PR Buzz

Thoughts on blogging

2007-05-04T11:55:00.000-07:00

I created this blog as a part of a class assignment and I greatly underestimated the challenge. I thought it would be so easy to just write my thoughts and keep up with it, but it was a lot harder than I thought!

Actively participating in the blogosphere is difficult because it entails fully emerging yourself in it. It was also hard because we were asked to blog about PR. We had free reign over those topics, but it had to involve PR in some way which added a twist to what I thought would be just blogging about whatever I wanted.

I am so glad we were required to start and maintain a blog. I think that having this skill and being familiar with the technology will give me a leg up on other applicants that don't have the same skills and knowledge about it. Hopefully, I can direct potential employers to my blog to showcase everything I've learned!

Only 3 more classes

2007-05-04T11:19:00.000-07:00

I only have three more classes standing between me and my graduate degree. I can't believe that I'll be done with school forever at the end of July!

Grad school wasn't exactly as I had expected it. I had assumed that I would learn more about how to practice public relations rather than actually studying theories about it. This is partly my fault because I hadn't realized that there were "practical" grad schools and "research" grad schools. I've learned a lot, but I had hoped to have more practical skills by the time I graduated.

Overall, I'm really glad I pursued a graduate degree here at the University of Georgia. I got the chance to be a TA, I've met some amazing people, and I expanded my knowledge base to (hopefully!) make myself more appealing to possible employers.

Reflections on being a TA

2007-05-04T11:07:00.000-07:00

Today I wrapped up my second and last semester as a teaching assistant for the Introduction to Public Relations class! It's been a wild year working with undergrads and I can't help but wonder if I asked as many questions as they do when I was in undergrad? Of course I did, I was that girl.

My first semester as a TA was extremely overwhelming, but I got through it and I also realized that there is no way possible to make 300 students happy! They have four different options as to how their grade can be calculated, projects, attendance, and extra credit that has forced me to become much more organized! Originally, I was so nervous because I knew that I was responsible for the grades of 300 students. Once I realized that, my organization skills kicked in and it has carried over into other parts of my life.

I am so happy that I had the opportunity to be a TA. Not only did it pay for my graduate degree but it also gave me the opportunity to meet so many more people than I would have otherwise here at UGA.

Campaign Success!

2007-04-28T13:25:00.000-07:00

Our campaign is over! I wasn't sure how it would turn out even though our group worked together fantastically but the presentation went even smoother than I had expected. The four of our members that presented were well prepared and practiced and I was so proud that they represented us.

And as a bonus, our client began on one of our tactics, an internship program, immediately after our presentation, which I thought was a good sign!

Overall, it has been a great experience. I believe that this class reinforced everything else I've learned so far in my graduate studies by actually putting it into practice. I'm glad this course is a requirement. Even though it's a lot of work, I learned a lot!

Using social media for emergency alerts

2007-04-20T08:23:00.000-07:00

In the aftermath of the massacre at Virginia Tech, there will obviously be analysis of the crisis response applied by the University. Whether you think they handled it well or just the opposite, the fact remains that technology evolves faster than we can keep up with and crisis response strategies should as well. Let's face it, students check their Facebook and MySpace more than they check their e-mail (guilty as charged). Using these social networking sites to send messages could be one new way to disseminate these messages quickly.

In a recent post, The Diva Marketing Blog cited Marianne Richmond's post advocating the use of social media in crisis planning. I had thought of the use of text messaging, MySpace, and Facebook, but she mentioned a new technique that I had never heard of, Twitter.

Twitter is a mobile text messaging system that allows groups to be formed, no matter who their cell phone service provider is. This could be the most effective way to disseminate information quickly in times of crisis. I NEVER leave home without my cell phone and, frankly, I almost feel naked without it.

There are so many lessons to be learned from the devastating events at Virginia Tech, from crisis response to recognizing signs of instability in troubled students. And that is what we must do, LEARN those lessons and grow from them in an effort to avoid a situation like this again in the future.

Campaign coming to an end

2007-04-18T08:58:00.000-07:00

The book draft for our campaign for The Home Depot Foundation is due today and while I'd like to say I'm relieved, I was never really anxious about it. Our group has 11 people in it, which seems like too many to make the group functional. However, this is honestly one of THE best groups I have ever worked in, including my years in undergrad at Clemson. Tasks were delegated, we constantly communicated through e-mail, we broke into small groups to accomplish tasks, and our group leaders, Chad and Whitney were excellent. This seems to be contrary to other groups' progress, according to Dr. Russell.

