A simple "thank you" will do. Guest speaker Jay Robb provides some industry tips

Jay Robb, Mohawk College
"Its not sex & money anymore: people just want a thank you" - Jay Robb
On Wednesday November 24th the Public Relations Graduate Certificate class geared up for another guest speaker, this time it was Jay Robb the Director of Communications at Mohawk College. Jay was definitely a breath of fresh air as he spoke briefly about his previous jobs at Dofasco, Hamilton Health Sciences, Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters and his present role within Mohawk College.


To give you a little boiler plate about Jay, he holds a Masters in Journalism and a Bachelors of Political Science from “the Harvard of the north” Western University. Jay has been writing business book reviews for the past 11 years for the Hamilton Spectator, which can be found at http://jayrobb.typepad.com/ Jay currently is trying to build and enhance the Mohawk College reputation within the community, students and employees, while appealing to different funders to the college.


As many of us are preparing for the real world within five months, Jay gave us an insight into the making and production of the Mohawk Matters Blog -how Mohawk uses the blog as media tactic.

We were also given access to the internal communication plan for Mohawk and the different elements that go into the making of the plan. Jay spoke about the importance of internal communications within organization. A good tactic in which Mohawk implements is a breakfast meeting with the president of Mohawk once month, allowing faculty and staff face time with Rob MacIsaac. Imagine knowing everything from rumors to facts about an organization and the only person that can help create clarity within the organization is the media relations department.


Overall, it was a joy to hear Robb speak on the subject of public relations, internal communication and the advancements within the industry. He used his great sense of humor to keep his audience intrigued, while delivering variety of messages.


Top 5 things to take away from Jay’s presentation.
1. Thank you is the magic word
2. If you look stressed, others will stress.
3. Always be transparent
4. Information interviews are key (as it will take 6 months to find the proper job )
5. Always be nice to administrative assistance :)






Shauna MacGowan

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