Doors open for 2024/25 Ballyhoo Academy

By Emma SpeirsPublished On: 5 September 2024

A PR training programme for small businesses is welcoming new students for the 2024/25 academic year.

Ballyhoo PR’s PR Academy will begin in September and see students go on a discovery journey together, learning how to do their own PR over the next six months.

The next intake will run for six sessions, with a break for Christmas, each focussing on a different element of public relations:

Tuesday 24th September – How to get media ready
Tuesday 29th October – Creating your PR plan
Tuesday 26th November – How to write a press release
Tuesday 28th January 2025 – Pitching to the media
Tuesday 25th February – Crisis management
Tuesday 25th March – Tracking and measuring press coverage and what to do with it

The timings of each session are 10am to 2pm with lunch being provided.

Location is: Ballyhoo PR, Coach House 2, Lamport Manor, Old Road, Lamport, NN6 9HF

The course has been accredited by the CPD and everyone who takes part will receive a certificate.

Classes are designed for business owners or those working in marketing roles for a small or medium-sized business (SMEs) and have responsibility for generating press coverage for the company.

Numbers will be kept to a maximum of six people to allow everyone to get advice tailored to them and their business. This group of students will also get to know each other and develop relationships as the course progresses and become each other’s biggest supporters.

Companies can join the intake for £600 + VAT for the course – the equivalent of £100 + VAT a class.

The course will end in March with a graduation ceremony and certificate presentation.

Emma Speirs, director of Ballyhoo PR, will be running the Academy. She said: “One of the reasons I set up Ballyhoo PR was to help SMEs to share their stories and shout about their successes. Obviously, we can manage this for businesses through Ballyhoo PR, but a retainer contract arrangement isn’t always appropriate for everyone.

“I wanted to take a small group of people and work with them over a period of a few months and give them the tools and knowledge to be able to achieve results with PR for themselves.”

Previous attendees had this to say about the Ballyhoo PR PR Academy:

“I found the Ballyhoo PR Academy to be absolutely fantastic! It was far more than I expected when I signed up to the course. We’ve covered some great topics and it’s been really good meeting up with the same students every month to discuss how we’ve implemented what we’ve been learning at work.” Thomas Eglesfield, Marketing Manager, Canonbury Products Ltd.

“I pitched an idea to BBC Radio Northampton. I’ve just heard back. They’d like us to come in! Working with Ballyhoo PR opened my eyes up to being able to arrange these opportunities and gave me the confidence to do so.” Emily Askew, Marketing and Communications Lead, Northampton Saints Foundation.

“It’s been amazing to come on to the Ballyhoo PR Academy and learn from Emma and discuss our progress and ideas with the other students. My personal takeaway was recognising the importance of planning – thinking about what we want to say and where we want to say it. I have already found that there is so much more clarity and structure in the way I do my job. I’ve enjoyed the whole experience and the learning has been invaluable. I also found the confidence to pitch myself for a place on a panel at an industry event and was successful!” Keely Ann Jones, Business and Marketing Officer, Horizon HR