“Here we are Marv. New York City, the land of opportunity.” And what an opportunity it is! Next week, myself and three fellow PHA-ers will be in the Big Apple to experience life, work and of course pizza and possibly a cheesecake or two in the city that never sleeps (did I mention that it’s at the most wonderful time of the year as well?!)
Whilst it might not be the inaugural PHA x 5W Exchange scheme, it is the first time that someone who doesn’t do PR has made the plane.
Now for those of you who think PHA have made an admin error and another Tom should have been selected (We have a lot of Tom’s at PHA, it’s very easy to lose track) Iet me put your mind at ease, I do indeed work at The PHA Group. I’m part of a four-man strong Marketing team whose objective is to generate new inbound opportunities for all our great PR teams.
So whilst some of my colleagues might be excited about how the New York media works and how best to approach journalists, my focus will be on what I can learn from the 5W Business Development team.
Whether that’s discussing the overall content strategy, how they target events for new business or even how much importance is placed on website data. I intend to soak it all up like a sponge.
I’m hoping to gain a better understanding of how the marketing team operates within a larger PR agency than PHA, how do they service all the departments and regularly deliver new business leads to all the teams.
Finally, I really hope this exchange leads to developing friendships with the people I’m heading Stateside with.
On a personal note, I’ve never been to NYC before at Christmas time, so I’ll be ticking off a very long list of tourist attractions during my visit. Visiting the Observatory tower, trying some eggnog and there might even be time for a New York Knicks game. Alley-Oop!
Being somewhat of a ‘foodie’ myself too, visiting New York and experiencing all their culinary treats, is something I’m greatly looking forward to.
I’ve heard a lot about New York bagels and how they’re the ‘best in the business’, well it’s time to test them against a little place I like to call Bruno’s, which currently has the crown of finest bagels in Soho, London.
If you know, you know.
See you in a few days’ time NYC.
