Here’s an abbreviated version of part-two, you’ll find the gender discussion continues here…

Gail Heimann, Vice Chair at Weber Shandwick

More than 70% of our workforce is female and a tiny percentage of that group takes the path—or chooses to take the path—to the top. The PR industry, like others, has been relatively inventive about flexible work hours, telecommuting, job sharing and other approaches that allow women (and men) to have more “balance.” And those family/life-friendly policies are making a difference.

• Exhibit these three key PR traits. My advice for younger women is not radically different from my advice to younger men. I think there are three qualities to success in public relations: Intellectual curiosity, Resourcefulness and Drive.
• Make choices; don’t fall into “roles.” Make a choice about how you want to manage your work life and your home and family life. Be sure it’s your choice, not a role you think you should play. And, above all, don’t look for “balance” every day. You won’t find it.
• Lead by example.

Laura Tomasetti, Managing Director at 360 Public Relations

In my experience, I’ve encountered more women in top positions at consumer agencies and leading consumer practices. The base of candidates entering the PR workforce is skewing heavily female. I think it’s important to have a healthy mix of young women and young men, as well as ethnic diversity, to ensure a range of perspectives. The PR workforce needs to reflect the diverse audiences we’re talking to every day. We are a 20-person boutique—and 17 of our staff are women. One of challenges we’ve had is to recruit male candidates to ensure a diverse range of perspective here.

My advice for young women:

• Expose yourself to various positions. PR is so many things. It’s important to expose yourself to a range of experiences as early as you can, and to recognize that there’s something to be gained in every position, every setting, even if you’re just observing and not “hands-on.”
• Take advantage of agency opportunities. If you’re career-oriented, agencies are great as they offer a clear path for advancement, as well as the opportunity for both entrepreneurs who may want to start their own agency one day and women who want more flexible careers long-term—to work half-time or virtually, for example.
• Eschew silos. Be a lifelong student and don’t buy into silos. Success comes down to the people you work with and recognizing that there’s so much to learn and being open to doing anything and everything.

GG Johnston, CEO and President of Johnston Wells

The male/female mix in the public relations industry will continue to equalize in the coming years. Online strategy and social media implementation are attracting more men into the profession. Of course, women are drawn to these evolving public relations disciplines, as well.

My advice for younger women entering PR:

• Learn from boomers. As the boomers change their work habits and leave the workplace for retirement, we have some challenges in knowledge transfer and loss of experience that provides wisdom to our work. Gen Xers and millennials would do well to use any opportunities they can find to learn from boomers. There’s a unique opportunity to infuse the younger generation’s love of technology with the perspective of more experienced generations.
• Work on work/life balance—it doesn’t come easy.
• Work hard, play hard. We offer flex schedules to our staff and it takes concerted effort by everyone to make it work. We believe that working hard requires playing hard.
• Be curious and committed.

Kathy Obert, Chairman and CEO of Edward Howard

Without making any judgment about whether it’s right or wrong, it’s easy to observe that the male-female balance “at the top” of the agency business (which remains male-dominant) is not reflective of the balance of professionals throughout the rank and file (which is clearly female-dominant). Having said that, it’s important to remember that the skills needed to run a successful business are different than those required to provide great public relations counsel and outstanding client service/account management.

Expect that change will come slowly, but it will be more rapid in geographic areas that demonstrate higher tolerance for diversity generally. Expect to see faster parity in on the coasts and in markets like New York, Chicago and Boston, San Francisco. Change will come more slowly in the Midwest and Bible Belt regions. That’s not a PR-specific issue, it is a societal issue.

My advice:

• Don’t try to be a “super-woman.”
• Nurture a strong support network for yourself. When the kids come along, you are going to need those grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, friends, neighbors and so on.
• Be willing to ask for help. Learn from everyone around you. Say please and thank you. And take care of yourself.

