In September 2014, I found myself out of full-time work again for the fourth time since earning my bachelor’s degree in marketing and management. In my short career, I was one of the fortunate graduates to have held jobs related to my degree.

There was just one problem: even I didn’t want a job related to my degree. I wanted to do public relations.

And I didn’t just want to do public relations. I wanted to master it.

With that, I started my APR journey in July 2015 by enrolling on campus as a master’s degree student in public relations at the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. There, I would meet my first APR: my program chair, Dr. Rochelle Ford. She would offer a few of us in my cohort the unique opportunity to earn our degrees by dually working towards completing our APR.

The coursework I would complete as part of my master’s program would serve me well in taking the first steps towards earning my APR.  They delved deeper into the introductory knowledge of PR I already had from my undergraduate and freelance experience, and the material from my APR study guide would help me advance even further.

I started seriously preparing for the APR in late 2016, and worked closely with a professional assigned by Suzanne Lundin Ross, the APR chair of the PRSA National Capital Chapter. For the Readiness Review, I presented a campaign from my brief time with McKinney & Associates, my first job in DC. Even though I didn’t develop this program, I did the best I could to tie my portfolio and candidate questionnaire answers back to the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) that I would be evaluated on. All in all, my presentation lasted close to an hour, with 20 minutes of discussing the program and 40 minutes of questions and answers from my panelists. The moment after I left the room to let the panelists deliberate on their decision came the longest four weeks of my life: waiting on my results.

They would arrive in the mail in late July 2017. I didn’t advance.

Admittedly, I took the news pretty hard, but still I knew I needed to request feedback addressing where I went wrong. I only missed passing by two points, mostly because I didn’t have enough management experience.

More determined than ever, I worked with an additional coach to make revisions to my questionnaire and presentation. Going into my second attempt, I demonstrated my management skills by approaching it as if I were presenting two programs: the first based on what actually happened; and the second based on how I would do things as the creator of the program. My aim was to control the narrative by bringing my program full circle. Whereas the Q&A portion of my first presentation felt excruciatingly long, the second time it felt like a breezy 10 minutes. I had a much better feeling leaving the room this time.

I received my advancement letter in December 2017. The final hurdle would be the computer-based exam. To prepare for it, I re-read chapters from Cutlip & Center’s Effective Public Relations, 11th Edition – a book I was required to get for one of my first courses at Newhouse – during my work commutes. The entire process took me three months to complete, with a few days of vacation in LA in between!

And on a Friday in early April, I did it.

Earning my accreditation gave me the deeper knowledge of public relations that I was looking for almost four years ago. Back then, I thought my endgame was to land media placements and increase social media followers. Now, I know that true public relations professionals are consistently monitoring the environment for opportunities and threats, and encouraging their organizations to proactively adapt to these changes. I’m looking forward to the ways I can influence behavior change for meaningful missions.

What a difference four years makes!

Find out more about #TheAPRDifference at http://www.praccreditation.org/

Cedric Brown, MS, APR
Senior Account Executive

This piece originally appeared on LinkedIn. You can view it here.

The copywriter is a chameleon, writing as Hemingway in the morning, Dave Barry in the afternoon,
Maya Angelou at night, and Dr. Seuss when the need arises.
The copywriter knows how to write a video with no words.
A radio spot that makes you see.
A post you’ll want to click that isn’t clickbait.
A website you’ll come back to again and again.
The copywriter knows how to read a strategy and write one, too.
S/he knows how to find the right voice… or how to create the right voice if none is to be found.
The copywriter is never limited by subject matter; in fact, s/he always welcomes the opportunity to learn more.
The copywriter was fine with 140 characters because s/he says more with less.
The copywriter is not a grant writer, journalist, or technical writer,
but will happily ghost write for each of them if asked.
The copywriter knows insights are the key to reaching an audience.
S/he can write headlines, subheads, content, copy, taglines, and straplines—and knows the difference between each one of them.
Most of all, the copywriter is an idea person.
As such, s/he is never satisfied with the first idea, and rarely the 5^th or 6^th.
The copywriter is not dead.
The copywriter is alive and well at Hager Sharp.
And we’re looking for more.

Interested?

