Wow, three days without a post at Forward — where did we all go?? Well, it’s summer and everyone has a lot going on, and I was personally lucky enough to spend the past weekend in San Jose, Calif., at the BlogHer conference. (Despite internet issues, I had a GREAT time and got to hang out with some really wonderful people.)

I won’t go into all the conference happenings, but I did have one little tidbit that struck a chord with me that I wanted to share with everyone. The closing keynote for the conference featured a panel of “four powerhouse women: Hurricane Katrina Direct Relief founder and professional blogger Grace Davis, Huffington Post founder and author Arianna Huffington, WashingtonPost.com/Newsweek Interactive CEO and Publisher Caroline Little and SixApart founder and President Mena Trott.” (I suggest following the links and familiarizing yourself with these diverse and amazing women, if you haven’t already.)

I found the entire keynote to be fascinating, but was particularly inspired by the discussion toward the end. I can’t remember how it took this path, but the women ended up talking about fear and fearlessness.

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As many of us plunge into our first jobs post college, odds are we will be unsatisfied. We’ll feel overworked, under appreciated, and that we may have spent 4 (or more) years getting a degree in a field that we don’t like. Now, most of us here at Forward know that we have a passion for PR and that we want to do this for our career. However, that first job could still be laced with grunt work, and will most definitely have LONG hours. So the question is how do we cope? How do we not only survive, but thrive? And most importantly, how do you make the connections and moves that will get us started up the ladder of success?

Some other questions to ponder: How long should you stay at your first job? What are the most important things that we need to be doing in our first job? What can we do to get the attention of our bosses and have them notice our brilliant work (because all of our work will of course BE brilliant )?

I think some advice from our contributors who have started their first jobs and of course from our crack staff of veterans, would benefit a lot of us here at Forward.

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Paull with two L’s. It’s certainly unique, and it’s caused me plenty of problems over the years. Misspelled school certificates, a single ‘L’ in autograph dedications from my childhood sports heroes, heck, I’ve even got a personalised Ghostbusters book where the fifth ghostbuster is some kid I’ve never met - Paul Young.

For all my childhood chagrin at my unusual name – I’m starting to think it could give me a competitive advantage in a wired world.

Online there are two big positives from having a strange name – It’s a ready made credibility gauge and, of course, Google juice.

Credibility

When I receive an email, blog comment or link from someone, the first step in checking out their credibility is by checking the spelling of my name. I understand that a single ‘L’ can simply be an oversight or a typo, but I know if someone uses the double ‘L’ they’ve taken some time to become familiar with me. That’s an instant boost for their credibility and will always earn brownie points.

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When I was coming up in PR, I made it a point to attend key events related to my clients and their business, as well as anything related to PR. Over the course of 14 or so years, I met some of the most important and helpful people in my career – many of whom are still part of my circle of friends and business associates.

Somewhere along the way, I got too busy running things at FutureWorks and keeping things moving and shaking for our clients, and I found networking events slowly dropping out of my calendar. Instead, I was encouraging teammates to attend industry mixers and events, but when you lead by example, those around you mirror your actions – or in this case inactions. While we were busy making things happen in the trenches, the world around us was changing, new associations were forming, alliances were forging, and tomorrow’s leaders were shaking hands with those who would eventually help them succeed and grow together.

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Does writing matter in public relations? You bet. The written word is frequently the ‘product’ by which we’re judged. However personable and persuasive you are in a face-to-face meeting, if your follow-up is poorly worded then this will count against you.

Don’t believe me? Then take note of a couple of senior practitioners arguing the case for writing as a key public relations skill: Marcel Goldstein and Todd Defren (interviewed by Marie Williams).

But you already know that (you’re reading Forward, after all, so you’re at least a step ahead…) Next question: how can you improve your writing skills? This came up in a recent phone conversation with a PR graduate who is several months into her first job. She’s someone I back to do well in public relations, but her supervisor was clearly unimpressed with her writing skills, an essential task in her role as a press officer.

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An article on MSNBC.com last week took a peak into Al-Qaeda’s communications machine as the terrorist organization continues to tweak and grow its media operations capabilities. Al-Qaeda is becoming increasingly sophisticated in its communications tactics, recently releasing highly polished video and audio messages, and developing a larger web presence as a recruiting tool. There is no doubt Al-Qaeda is PR-minded. Its media wing was established in the late 1980s, but was revamped in 1998 as the group renewed its anti-western agenda. At the same time, Al-Qaeda recruited a technically minded Adam Gadhan (27), who has since become a major player in developing terrorist propaganda material.

