Sunday, May 18, 2008

From the Depths of Digital




Last week, I started a new job at Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide in Washington, D.C. I'm working in the 360 Digital Influence department within Ogilvy's Creative Studio.

I have the privilege of joining a great team with varying specializations from online marketing, web development, SEO, social networking, print designers, the list goes on. With a grand total of five days under my belt, the 360 Digital Influence Blog will give you a much better sense of the department and my new colleagues.

I knew that I was joining the right agency during the first few minutes of orientation on the first day. Among the tax forms and the benefits paperwork was an official Ogilvy PR Blogging Guidelines Memo for employees. Before the list of common sense guidelines there was a paragraph that read:
"Understanding the nature of the blogosphere and how to interact, engage with others, and exchange ideas is essential an in our collective interest. This understanding is a prerequisite for providing meaningful and credible counsel for our clients...We encourage you to engage in this form of communication."

For me, this one memo in the collection of first-day materials was a great introduction to the creative, progressive spirit of the agency and a warm welcome for someone getting ready to jump into the Digital Influence department.

Given the blogging-friendly environment and the digital-focus of my new job I’ll definitely continue to post on Young DC PR Pros. For the sake of all three of my readers I hope my future posts reflect an increased familiarity of the intersection between marketing and social media.

Though, I sure will miss having the Pope as a client…

2 comments:

Kate Perrin, PRofessional Solutions LLC said...

Congrats on the new job at Ogilvy, John. I like your blog -- especially entry on astroturfing and need for ethics emphasis in PR education.

I was at the AWC-DC Matrix Awards last week because my company is sponsoring the Matrix Scholarship. I got interested after meeting last year's winner Amanda Hofstetter and hearing about the opportunities that the scholarship and AWC opened up for her. (I'm not a member of AWC-DC).

At the luncheon we heard from '08 winner Michelle Cardoso and the two previous winners. It was great -- these young pros are just what I hope to see entering the profession. I interview people every week for temporary PR jobs, and too many tell me they'd work for anyone, that everyone deserves good PR just as they deserve legal representation!

Check out my post about the scholarship winner at www.capitalbuzz.blogspot.com

staciecm said...

I am one of your three loyal readers. Congrats on the wonderful job! It's really exciting to hear all of the updates!