FPRA - Florida Public Relations Association Blog

The second day of the 68th Annual Conference began with the Dillin Keynote Address. Shirley Powell, Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications, Turner Broadcasting led a humorous and introspective look at media and public relations.

Shirley represents all the brands under the Turner name, that includes: TBS, TNT, CNN, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, CourtTV, Turner Classic Movies and the Atlanta Braves. In many ways her office acts as a pr agency for these brands. Her office handles general corporate responsibility. Turner is of course a subsidiary of TimeWarner which includes HBO, AOL, Warner Brothers and Time, Inc. In her role, unfortunately she has to take on a 'squeaky wheel gets the oil' approach.

One of the most important lessons she learned early on in her career with Curley & Pynn was: Present Solutions not Problems. It's through failures and mistakes that we learn.

The first major campaign Shirley worked on was the opening of Universal Studios in Orlando. Opening day arrived and none of the rides worked. During the day she had to watch as her media contact did report after report that nothing was working. That wasn't something that any pr internship had taught her to deal with.

Later in her career during the Cartoon Network launch in Atlanta they had a power outage two minutes into the grand-opening. While Shirley had checked just about every aspect of the launch, she didn't check that one little thing that ended up causing the problem. Lesson learned: Always double-check everything, no matter how small. Another issue was food. Or lack of it. They had prepared box lunches for children that were going to attend, but many of the Turner staff had taken the food. The pr staff had to quickly scramble and visit fast food restaurants around the Atlanta area and order hundreds of happy meals. In the end all the kids were fed and the media coverage of the event was very positive.

Don't burn bridges. Simple. You never know when you'll need to work with a former colleague. One of the executives she worked with during the launch of Cartoon Network eventually hired her for another position.

Next lesson: If anything ever involves the President of the United States...pay attention to it. While working at NBC she received a call about President Bill Clinton pitching NBC on a talk show. At first Shirley thought the inquiry was a joke and provided a short comment. Within hours an AP report was filed and the press calls poured in. Shortly afterward the White House called and didn't appreciate the attention the story was generating. She learned that not matter how silly or small a story may sound, if it's about the President, take is seriously.

Next lesson: Sometimes taking a step back in your career can allow you to take a big step forward in your life. Shirley and her husband decided to move back to Atlanta. Some people thought it wasn't the best career move, but it was the best choice for her family.

Shirley had a few key points in dealing with her career:

- Work Hard
- Keep Learning
- Welcome Challenges
- Act with Integrity

One of Shirley's favorite quotes is from the first female Admiral - Grace Murray Hooper

A ship in port is safe, but that's not what ships are built for