Laurena McKenna (Freelancer)
Account Director, Public Relations
Based in Greenwich, London (Inner)
Joined 7 months ago (joined 08/02/2010)
Status: Available soon
Career History
| 13/03/2007 - 18/02/2010 | Account Director, Speed Communications, London
• Account lead on four key client accounts including: - Liquidlogic, UK’s leading health and social care multi-agency solutions provider; Service Desk Institute, Europe’s leading authority on the IT Service Management industry; Telappliant, UK-based VoIP telephony services provider; and B2net, a hugely successful independent storage integrator
• Active participant in Speed’s digital communications programme, writing blogs on :- the vertical wind industry, the power of Twitter, the dangers of social networking, why social workers need better PR programmes, among others http://tiny.cc/wxuW3
• Wrote the strategy for a comprehensive group training programme and organised in-house and outsourced training sessions to aid staff development
• Managed proactive and reactive press office/writing press material/client reports/activity timelines/quarterly reviews for clients including the public sector division of ntl:Telewest Business; free WiFi provider, freerunner; and Inspired Gaming Group
• Interviewed client customers to prepare case studies and sales collateral.
• Co-ordinated interviews with senior spokespeople and supplied necessary objectives, messages and briefs
• Identified and managed comprehensive press activity around all relevant European events, speaker engagements and Round Table Debates
• Co-ordinated briefing sessions with key UK analyst groups
• Wrote press releases and innovative opinion articles to secure coverage in the Observer, FT, Daily Mirror, Community Care, BJHC&IM, Government IT, CIO Magazine, Information Age, Computer Weekly, Computing, IT Week, PC Pro, VNU.net among others
Selected Achievement - secured two new business clients as a direct result of personal recommendations from clients
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Relevant Skills & Experience
Skills
Budget responsibility, Management of people, Managing a team, Pitching, Press Releases, Senior level contact with clients.
Sector Experience
Business to Business, Consumer, Healthcare, Media Relations, Not for Profit, Public Sector.
Professional Qualifications & Membership
Qualifications
None Specified.
Professional Membership
Member of NUJ.
Education
| 10/09/1990 - 21/06/1993 | University of Westminster
BA (Hons) Film, Video & Photographic Arts (2:1)
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About Me
I've been a PR for over 15 years. Following a stint as a production co-ordinator on The Big Breakfast and The Word for Planet 24 Productions in 1994, I started my PR career straight off as an AM for Foresight PR; handling the press office for PolyGram Video on campaigns for films such as Trainspotting, The Usual Suspects and Four Weddings & A Funeral.
Once I became a new mum in 1997, I joined a local PR agency specialising in B2B technology, primarily to be nearer to home, and gained valuabe experience across a broad range of industries as a result.
In 2002, I ran my own one-man-band reasonably successfully for nearly five years - but got a bit bored working from home on my own, so when my previous agency asked me to goback, I jumped at the chance.
For the last three years, I have been an AD at Speed Communications -formerly Rainier PR - but am now keen to go freelance again.
Ratings
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Employer Feedback
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Recommendations
These are recommendations provided by Laurena McKenna's industry colleagues or previous employers who have employed Laurena McKenna independent of Network Freelance.
Nicky Savage, Speed Communications
"Laurena McKenna joined Rainier PR, now Speed, as an Account Director on 14 June 2007. Laurena is one of the most relentless PRs I have had the pleasure of working with. Her commitment to understanding a client brief, shaping a strategy and going after the right results is second to none.
At Speed, she has been instrumental in the management of a changing team offering continuous coaching to more junior team members. Her personality is infectious and she offers the right balance of "heads down" focus and the social interaction required in a stressful environment.
Laurena invests time in getting the detail right. In an industry where everything is fast paced, digital and striving for a quick return, her experience means she is an extremely safe pair of hands - to be trusted to deliver on any campaign with precision.
No matter how complex the industry, the client offering or the objective, Laurena starts with ensuring she has a thorough understanding of the issue. Her knowledge of such a wide variety of businesses has earned her a great deal of respect from the press with journalists going as far as to recommend her to potential clients.
Laurena is highly organised, a true joy to work with and would make a fantastic contribution to a team looking for a blend of traditional and digital skills.
Nicola Savage - Director of Business Communications - Speed"
Employed from 14/06/2007 to 01/02/2010