SCPRSA Member Profile: Alice Grey Harrison, APR

The SCPRSA Member Profile features outstanding members and practitioners, and gives us a chance to find out what's going on at your company and in your corner of the state. This month, we're proud to feature ...

Name: Alice Grey Harrison, APR

Position: Marketing Communications Manager

Company: Dixon Hughes PLLC

Years in Current Position: 2

Education: BA University of the South

Please briefly describe how you got into the PR/Marketing profession:

Dumb luck! I graduated from college and headed to Washington, DC to hang out with friends for a year before going to law school. Somehow, I landed a job with a real estate developer and began doing some pr and marketing on controversial development projects. I fell in love with marketing and public relations and the rest is history. It was a natural fit. I can’t even imagine what my life would be like if I had followed my planned path!

Please briefly describe the responsibilities of your current position:

As the marketing communications manager for the largest accounting firm headquartered in the south, I oversee the brand, internal communications and external communications. No two days are exactly the same. We have a really progressive brand platform and I am lucky enough to work with an agency out of Washington, DC to develop national brand campaigns that include print, broadcast and interactive advertising. This is the really fun side of my job.

Social media has been another priority focus for me over the past year. It’s been amazing to see the developments and to learn how to implement them for an accounting firm. I’ve even had the honor of producing a how-to video on Linked In for our firm. In the fall, I will be heading to Singapore to speak at an international accounting conference on the impact that social media can have on business development.

Please describe what’s new or on the horizon PR/Marketing-wise for your company:

We are in the process of developing a new intranet site for internal communications. It’s really exciting for us to have a true communications tool outside of email to communicate with our 1200 employees. It’s been a challenging project. As we began work on it, Microsoft announced the development of a new version of Sharepoint. So, we had to drop back and punt and adapt to the new version. We are hoping to add some interactive features to the site during the second phase to make it truly a hub of information for the firm.

Additionally, we are producing a new commercial for television that will be aired on cable news networks across the south. This is really exciting for the firm and is so much fun to work on!

I guess I have the best of all worlds…I get to dabble a little in marketing and public relations. Most days are really, really fun for me.

Please describe your activities with SCPRSA and what you’ve gotten out of them:

I honestly owe a great deal of my success to SCPRSA. From the support and encouragement I received throughout the APR process to the monthly luncheon seminars and of course the PD conferences, I have grown a professional as a result of PRSA. And I can honestly say that I wouldn’t have landed the job I have now if “APR” wasn’t behind my name. My boss received hundreds of resumes and thanks to “APR”, my resume rose to the top of the stack! The hard work it took to gain accreditation was all worth it. I am working a dream job!

Anything we didn’t cover that you’d like the chapter to know?

Do you ever feel stuck in rut… every day feels the same as the day before? Back on a snowy winter afternoon, as I staired out of the window bored silly, I challenged myself to try something new every day for one year. It’s been an awesome adventure trying all kinds of new things. From tasting new foods and trying out new recipes to experiencing new activities, everyday is an adventure! I blog about my “new thing” every day- http://www.commingle.wordpress.com/. I’m always looking for new ideas, so send them my way!