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Member Profile: Amber Pietrobono

Amber Pietrobono
Senior Brand Marketing & Public Relations Associate, Fisher-Price

1. Where did you go to college and what was your degree?

St. Bonaventure University, MA in Integrated Marketing Communications , BA in Journalism/Mass Communications

2. Hong long have you been a member of PRSA?

Several months

3. Why did you join PRSA?

To participate in PRSA programs and workshops, and to meet new people.

4. What is your position with PRSA? What do you enjoy the most or what have you learned?

New member.

5. What do you wish you’d known when you started working in public relations?

Learn to describe what you do simply. Not everyone understands PR.

6. What is the best part of your job?

I can’t choose just one. I love the travel, meeting new people, and working on so many different projects.

7. What is the toughest lesson you have learned on the job?

How to say “no” when I’m at my max workload.

8. What do you (or would you) tell local college students majoring in public relations or young professionals who may seek career advice from you?

Internships. You can never have too many.

 9. What’s your favorite activity or place to go in Western New York?

Saturday mornings at the Bidwell Farmer’s Market, coffee from Café Aroma, and then strolling Elmwood. It’s the perfect Saturday.

10. If you could ghostwrite a major speech for any person, living or dead, who would it be and why?

Jennifer Lawrence. She’s so talented and relatable, yet her humor and choice of words are often misunderstood and mocked. 

Member Profile: Jeff Paterson, APR

Jeff Paterson, APR
Executive Director, Community Music School of Buffalo

1. Where did you go to college and what was your degree?
Canisius College, B.A. in Communication Studies, then Christ the King Seminary, M.A. in Pastoral Ministry

2. Hong long have you been a member of PRSA?
Since 1997, when I started working in public relations.

3. Why did you join PRSA?
All the people I looked up to in the field were involved in PRSA -- I wanted to be a part of it.

4. What is your position with PRSA? What do you enjoy the most or what have you learned?
I'm a past president of the chapter and spent several years on the board. Currently, I teach the prep classes for the Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) exam. I've been teaching PR and advertising courses at Buffalo State College for the past nine years, so it's a pretty natural role for me. Now that I'm executive director of a nonprofit, teaching helps me stay connected to the profession I love.

5. What do you wish you’d known when you started workning in public relations?
That most reporters don't bite.

6. What is the best part of your job?
Watching and hearing students of all ages perform at recitals.

7. What is the toughest lesson you have learned on the job?
You have to be very careful whom to trust.

8. What do you (or would you) tell local college students majoring in public relations or young professionals who may seek career advice from you?
Do internships. Go on informational interviews. Be aware of what's happening in the world. Voraciously consume diverse forms of media. And if you're not a good writer, learn how to become one.

 9. What’s your favorite activity or place to go in Western New York?
Irish Classical Theatre Company

10. If you could ghostwrite a major speech for any person, living or dead, who would it be and why?
Robert F. Kennedy. He's one of my foremost heroes, and probably the last viable political leader in our nation who talked about poetry and art -- not to mention social justice, compassion and diversity -- as national priorities.

Imagine a presidential candidate saying something like this today: "The gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country. It measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. And it can tell us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans."

Yeah, I would have liked to write for that guy.