Renee Malone, founding associate and president of KQ Communications, is named the group’s guru of strategic communications planning and disaster media.
The company co-founder has spent greater than 15 years main award-winning initiatives for nonprofit, enterprise and authorities purchasers. She’s obtained a number of awards from the Related Press, PR Information, PRSA – Memphis and Georgia chapters, and extra. Malone was not too long ago added as a member of the Chairman’s Circle, a strategic, visionary group of civic-minded leaders working collectively to maneuver Memphis ahead with the Better Memphis Chamber.
We caught up with Malone to get her ideas on the way forward for the communications business.
What e-book, podcast or different media do you advocate to different comms professionals?
Malone: To stay educated of fixing neighborhood wants and pursuits, numerous opinions on varied subjects, and the newest information occasions, I like to recommend studying quite a lot of content material every day fairly than limiting your self to at least one supply. Along with difficult myself to learn one e-book a month, I observe international leaders on LinkedIn and scroll their pages for half-hour every day for uplifting content material, information updates, knowledge sources, and enterprise and communication suggestions.
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What’s your favourite device you employ usually for work?
I’ll admit it, Grammarly is my go-to. As a journalist and now as a long-time PR skilled, writing copy and limitless emails is a serious a part of my every day routine. I kind in a short time, which might result in careless errors. A fast test on Grammarly – which admittedly makes just a few errors by itself – has turn out to be a go-to for this busy PR professional.
What excites you most about the way forward for communications?
I’m most excited concerning the evolution of communications! We’re utilizing new voices, bolder messages, and main revolutionary change by way of our work. Additionally, with the event of latest digital and social platforms, we’re discovering new methods to succeed in our audiences and new instruments to create content material and freshen our engagement methods. We even have AI – a recreation changer that PR professionals ought to use with infinite creativity but considerate warning.
What communications problem retains you up at night time?
The identical problem that excites me additionally retains me up at night time. Elevated entry to info and content-creation instruments intensifies the chance for misinformation and misrepresentation.
What’s the most important problem you’ve overcome in your profession?
Because the proprietor of one of many largest Black-owned communications corporations within the Southeast, I realized to concentrate on who we’re and who we carry the best worth. We used to hunt contracts with anybody and everybody, always making an attempt to show our value. Now, now we have an in depth profile of our superb shopper. In order potential purchasers are interviewing us, now, we’re additionally interviewing them. We’re dedicated to efficient PR work that additionally helps messages and missions that uplift our neighborhood.
What’s the greatest recommendation you’ve ever gotten?
When your staff feels revered, empowered, seen, and heard, you turn out to be much less like colleagues and extra of a neighborhood.
Isis Simpson-Mersha is a convention producer/ reporter for Ragan. Comply with her on LinkedIn.
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