I think that everyone pulled their own weight, but there were others that went above and beyond to get this task completed. Through this process I have learned so much about the different aspects of developing a campaign and made nine new friends (and no, I'm not excluding anyone, I already knew Nikki!). Now, all we have to do is pitch the client on Monday and we'll be home free!

Today, we are all Hokies

2007-04-17T06:50:00.000-07:00

I'm from Williamsburg, Virginia and what happened yesterday at Virginia Tech really hit home. I haven't watched the news this much since 9/11. I was very happy to find out that my loved ones at Tech were safe, but my heart goes out to those who lost theirs yesterday. I can't believe that something like this could happen. Although it is a devestating tragedy, it's uplifting to see how our nation has come together. I want to send my thoughts and prayers to all of the Hokie Nation.

Advice on getting and keeping your first job

2007-04-11T10:38:00.000-07:00

I'm obviously not an expert on getting OR keeping my first job, since I've yet to have one, but I have found some advice from people who DO know.

I picked up the April issue of Public Relations Tactics, a monthly publication produced by PRSA, yesterday and was pleased to find a lot of practical and useful information in it (If you're interested in subscribing, go here).

The article I found most helpful was written by Kelly Papinchak (visit her blog here) and was titled "Things I wish I'd known before I showed up on the job." These tips seem very simple, but were not things that I had considered before. Below are the tips I found to be the most pertinent.

Clean out your car: you never know when someone from your office (maybe even your boss) will need a ride
Keep up with car maintenance: Once again, if you're asked to drive to lunch or to an event you want to be sure to have gas and that your car is running smoothly
Always have cash, especially at events: It's embarrassing if an establishment doesn't accept cards and you don't have cash, be sure to carry some.
Keep stain remover in your desk drawer: You never know when you might spill something on yourself (unless you're like me and you do it everyday).
Always knock before entering anyone's office (even your best friend)
Clean out the communal coffee pot: Even if you don't drink it, be sure to do your part to keep the office clean
Call every number you place in a press release or in an ad before it's submitted: Although it seems obvious, it's important to double-check
Never forget the alarm code: You don't want to be the one to set the alarm off.
Program your boss' cell phone number into your phone
Keep business cards with you at ALL times

Effects of technology on PR

2007-04-02T07:33:00.000-07:00

Today, Bernaisesource discussed the ever-changing world of technology and its potential effects on PR and advertising in the next few years, citing the loss of part of Widen & Kennedy's Nike account due to Widen & Kennedy's lack of digital expertise and dissatisfaction with its online efforts to reach Nike's target audience.

These events make me very happy and appreciative that I had to start a blog for my Campaigns class. While I'm not exactly on the cutting edge of the digital age, at least I'm keeping up and through my own blog I pay attention to other blogs and news in an effort to keep mine up-to-date and interesting.

Now, all I have to do is use my blog to my advantage, graduate from school, and find a job. No problem, right? We'll see...

Harry Potter PR: Is it Necessary?

2007-03-20T13:34:00.000-07:00

Recently, The Flack discussed the PR campaign for the final installment of the Harry Potter series. Although I'm not trying to completely embarrass myself, I am a huge Harry Potter fan. I had seen the first two movies and then started reading the books, thanks to my slightly obsessed college roommate. Soon after, I was hooked.

Here's my question... does the release of the 7th book even need any sort of PR or advertising? In my group of friends, it definitely doesn't. When the 7th book was available to pre-order, one of the girls sent an e-mail to all of us.

To me, there are either Harry Potter fanatics (like myself, sadly) or those who don't particularly care for the books. One group doesn't need the PR and the other doesn't really want it. Either way, I'm anxiously awaiting the release regardless of any PR campaigns.

Publicizing Myself: The first of many posts on my job search

2007-03-05T12:56:00.000-08:00

My graduation from grad school in August looms ahead in the distance. My last semester in undergrad was stress free. I teased all my friends while they looked for jobs. I was home free because I was UGA bound and had another year to avoid being a "real person" as my friends often call it. But now, I'm 5 months away from graduating and I'm not even sure how to being looking for a job. Obvious answers are Monster and CareerBuilder, but are these the only avenues?

Our meeting in our campaigns class gave us tips on publicizing our blog: create original content, submit best posts to social bookmarking sights, etc. It makes me wonder, how can I go about publicizing myself in my search for a job? My blog is one way... posting my résumé on job search sites is another... but I find it hard to make myself stand out among the thousands of applicants.

As I read several well-known blogs for inspiration, I came across tips for both of the above issues: publicizing my blog and making myself stand out. The Diva Marketing Blog provides 15 ideas for Social Media Networking. The ideas build on the other tips provided by Dr. Russell in our PR Campaigns class.