Send a link to your portfolio to mgallagher@hagersharp.com

Mike Gallagher
Senior Vice President, Creative Director

Showing people how and why to read the updated Nutrition Facts labels so they can live healthier lives. Helping young women understand if they may be at higher risk for getting breast cancer at a young age and how to work with their healthcare team to develop a personalized action plan. Getting game changing information to teachers so they can use it in their own classrooms to engage students and set them on the path to success. Preventing cancer by encouraging more young adults to get the HPV vaccine. And, understanding the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors surrounding Lyme disease to inform communications around a potential Lyme disease vaccine.

These are the ways we’re helping people live healthier, smarter, safer lives on behalf of a host of new clients we’re so happy to welcome this year.

At Hager Sharp, our focus is and always will be to work with mission-driven institutions, businesses, and nonprofits to create and execute ideas that make a difference. We’ve dedicated the last 45 years to creating communications and marketing initiatives for organizations committed to improving health, advancing education, transforming our communities, and making meaningful change.

In the past few months, we’ve joined forces with a range of new clients to help them develop strategic and innovative ways to advance their missions.

Bring Your Brave

Bring Your Brave is an apt name for what younger women need to do when they face the possibility of breast cancer. Hager Sharp will be working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Division of Cancer Prevention and Control’s Bring Your Brave campaign to provide relevant information about breast cancer to younger women, as about 11% of breast cancer cases in the U.S. are found in women younger than age 45. Hager Sharp will be helping CDC to spread this message by providing young women with scientifically sound information on actions they can take and encouraging and inspiring them to be proactive about their health. We’ll also be supporting CDC’s efforts to foster patient-provider dialogue and arm both providers and young women with the information and tools they need to have productive conversations about risk and prevention. Young women and the providers who care for them are among the many faces of breast cancer. We hope to show more of these many faces so young women and their providers can find their brave to learn more.

FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition

Last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) engaged Hager Sharp to help increase understanding among consumers and professionals about preventing foodborne illness and choosing nutritious food, among other key topics. We’re honored to expand our work with FDA’s CFSAN to help people understand the updated Nutrition Facts Label, and how to use it to make healthier food choices. We will be working with FDA to provide a better experience for kids engaging with Snack Shack, a popular destination in the online Whyville community that helps kids understand and use the Nutrition Facts Label, make smart food choices, and build long-term healthy eating habits. We will also support the FDA’s Nutrition Innovation Strategy, as the agency works to update the definition of “healthy” on food labels and will develop and test a new standard icon to be used to identify “healthy” foods.  In addition to helping promote important messages about nutrition and food safety, we will support efforts to educate and inform the public about agricultural biotechnology and the FDA’s role in its regulation.

Lyme Disease

Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne illness in the United States. In anticipation of a Lyme disease vaccine, CDC engaged Hager Sharp to conduct research among audiences at risk for Lyme disease and health care providers about their knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding Lyme disease prevention and a possible vaccine. The findings will help CDC to communicate about the Lyme vaccine when its available.

HPV Vaccine

Why would anybody pass up the opportunity to prevent cancer? The HPV vaccine can prevent more than 90% of HPV-related cancers from ever developing. The good news is that vaccination rates among adolescents are increasing, and Hager Sharp is proud to have contributed to that increase.

Following the success of our work on CDC’s award-winning HPV Vaccine Is Cancer Prevention campaign, we are now partnering with The MayaTech Corporation to support the HHS Office on Women’s Health in developing and launching an HPV vaccination campaign targeting young adults. The campaign will focus on three key states with some of the lowest vaccination rates—South Carolina, Texas, and Mississippi—encouraging young men and women ages 18–26 to get the HPV vaccine for protection against HPV-related cancers and infections.

What Works Clearinghouse

As a subcontractor to Mathematica, Hager Sharp has been engaged by the U.S. Department of Education to support the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC). This initiative of the Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences is aptly named, as it looks at “what works in education?” WWC identifies proven practices across the country to share with teachers and policy makers to answer the question. It reviews and identifies well-designed studies, trustworthy research, and meaningful findings to inform decisions and improve student outcomes. Hager Sharp is working with WWC to help teachers, researchers, and policymakers find and use these research-proven ways to help students learn.

