Have you ever been curious about joining a PR association? There are many national and local PR chapters for both budding and seasoned experts to join. Today’s episode welcomes Matt Rizzetta, President of the New York City Public Relations of America chapter. From discussing membership benefits to uncovering how to become a board member, today’s conversation explores how joining an association can propel any PR professional’s career.
imPRessions Season 2 Episode #10 Transcript
Jenn: Hey, Kalli, quick question. Are you or have you ever been part of any type of like PR association?
Kalli: In college, I was part of some, but not officially. I kind of just tested the waters. I’m from Long Island, so there was public relations professional of Long Island, which was a great organization and also PRSA.
Jenn: Yeah. Okay. Cool. Interesting that you bring that up. As you know, I’m a board member of PRC, the New York chapter, and I thought it would be a really great topic for us to welcome the current president of PRSA New York to sort of discuss the benefits of joining the association. I was kind of blind to it before I joined. I had heard of it. I didn’t really know too much about what it entailed. So a topic like this or episode would have really helped me. So today I invited Matt Rosetta, who’s the like I said, the current president, New York City chapter president, who’s going to talk to us a little bit more about what it takes to become a member, the benefits and, yeah, why basically just why somebody should join.
Kalli: Awesome. I can’t wait to hear more because I haven’t talked about it in a while either. So this would be great education for me too.
Jenn: Awesome. Let’s dive in. Whether you’re a seasoned PR pro or just starting your journey in the field, understanding the advantages of being part of the Public Relations Society of America can make a significant difference in your career. Not sure where to begin? Not even sure what the association does? Fear not. Today, we are pleased to welcome Matt Rosetta, founder and Chairman of North Sixth Group and current president of PRSA’s New York City chapter. Today, we’ll explore how becoming a member of the exciting Association could be one of the best decisions you make for your professional growth and success. Hi Matt, thanks for joining us today, Jen.
Matt: Thanks for having me, Kelly. Thanks for having me. It’s always a pleasure.
Kalli: Of course. Thank you so much for joining us. So, Matt, as president of PRC New York and founder and CEO of a PR agency. What drew you to the world of public relations?
Matt: That’s a great question, Kalli. You know, I got, um, I got out of college in 2005, and I knew I wanted to do something in a creative field. So my first job out of college was working in the marketing department, actually for Sony BMG. I was doing a lot of marketing for all of their international artists. At the time, it was under a label called Discos, which was a lot of Sony’s Latin artists. And I was handling basically or was on a team that was handling all of their marketing domestically here in the United States. So that was my first exposure into the creative field, and it helped me work directly with artists and agents and managers and got me thinking a little bit more internationally, just given the nature of the types of artists that we were representing. So that was a really cool experience for me. And then I always had this entrepreneurial side to me. So, after a few years, I really wanted to do something a little bit more entrepreneurial on a personal level at the time, too; I had just gotten married. My wife was pregnant with our first daughter. There’s three daughters now, and I just knew that if I wasn’t going to take a risk, then I was never going to take a risk. So we wound up starting an agency called North Six agency And that was the culmination of really everything that I had aspired to do in my career. It combined creativity, marketing and the international component. And then, of course, business, which, you know, at that time I was a first time entrepreneur. So, you know, learning the world of business was so new to me back then, but it was a really great time in my life and that’s how we got started. And the rest is history.
Jenn: I love that I didn’t know that you started in the music world. I did two, so it’s kind of interesting.
Matt: Oh, really, Jenn?
Jenn: Yeah, yeah, it was so much fun; I love it. I’m a musician. So, you know, it really just resonated for me. But I really love working in an agency. I love the diversity. We actually had an episode about this in season 1 about the differences between being in-house and working in an agency. Some people prefer in-house. If you really love the company or the industry. But yes, completely agree with that. But there’s something really magical about an agency. You know, your days are always changing. You’re learning a lot about different industries that you would have never really known about prior to working in them. So yeah, it’s really neat.