The 19th Forward podcast focuses on the importance of reading for young PR professionals and students. The episode is an interview with Paull Young recorded at the AlwaysOn conference and lists books of interest for young PRs as well as an additional link to a suggested reading list. I'm in luck because I love to read, so these books will hopefully help me to differentiate myself.

While these posts have been helpful, what are some other ideas for getting my name out there and landing my first job?

Real World PR

2007-02-18T07:04:00.000-08:00

A fellow grad student, John Moates, and I attended the Real World PR event in Atlanta on Friday in hopes of networking and maybe even finding a job. However, after attending, it was evident that this conference was intended for undergraduate students and he and I found it of little use. Most of the employers were only looking for summer interns, I did give out a couple of resumes, but I doubt anything will come of it.

The event began with a media panel. Three Atlanta journalist's discussed their encounters with PR people, both good and bad. The journalist's were very engaging and frank, which I found to be very helpful. They gave us tips on what we should and should not do when pitching the media. Then, someone actually presented a real pitch to them while we were sitting there. I think this part was one of the most interesting and useful parts of the conference.

We then attended a session on new and old PR techniques. While entertaining, the session wasn't as informative as I had hoped. But, the speaker did encourage us to create our own blog, so I've made a step in the right direction! He also talked about this game 'Second Life' where people create personas and actually buy and sell real estate in this 'other world'. I am absolutely amazed by this and I plan on checking it out.

I also had my resume critiqued by a PR professional, but he had little feedback and he said it looked great. That was a boost for my ego because I spent forever working on it! And while this session was a bit disorganized, I'm glad I had the chance to get some feedback on, what is basically, my life on paper.

Overall, I'm glad I attended, I usually get nervous and clam up when I have to approach people and just strike up a conversation, but this gave me some practice and I feel much more confident. It also gave some practical day-to-day PR tips that we don't get a whole lot of in our program, so it was a good experience, but worth $60? ...I'm not sure.

PR... it depends

2007-01-29T08:14:00.000-08:00

Last semester was my first as a PR student and boy was it an eye-opener. Before coming to graduate school, I thought "piece of cake." I didn't know you could research public relations. I also didn't know there was such a thing as PR theory and I certaintly didn't know that there was an ongoing debate about a definition of PR and its status as a profession. To an outsider, it seems trivial, but the lack of a concrete definition does in fact effect the study and practice of PR.

I took a theory course that entailed reading every week and writing a paper reflecting on those readings. Our papers were used as a source of discussion and I was often called on because my comments were usually a little different than everyone else's because in the beginning, I was totally in the dark about PR. We read so many articles involving the differing definitions of PR but with no consensus. I find that the burning question is still on everyone's minds... What is PR? And as our class jokingly (or not so jokingly) said every week, "it depends".

Who knows if there ever will be a set, concrete definition. But, I think that if that day ever comes, we'll be able to make a stronger case for PR as a profession.

Michael Vick: Can fans get past it?

2007-01-25T20:05:00.000-08:00

Last week in the Miami International Airport, Michael Vick was asked to throw his water bottle away before boarding a plane. He couldn't decided whether to put it in his checked luggage or simply throw it away. Due to his high level of concern over the bottle, after throwing it away, authorities retrieved it and found that it had a secret compartment. It was suspected that Vick was hiding marijuana in the compartment, he has since been cleared of any suspicion, at least as far the authorities are concerned. But what about the public?

Authorities have since deleted the video of the incident, but for me that only raises more questions about what really happened. If Vick wasn't such a prominent figure, would authorities have deleted the video? Was there something on the video the public wasn't meant to see? It seems as though we'll never know.

Several days after the incident, rumors abounded about a possible Michael Vick trade. Those rumors have since been squelched, but will this incident and Vick's less than stellar stats tarnish his image as the face of the Falcons?

Why am I blogging?

2007-01-20T10:15:00.000-08:00

As a first year master's student in public relations, I never thought that creating a blog would be an assignment. I had always thought blogs were nothing more than one random person's opinion, but have since learned that a blog can be a powerful tool in communication, networking, and public relations. Since learning that thousands of new blogs are created everyday, I decided that I should jump on the bandwagon (well, that and I'm required to), but I fully intend to continue blogging once this assignment is finished.

I am relatively new to the field of PR, since last semester was my very first course. But, I don't see this as a negative. I think I see things from a different perspective. My undergraduate degree is in Sport Management so I have a particular interest in sports, athletes, and their frequency in the news. Another topic I will most likely be talking about is my experience as a teaching assistant. Everyday is something different in a class with 300 students and I've learned a lot and I look forward to sharing my ideas on these topics and many more!