We’re honored to do this work to understand the attitudes and perceptions influencing these issues, to increase public knowledge about them, and to motivate people to take actions that will help them live healthier and smarter lives.

Debra Silimeo                                    Trish Taylor, PhD
Executive Vice President               Executive Vice President

Inspired by a great job opportunity, my parents decided to leave friends and family and move me and my older brother from Venezuela to the USA. I was 5-years-old when we moved to Maryland. It was a tough choice, but the right decision. When we arrived in the US, my parents determined that if my brother and I spoke English at home and they responded to us in Spanish, we would learn English faster while not losing our native tongue. It was certainly an interesting approach—one that made people do a double take whenever my family spoke in public.

As a child, mastering the English language and assimilating to American culture was top priority for me. I was a Venezuelan first-grader in a mostly white school environment who was not ready to embrace my Hispanic heritage, nor my hard-to-pronounce name.  Add to that getting pulled out the classroom in front of all my young classmates to attend English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes, I often felt like an outlier. I realize now that as trying as it was for me as a young ESOL student who just wanted to fit in, this experience helped me develop and value an important communication skill — understanding your audience.

In writing, knowing your audience shapes the way you deliver messages. Writing business proposals for potential clients typically requires the use of a formal, persuasive tone of voice. At the other end of the spectrum, texting your friends requires far less formality. In advertising, car commercials—which largely try to build credibility and reason —are catered to adults, while toy commercials—which use excitement—are aimed at children. Understanding your audience is vital in determining what content you will use; thus, researching your audience and understanding their desires will help you target your message.

Growing up bilingual has allowed me to be more empathetic toward various audiences. Knowing the feelings of frustration and fear when not being understood can grant you a new perspective on humanity. When I first arrived in the US, I had a difficult time connecting with my audience (my classmates) because I was not familiar with their culture. When I did my research (such as watching the same cartoons as my classmates), it was easier to connect with my audience.

Understanding who your audience is and what they like can be half the battle when creating better and more digestible messaging. I strongly believe that the more you open yourself to different languages and cultures, the better you will communicate–in any setting.

Sergio Vigas
Account Coordinator

I had the pleasure of attending a Washington Nationals game recently. I’ve been a fan since before they arrived in DC, as I had the good fortune to work with Washington, DC’s bid group in “luring” the Expos from Montreal. The team has come a long way since their days in RFK. And at the particular game I attended—my first of the 2018 season—I was happy to see a new face among all the Nationals. Not Soto in the outfield or Reynolds at the plate or Martinez in the dugout—although it has been great watching them play and manage—but Gotham, up on the scoreboard. Yes, Gotham… the National’s new typeface.

As of this season, Gotham replaces Trade Gothic—the scoreboard typeface since Nationals Park opened in 2008—on the scoreboard and in their marketing materials. According to an interview Nationals chief revenue and marketing officer Valerie Camillo gave to the Washington Post, the change was made because Gotham, “was modern, it was clean and very versatile.”

Gotham is a wise choice. It’s a typeface that’s engineered more than it is designed, stripped of any superfluous elements and created specifically for a hard-working, no-nonsense, modern image. A great reflection of the day-in, day-out of a 162-game season, the grit of the men who play the game, and the directness of the data behind today’s sabermetrics.

Trade Gothic

Trade Gothic on the Nationals Park scoreboard in 2015. (Brad Mills / USA Today Sports)

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Gotham

Gotham on the Nationals Park scoreboard in 2018.

Gotham can also be easier to read at a distance, thanks to its reasonably high x-height (the designation used for the height of lowercase letters) and wide apertures (the negative spaces or holes in some letters, like o or n). It is extremely flexible, includes a number of widths and weights, and, appropriately for a scoreboard, Gotham also features a complimentary numeric style range (numbers).

At Hager Sharp, we use Gotham as a typeface for a client with similar characteristics: the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The clarity and transparency that Gotham evokes is ideal for this data-driven institution, the Elias Sports Bureau of national education statistics. We use it in the signage for NCES’s conference booths, in short brochures with minimal text, and online.

Want to know more? The history of Gotham is quite interesting and can be found on the website of Hoefler & Co, the type foundry GQ magazine commissioned to create the typeface back in 2000.

Mike Gallagher
Executive Creative Director