The 2010 Northwest Arkansas Business Journal’s list of 40 Under 40 is out, and there’s a talented face from Mitchell Communications Group among the bunch.
Honorees are stellar business and political leaders in the six-county area under 40 years old; people the public and NWABJ editors believe will continue rising in coming years. As Senior Manager of Organizational and Leadership Development at MCG, Melanie Arterbury certainly fits that mold.
Arterbury began in sales management for SouthTrust Bank in Alabama before moving into training and development management for United-Bilt Homes in Springdale. While there, she also attained a master’s in leadership and ethics from John Brown University. Arterbury established her own company, Arterbury Consulting and Training LLC, in 2007. Late last year, she fell into step with MCG as senior manager.
Today, Arterbury is still taking strides to act on her own advice to make learning a lifelong process. She creates business training, executive strategies and customized curriculum development, while continuing to expand client relationships at MCG. She says, “I like seeing the change in people as they polish skills in their own organizations, or seeing the light bulb come on for someone just learning a skill.” She encourages others to pass their new talent along, teaching future generations.
“For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
Please share a favorite quote, thought or poem about why you’re grateful this season.
The Northwest Arkansas chapter of the Public Relations Society of America held its first ever communications conference on October 14 at the John Q. Hammons Convention Center in Rogers, Ark. One hundred communications professionals from Northwest Arkansas and across the region attended this event to learn from the line-up of expert speakers as well as each other.
Entitled Building Your Brand, this year’s conference provided attendees the opportunity to attend panel discussions on the state of communications and media as well as a host of breakout sessions that covered topics ranging from research and social media to internal branding and governmental affairs. The day’s events began with an informative presentation from Andrea Thomas, senior vice president of Private Brands for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Thomas used Wal-Mart’s own brand strategy to illustrate the importance of building customer loyalty while building your brand.
Jimmy Dykes, noted ESPN men’s college basketball analyst, brought the conference to an end with his lunchtime keynote presentation. Dykes shared his observations on public relations excellence as they relate to the PR professionals in his field, sports information directors.
Every attendee leaves a conference with their own favorite memory or lesson learned. Some favorite moments from the Mitchell staff include:
Tammy Varner
ESPN game analyst Jimmy Dykes compared public relations with a point guard’s ability to complete a great pass. In order to achieve success, the pass must be on time and on target. The same goes for the messages that we communicate. Ask yourself, is this timely? Is the message on target?
Ed Nicholson of Tyson Foods gave a great tip for getting your feet wet in social media. Start by listening. “Would you walk in to a party and just start talking to people?” This is excellent advice. Social media is much more than an online billboard. It’s all about relationships and conversation.
Heather Ellington
Meredith Adams
Mike Sells of the Sells Agency, gave us a good reminder about research and its importance in the PR four-step process. If research is more than a year old, it is most likely out of date and not current with the continually-changing consumer beliefs. Before beginning any project, be sure to conduct the appropriate research.
He also emphasized the difference between market research and consumer research. Your consumers might not be the majority in the market therefore, there should be two separate sets of data: one to reflect the market you are trying to reach and one to reflect your consumers.
I was really impressed with Natasha Bell, from TashadoesTulsa.com, and her thoughts on how public relations professionals can work together with online bloggers to create the most attention-grabbing story for the online community. She expressed how the press release works great as background information and facts but online bloggers really want two-way communication that allows them to come up with a creative idea to capture the messaging that you might not get from traditional media.
Brandy Bartholomew
To read more opinions and commentary on the conference, check out our post of the #nwaprsa Twitter feed from the day of the conference.
Finding a balance between one’s professional life and personal life has always been a challenge. In difficult economic times it may seem impossible. Work becomes more important than ever before – those who have jobs may be working harder to adjust to staffing and budget cuts, while those who do not have jobs are focusing all their efforts and energy on finding employment. Throw in technology’s mixed blessing of 24/7 access to phone, e-mail and Internet, and the professional can quickly eclipse the personal completely.
But, these are the times when finding the balance is the most critical. Making a conscious effort to carve out time for activities not related to work — family, exercise, volunteer work, hobbies – fosters creativity, prevents burnout, rejuvenates and “sharpens the saw.” The most successful companies recognize this and create a culture where their employees are equally passionate about the professional and the personal aspects of their lives.
This month’s issue of Citiscapes Metro Monthly features a profile of Elise, and in particular, how she achieves balance in her own life (full article below in Acrobat.com link). There is no set formula for achieving balance, and it is often a constantly-evolving process. Standing on one foot requires subtle shifts of weight before balance is achieved; the mental act of balancing professional and personal interests calls for the same constant adjustment.
The 2010 Northwest Arkansas Business Journal’s list of 40 Under 40 is out, and there’s a talented face from Mitchell Communications Group among the bunch.
Finding a balance between one’s professional life and personal life has always been a challenge. In difficult economic times it may seem impossible. Work becomes more important than ever before – those who have jobs may be working harder to adjust to staffing and budget cuts, while those who do not have jobs are focusing all their efforts and energy on finding employment. Throw in technology’s mixed blessing of 24/7 access to phone, e-mail and Internet, and the professional can quickly eclipse the personal completely.