Becky Powell-Schwartz, President and CEO of The Powell Group

In terms of account directors and people coming up on the agency side, I see a lot of women. These are the neatest women in their late 30s and early 40s who are leaders in their firms. They are going to be our next leaders. My advice to them and to those coming up behind them is this:

• Build a support network.
• Find firms that offer balance. What I want to do in a business that is very manic and deadline oriented is to provide my staff with opportunities to help them balance their lives. I did this before there was flexibility in our work environment. So my approach is that we’re a team. When you’re in a team, you help each other out.
• Set personal priorities. Are you leading work—or are you letting work lead you? Ask yourself that, and know when you are out of synch.

Jennifer Graham Clary, Global Chair, Technology Practice (Northern California Market Leader) at Burson Marsteller

In the top ranks, we see women holding more leadership positions than in the past. This is attributable to more enlightened senior management, as well as more candidates that are competent and qualified for senior positions, which is a gratifying development. The least change has occurred at the “C-level” and corporate board levels. Not enough women have succeeded to these more senior positions, but this will continue to improve over time.

It’s important to maintain a diverse and well blended gender mix at all levels, and I would expect this to be achievable with continued efforts. My advice:

• Avoid severe family sacrifice. It’s very important for each individual to make his or her decision about matters affecting the balance between work and family. This profession is extremely demanding and the rewards for success are exceptional, but career decisions need to keep family considerations in mind. We need to foster a work environment that permits women and men to succeed in their careers without the cost associated with severe family sacrifice. In the end, this works out best for the individual, their family, as well as the company.
• Tout talent over gender. The basic premise for high output and a well regarded organization is talent. It is not based on gender, but on creativity, winning business and satisfied clients.
• Adopt a “replace yourself” strategy. When in conversation about change with talented staff (at any level—in fact, I’ve done this with interns), the first question I ask is their strategy for replacing themselves. My philosophy and my advice is always to hire someone smarter than you for the relevant need. This has helped in my own advancement.

I remember it like it was yesterday, Colleen (owner of Touchpoint Communication) got on Facebook and said, “I don’t get it!” Just a few years later, she LOVES Facebook among others social networks like Twitter and YouTube. I am a native social networker, and have gladly helped Colleen and others navigate the social network world.

A recent Chicago Tribune article discussed just this in an article titled “Younger employees help senior executives unlock social media mystery.” They use the term “reverse mentoring” and Edelman evens calls their program “rotnem” (mentor backwards)-I love it!

Not only are these Gen-Yers teaching their older counterparts, they are getting the chance to pick the brains of top executives (something that may not otherwise happen without the need for social media training).

Colleen now has 334 Facebook friends and has 198 Twitter followers (15 more than me!).

Of the top of my head, I can think of several brands embracing the notion of social responsibility. Tide’s “Loads of Hope” program provides clean clothes to people affected by disaster, Dove’s “Campaign for Real Beauty” emphasizes self-confidence and the “Dawn Saves Wildlife” program are all great examples of company’s getting behind a cause.

An Edelman survey of 6,000 people in 10 countries had some interesting findings, including:

• 57% say a brand has earned their business because of its works supporting social causes
• 61% say they have purchased a brand that supports a good cause even when it wasn’t the cheapest option
• 67% said they would switch brands if another brand of similar quality supported a cause they were interested in
• 83% of global consumers say they are willing to change their consumption habits if it helps make the world a better place to live
• 68% feel it’s becoming unacceptable not to make efforts to show concern for the environment or live a healthy lifestyle
• 64% said they would recommend a brand that supports a good cause (up from 52% last year)
• 59% said they would help a brand promote its products if there were a good cause behind them

The article reminds that brands cannot just give money and be called “responsible.” They must show dedication to that cause and embrace it with actions like employee involvement and community outreach.

I can honestly say that if I took this survey, I would be willing to switch brands and pay more for a brand that aligns itself with a cause I support. I think this is important information that all brands should be mindful of and really think about how they can give back.

My boyfriend thinks I’m the worst driver ever, but this is coming from a guy with multiple moving violations on his driving record. I know I have road rage, but now a study has linked genetics to driving (or the inability to drive).

According to a recent study, people with a certain gene variant performed 30% WORSE on driving tests than people without that gene variant. How many people have this “bad driving gene”-30% of Americans!

Apparently, those with this gene variant, “make more errors from the get-go, and they forget more of what they learned after time away,” said the researcher. The researcher also commented that he’d like to see if there’s a link between accidents and this gene.

