TAKING NOTES

I posted last week about the networking dinner I attended with a few PR gals.  We chatted about a lot of things, but there were three topics that stood out the most, and I’ve wanted to share the take-aways with you:

1.       It’s a small world…and an even smaller industry.  Be very careful about who/what you speak about and where. You never know who is around, who knows who, etc.  There are eyes and ears everywhere, so keep the gossiping about peers or clients to a minimum because the odds of it getting back to that person are very good.  And the last thing you want to do in this industry is burn a bridge because, well, like I said, it is a very small industry.

2.       You ARE judged by your posts and tweets.  I have said it before, but I’ll say it again, social media is SOCIAL.  It goes on the web and it is essentially there forever for everyone to see.  Everyone including friends, family AND potential or current employers.  I learned about a few girls who got fired over inappropriate posts and others who were interviewing candidates and Googled them only to find bad behavior, insulting or off-putting posts or tweets, and overall, a reason not to hire the candidates.  So remember that when you are putting photos on Facebook, particularly those of you who are in high school or college, it will be seen my more than just your “friends.”

3.       Proper English and grammar are important.  This is something I cannot stress enough, and we all had a good laugh about this one.  The consensus of things that bother us the most are multiple exclamation points and multiple question marks for no reason, using acronyms like OMG in a business email, using LOL at all (as one PR maven put it, if you have to write that you are laughing, write better), and signing off with “xoxo” with someone you are not close with. 

It is always great meeting up with your peers because you realize that you are not alone in how you feel about certain things, and you gain more insight into what is acceptable and what is not.  So, take it or leave it, but know that we are watching, listening, and taking notes…