Spotlight on 2010 "Rising Star" Recipient Greg Surber
At this spring's Commonwealth Awards ceremony at The Jefferson Hotel, PRSA Richmond announced the winner of its inaugural Rising Star Award: Greg Surber. We sat down with Greg recently to get to know more about him and what winning the award has meant to him.
CURRENT JOB:
“I’ve been the Marketing Coordinator at Baskervill since October 2008. As one of only three people in our department, I do a lot of everything – developing plans and strategies, new business development, qualifying leads, prepping staff for interviews, developing PowerPoints, graphic design and social media, educating others about the latest technologies. And whatever else they need me to do.”
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE:
“I interned at Porter Novelli (Boston) in 2007 then went to work full time in their New York Office in 2008. While getting my Masters degree at Boston University, I also served as Account Manager at the PR Lab, a student-run PR firm providing pro bono services to area non-profit organizations.”
EDUCATION:
Bachelor of Arts in Media Arts and Design with a concentration in Corporate Communications, and minors in Writing and Rhetoric from James Madison University (2005).
Master’s of Science in Public Relations from Boston University (2008).
PERSONAL STATUS:
Married to Wendy D’Agostino Surber, a fellow PR practitioner, and proud “parent” of a 5.5 -pound Yorkshire Terrier/Miniature Poodle mix named “Butters.”
HOBBIES & INTERESTS:
“Cooking – I’m on a Greek kick now but my heart lies with Italian food. I also love writing, running (although I’m not the most diligent at it), and playing tennis.”
MOST IMPORTANT PROFESSIONAL LESSON LEARNED (so far!):
“If there is one card you’ve got to have in your deck, it is humility. PR often has the unfortunate reputation of practitioners who are too proud and too full of themselves. But for me, at the root of everything we do is humility. The core of PR is relationship building, which is based on trust and respect, which all circles back to humility.”
ULTIMATE CAREER GOAL:
“I’d love to get back to the agency side practicing corporate PR. It’s such a good way to get experience by working on a variety of accounts, and at the senior level, you get to start having a hand in the strategic and visual identity of the firm. However, I also love to teach, which is what I did as a Graduate Assistant at BU. So, the ultimate goal for my twilight years is to be a Professor of Public Relations.”
WINNING THE RISING STAR AWARD:
“It was a tremendous honor. I’ve met so many other fantastic young PR professionals in the area through my involvement with PRSA, so I was truly humbled by the recognition. “
IMPORTANCE OF PRSA INVOLVEMENT:
“PRSA does a great job of laying out the values and expectations for how a PR professional should go about their job. It’s important to be involved with PRSA both locally and nationally because this career is so much about building relationships, at the very least we need to build relationships with our colleagues. That’s what I’ve liked so much about Richmond. People in the industry are so respectful and even complimentary of each other. There don’t seem to be any antagonistic relationships between agencies or individuals.”
ADVICE FOR OTHER NEW PR PRACTITIONERS:
“I could go on and on, but my top three pieces of advice include:
Express humility in everything you do.
Set goals, but don’t be so rigid about them that you can’t go after great opportunities when they come along. In other words, don’t be too set in your ways.
Above all, don’t’ be afraid to dive in and fail. Your task may seem daunting, but you can do it. And even when you do fail, you learn from it and grow.”
CURRENT JOB:
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