PAN Communications prSPEAK

I’m posting this for one of Phil’s students, Ji Yeon Jeong. She’s got a great, authentic ‘voice’ that seems prebuilt for blogging. We hope to hear more from her on the blog about the cultural curiosities she experiences in school in the States. It’s all about perception, and sometimes someone else’s is pretty exciting, too.
- Joel

“What do you think about it?”
When Professor Nardone asked my opinion about a class topic, I was reticent. That did not mean I had nothing to say but showed that I approached the context of the class in my own way.
Some might not understand what I am talking about. I can appreciate that because I too did not understand American classroom culture when I first started my studies at Syracuse.
I have been in America about six months, and everyday I encounter cultural differences, especially when it comes to classes! I would say American classes are sometimes noisy and maybe even playful in a good way, but Asian classes are very quiet, perhaps even solemn.
In most Asian countries, including Korea where I come from, keeping silent in class without expressing an opinion is considered good manners. Even though a professor asks students their opinions, it may not be a real question, but more of a pro forma gesture to see if students are following the lecture. Therefore, students usually don’t respond to such a question. Traditionally and culturally, we think politeness is one of the highest values and we should maintain politeness to others, especially to older people. In the same vein, we think it is rude to express opinions opposite to or even divergent from those of the professor. Similarly interrupting others when they are speaking is considered most impolite. Sometimes, we are afraid to express an opinion or answer a factual question, even if we know the correct answer, because we are afraid we might state it incorrectly.

On the other hand, American students are very free to say what they think. Sometimes, they talk about their personal lives in class or advance opinions that are off topic, but they don’t seem to care.

I am still in a transition phase to American classroom culture and I appreciate Professor Nardone’s understanding of my transition. These days, I speak in my American classes. Even though I sometimes have no idea if I am making any sense, I still try to talk. That is one of the benefits I have gained from Professor Nardone’s class.

He keeps asking me, “What do you think?”

I’m attending the New Communications Forum Conference & Expo 2007 in Vegas this week and will be blogging sessions, thoughts and whatever else looks interesting. Come back often and feel free to comment.

“Did you find the transition to public relations, having been a journalist for so long, to be difficult?” asked Stephanie Fagnani, a freelance writer, who’s got a pretty regular gig with Corporate Training & Development Advisor.

Fagnani has been writing for various newspapers, magazines and newsletter for 15 years, and has become a regular contact. She’s a diehard journalist who adheres to each and every tenet of journalism. Her questioning came during a phone conversation as we discussed the parameters of an upcoming briefing with one of my clients. And given what we went through to get this briefing secured, her questions weren’t meant to be offensive; in fact they were dead on.

After 15 years as a newspaper reporter and editor, coming into the world of PR was an eye-opening experience. There were certain oddities of the job I needed to overcome, and Fagnani, it is my belief, was asking to make sure I was OK with these changes, almost in a friendly, colleague sort of way.

In journalism you are taught, the facts are the facts and that is all you report. And as a former editor once said to the staff at my first place of employment, “You jealously guard the integrity of your work.”

While setting up the briefing, I was instructed to contact Fagnani and inform her the client wanted to see the story before it was published. Coming from my former professional background, I knew that request wouldn’t fly. However, understanding my new role, I asked.

Result of request: Denied!

I was instructed to go back to Fagnani and ask if the client could at least see the quotes and paraphrases that would be used in the story. Again, I knew the outcome before I acted on the instructions. In fact I laughed within, heartily.

Result of request: Denied!

Even as I have moved on, the old journalist in me still lingers. And when such requests pop up, I have to restrain myself from telling the client they are stepping over the line. But again, new role, new game plan.

Old habits die hard, they say, but in this new role I think it’s more a case of rethinking what once was considered second nature. This is the flip side of journalism, and therefore the old rules don’t necessarily apply. That is undeniable.

For the past month, President and CEO of PAN Communications, Phil Nardone, has taken time out of his busy work life in Boston and flown to blustery Syracuse New York, where he has been giving us the inside scoop on life at a public relations agency. Our class, which is made up of half graduate students and half undergrads at the Newhouse School of Communications, has been learning from Professor Nardone about the internal network of people that make up a PR firm and the specific functions an account manager performs day-to-day. Each Tuesday night, Professor Nardone conducts a 3-hour discussion and informational session about current trends in the PR world and what to expect from this scary thing call the “real-world”. Scary indeed, but Professor Nardone, while not sugar coating the business, gets us excited about life at an agency. Every class he gives us anecdotes of real work experience and special occasions that his PR firm, PAN Communications, Inc, does to keep up the morale and upkeep the work-life balance.

Our class was recently assigned the task of creating an RFQ for a potential client. We’ve been divided into three groups, each typifying one type of PR firm (small, medium, or large). Each of the three groups will need to eventually pitch to the client prospect reasons why our firm is the best. This is an excellent example of what real firms do to win accounts. It’s especially exciting because Professor Nardone has asked Maui Beverages, an actual client of PAN Communications, to work with us as the account the three groups will pitch. This is just another element Professor Nardone has included in the curriculum to prepare us for the life in the PR agency.