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A Day in the Life at PAN: Q&A with Jenny Gardynski

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PAN

How long have you been working at PAN?

Five and a half years 

Where do you get your news?

Mostly Twitter. I follow all my favorite publications, influencers, reporters and analysts there. I scroll through Twitter on the mobile app on my train ride into work and keep it up all day on my screen for regular updates. I also tend to read the Wall Street Journal’s CMO Today blog, and lots of other industry trade sites for client-specific trends and news.

What is a typical day at PAN like?

I start my day with a train ride in, catching up on emails and news. Then of course there is coffee. Every day has some amount of client calls for regular weekly updates on activity, or a press release intake call, or a touch-base on an upcoming event. There are usually a couple of internal team touch-base meetings as well to brainstorm pitch ideas and synch up on weekly priorities.

As I oversee the media strategy for my clients, I start the week with a priority/goals email to my teams outlining what our pitching focus should be that week – who is owning what, who drafts which content and what we are aiming for in terms of internal team goals. I typically send this after checking our timesheets, to see who is trending high on hours and who has a lot to use. This helps me assign out who should own what for the week. I also check our client metrics to see which areas we need to emphasize more. Are we doing really well on media coverage but our bylines or analyst briefings could use a boost? This helps me know what to prioritize for the week.

My days are also spent talking to clients– via email and phone, flagging proactive trends, consulting on ideas and strategy and making sure any hot-ticket priorities are being covered off. As a content developer and reviewer, at any time I could be reviewing briefing materials, industry news scans or developing a press release. The Account Supervisor role wears many hats, but the main role is working closely with your teams and serving as the point-person for the client. It’s a very collaborative environment here at PAN, so I am often not at my desk – chatting with a colleague at their desk about a pitch idea, brainstorming the next quarter’s plan with my team in a conference room (or outside on the Greenway) or attending a PAN U session (PAN’s internal training and development sessions) about Venture Capital.  If it’s a Thursday, however, catch me before 5 pm, as I can be found in the PANtry (we brand everything here), for weekly PAN Pub, enjoying a glass of wine and slice of pizza with my colleagues I don’t always get to work with. And on Fridays I work from home, so please don’t video Skype me as I might still be in my PJs!

What is your favorite PAN memory to date?

It’s hard to pick one – I’ve been to some really fun PAN Summer Outings, where I’ve participated in a 50-person flip cup game, I’ve been to colleagues’ weddings and baby showers, but one of my favorite PAN memories has to be PAN’s Open House. I was lucky enough to be a part of the company’s big move to Boston from Andover, MA, where it was headquartered for 16 years. The Open House welcomed clients, colleagues, their significant others, former employees and other friends of PAN to the office for a business attire, catered cocktail event. Everyone got dressed up, drank “PANtinis” (I told you we brand everything) and had some non-work conversations AT the office. Since we’ve been in Boston, our office is much more open and we’ve had a lot of fun showcasing our new space.

What is the most exciting thing about the field of Public Relations right now?

The word “real-time” has been a bit of a buzzword, as every tech company claims they can deliver their tools and services immediately when needed. But, the term real-time has some big implications for PR, making it a very competitive, yet exciting time to be in the industry. I see less and less long-lead stories. But rather, it’s increasingly first-come, first-served. I see a reporter tweet out a story query and I can immediately get back to him with a quick quote from my client – then my client is included in that piece. It’s more competitive in that sense, but the turnaround times are dwindling – for news, media opportunities and jumping on trends from a thought leadership and social standpoint. Luckily in PR, we are already used to the fast-paced environment. But with the increasingly connected and digital world, everything is getting faster and it’s becoming our job to find creative ways to use this to our advantage and help our clients stay ahead of the curve and break through the noise.

An image of PAN's Brand Experience Report on the Potentials and pitfalls of AI for marketers

In our annual Brand Experience Report, we asked marketers and customers how they are using and experiencing AI to better understand how the technology is changing that relationship.