Matt: Totally. And the music industry has changed quite a bit. You know, when I was there, it was it was actually a fascinating time to be involved in the music industry back then. That was 2005, 2006. So, the music industry was really undergoing a lot of transformation. iTunes was just coming, uh, you know, into the mainstream. And people were questioning just exactly, you know, where the music industry and distribution rights and licensing was heading in the future. So it was super interesting. And then my other passion had always been sports. So, back in those days, I was working at Sony.
I would work there literally from like eight in the morning to, you know, 5:30/6 at night, push my way through midtown traffic to the Sony building. Back then. I don’t know if it’s still there, but the Sony building back then was right in Times Square and they used to have TRL Total Request Live, which you and Kalli are too young to remember that.
Kalli: No, of. Course.
Jenn: We remember.
Matt: Yeah. So I would literally push my way through traffic and tourists, you know, waiting for Carson Daly and total request live. Go to Sony. I’d work there from like 830 to 6. And then at night I would come home. I was living in my parent’s basement back then. I mean, this was a long, long time ago, and my ambition was to get involved in sports and to become a sports agent. So I literally take the commuter train home up to Westchester County and from, you know, 7 p.m. to like one in the morning every day. I was trying to get basketball soccer players deals overseas, and I was really just trying to figure out a way to turn that into a full time job where I could, you know, build a client list and a roster of clients that was self-sustaining, was, was you know, substantive enough where I could actually turn it into a real business. And anyway, that never quite worked out, but it did teach me a lot of lessons about how to run an agency. And, you know, it’s similar to running a PR and marketing firm where you’re representing clients, you know, you’re dealing, you’re looking to place them in certain places. You know, in the agent world, you’re trying to place them in jobs. In PR and marketing, you’re trying to place them with whatever it might be, such as earned media or speaking opportunities or, you know, trade shows or awards or whatever. You know, that was really even though I didn’t know it at the time, it was really teaching me a lot about how the agency world worked. And then when I founded my own agency a few years later, I took a lot of those lessons and sort of applied them to how we ran our firm back then. And there were a lot of things I liked with some of the firms that I worked at previously, and there were some things certainly that I didn’t like. So I always felt like there was always ways to think about running an agency differently and to do things in a more innovative fashion.
Jenn: Yeah. Oh, absolutely. PR teaches you there are so many different things that you can pull into PR, like sales, for instance. PR is kind of sales in a sense, like you’re pitching out to media, you’re pitching a story you want, you know, want to grab that attention. So there’s a, you know, like you just said, pitching for a sports agent, you know, to get players overseas and get them your awareness. You know, all of it. It really is very, very, very similar to what we do in PR.
Matt: You’ll appreciate this story, Jenn I don’t know. I don’t know if you’re a sports fan or a basketball fan at all.
Jenn: Well, I’m a Knicks fan, sadly.
Matt: So you’ll appreciate this. This was God. What year was this? This was like probably 2003 before I started N66, probably 2008, 2009. I was literally at the cusp of signing, you know, in the agent world, you really just want a big break. You know, you want one client that you can sort of latch on to. So I was I was at the verge and I had represented a lot of these overseas players who, you know, we’re doing quite well overseas. But the contracts were never large enough where, you know, it gave you the revenue push that you needed to start your own agency.
So like it was around 2008, maybe early 2009, I was literally on the cusp of a breakthrough and signing this big NBA player. And they were actually this guy played for the Lakers. I don’t want to mention his name because the story doesn’t actually end so well. But he was playing for the Lakers at the time, and they were in town playing the Knicks, and I was recruiting him, and it was between me and one massive agent, and he kind of liked the fact that, you know, I was scrappier and younger and hungrier. And he said, you know, come meet me at my hotel.
They were staying at the Ritz-Carlton near Central Park and met him on a Sunday night. The game was on Monday, and I went up to, to his room to pitch him and his wife. And as soon as I got off the elevator, I looked to my right and there was this six foot eight, six foot nine massive guy, and it was Kobe Bryant.
Jenn: Oh, wow.
