Name: Anne Williams
Age: 36
Current City: Washington, DC
Job Title: Customer Services Program Specialist
Company Name: DC Office on Aging
Length of Time in this Role: 1 year
Twitter Handle: annieb1113

Mopwater: Describe your path to PR. How did you wind up in this field? AW: As a radio,tv & film production major at Howard University, I had interesting internships that sparked my interested in the public relations field: promotions department at Majic 102.3 and the White House Office of Communications. After HU, I got my graduate degree in public communication from American University. I’ve worked at a non-profit organization in the DC area and a marketing and PR firm in Northern Virginia. In 2000, I landed in the marketing and communications department at BET Networks where I stayed for a little over seven years. Now, I work for the DC Office on Aging.

Mopwater: What aspects of the industry are you most excited about? AW: Entertainment PR.  I have always been a huge television and movie addict and pop culture junkie,  so everything entertainment related really excites me.

Mopwater: Describe a typical workday including your work hours. What do you do all day? AW: My work day begins at 8:30am and ends at 5pm. On a daily basis, I manage the ADRC website, create publicity and marketing materials for upcoming events and agency initiatives. Because all media related public relations is being centralized under the Mayor’s communications team, I work on collateral publicity and marketing materials. A lot of time is spent using desktop publishing programs to create flyers, brochures, advertisements, program booklets, etc.  I also design and edit the ADRC newsletter.

Mopwater: What are your favorite and least favorite PR tasks and why? Do you love to pitch? Dread writing releases? Adore blogging for your brands?  AW: I love writing! Being creative and making people take a second look at what would normally be considered “the usual”. I’m an optimist so I try to find the positive an every situation.  I’m not as big a fan of pitching but with digital media, that aspect of pr is evolving. You can establish relationships and creatively pitch clients via email, Facebook, and Twitter a lot faster and reach a broader audience.  Pitching has become so much more than just a phone call to a reporter. Read the full story