The following charts are from a study on US internet users.

I agree with the study participants completely, I want discounts from brands! I find most of these things make sense, but I surprised that “association with celebrities that I like” ranks last.

This graph indicates what I would have imagined-most people trust their family, friends and neighbors for info on purchasing decisions. Again, I’m further confused as to why brands will spend big bucks to use Tiger Woods or other superstars in their adveritsing since they are the least trusted source of info. The most shocking finding-bloggers are trusted more than newspaper reporters. Amazing how the times change!

I grew up exploring the internet, IMing and emailing my friends, and later created a MySpace account. As a 2006 College of Charleston communications graduate, I was not exposed to social media as a communication tool, although I used it in my personal life. I had a friend that graduated from the communication department and asked if they taught her any social media for business and they had not. Then, we had an intern last summer (2009) and still the same response-no social media training. When newspapers are folding and losing readers left and right, why do schools keep overlooking social media???

It is about time that I see something in the news about teaching social media to college students as a professional tool. Using social media is second-nature to my generation, but do they know how to use it effective for business? An article on PRSA discussed exactly this, explaining “students need to know for the future is how to strategically network and apply these social media skills to their professional lives.”

Smart schools are now teaching how Twitter can be a crisis management tool and using blogs for assigned reading. A PR campaigns class at Arizona State even includes live tweeting for assignments. Some teachers are even having their students create e-portfolios (that’s a new term for me!)

A University of Oregon teacher explains further:

Teaching students how to listen to the industry’s conversations and how to participate in those conversations can play a key role in the students’ lifelong professional development,” she says. “What really matters is that students can identify when social media is appropriate to use, which tools to use in various situations, how to effectively engage audiences and how to track progress toward goals. Basic blogging skills are essential as well.

On the other hand, some professors think tweeting during class is distracting and have banned tech devices from the classroom. Upon reading this article, my first reaction was I can see that students on Twitter in class could be bothersome.

There are several anecdotes from college students in the article stating that they’re being taught about social media, but not necessarily being taught how to use these tools. The majority of social media rules and tools will be changing rapidly, even after a semester so I can see where this would be difficult for professors. BUT, my advice for professors-you can ignore it, but it’s not going away!

Technorati’s annual “State of the Blogosphere” report was just released with some interesting findings, like most bloggers do it for fun and don’t make money (73%).

For professional bloggers:

The statistic that I’m most surprised about is that most bloggers don’t derive any income from their site. I do things that don’t involve compensation, but why not?

Everyone in the PR world knows that this is a female-dominated industry. I went to a conference last week with more males than I would have imagined, but they were still greatly outnumbered. A Firm Voice article entitled, Special Focus Pt. 1: Powerful Women in PR — 11 Role Models Share 33 Secrets of Success discussed the gender difference in the PR world.

Some interesting thoughts from the women on gender in PR include: they are seeing women in top positions in the client realm, women and men bring different skills to the table and most everyone agrees-there is still is gender divid in top positions.

Here’s the tips that have for women in PR

Christine Barney, CEO of rbb Public Relations

• Dress for the job you want. You can still be casual and professional but too many younger women dress for college, not work. Present a professional look and you instill confidence in clients and colleagues that much faster.
• Leave the “‘inferiority complex” behind. Regardless of age, your viewpoints and ideas are welcome and valid. Playing the wallflower means less opportunity and less learning.
• Blend. The key to work-life balance is not to force all your working into Monday-Friday and all your living on weekends. Both PR and your personal life are 24/7. Blend work and personal needs by doing what needs to be done when it needs to be done rather than constrict your planning within artificial parameters.

