Chicago, Chicago, That Toddling Town

Raised as a Pure Michigander, frequent trips to the Midwest's New York City were standard. Of course, Michigan Avenue is Chicago's main tourist attraction so during the weekend visits (aka shopping sprees with mom), we never made it further south than Grand (aka Nordstrom). Embarrassingly enough, we finally discovered Rush Street in just the past three years.

So I'm sure you can imagine my excitement when I made the decision to relocate to this magical city this past summer. I was determined to experience everything Chicago had to offer, everything I had been missing out on those weekends I was busy paying 4% more for the same sweater I could purchase in Michigan -- hey, I was on vacation! I had never ridden the train -- not that it's anything to write home about -- never visited the surrounding neighborhoods, never been exposed to the Theatre District, never attended one of the festivals, never been to the museums; the list goes on.

That's why I'm grateful not only for the invaluable career-oriented experience I'm gaining from The Silverman Group, but also the crash course covering the culture of Chicago. In the past three months, they’ve provided me with opportunities I would not have been able to experience in three years on my own. I've attended Joffrey Ballet rehearsals with reporters previewing the performances. I was able to compare the choreography unfolding two feet away from me with the press-attended opening night performances viewed from the back of the breathtaking Auditorium Theater. I've also had the chance to work directly with the promotion of the hilarious A Christmas Story, The Musical! TSG invited press members to a rehearsal at the Oriental Theater where I was able to assist and interact with the amazingly talented and mature cast largely comprised of kids under ten years old. TSG even trusted me enough to let me staff an event on my own last night! The Fulcrum Point New Music Project introduced me to, you guessed it, new music at their Benefit Concert. The unique performance was held at the Chicago Cultural Center, another one of Chicago's gorgeous gems I had yet to visit, and I was able to mingle with the musicians, board members and guests at the reception afterward. And the excitement continues next week! I’m anticipating I will “find Christmas” in the words of Cindy Lou-Hoo and my holiday spirit will skyrocket when I accompany Beth and Erin to the unveiling of LIGHTSCAPE on State Street.

These are just a handful of the exciting, one of a kind experiences TSG has allowed me to be involved in, and I'm sure many more are to come with the holiday season creeping in. Who knows, they may even suck me in for another semester! Stay tuned…

The All-Important (and Sometimes Unattainable) Agency Experience

Word's from TSG's awesome 2011 Fall Intern, Alina.

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I graduated in 2010 from a Big Ten school with a pile of student loans and no means to pay them back. How did I get here? I did everything I was supposed to do. I entered an accredited university, chose and excelled in a major broad enough to provide options yet focused enough to enjoy a specialized area of interest, I volunteered and completed three internships in my field, I joined a sorority, I built my network through experienced professors with connections, and I participated in my PRSSA chapter. So I’m sure you can imagine my confusion when I crossed the stage with a $40,000 piece of paper in my hand and I lacked the pool of job offers I was told a college education would guarantee.

Six months before graduation I began applying to all the big PR firms with offices in metro-Detroit. The common thread in the impersonal rejections: “no agency experience.” How could that be different than all the experience I had gained in internal PR departments? And if it is, how could I gain that experience if none of them would hire me?

Fast forward one year and a rainy relocation later: here I am, a graduate student working full-time between two internships in successful PR agencies. And guess what? The rejections were right.

Agencies provide a much deeper understanding of the practice of PR. My creativity and writing skills have been challenged as I’ve had to adapt to different clients and styles of writing. I’ve gained further insight into crisis management. I have sharpened my event planning and coordination abilities. My media relations knowledge has more than doubled in the past two months with the opportunities to accompany the executives to press events and interact with journalists one-on-one. And I have absolutely mastered the art of time management. Overall I’ve learned that PR offers a more sophisticated means of communication. My interest and faith in the industry has been restored by its unrestricted nature, and I’ve decided that publicizing the arts and entertainment fields is what I will continue to work toward.

So I want to thank The Silverman Group for taking a chance on someone with no agency experience and providing me with what truly has been a unique learning opportunity. And to all the recent graduates encountering the same problem, I encourage you to remain a current and viable asset in this industry. Enroll in graduate school and move to a more vibrant market. Join your local PRSA chapter and engage in interesting conversations with successful people. Volunteer, offer your services to local businesses, and inquire about job shadowing to get you one step closer to that hiring manager. Most importantly, don’t give up. Eventually your dream agency will recognize your potential and your increasing proficiency will transform you into the PR professional you’ve worked so hard to become.