Matt: And I don’t get starstruck very much. But you know being what was I you know, 24/25 year old kid back then seeing Kobe Bryant and then Kobe Bryant walked into the room, and he was a part of the pitch meeting- Kobe Bryant. He was the one giving this player advice on which agent to sign with. So, no pressure. That was exactly that was a good that was a good kind of crash course and had a had a perform under pressure and how to pitch and all of those things. And I thought I was going to sign him. We actually didn’t sign him. He went with a bigger agent that kind of swooped in with, uh, resources that I didn’t have and whatnot, but it was a great it was a great learning experience for me. And then when we ultimately went out and started an agency, even though it was in a different field, it was marketing services and PR as opposed to, you know, career management. It was really, you know, I found that it was really the same rules applied, and it was very similar. It was just, you know, applied to, you know, same type of principles and same type of customer service and, you know, making sure you go the extra mile and, you know, figuring out ways to hustle and to do things innovatively versus your competitors, all of those things really applied. It was just a different product we were offering.
Jenn: I love it. That’s what I love about the show. Like, we just dive into these conversations, and I had no idea that you were working with, like, these NBA stars. It’s really, really, really cool. So, I want to ask about PSA. Yeah. As we mentioned, it is a professional organization that connects PR people from all over the world. You can network. It’s great to build relationships. You get advice. And as we mentioned, you’re the current president for the PRSA New York chapter. What was the driving factor that led you to initially join?
Matt: Well, Jenn, what happened was, first off, I’ve always had a ton of respect and admiration for PRSA. You know, you’re talking about an organization that is over three quarters of a century old. It’s one of the most historic and well-respected trade organizations, not just in our profession, but there’s national and even global appreciation and recognition for it, even by professionals outside of PR. So, it was always an organization. I had a ton of respect and admiration for. And then, in around 2019, we started to pivot our business model and diversify our investments and our portfolio. So rather than just focus on PR, you know, we wound up building North Six Group, which now is a holding company, and we have a bunch of different assets, assets being businesses, you know, media and marketing, you know, our core PR and marketing firms, which we still own. And then we got involved in sports and now technology. So as that was happening, I was kind of getting a little bit further and further away from the world of PR just because my job was changing and we were investing in new types of businesses. So I wanted to do something that really brought me back to my roots, and I felt like I was missing that, you know, I felt really distant from the world of PR and the world of marketing and the world of comms. And I wanted to do something that really gave back to the profession, that gave me so much. And what better organization than PRSA? So I was really blessed to have met, you know, Aaron and Carmela and a lot of the past presidents and Art and, you know, all of these people who have been so, you know, so impactful and made so many contributions to our profession. And when they asked me to join as, at the time, the president-elect and now the president, and I was one of the few, you know…I get asked to join boards all the time. And, you know, you have to be really selective with your time. A lot of times, you know, joining a board sounds great, you know, as you know, Jenn. But then when you, you know, sometimes when you actually put it into practice, you wind up regretting it. And this was one where I said, you know what? This is absolutely worth the time and just have an opportunity to reconnect with my roots in PR and then also to really contribute in a way that, you know, we talk about this on the board all the time, right? Jen, in a way that impacts change in an industry that I think also is ripe for change. I think PR does need, you know, a new stroke of innovation and experimentation.
And I think we have to do new things in terms of innovating through data and analytics. And, you know, and still so that was that was really interesting for me, the opportunity to reconnect to the industry and also to do it in a way that impacts change and drives hopefully some sort of path forward for, you know, an industry that I think could use a dose of innovation right now.
Kalli: You know, that’s actually really interesting. And when I was in college, there was the college chapter of PRSA at Hofstra. And I know that a lot of other schools have it as well. For people that are looking, you know, they’re starting their careers. They’re still learning about what PR is and how it all works. So what are some of the key benefits for more and a more entry-level person or budding PR professional to join PRSA?
