After I won a flip camera from Wendy Piersall at SXSW (thanks to an awesome recommendation from Adam Keats of Weber Shandwick Chicago), Adam advised me to get out there and do interviews with people, asking them their one tip for the Almost-Grad.

One place I knew I could get some good feedback was at the Mashable/Blurb party at Six and the Taproom. Not the best environment for image quality, but the feedback itself is amazing. In the next couple of days, I’ll be featuring the people that I interviewed, sharing their videos with you all and some additional feedback as well.

First up in the series, Aaron Strout, VP of marketing at Powered, Inc. Aaron is big on networking, here’s why:

Aaron Strout’s One Tip For Almost Grads from Sydney Owen on Vimeo.

Tell me about Powered, Inc. in a few sentences:

Powered creates social marketing programs that help brands connect and build relationships with their customers through managed online communities. Unlike other marketing programs, online communities allow businesses to engage with customers through a combination of expert content and online community interactions. A good example of a client that embodies this is Sony.

In addition to the importance of networking, is there anything else you’d like to share with the class?

I’m a big believer in “being the media” (vs. pitching them) and that I think authenticity and transparency in business are going to become increasingly important.

And there you have it! Advice from someone established in the industry. Aaron’s segment is the kick-off to the video series, “Tips for Almost-Grads”. Aaron, thank you for taking the time at the Mashable party to meet with me. I look forward to working with you in the future.

Do you agree with Aaron? How important is networking? Should we focus more on contributing than taking away? What are your thoughts?

Are you a professional in PR, Marketing, Social Media or any combination of the three? Would you like to be a part of this series? Check out my contact information at the top of the page, or follow me on Twitter to get involved.

As SXSW Interactive starts to wind down, I want to leave you with a couple of pointers from one of the big guys in social media, Peter Shankman. This is by no means the end of my posts about my time here at SX, but I felt this was of the utmost importance.

1. Take as many journalism classes as you can. If you understand journalism, deadlines, how to write for a particular beat, what the newsroom is like, AP style, etc, you will succeed at a rapid pace as a PR professional. If you can pitch to the appropriate people, and understand what a journalist considers a good pitch – you are set. For life.

2. Talk to as many people as you can. I know I’ve been harping on this for several months now, but networking is huge. Anyone who follows Peter on Twitter can see that he’s got it down. Anyone that’s ever had the pleasure of meeting him in person can see that he’s as passionate offline as he is online, if not more so. Having the opportunity to interact with Peter at SXSW on multiple occasions was amazing. I was able to see him both as a panelist and as a rocker. “Rocker?” you say? Yes. Which leads me to number three…

3. Learn one song that you can rock at karaoke. Okay so this wasn’t actual advice that he gave me, but damn, this guy can rock the Bon Jovi. Seriously. Don’t believe me? Check it out.

Thank you Peter for your amazing input and fantastic rendition of “You Give Love A Bad Name”. I look forward to working with you in the future.

I knew I liked bartending.  Now I know I love it.  Why? Because I have gotten to meet some of the coolest people that I wouldn’t usually get to meet.  Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald came in when they got in town on Monday, and we’ve had a handful of other athletes as well.  Tonight, Friday and Saturday will be the nights that I am on celebrity overload.

The night before last was a perfect example of how bartending will probably help me get a job in an industry other than hospitality.

Four guys come in, and they are hilarious – they like me, I like them, they can take my sass and dish it back, in essence, they are my ideal bar guests.  We get to talking the normal bar chat and it turns out my new favorite guests are Tim Ryan and Pat Kirwan from Sirius NFL Network’s “Moving the Chains” (and their producers). They’re in town from NYC (Pat) & San Diego (Tim), doing live broadcasts from Radio Row at the Super Bowl Media Center. We get to talking about the business, what they like about it, how they are enjoying their time in Tampa, and by the end of their stay in my section at the bar, I’ve got my name on the list for a Day Pass to the Media Center.

Clearly, knowing how to sell yourself will play to your advantage in almost any situation.  This is one of them.  Pat, hailing from NY, is bringing his brother in on Friday, he said he and his brother are very well connected in the city (the guy used to manage the Jets, I bet he knows some people), and that they’d get me some contacts in NY about jobs for after graduation.

Penelope, thank you for helping me develop the tools to market myself as a star performer.  Ryan, thank you for getting me all set up with Brazen Careerist.

Pause.  If you aren’t following me on Twitter, do it, because that’s where I’m posting the pics from Radio Row.

Resume.

Being in PR, I haven’t had a lot of exposure to radio.  I mean, have listened to a couple shows in my day, but I haven’t ever been around it. Yesterday was sensory overload, to put it lightly.

My friend Stacey and I pick up our credentials and enter the Super Bowl Media Center.  After wandering around for a bit, we make our way to Radio Row.  Sirius is the first radio station you see when you enter, making it a very busy place, and also a very good place to post up and see athletes, TV personalities, and other people being interviewed.

The entire back wall of the room is a media table, and as of yesterday, there were already over 350 official Super Bowl press releases on the table.  Press kits, releases, media advisories, Pittsburgh publications, Arizona publications – it was like a semester in the classroom on one gigantic table.  So naturally, I walked out of there with every feature story written about both teams (via press kits), season-long statistics, quotes from press conferences, and knowledge of every photo opp for the rest of the week.

The pictures tell the fun part of the story, all of the people I saw there, so be sure you follow me on Twitter to catch the pics.

Okay so last night was my first time participating, but I should have you know, #journchat is where you need to be on Monday nights.  Started by Sarah Evans, the idea of #journchat is to unite PR people, journalists and bloggers (and other communicators in general) in an engaging conversation about the industry where ideas can be shared.

Last night, before #journchat, I had around 120 followers on Twitter.  This morning, after having participated, I have 196. All of my new twitter friends are in the industry, some from my area, the rest from around the country.  I learned a lot about how journalists feel about PR pros and also made some valuable connections that could help me land a job after graduation.

Lizz Harmon, President and CEO of Harmon Tampa Public Relations is one of those contacts. I had actually started following her a month ago, and she is how I found out about #journchat. I reconnected with her last night, and I am working on arranging a time for me to pick her brain about anything and everything PR.  She’s a fellow USF alum and so is her daughter. 

Now how does any of this change my life?  Twitter #journchat allows for me to connect with people I wouldn’t other wise have an opportunity to connect with.  Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh is someone I’m following now, via recommendation from Rob McNealy, in regards to my interest in PR in Vegas.

Browsing the people that follow my new contacts is also helping me build my future-employer/friend/mentor community.

Someone said last night, facebook is for people you used to know, Twitter is for people you want to know better.  How true.

So to all my followers on Twitter, sorry for flooding your Twitter feed on Mondays.  That’s the only day of the week where I’ll be posting like crazy.  Join the fun, 7-10 pm CST Monday nights at #journchat. Send your questions that you want to have answered to @PRSarahEvans in advance for a shot at getting feedback on whatever you might be wondering about.

Have you participated in #journchat?  If so, what did you think?  If not, why not?