Al-Qaeda’s first big revamped foray into higher quality media came in 2000 as Osama bin Laden ordered the creation of a full-length film featuring actual footage of the attack on the USS Cole. Although unable to record the attack, production moved forward. From MSNBC.com:

In early 2001, al-Qaeda recruiters in Europe began to distribute an unusual new video from Pakistan titled “The Destruction of the USS Cole,” created by a mysterious entity known as the “As-Sahaab (‘Clouds’) Foundation for Islamic Media.” Not only did As-Sahaab’s first video release contain startling and unprecedented footage of bin Laden, al-Zawahri and al-Qaeda’s military training camps in Afghanistan, it was demonstrated that the propaganda arm was capable of producing remarkably high quality video and carefully scripted cinematic effects. Oddly, the nearly two-hour long video was even subtitled in near perfect English.

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A few days ago on CNET News’s Blogma, there was a post entitled “When is it OK to lie at work?” The gist of it was, is it ever justifiable to lie about issues at work; ranging from true motivations to the quality of an employee’s performance? Several people weighed in on the subject, but I though we would put it to our readers and contributors here at Forward and get their opinion.

For me, the first response is “No, of course you shouldn’t lie,” oh but instantly I’m reminded of times that I told little white lies about someone’s performance in a group project trying to protect their grade. I’m not talking about huge lies, just putting a positive light on a slightly poor performance. Now by the time I was in my last semester, I showed no mercy to anyone, because I realized I wasn’t doing anyone (especially myself) any good by lying.

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If you are currently a member of PRSSA, or a full-fledged member of PRSA, you may already be familiar with the organization’s APR designation. If you are not a member of our esteemed professional society, shame on you! Just kidding. Seriously, though, there is a great deal of confusion among PR practitioners, young and old alike, regarding the APR designation offered by PRSA, and how it may benefit professionals like you — now, and in the future. As a current APR candidate, I would like to offer my personal perspective on this very important certification program.

For starters, let us begin with some very simple questions and answers provided by PRSA:

What is APR Accreditation?
Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) is a voluntary certification program for public relations professionals, administered by the Universal Accreditation Board. The APR Accreditation is the only professional certification program open to public relations professionals.

Who administers the Accreditation program?
The Accreditation program is administered by the Universal Accreditation Board (UAB), a consortium of 10 leading industry organizations, including PRSA.

Who can pursue the APR?
Any PRSA member in good standing can take on the challenge of earning Accreditation. However, it is recommended that candidates have at least five years’ experience in the full-time practice or teaching of public relations, and who have earned either a bachelor’s degree in a communication-specific field (e.g., public relations, journalism, mass communication) or have equivalent work experience, which includes public relations principles, public relations writing, public relations campaigns, research, ethics and law and internship (practical experience under supervision).

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Ashley Imsand’s postcard from Spain sparked a lively discussion about attitudes to the United States and US citizens abroad. It’s an important question; it also relates very directly to public relations. Let’s unpick some of the themes.

1. Public relations is a US export. Though it’s possible to see examples of PR-like behavior in early civilizations, the public relations industry as we know it originated in the United States. Perhaps the two greatest names in the promotion and development of twentieth century public relations thinking were Edward Bernays and James Grunig, both from the US. ‘Not invented here’ is a problem for others, who often gather and plot patricide in order to reclaim public relations as a home grown practice.

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Our favorite man from Down Under has done it again. No, I’m not referring to the spray cheese incident: I’m talking about starting another revolution! You’ll recall in the past that Forward’s own podcast guru, Paull Young, started such wonderful things as the Young PR Lens on Squidoo as well as…uh, some other really great ideas none of which I can think of right now, but you’ll just have to trust me.

And now, he has paired with Trevor Cook and the two of them have used their powers for good to start the Anti-Astroturfing campaign. For those of you who don’t know, Astroturfing is faking a grassroots movement through sinister, deceptive, and cunning communication tactics. Less-than-honorable PR professionals *gasp* have been known to do it.

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