Matt: You know, Kalli, what I would say is this: this business and this industry, like so many others, really comes down to networking. It’s really a networking business. It’s a business where you want to just get in and meet with people, talk to people, ideate, learn new things. And I think PRSA is an incredible platform for that. I mean, and, you know, there’s so many trade organizations that pop up that are doing great things, but they don’t necessarily have a link to the past of, you know, their respective sectors. In the case of PRSA, you get the benefit of two things. You get a link to the past. You have 75 years of history and tradition and legacy, and all of the members that have now really basically built our profession, frankly, over the past 75 years, the New York chapter alone, it’s like, you know, it’s like a who’s who list of people who have really impacted our, our profession in a way unlike many others. But it’s also a link to a bridge to the future at the same time. So I think that that combination of bringing a trade organization to the table, that gets you exposure to history and legacy and tradition and access to the relationships in the past as well as to the future. The other thing that I was really impressed with PRSA, it’s kind of like when you go to college, you mentioned Kalli you went to Hofstra. And I know Hofstra operates in a very similar way. The alumni, like they want to help you out. PRSA is sort of the same where once you’re in the family, you know they want to help you out. So, you know, once you’re in the Hofstra family, you’re kind of always in the Hofstra family. Once you’re in the PRSA family, it’s very much similar. You’re sort of always in the PRSA family. So I think that that feeling of family and knowing that once you’re in PRSA as a member, you’re always going to be a member. You’ll always be taken care of. There’s always going to be opportunities. I think that really is an incredible differentiator, frankly, for the organization compared to some others. And I know that was one thing that really got me excited about it, too.
Kalli: That’s such a good thing to have because as someone like, I went into PR, I didn’t even know what it was, let alone know anyone that was in it. And, you know, through the connections I made, you know, through school and through, you know, I participated in PRSA at Hofstra. I was able to make some connections that helped me, you know, whether it’s getting internships or just, you know, down the line. The networking is so important. Even this job now, like I ended up getting, you know, getting my foot in the door because I stayed friends with a colleague that I worked with before who was friends with someone who worked here.
And that’s, how we kind of met, and people don’t realize and like you said, especially in PR, it’s so important to network and to not just build your media relationships, but to build your people relationships.
Matt: So I totally agree, Kalli. One thing on that that I think you’ll appreciate we started and anyone who’s worked for N6A and now for North Six group will in the past or right now tell you we do something called foul shots over by us. And it was something that I got in the habit of when I was very early in my career. I just had a curious mind, and I always wanted to meet new people. So I would take what I would call foul shots just because I’m a sports guy. And, you know, there was this story about how Kobe Bryant used to take a thousand foul shots after practice every game. And the thinking is that over the course of one day or two days, taking a thousand extra foul shots might not help your game. But if you do that in repetition, you know, that’s 7000 extra foul shots a week. That’s, you know, whatever that is. That’s 30,000 or 40,000 extra foul shots a month over the course of years, you know, really makes a huge difference. So I used to do that with relationships. I would just look people up, you know, I would read newspaper articles back in the day or I would see someone on a billboard or, you know, and I would just reach out to them and say, hey, you know, Carly, I read about you in this newspaper article. I’d love to talk to you and just learn more about, you know, what you’re doing and whatever. And anyhow, I did five of those a day. And still to this day, you know, I’m 41 years old now. I’ve been doing them for now, my career. It’s almost, you know, 20 years or 20 years. I’ve done them every day for the past 20 years. And some of those foul shots that I have literally changed my career. They’ve changed my life. They’ve introduced me to people that I never thought I would ever meet. And I think, you know, I’m just bringing that up because I think it just underscores the importance of networking and, you know, the best relationships you get walked into sometimes or ones that are completely unintentional. They were ones you never saw coming. They were just born from a very natural, good, innocuous, you know, place just to satisfy your curious mind. and I think PRSA is the perfect example of that because it’s all networking, and it’s all people who want genuinely to help, you know, people genuinely want to help you in the organization. That’s been an incredible, uh, incredibly refreshing thing for me. You know, at this stage in my career, just to be surrounded by people who really, truly want to help the next generation has been awesome.
Kalli: That is awesome. And I do love that because I. I don’t do it as religiously as you do, but I definitely will reach out to people and just be like, “hey, saw this. You know, thought it was awesome. Would love to chat. You know, if you have time.” And that’s something so important. So I love that you do that, too. And obviously, on a much more intense level than I do.
