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

• I work in-house, on my own, in the East Midlands - the irony is beautiful.
• The tag line is highly appropriate given my introduction to PR so far.
• I have an unhealthy obsession with Singstar: Rock Ballads.

Back to the About Me; My name’s Jed Hallam, I work for a company called Academic Answers Ltd, who sell academic research. The company is based just outside of Nottingham, and has existed for over five years. I have worked there since December ‘07.

I ‘run the PR department’, and by that I mean ‘I’m the only member of said department, but I’m responsible for everything, from advising board members and formulating development strategies to writing SEO copy and creating mailing lists’. So I suppose, as this is my first job, I’ve just clambered onto the bottom rung, but I’ve actually had a lot of experiences that (from what I have seen is a usual career route) differ from the usual first-job-making-tea-and-saying-yes-a-lot-position.

This bit isn’t a case of putting myself in the shop window, but a bit to explain why my start in PR has been a baptism of fire. On my first day I was handed two books; ‘Teach Yourself PR’ and ‘Public Relations on a Budget’. That’s the only time I have been given guidance, and I appreciated the freedom more than anything. I repaid the trust, and by the end of the January I’d got my 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 I expect the same, but bigger for April. I’ve also worked extensively with American, Canadian and Australian media

As I’ve explored the role of PRO more, I’ve found that getting headlines is a little bit vain, and that what really matters is making a difference to the bottom line. In an effort to stimulate growth from good public relations, I’ve been looking at social media. So now I try to integrate a dead-tree strategy with social networking and forum interactions. Everyday I learn a little bit more, be it watching RSS for breaking education news, or networking with other PR professionals on Twitter.

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

I am sometimes very cynical.

Disclaimer: This is my personal blog and the opinions I express represent my personal views and opinions and not those of my current or future employer.