The Decoder

Meet the Pro

Name: Charlene Blohm
Title: President and CEO
Company: C. Blohm & Associates, Inc.
Client Base Includes: Discovery Education, PBS Teachers, PBS TeacherLine, Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) - see http://www.cblohm.com/pages/family.html for a full list.

Background

My first PR job was to promote Texas history and culture for the University of Texas Institute of Texan Cultures. I found my “home” working in the K-12 education marketplace while working for a firm that broadcast professional development programs for teachers. C. Blohm & Associates was born in 1991 and our focus has always been on the education industry.

It’s Business Time

How long have you been in public relations?
Since the mid 1980s.

What is one thing that you know now that you wish you had known when you first started in PR?
The delicate balance between building long-term relationships and pitching relevant content.

As the playing field for PR is evolving (social media, online publications, etc.), how do you advise PR professionals to build relationships and win ink?
Read, read, read. When I was still working as a journalist, I was always amazed at how little time people spent learning the basics about my newspaper or my consumer affairs column before trying to pitch me a story - something as simple as geographic reach. So I advise young PR professionals to spend time reading and researching before pitching.

What specifically is your favorite/most effective method of outreach?
I’ve had some success pitching in 140 characters or less, but I still prefer e-mail.

Which tech and PR blogs/publications can you not live without?
The publications and blogs in the ed tech sector, such as Educators’ Royal Treatment, eSchool News, Tech & Learning, Cool Cat Teacher, Learning, Education Week, District Administration, Scholastic Administrator, T.H.E. Journal, and School Library Journal.

Everyone has pet peeves - what is your biggest professional pet peeve?
Missing a scheduled 1:1 meeting, either in-person, virtual, or telephone.

What’s the first thing you do when you get the office in the morning?
First activity of the day is to check the “overnights,” what came in via e-mail and social media while we were sleeping.

Up Close and Personal

Home state: Wisconsin

Favorite thing(s) to do when not at the office:
Biking, gardening, and reading. “Santa” gave me a canoe for Christmas, and I’m hoping to learn how to paddle without tipping over by summer’s end.

What’s the last book you read?
I tend to alternate between fiction and non-fiction during the “school year,” but focus on one genre for summer (beach) reading. This year it’s murder mysteries, and the current page-turner is the Jane Austen-inspired “Murder at Longbourn.”

If you could travel anywhere, where would you go, and why?
New Zealand. Several TV shows and a few movies have been filmed there, and the scenery is just gorgeous.

If you could have any one super power, what would it be and why?
Super Editor! Able to leap long sentences in a single bound without stumbling on missed punctuation, typos, and long-winded passages.

If you were banished to a deserted island, what is one thing you’d take with you?
Sunscreen. Though the cast and crew of “Lost” would be nice to have around as well!

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