Jenn: So, I completely agree. Networking is crucial. Crucial in PR and really any industry and in life. Right? But outside of networking, in terms of PR, say, what are some of the other resources and support maybe for professional development, kind of ongoing learning and skill development? Anything else there outside of networking that you can shed some light on?
Matt: Of course, Jenn, you know, you’re talking about great access to content and data and analytics on the latest trends in our profession. Obviously, as you know, in our chapter in the New York chapter, our signature event every year is the Big Apple Awards. So there’s the signature Big Apple Awards. And really, what that’s intended to do is bring together both the past and the future, you know, so we have 30, 30, 15 under 35 awards. We have legacy awards. And, you know, I think that that really embodies the values and the principles of PRC, which is to bring together past, present and future. And beyond that, I think just through membership engagement, you know, news, obviously, there’s the new monthly newsletters and ongoing access to workshops and professional development and leads for jobs. I think, you know, when you look at it, it’s really a 360-degree offering, you know, that professionals in our industry can benefit from.
Kalli: So, one of the other things that I want to talk about today are ethics. You know, they’re incredibly important in our field and something that we all really need support with. How does PRSA advocate for diversity and inclusion?
So Kalli, great question. And another reason that I was inspired to join PRSA is I believe it has the organization has one of the most advanced diversity and equity and inclusion programs of not just any nonprofit within PR, but within the marketing kind of broader marketing services category in the US. So, you know, we talk about inclusivity. You know, I, I was always one where you have to look to make things as inclusive as possible. And by inclusion, you know, you’re not just talking about race and ethnicity. You’re talking about 360-degree inclusion. So, we look for socioeconomic diversity, diversity of perspectives, and backgrounds. And I think that PRSA has really done an incredible job being ahead of that. And I think nowadays, look, you know, in our profession, Carly, you know better than anybody in our profession, you need to be well-rounded. You need to have diversity of perspective because things are changing so quickly. And being in the PR profession, you’re constantly coming across individuals who have all sorts of different ways of thinking. They have different perspectives, they’re contributing different ideas. And I think your ability to be able to be in a conversation and be able to adjust to that, I think is a is a really fundamental skill that you need to have. So PR to say, obviously, from an ethical perspective, I think brings to the table Dei in a way that a lot of other organizations don’t. And I was really I was really inspired by it, frankly, in the past couple of years has brought that certainly to the forefront.
Jenn: Yeah, I completely agree. It’s so important. And I’m currently a member of PRSA. I work with Matt. And, I appreciate that its at the forefront of a lot of our conversations. It’s a forefront of attracting new members. And, you know, from my perspective as well, I think it’s really important. I’m glad that that is something that we proactively do as a group.
Matt: Absolutely.
Jenn: So somebody who’s maybe on the cusp of joining, they’re like, “maybe I want to spend the money, maybe I don’t. I’m not sure how I’m going to fit in.” What advice would you give to someone that’s considering joining PRSA for the first time? How should they go about obtaining a membership? What are some of the things that they should look for?
Matt: Well, just like anything in life, you know, it’s there’s no there’s no risk in harm in sort of trying before you buy. So I think that’s important. And I think there’s enough that PRCA, particularly the New York chapter, offers, where you can get exposure before even having to commit, you know, so looking at potentially attending the Big Apple Awards, we’re going to be launching a podcast or just consuming that type of content, understanding what we’re all about. You know, there’s monthly newsletters, there’s all sorts of that. So I would, and obviously, there’s members that we have a significant amount of members just in the New York metro area alone. So, I would encourage prospective members to connect with existing members, talk about their experiences. And then I think the most important thing is just to share feedback. You know, Jen, one thing we’re making a concerted effort as a board this year is just to optimize the membership experience, right, for our members and our prospective members. So we want to be accessible, you know, we want our members and our prospective members to be able to reach out to us and get a response quickly and voice their concerns, you know, good, bad, indifferent. It doesn’t matter. We want to hear from them and be able to take their perspectives and their questions and in the comments and use it in informed ways to make decisions as we improve the organization going forward. So, you know, prospective members should, should feel empowered to reach out to us and to share what’s on their mind and to tell us what they want. And I think as a board and as an organization, they’re going to see that we make concerted decisions and efforts to make sure that the product, the product being the PRSA experience, is customized to what they want, and as the industry is changing, there’s constantly things we have to be doing as an organization to evolve, to make sure we’re providing a product, you know, product being awards and content and career development to make sure that that is exactly where our members are going to be two steps from now, not just, you know, not just today.
