Steven Woodgate

Stepping-stones are often hard to come by. The next one may be in sight but difficult to jump on to. It’s important to bridge that gap.

Recently, after graduating with top marks in Sports Journalism, the opportunities weren’t there – the stepping-stone often requires a leap of faith.

That leap of faith – for me – was Winchester City Football Club.

We all know about experience is key and all that nonsense but after many tough weeks writing copy at local newspapers, countless websites and student publications and making tea, the chance to work for a semi-professional football club seemed a smart one.

Leaving university with a degree in Journalism is just not enough. Many old hacks solely believe in the NTCJ qualifications and will discredit university education, insisting that experience is more useful.

After graduating with that piece of paper, thoughts materialized that I wanted more from my degree, after all journalism is not the most lucrative paid profession. This led me to public relations and thoughts of becoming a media officer.

From there an opportunity arose and I grabbed it with both hands and progressed to that next step.

Now, with my involvement, Winchester City are up-to-date with social media platforms, have a brand new website to boast about and are getting regular, and full, coverage in the Hampshire Chronicle and Daily Echo.

After five months, the manager, ex-Portsmouth and Brighton defender Guy Butters, speaks openly to me after games; the players are often bantering me about this or other and the owner trusts me to make my own impact.

These are valuable experiences. In five months, I have mingled and spoken with Southampton legend Matt Le Tissier, ex-Portsmouth Paul Walsh and ex-Liverpool Phil Babb. You never know who you would meet at your local Non-League ground.

And even on special occasions you can see ex-QPR and Southampton defender Mark Dennis flip burgers at the Denplan City Ground – an ex-Premier League footballer flipping burgers!

Fortunately, drawing on previous experience with other jobs, these interactions went rather smoothly, it’s all about making links and networking.

However, some of these skills are still lacking amongst more recent graduates, as many are spoon-fed and don’t take the initiative.

Non-League football is always looking for help, promotion and publicity and any aspiring sporting professionals should get involved, you never know who you have the chance of meeting.

Since my time with the ‘Citizens’, I watch and report on games for the local papers, maintain the current website and try to increase viewership.

I raise awareness of the club, the venue and its community through liaising with the local and national sporting media, website management and development, creation and management of the club’s social media platforms and creation of a range of e-communications, match-day programmes and other literature.

My aim is to encouraging more people to come to the venue more often to support the players or host their events, driving ticket sales, merchandise sales and raise the profile of the club and the league.

Sports Journalism students from the University of Winchester are involved filming games and students come up from Southampton Solent University to write up match reports. It’s all about experience.

It’s easy to report on a Manchester United or Arsenal game as you have all the information ready, you have instant replays, and detailed programmes. At non-league level, you have no replays, very little detail and no names on shirts. This level you have to really watch the game and it is a real research exercise.

I learned by talking to fans, speak to other local journalists, and speak in detail with the manager and his coaches.

This is all going on my CV and portfolio and the one thing I would argue in an interview: I’m doing all this for free and proving a great success, imagine how good I would be if I was paid for it?

One impressive forum for PR students is PROpenMic which has its own community site, Facebook and Twitter account. Looking at its Facebook page however, the ‘wall’ is covered in news feeds mainly from America and has turned into a one-way communication system where no discussions are taking place.

‘Calling PR Students From All Over’ is the Facebook group that sets out to fuse together the many wonderful characters found amongst modern day Communication students. Bring a little bit of expertise to the group, showcase your own blogs, ask us to fill out your dissertation surveys, share your internship experience or your worries. If you want to campaign for something close to your heart and want some support for a charity race, then we are your online community. You don’t have to be a great talker, as long as you’re a good typer so sign up now!

It’s the third year of my Public Relations and Communication course at Southampton Solent university and my brain is heading towards a social networking meltdown – so much to keep up with, so many people to follow! Worse for me and students alike is that I have seven months until the end of my course and I’m afraid that employers are looking for social network maniacs. I must keep up with the trend if I don’t want to struggle behind.

Help, I’m a twitter virgin and have only just started blogging! Are my opinions valuable, or laughable? Do my tweets stand out or make you cringe out loud?

