Tag Archives: Deirdre

PR lessons from the movies

by on July 4, 2011 in Red Ribbon Inspiration

Deirdré van Zyl Smit I don’t get as much time to watch movies nowadays – and if I do watch something, it’s almost always an animation … toddler’s orders of course. As with most animation films, it’s actually more targeted towards the adult viewer, packed with many life lessons and universal truths beneath the surface. [...] 

Interns, think before you send

by on May 22, 2011 in Red Ribbon News

Deirdre van Zyl Smit We get bombarded daily with internship requests and job applications – not that we mind; it’s good that tertiary institutions force their students to work a number of hours in order to get practical experience. What does concern me, is the number of spelling errors, the improper use of abbreviations in [...] 

Freedom of speech not so free after all?

by on March 4, 2011 in Red Ribbon Inspiration

Deirdre van Zyl Smit Wikipedia encapsulates the general term ‘freedom of speech’ as follows: Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship or limitation, or both. The synonymous term freedom of expression is sometimes used to indicate not only freedom of verbal speech but any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information [...] 

Tight times can equal better choices

by on August 5, 2009 in Red Ribbon Inspiration

Deirdre van Zyl Smit Recession is a word most likely to trigger some form of panic when mentioned – unfortunately it is a reality for the world at the moment. But we’ll be making a very big mistake if we think there are no advantages to it. I had an interesting discussion with a client [...] 

More multi-skilled than ever before

by on July 2, 2009 in Red Ribbon Inspiration

Deirdre van Zyl Smit According to Encarta’s online dictionary, multi-skilled can be translated to “possessing many skills; trained and capable in a large variety of skills or activities”. With thinning publications (and plenty shut-downs) as well as the developing digital landscape it is more essential than ever before for Public Relations specialists to be multi-skilled. [...]