McGurk Gives Public Relations Insight
Michelle McGurk, Senior Policy Advisor and Public Information Officer for San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, spoke with Public Relations students on Tuesday, November 6, 2007. San Jose State students majoring in Public Relations attended the keynote speech given by McGurk, for the department’s annual PR Day.
McGurk informed the audience about what exactly she does for the mayor. She explained that her main focus is to “connect the mayor with the press.” McGurk prepares the mayor to be in front of the camera and to answer the press’ questions.
She also explained that most people think of a mayor’s press secretary to be in front of the camera answering tough questions from reporters, however that is not the case. “We want the mayor on camera, in front of the press as much as possible,” said McGurk. For a city as large and diverse as San Jose, McGurk explained that it is important for the city to see their mayor. Especially since the prior mayors for the city, were hardly seen by the public.
McGurk gave a brief history of her career in public relations. She started out as a news reporter for seven years. After reporting she worked for non-profits and community relations. She previously was the Senior Director for Media and Community Relations for the $1.7 billion Silicon Valley Community Foundation. At that position, McGurk managed press outreach for the organization and community and civic leadership.
McGurk was editor for a major trade magazine and decided to leave that position to work for political campaigns. She was the legislative aide and then chief of staff for former San Jose Vice Mayor Frank Fiscalini in 1995 to 2000. The problem with political relations is that “once the politicians term is up, it’s time to find a new job,” said McGurk.
She had no problem finding a new job, as she now works for the current mayor of San Jose. She explained that recently with the earthquake, she experienced an emergency first hand and how it plays out. She said everything went well and worked as planned and stated that “that night we did about fifteen to twenty press interviews in two hours.”
At the end of her speech, McGurk gave the audience some words of advice:
1. Be a news junkie. If you don’t watch the news you can’t pitch it. Know local and national reporters.
2. Networking, networking, networking. It is very important.
3. Very important to be able to write well and know grammar skills.
4. On a resume, you should highlight your experience in customer service. This shows you have people skills.
5. A few things she wishes she was told 20 years ago:
• Better to have a job you love than to make a lot of money.
• If you want to travel do it now.
• Start saving for retirement now, even if it is $10 a month.
• Only use credit cards for emergencies.
• Send handwritten thank you cards.
This was an informative speech. I learned a lot and found McGurk to be very interesting and the words of advice were great to hear from someone other than my mother.
Word Count: 537
McGurk informed the audience about what exactly she does for the mayor. She explained that her main focus is to “connect the mayor with the press.” McGurk prepares the mayor to be in front of the camera and to answer the press’ questions.
She also explained that most people think of a mayor’s press secretary to be in front of the camera answering tough questions from reporters, however that is not the case. “We want the mayor on camera, in front of the press as much as possible,” said McGurk. For a city as large and diverse as San Jose, McGurk explained that it is important for the city to see their mayor. Especially since the prior mayors for the city, were hardly seen by the public.
McGurk gave a brief history of her career in public relations. She started out as a news reporter for seven years. After reporting she worked for non-profits and community relations. She previously was the Senior Director for Media and Community Relations for the $1.7 billion Silicon Valley Community Foundation. At that position, McGurk managed press outreach for the organization and community and civic leadership.
McGurk was editor for a major trade magazine and decided to leave that position to work for political campaigns. She was the legislative aide and then chief of staff for former San Jose Vice Mayor Frank Fiscalini in 1995 to 2000. The problem with political relations is that “once the politicians term is up, it’s time to find a new job,” said McGurk.
She had no problem finding a new job, as she now works for the current mayor of San Jose. She explained that recently with the earthquake, she experienced an emergency first hand and how it plays out. She said everything went well and worked as planned and stated that “that night we did about fifteen to twenty press interviews in two hours.”
At the end of her speech, McGurk gave the audience some words of advice:
1. Be a news junkie. If you don’t watch the news you can’t pitch it. Know local and national reporters.
2. Networking, networking, networking. It is very important.
3. Very important to be able to write well and know grammar skills.
4. On a resume, you should highlight your experience in customer service. This shows you have people skills.
5. A few things she wishes she was told 20 years ago:
• Better to have a job you love than to make a lot of money.
• If you want to travel do it now.
• Start saving for retirement now, even if it is $10 a month.
• Only use credit cards for emergencies.
• Send handwritten thank you cards.
This was an informative speech. I learned a lot and found McGurk to be very interesting and the words of advice were great to hear from someone other than my mother.
Word Count: 537
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