Sally Branson speaks at a work function

This week we chat with Sally Branson, Media Affairs Specialist with the US Embassy (US Consulate Melbourne, Victoria, South Australia, Northern Territory and Tasmania). Sally is a connector from the country who admires her communication hero for her considered and timely communication including Post-It notes.

What’s your elevator statement – who are you professionally and personally?

I am a connector. I love seeing people connect, gain something positive out of their relationship and enjoy their commonalities.

Tell us about your typical day in communications?

I start by trying not to sneak a look at Twitter as my alarm goes off. I really try to balance the information flow… sometimes I do this well, sometimes not so well. I start work early and get straight into an analysis of issues in my regions of Victoria, South Australia, Northern Territory and Tasmania – and of any US Australian connections. Embassies employ people like me to be the local knowledge, so I come up with a local context to assist in understanding news and public events.

My day is varied. It can include issues management, connecting with the media community, arranging public events for the Ambassador and Consul General, advising senior US officials, arranging community relations, and arranging US Navy Ship Visits. Some days I am in the office and others I am out and about travelling with the Ambassador or the CG. This job is perfect for my personality – issues rich and lots of daily variety. I often joke I went into this business for the long lunches – but it is very rare to find one of these in my day. I tell myself the other rewards make up for it…

When did you first know you wanted to work in communications?

Apart from a few early years when I wanted to run a South American country, I’ve always known communications was my pathway. Going to a school of 20 little country kids, I was always known as the storyteller and the bossy one. I was also the only one ever sent outside for talking too much. I come from a family of storytellers and community connectors.

Who’s your communication hero/mentor?

I’ve been blessed to work with many amazing people. I like to think I have taken lessons from each person I have worked with – even if the working relationship was a challenging one.

I have a long term mentor Hayley – she works in education and community development in a rural area. No matter what she does, she recognises the importance of thoughtful interaction. Each and every communication she makes is considered and timely. Even down to the post-it notes.

A “mentoring” experience I enjoyed was the Australian Rural Leadership Program. I spent two years studying with a group of 28 people from the extremes of rural and regional interest. The lessons I learnt about communications from an agronomist, a CSIRO scientist, a Doctor of Marine Science, an aboriginal community worker and a manager of an abattoir are ones that influence me each day I work. During a presentation I remember once thinking “as if I can learn from someone with two PhD’s in science…” and then shocked when he did it a) better and b) in a new way than I had. I was witnessing something new to me; who knew? It was humbling, and reminded me to always respect and surround myself with people with different skills, values, ideas and methods than mine.

Which tools can’t you live without?

My iPhone and my BlackBerry – balanced with my page-to-a-day moleskine diary and my highlighters to colour coordinate the diary. I love being able to paste notes and images on the page – and turn pages over.

What are the biggest challenges in your role?

Balancing the intricacies of working as a foreign national for another country’s government.

Managing turnaround time – the realities of time difference, of diplomatic process and of protocol . No, I can’t just ring the President and get a quote for you. As much as I really, really, really want to.

Tell us about the best campaign you’ve ever worked on?

My most rewarding work was managing the restructure of drought support funding during the last drought in NSW. Through my communication consultancy, I worked as a relationship broker between communities and funding bodies. My task was to find and implement the best way to get money into rural communities when they needed it the most. It was a period fraught with emotion and anxiety – families and communities were under such pressure to be able to even put food on the table, and they needed a better way to be looked after. It took a lot of negotiation and values based communication with farmers at their kitchen tables – with politicians and senior government officials. I am really proud that we were able to find a better way to help, and so pleased when it finally bloody well rained.

Which campaign do you most admire?

I’m not just saying this because he is my boss – but the strategic campaigning by Barak Obama and his team in the lead up to the election and during it. The use of social media, grass roots campaigning, the connection and the sense of newness and hopefulness. We all know that our children will be studying this campaign for years to come. I remember working really busily on our election reporting and election events when it was all happening – and even knowing then that I wasn’t paying enough attention to the campaign – because work was so busy. It was so busy because even 1000s of kms away, Obama was making such an impression!

What’s been the biggest change to communication/marketing/public relations since you began your career?

Accessibility – everyone and everything is accessible through the internet and the speed of our communications with each other. In addition to this, there are so many players in every game, and so much information to be disseminated it behooves us all to be critical and discerning as to how and where we get our information from. As communication professionals, we also have a responsibility in this environment to step up.

