When Lisa Smith founded the PR Net, her aim was to create an online hub for people working in the lifestyle industries. But after hosting an inaugural members event, Smith says she realized that magic happens when such a creative, collaborative group interacts face-to-face. Now, the PR Net is more than just an online platform, it’s a thriving community. Through their events program, members are able to network with senior media professionals from leading companies in the lifestyle industries at exclusive locations around the city. Upcoming events include a champagne reception at the new Christie’s Los Angeles and VIP Access to Frieze New York. Here, Lisa shares more about what the PR Net has to offer and her thoughts on the importance of events, experiences and IRL contact in the PR world.
What is The PR Net?
The PR Net is a network of leading publicists, marketers, entrepreneurs and media in the lifestyle industries. The group is quite diverse: agency owners, creative and branding experts, entrepreneurs of all kinds of products and services, heads of marketing/PR for luxury, fashion & lifestyle brands, freelance journalists, digital influencers and more.
How was the company founded and what were you doing before then?
I had a long career in PR before starting the company. I had a PR agency in Sydney for several years and after I sold that business I consulted to various brands and agencies here in New York. It was during that time that I had the idea to create a hub for people working in the lifestyle industries. PR Net was originally conceived of as an online platform that would be a resource for publicists and marketers to find industry information. Very soon after the site went live, we hosted an event to bring some of our founding members together IRL and found that when you get these like minded, collaborative and creative people together, magic happens. That’s how the events program component of PR Net started.
What kind of access and benefits do members get?
Our members meet at venues across NYC and LA where we have exclusive access to brand new hotels, private clubs, restaurants and other spaces. We host our events in those spaces so the group can discover the latest and best places to book their own events, meetings and presentations. We offer members complimentary VIP access to various cultural events with art fairs, museums, films and more. Members also get unlimited use of the website where they can post content such as job and internship openings, company news, events, photo galleries and more.
How do you/your members use experiences and events in their PR strategy?
In the current digitally saturated climate, connecting with people IRL is as important as ever, so events/experiential can be a way to achieve cut through. Marketers are using events as a means of creating content that they can use online and through social channels, and for their guests to disseminate through their own social media. Well-executed events can also be effective to create word-of- mouth excitement around a brand. I’m a huge believer in face-to- face contact with your target customer – in many ways it’s harder to make it happen these days, but very impactful if you get that audience.
How do you think the PR industry is changing with technology?
Technology has been brilliant for the industry in many ways. Software such as zkipster and Fashion GPS has made publicists’ lives so much easier in terms of planning and executing events, storing databases and keeping track of product samples. Things definitely feel like they’re changing in a publicist’s day-to- day work as we turn our focus to digital. In addition to more traditional PR such as media relations, agencies are offering social/digital services as part of their business and overall PR program. Engagement of digital influencers/bloggers is also taking a big share of attention now, compared with a few years ago.
