratively working with someone and having them – in the middle of the interaction – simply look down as if it’s no big deal. IT IS A BIG DEAL in more ways than you might imagine.

A recent study published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior found that phubbing leads to unhappy and dissatisfied employees, co-workers, friends and spouses. It’s detrimental to our relationships; and the world is still all about relationships. We love to multi-task, and we all think we’re good at it but, the truth of the matter is (as this study shows), when you’re interacting with someone and you’re also checking your phone, you are signaling in a very direct way that you aren’t interested in the person you’re interacting with or what they’re saying; you just don’t care enough to give them your full attention. So the simple cure for the phubbing epidemic is to put the people in your life first (the ones that are directly in front of you) and the phone in your life second. Makes sense to me, and now when someone says they can do both things at once, there’s proof it doesn’t work!