Like most PR women my age, I was introduced to the world of PR through the character of Samantha on the TV series Sex in the City. As a powerful publicist who went to the hottest parties and organized the coolest events, Samantha was my idol. I eventually came to my senses and realized I didn’t want to spend the first few years of my PR career stuffing swag bags (no offense) and decided business-to-business (B2B) PR was the way to go. B2B may seem less glamorous than consumer PR, but every now and then a killer event or party comes along that makes you remember why you LOVE this industry. Last week was Advertising Week; everyone was buzzing about the AOL Opening Gala, the YouTube Battle of the Ad Bands, the Facebook Wrap Party, and so on. I have to admit I was a bit intimidated. Our team had been planning a client event for three months for the first day of "The Week" and I couldn't focus on any kind of celebration until the day was over. Like most events, it had come and gone in a flash and three months of planning, strategizing, coordinating, writing and pitching was over in what felt like a few seconds. With the long (but good) day behind, I began to focus on the rest of what the week had to offer. How was I going to keep up with all the parties? Should I go to all of them? Which ones are worth staying till the very end? Who will I network with? Besides bacon, egg and cheese on a bagel, what's going to get me through the next day after a late night of partying? All of these questions started running through my mind. In the end, I remembered to "breathe twice" and before I knew it, The Week was over, and I walked away a different person with an Advertising Week under my belt and some new lessons learned:
- For an industry that took a major hit this year, advertising is on its way to making a major comeback
- Advertising is at the forefront when it comes to the evolution of "green" and innovation of technology
- Spending time with clients outside of the office is a great way to develop lasting relationships
- NYC is and always will be the Mecca of advertising
- Bloggers can be like celebrities to some (i.e. Steve Hall of Adrants)
- Don't be afraid to make new friends (but bring old friends with you to make networking easier)
- If you are the Vlasic pickle guy, people will love you
- It's OK to dance center stage
- and finally...RELAX, it’s just Advertising Week and if you're at an agency you'll probably have (insert: CES, Internet Week, SIFMA, etc.) to look forward to in the near future
A wise PR Newswire exec told me, "The key to event planning is to work like a mad woman [or man] before the event so that the day of you are just sitting around and waiting for it to happen." And I have to agree, event planning (whether you’re Samantha Jones or Feintuch Communications) is a huge part of PR and it takes a well-oiled PR team to pull it off and keep on trucking.