Rock Star PR

Ok, so ‘Rock Star PR’ is loaded with pretension and potential criticisms, but let me explain. The reasoning is three fold;

• The irony is beautiful. I am not, and never will be famous for singing. Or drinking. (although the singing is improving, mainly due to point three)
• I have an unhealthy obsession with Singstar: Rock Ballads.
• I am not cool.

Back to the About Me; my name’s Jed Hallam, I work for a brilliant social media consultancy called Wolfstar, who help global brands to breach the ever changing barriers of social media (not a sales line, honest!). I get to work with three superstars of public relations (Stuart Bruce, Chris Norton and Sam Oakley) and one soon-to-be superstar (Natalie Smith) - it’s brilliant!

I’m a senior project development executive with an eye on the future - well, that’s what my CV says anyway - and my eye is placed on helping integrate social media with traditional PR. Not just saying it, but doing it. I get to work with some amazing clients and still flex my creative muscles. I love talking to people, making friends, finding techie bits and bobs and reading stuff.

Before joining Wolfstar I worked as an in-house press officer for an education company. I set the department up and ran it pretty well for eight months. It was a brilliant introduction to traditional public relations; on my first day I was handed two books; ‘Teach Yourself PR‘ and ‘Public Relations on a Budget‘. That was the only time I was given guidance, and I appreciated the freedom more than anything. I repaid the trust, and by the end of the January I’d got the company an interview on BBC News 24, half of a page in The Guardian and about thirty other media outlets. The following March I replicated that, and the month after that it was even better.

As I explored the role of PRO more, I found that getting headlines was a little bit vain (but a big rush!) and that what really mattered was making a difference to the bottom line. In an effort to stimulate growth from good public relations, I began looking at social media. So the obsession began. So now I try to integrate a dead-tree strategy with social media and digital interactions. Everyday I learn a little bit more, from watching my RSS reader for breaking news, to networking with other PR professionals on Twitter or reading the good old Media section in Monday’s Guardian.

Outside of work I enjoy listening to music, reading and playing Singstar with friends (who doesn’t?!).

I am also sometimes very, very cynical.

If you think you might want to be my friend, talk to me, I like new friends.