If you had to cut/keep something in your communication budget, what would it be?

For me the US Senate/Congress control my budget – however my most valued pot of money in this role is the one that lets me get on a ‘plane and travel to my regions of responsibility. I love my email, but there are times when a working relationship has to be built face to face.

What quality do you look for in your communication team members?

Respect for each individual skill sets, a sense of humour and perspective – and in this role – an understanding of the word “service” in the public service.

What’s your favourite brand?

The brand I most admire is LiveSTRONG. I have recently had the good fortune to work with LiveSTRONG’s top team and Mark Higgins from planet CSE. It gave me a new found respect for a brand I already knew to be pretty awesome. It’s not just about Lance and the yellow wrist band – the brand is multi faceted. I admire the way that values, service and community is intrinsic to their every day operation. I didn’t want the project to end. I had a project crush…and then brought a new bike I was so carried away by how wonderful they/it all was. I think I may have even accidentally committed to a “fun” ride….

What book/blog do you think every communicator should read?

I think the important thing is to keep reading without being overloaded by information. I adore Twitter, because I follow a lot of people who I admire or find interesting, and who keep delivering links to amazing articles. It’s as if they say “Sally would love to read about the death of the media release – let me send her a link” this means I am exposed to lots of good and interesting stuff – which I can self select. Do I want to read that serious foreign policy article this morning, or will I read about how to make a pink flamingo cocktail?

I advise people looking into social media connection to follow Mashable and to find those in their field who do it well, and then follow them.

For a hard copy – I loved Sally Hogshead “Radical Careering”. Get it -it’s fun.

What tips do you wish you’d known starting out in communications?

That it isn’t “just” communications. I love high heels and lippy as much as the next person, I often heard that communications was the thing for clever young girls to do that didn’t interfere too much with their social life. I heard that communications wasn’t a serious career. (You know, I “just” did an arts degree, I “just” work in Comms). I struggled for a long time to reconcile this with my sense of working within a context of values or service. I didn’t have enough professional role models at this time. Now I know more than anything that we are the glue that keeps the whole thing together. If we’re doing it right – everyone else feels like they are doing it right.

Finish this sentence: Communication is… connection.

This week we chatted with Paul Crisp, Corporate Affairs Manager with Telstra about communications. Paul is also the immediate past president of the Public Relations Institute of Australia in Victoria.

What’s your elevator statement – who are you professionally and personally?

I’m a truth teller, not a spin doctor.

Tell us about your typical day in communications?

No day is typical, but they all involve some degree of planning, writing, briefing and reviewing.

When did you first know you wanted to work in communications?

My career path was set when I first encountered algebra at school.

Who’s your communication hero/mentor?

Winston Churchill. I’ve also been fortunate to work with inspiring leaders in our profession over the years including Noel Turnbull and Lelde McCoy and more recently, former NewsCorp and Telstra flack Andrew Butcher.

Which tools can’t you live without?

My smartphone.

What are the biggest challenges in your role?

Keeping up with new technology

Tell us about the best campaign you’ve ever worked on?

Working with the ICC on their anti-corruption investigation was fascinating, while the most fun I’ve had was working in publicity for the Royal Chelsea Flower Show. The most rewarding campaign was managing comms for Telstra in the Victorian bushfires.

Which campaign do you most admire?

I thought the mining industry did a very good job raising awareness and influencing the government over the mining tax. I also admire any of the political campaigns that have been based on strategic communication. In Australia, Hawke, Keating and Howard all understood the importance of communication, as did Obama in the US with his innovative use of social media.

What’s been the biggest change to communication/marketing/public relations since you began your career?

The introduction of social media and the emergence of online activism.

If you had to cut/keep something in your communication budget, what would it be?

I would always keep the training budget.

What quality do you look for in your communication team members?

Courage, loyalty and the ability to write well.

What’s your favourite brand?

Apple – mostly because of the way the company re-invented itself.

What book/blog do you think every communicator should read?

In terms of a book, ‘Alpha Dogs: How Political Spin Became a Global Business’ by James Harding. It charts the rise of the Sawyer Miller Group, a consultancy that pioneered the use of strategic communications in political campaigns across the world.

I would also recommend an article on the PR industry in the December issue of The Economist – ‘PR Man has conquered the world. He still isn’t satisfied’. It provides an excellent overview of the rise of the PR profession.

What tips do you wish you’d known starting out in communications?

Presentation is important, but content is what really matters.