Ines Alcobia

I have told myself to relax and stop trying so hard, as I understand many PR consultants have only found out about the power of online influence in the past three years, with many having the pressure of learning its wonders on the side of their every day job.

We students on the other hand have been given the time to share our opinions with an online community during our free time.

I have come to the conclusion that as much as you think there are a few (or many) smarter people than you in your class, PR is not always about being clever; it’s about effectively communicating your common sense.

So put aside your nerves and let’s help each other get through our course with no mental distress – just a few aching fingers. Join the discussions on Facebook.

Name:

Work title:
Senior Lecturer and Course Leader, BA (Hons) in PR & Communications, Southampton Solent University 

Qualification(s): 
BA (Hons) International Relations, University of Virginia (USA). Masters and Doctorate in International Relations, St Antony’s College, Oxford University.  MCIPR since 1988. 

Academic experience: 
I’ve been at Solent University as a part time lecturer for three years. I now lead the course and am working to develop a BA (Hons) in Corporate Communications, as well as a PR Pathway for a BA (Hons) in Online Communications.

Professional experience: 
I’m an American by birth but I’ve lived over half my life in the UK. I’ve had twenty years’ plus experience as a practitioner, working mostly in-house but with some agency experience. My career has included public affairs, marketing communications and PR for financial services and professional organisations. I’ve worked for the Stock Exchange, the FSA and the British Bankers’ Association. I’ve been a Head of Parliamentary Relations twice, a Director of Corporate Communications twice, a CEO once, and now offer consultancy to clients. I’ve traveled all over the world and worked in some pretty exotic places, including Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, the Ukraine and Russia. I am an accredited coach specialising in top team development, performance improvement and change management.  

Teaching philosophy: 
Inspire students with passion and enthusiasm, based on my own experience. There’s nothing like explaining crisis PR by using as an example the day my boss was arrested at dawn by the Serious Fraud Office! As a university, we need to equip students with the means to succeed and prosper. I like to think that my blend of practicality with intellectual challenge helps students make sense out of it all.

Research interests: 
Public policy advocacy, issues management, CSR and ethics.

Interests outside work: 
I live in an 18th century thatched cottage in a beautiful rural Hampshire village with my husband and two Labradors. I ring church bells, indulge in ballroom dancing classes (love Argentine Tango!) and am writing my first novel, set in 15th century Italy. If I won the lottery, I’d spend far too much on long haul travel, fine wine and books. 

Why did you become a lecturer?
I stopped working in the City of London to find time to enjoy life and give something back. I was approached through my CIPR contacts to cover for a lecturer for six weeks. I took to it like a duck to water, and enjoy it immensely. It’s challenging, intellectually interesting and makes a difference to the quality of other people’s lives.  

What do you most like / dislike about your current role?
Like – the fact that this is communication that changes lives, and if you get it right, you can see the difference it makes to the way students grow in confidence and skill.  If I had to grumble about something, it would be students who sign up for a tutorial and then don’t show up. 

What is your proudest achievement?  
That’s a toss up between being one of the first American women to win a Rhodes Scholarship in 1977, and having a successful and happy marriage for 28 years. On second thought, my husband has made more of a difference to me as a human being than anything else.

What is your greatest disappointment? 
Not starting my novel ten years ago.

How has public relations changed during your lifetime?  
When I started there were no university degrees in PR. And, to be honest, if there had been, I wouldn’t have done it because the reputation of “PR” wasn’t very appealing.  I think the profession has become more respected over the last twenty years, as people begin to appreciate how communication is a strategic management tool and an essential skill of government. 

How do you envisage it developing in the future?
I worry that PR will be split in half. Too many practitioners will be side-tracked down the route of tactical ploys, technological gizmos and other “tricks of the trade”. The other path is into the boardroom, where communication really makes a difference. I’ve seen how a good PR and Comms professional can change the business fundamentals for an organisation, in a way that the accountancy and legal professions do. CIPR membership, Continuous Professional Development and Chartered Practitioner status need to be directed toward this kind of professional communicator, rather than the “spin doctors” who hog the pages of PR Week. We need better PR for PR…