Kalli: As someone who is not currently a member but is familiar with PRSA, this has been really helpful and insightful. And even, you know, obviously before this podcast, talking to Jenn, learning more about what she does, you know, her role in PRSA, it’s all been really insightful and definitely something that is, interestingly enough, I’ve seen other colleagues of mine, you know, if they post something, a lot of times they’re very involved in PRSA, So It seems like the place to be. When I thought of it, it was like, oh, it’s in college, It’s for students, it’s for people starting out. But you know, now at this stage in my career, I’m seeing that, like you just said, it’s really a support network that once you’re in, you know, they continue to support you. So, I’ll be signing up and hopefully seeing you guys at future events. Obviously, I’ll be seeing Jen, but my question though is because, again, I would be a new member. What are some of the upcoming initiative or events that potential members can look forward to?
Matt: It’s a great question. When we sat down as a board this year, as Jenn knows, one of the things we wanted to prioritize was really paving the way for the future of the industry. And I think undoubtedly PRSA has a great brand, rich tradition ton, a ton of heritage and legacy. And we didn’t want to do anything that compromised that. But we wanted to add an element of the future that I think we all felt the organization might have been lacking over the past several years, just as the industry is evolving. So, one of the things we’re doing this year in terms of new initiatives, we’re launching a podcast. The podcast is really geared toward shaping the future of the industry. You know, not necessarily just talking about current events, but talking about where the future of the industry is heading in terms of embracing data and analytics and all of those sorts of things. So that’s going to be launching very soon. Uh, we’re really excited about that. The Big Apple by PRSA is the name of the podcast. So, definitely check that out. We’re going to be launching a university program as well just to make sure that we’re getting into the next generation of PR and communications professionals and work engaging with them and connecting with them in a way that really helps them become the future leaders of our industry.
So, job workshops and professional development and career development exercises, and getting them access to agencies so they can actually go visit agencies and experience what it’s like to be in an agency or to be in an in-house position before they get out of college. So we’re going to be working with; obviously, our chapters focused on New York Metro, so we’re going to be working with a lot of the local area colleges and their comms and marketing departments to work on those things, and then even the signature awards, the Big Apple Awards. We’re going to be doing a lot of things this year and just, you know, new and innovative ways.
And it’s a great platform. And it’s been it’s been the signature event that’s become, uh, you know, become incredibly well known over the past generation, frankly. But we’re going to be so we’re going to be kind of building off that platform,but adding new elements to the event in terms of new content and new corners and new, uh, new branding, just to make sure that we’re doing our best and putting our best foot forward for, uh, you know, for the future generation. So those are a few things we’re doing. And then just a general content strategy this year, I think, is going to be a little bit more forward-thinking in terms of how are we, how are we up-leveling our social media, how are we up-leveling our access and our use of data and things like that?
Jenn: This has been such a great conversation, and truly everything we’ve discussed today is one of the many reasons why I personally joined the PRSA board, and I hope we’ve inspired our listeners to follow in her footsteps and become a member for 2025. So, thank you again for your time today, Matt, and for diving into the benefits PRSA’s membership.
Matt: Jenn, thanks. Always a pleasure. Kalli, it’s great to meet you and hope to have you as a member soon.
Kalli: Of course, I’ll be signing up shortly.
Jenn: For our listeners, if you’re interested in learning more, visit PRSA. Org. You don’t have to be located in New York. There are chapters all over the US, and we encourage you to do some research to learn more. Thanks for tuning in for another wonderful conversation. Remember to follow us on social media, rate and review our show. And as always, tune in every other Wednesdays to learn from the brightest minds in PR and marketing. See you soon!