Finish this sentence: ‘Communication is…’

…a learnt skill practised by many, but mastered by few.

Laura Crowden

With the spotlight on London in recent weeks – The Queen joining Facebook and Prince William popping the question – we thought we’d profile our colleague Laura Crowden, who’s living large in London!

Laura Crowden, Media Officer, South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, (the United Kingdom’s oldest and largest, mental health hospital), London, UK

Tell us about your typical day in communications?

Breakfast at my desk while scanning the morning papers and media clips, responding to emails, chasing up consultants, looking through media alerts for possible opportunities, setting up interviews, writing media releases, placing features in healthcare trade publications, writing and editing features, and a trip to London’s best food market – Borough Market – across the road for a chocolate brownie.

When did you first know you wanted to work in communications?

Watching Behind the News (BTN) in grade four.

Who’s your communication hero/mentor?

When I was at school, I admired two feisty, female communicators – 60 minutes host Jana Wendt and fictional Lois Lane (this was during the reign of 90s television program Lois and Clark). Secretly, I still want to be Lois Lane when I grow up.

Which tools can’t you live without?

Spellcheck, Gorkana (UK online media database) and Google news search and alerts.

What are the biggest challenges in your role?

Convincing reluctant doctors of the role of media and marketing, and securing media coverage in leading healthcare publications of SLaM’s innovative approach to mental health. The UK recession has lead to most organisations dramatically reducing their marketing and PR budgets, meaning everyone is after the “free promotion” positive media coverage provides.

Tell us about the best campaign you’ve ever worked on?

Some years ago, I volunteered for the Oaktree Foundation, Australia’s first youth run development organisation. Our Make Poverty History Roadtrip was an outstanding success and I helped secure local, national and international media coverage which pressured then opposition leader Kevin Rudd to promise to increase Australia’s foreign aid contribution. More recently, travelling to last year’s Copenhagen conference for The Climate Group (a UK climate change business lobby group) was a career highlight. It’s hard to beat meeting Arnold Schwarzenegger!

Which campaign do you most admire?

I have a soft spot for Tourism Tasmania’s brilliant advertising campaigns. Being a native of the Apple Isle, I find their slogans hilarious and clever. The highlight was the ‘Tasmania: Bigger than Australia’ movie trailer they played in cinemas to coincide with Baz Lurhman’s Australia film.

What’s been the biggest change to communication/marketing/public relations since you began your career?

The sometimes overhyped focus on social networking and new media. The desire to use new media needs to be carefully considered – not all organisations or campaigns suit new media and some risk looking desperate. That said, when appropriate almost nothing can match the cost-effectiveness and reach of new media.

If you had to cut/keep something in your communication budget, what would it be?

Keep Gorkana – the online media database. It’s expensive but worth its weight in gold. Not only can I search every UK publication for journalist contact details, but they can search for PR professionals when looking for an expert, case study or story idea. Each day I get a summary of media requests from journals looking for something – a recent example was a journalist after an expert on Apserger’s which we were able to provide.

Cut – the number of hard copies printed of brochures and other collateral. You never, EVER, get rid of them all.

What quality do you look for in your communication team members?

Willingness to join me for a Friday afternoon drink! More seriously, I rely on my colleagues (all in marketing) to feed me relevant media stories, provide me with case studies of former patients, put me in contact with consultants and subject experts and be constantly on the lookout for media opportunities.

What’s your favourite brand?

My dad would kill me if I didn’t say Boag’s Beer (he works at the Launceston Brewery). As a homesick consumer, I love their beer! As a communications professional, I was blown away by their Boag’s Pipeline viral advertising campaign, which they launched when anti-North/South pipeline sentiment was at its peak. Apparently some Victorians were actually convinced that Boag’s beer travelled from Tasmania to Victoria via a pipeline under the Bass Strait!

What book/blog do you think every communicator should read?

For every government/public sector communication, Death Sentence by Don Watson (Paul Keating’s former speechwriter) on the death of public language – essential reading for anyone prone to writing ‘we commit to’ rather than ‘we will’.

What tips do you wish you’d known starting out in communications?

Start before you start. While at uni, take up every volunteer opportunity you can, write for university publications, do unpaid internships, try freelance, enter writing competitions, make contacts and try and land invaluable experience in your chosen field while you still have the time (and parental/government financial support).

Finish this sentence:

‘Communication is…’ getting your point across while keeping your audience interested.