By: Lisette Barajas and Carlo Daniel Lupercio
On September 11th, CSUN PRSSA had the pleasure of welcoming senior editor for SoCal Magazine, Joshua Pinkay. Joshua is the go-to guy for all things related to public relations from creativity all the way to professionalism. His career first took off when he received his bachelor’s degree in fashion marketing. He learned the in’s and out’s of the fashion world and was a fashion editor for 12 years. He then decided he wanted to pursue something more than fashion and was hired to work for RCW Media Group. They needed a good writer and he needed a job. That’s when he began to perfect the art of PR, just like his past projects.
To be able to do his job effectively, it requires a whole lot of proper self-marketing and networking. Part of Joshua’s advice consisted of being as social as possible whilst showing curiosity, endurance, and kindness when speaking to people. He told us that our relationships with people are key in helping us boost and sustain our careers, and how you never know when that connection will need you and when you’ll need them. Being passionate, outgoing, and staying true to ourselves can work wonders in PR.
He did warn us that things aren’t always going to be peachy, and when things go south, thinking on your toes will give you the best results.
There was an incident that he went through where he was working on an event near Coachella, from which he got a good amount of press, photographers, and brands to come out and support this highly anticipated event. The day of the event, it turned out that nobody showed up. Only a handful of people had arrived when he was told that it was going to be a busy event. He then had to save this night as best as possible, and that he did. He told the press that this event was "exclusive and invite only." Now a different narrative was painted and nobody ended up questioning him or the event, night saved!
Joshua gave much insight into the world of entertainment PR, from software to private groups on Facebooks. He said that in order to contact press to show up to an event there are softwares for Facebook groups such as “Zars”, a private Facebook networking group you have to be invited to. He also mentioned that Cision is another software used within the industry, it’s a database that provides access to any type of journalists or editors you can think of.
Some advice Joshua offered when networking is that the conversation should be organic. He stated that when meeting someone new, that you want to network or work with, talk to them as if you are meeting a friend. He said that you do not want a conversation to seem opportunistic but rather organic. His final advice for those entering into PR, is to learn, and learn as much as you can. He said, “We are in a digital age where everything is accessible and there are so many things you can learn.”
Thank you for all the advice Joshua!