The Schmooze Effect with Carl Schrank

04/18/2010

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On April 14, Carl Schrank, a student advisor at Marquette University, and Tom Graybill of Tri-Marq Communications presented "The Schmooze Effect," the art of networking.

Graybill is also co-chair of University Outreach for the Business Marketing Association (BMA). BMA hosts many networking events for students and business professionals and features student resources on its Web site. For more information, visit www.bma-milwaukee.org.

Carl Schrank has been a student advisor at Marquette for nine years after teaching full-time for 11 years. His goal when presenting information on networking is to help students and professionals recognize the importance of coming away with a good idea from whatever situation they find themselves in, event when they've encountered that situation or topic many times. 

Schmoozing helps people recognize trends, learn about their field and find job leads. He iterated that who you know may be important, but it's also who knows about you that makes the equation more complete.

The most important schmooze tools are research, charm and intelligence, always carrying a pen or a pencil (you never know when you'll need one!) and to create personal business cards to easily relay your information and set yourself apart from others in your field. For free business cards, visit www.vistaprint.com.

Professor Schrank also recommended a few resources to attendees. Two books: A Foot in the Door by Katherine Hansen and What Color is Your Parachute by Richard Nelson Boles. He also recommended www.careerbuilder.com for more job and information resources.

To learn more about PR or networking, become a member of PRSSA! There's no reason to wait until next fall- we accept members any t
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PR + Social Media Summit and Meeting with Tim Blair from IBM

04/18/2010

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At our most recent meeting on April 7, Timothy Blair, vice president of marketing and communications for IBM, gave PRSSA a preview of how his company took their social media strategy from experimentation to implementation.  Blair is a proud Marquette University alumnus who graduated with a degree in international affairs in 1991.  He is also widely known for his Marquette basketball blog ‘Cracked Sidewalks.’

In his presentation to PRSSA, Blair emphasized the importance of trust and personal responsibility in all relationships.  To that point, he discussed the recognition and importance of empowering everyone.  The success IBM has seen was a result of laying out a plan and determining the exact value social media had the potential to add to their company. 

Blair also served as the morning keynote speaker for the PR + Social Media Summit held at Marquette on April 8.  Hundreds of public relations practitioners and students had the opportunity to hear experts in the field share their experiences on how new media can be effectively used to a business’ or individual’s advantage.  A complete list of all the presenters who were featured at the summit can be found at www.prsmsummit.com.  The day was capped off by a tweet-up at the InterContinental Hotel.  Valuable information was reaped by all the attendees and Marquette PRSSA is proud to have been a part in such a great event.  Special thanks go out to co-sponsor Comet Branding and all those who contributed in any way to its success!

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