Margery Kraus, Chair, President and CEO of APCO Worldwide

• Seek flexible work environments. Men are struggling with live-work balance issues, just like women. But women are typically the caregivers—so it can be harder to achieve that balance. That is why we all need to be thinking more about flexible work environments. For example, we have emergency childcare in our office.
• Recognize that certain biases remain. I was part of panel on gender parity at the World Economic Forum, and there is a lot of research that shows that if men and women deal with lingering perceptions of women having to leave work to take care of the child. If the woman doesn’t take that time away, she’s seen negatively. So, there are biases that still will take a long time to get over.
• Embrace stretch opportunities. Don’t be risk-averse. In businesses where there is a difference in gender and there is a stretch opportunity available, the man will traditionally say, “I’ll go for it.” The woman traditionally might say, “I’ve never done that before.” So, be honest—but stretch yourself, and don’t be afraid to take advantage of opportunities when they come up. In addition: Do the very best job you can with what you have and do not worry about your five year plan. Every job is a stepping stone to another experience. So, don’t look so far ahead that you’re not doing well at what you’re currently. Get noticed by doing great work. And finally, love your work. If you don’t have passion for what you’re doing, find another job. This work is too hard to do if they’re just a “job.”

Melissa Waggener Zorkin, CEO, President and Founder of Waggener Edstrom

• Do something you love. The balance will come more naturally. I love my job—I always have. Doing something I love pulls me through when there is work overload. Another secret is to focus on what really matters during the day. Every day, set a goal and work toward it. Work on the important and not the urgent. Rely on the people around you. Tell them what they can count on and always keep those commitments. Also, set expectations when you can’t do something. Tell people upfront. I am quite grateful because, as an entrepreneur, I started a company that is still the place I want to be. And I am lucky that 800 people feel the same way at Waggener Edstrom.
• Pursue on-the-job training. I am a firm believer in on-the-job training. I participate in programs that include welcoming junior people to be co-CEO for the day and, one of my favorites, the Leadership Forum. The Leadership Forum is a manager-nominated group of up-and-comers with whom we spend focused time, helping them grow as a group and as individuals. It is one of my favorite priorities. I learn from them as much as they learn from me.
• Work with mentors. A common theme when I talk about leadership is the need to get the right person in the right place at the right time. As such, when I mentor people I always strive to understand their unique value, contribution and aspirations, and then think through what it will take to help them get the most out of their talents and match that with what the agency needs and can offer them.

Donna Imperato, CEO of Cohn & Wolfe

• Don’t expect a “9 to 5″ career. Younger women need to work extra hard to rise to the top in our profession. I know this will be controversial, but I don’t believe that you can rise to the top while working part-time or needing to leave the office at 5 pm.
• Strive for quality time. However, you can do well and hold important positions while balancing your home life. Many women leaders with families, like me, find a way to make it work. But I wouldn’t call it balance! I work late nights and weekends more often than not. But I go home, take care of the family and do my work later in the evening. I travel often and don’t see my kids as often as I’d like. But every amount of time with the family is quality time. It’s a way of life that works well for all of us. Working hard, staying focused and managing to find a balance that works for you is the key to success.

Margaret Booth, President of M Booth & Associates

• Internalize confidence. Feel very confident in yourself and abilities.
• Move beyond gender. Forget that you’re a woman and just do a damn good job.
• Lead and motivate. Be extremely determined and very aware of your surroundings. By that I mean that there is a functional and emotional side to operating well. It’s one thing to go to work and do well in your job—and it’s another thing entirely to understand what others around you are dealing with and being a part of a productive, creative, growing team. The latter requires engagement, understanding and being a motivator. That’s true leadership—not just demanding the end product. Give people a little slack and let them know that you understand that life isn’t always perfect. I think you can get great contributions from anywhere if you can be real and if you can inspire people by recognizing that they have lives beyond the tasks they face. The mere fact that you recognize that will get them to go the extra mile for you.

MaryLee Sachs, Chairman of US Hill & Knowlton

• Recognize that live-work balance remains a challenge. It is incredibly difficult for younger women looking to have a family—or anyone, for that matter—to find work-life balance in our business. On the agency side, we are on call for our clients. On the client side, the news cycle is 24/7 and responses have to be fast if not immediate.
• Use technology to maximize flexibility. The advent of technology has helped considerably. Blackberries, smart phones, RSS feeds and social media inventions like Yammer are all handy helpers to accessing what you need when you’re not at your desk. (I’m responding to you via wi-fi on my Virgin America flight to San Francisco!) But the quid pro quo is that we need to be flexible as well.

My favorite tips are leaving the inferiority complex behind and work with mentors. What are yours?