Deirdre Breakenridge

My trip to New Jersey was inspired by a bland class assignment for my public relations course at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan: job shadow a public relations professional for a day and write a five-page paper about the experience. Shortly after moderating #PRStudChat in January, I thought this could be a great opportunity to venture out of Michigan and connect with #PRStudChat co-founder and one of the greatest minds in the PR 2.0 movement, Deirdre Breakenridge. She was completely onboard with my proposal, going above and beyond my request: I got to spend not just a day just with Deirdre, but three.

There’s a little song I learned back in Girl Scouts (yes, I was a girl scout… rocked the cookie sales, horrid when it came to crafts!). Make new friends, but keep the old. One is sliver and the other gold.

It’s no secret that we’re all being asked to do more with less. Efficiency is a regular part of our vocabulary — and a standard by which clients hold us accountable. The question is: Beyond just working faster, what can we do to be more efficient? There are lots of “right” answers, but if you ask me, collaboration tops the list. Lucky for us, there are lots of free or inexpensive tools available to help PR people collaborate with each other.