I can not believe I am hooked on another social networking site. This one is called PROpenMic. There is something different about this site, which stands out to me...It is purely for public relations! How neat is that? PROpenMic has taken the idea of social networking and narrowed down their target audience.
I have not gotten the chance to take an in depth look at PROpenMic, but I can already tell it is going to be addicting. But now I do not have to search through a huge data base just to get to the subject I'm interested in.
This site just open a window into the public relations world with a click of the mouse. Now that I have been actively looking for an internship, I understand how frustrating searching for the perfect internship or job can be. I am hoping this site will slowly bridge the gap between job seeker and employer.
PROpenMic can also be used as a tool to learn about more sectors of public relations. This being my first full year in public relations, my knowledge of public relations is quite narrow. I am looking forward to expanding my knowledge as best as I can, and PROpenMic will definitely help me.
Well now it is time for me to explore PROpenMic a little bit more! I'm excited.
This Saturday my Public Relations Administration class put on the Athletic Auction at GCSU. At the beginning of the semester our class was divided into 4 teams of 3 to come up with the auction's theme. Each team did a great job of creating themes. The theme that was chosen was a motorcycle inspired lifesyle.
Our entire semester was geared toward making the auction a success. Everyone had certain tasks to make the vision complete. My specific job was to create the invitation and to post flyers downtown to promote the event. Before I knew it, it was time for the auction.
Friday morning before the auction, we began to decorate the Centennial center, which is where the auction took place. Again, everyone had a task to complete. Our class worked extremely well together to make the decorations come to life. Friday afternoon the location was almost fully decorated and we finally got a little taste of what our hard work would come to be.
Finally, the big day was here. Saturday was exciting. When people starting arriving, it as an indescribable feeling. It was the first major event I had ever helped put on. The entire night went better than imagined. I helped sell raffle tickets for the first part of the night, which was fun because I could interact with the people. The night was a great experience in event planning in the world of public relations. Luckily, we did not have to deal with crisis management.
I do not think the night would have been as fun if our class did not get along like we do. I always have a good time while with my class, and the auction only strengthen that feeling. I can only hope my future coworkers and I can get along that well (I can dream). Ha
It amazes me that a person's job can revolve around blogging, tweeting and other social media - alone! I started to follow many business on Twitter and one day I saw a tweet saying this is their job: to keep up with social media for their business. I really could not believe it. Something that seems so simple can be a career path? I investigated this subject a little more.
On April 3, Coca-Cola launched a office of digital and social media. Clyde Tuggle, SVP of corporate affairs and productivity at Coke said, "Our future success depends on our continued ability to connect people to our brands and our company all around the world, one person at a time." So why not create an entire office to reach that goal? After reading the article on Coke in PRWeek, I understood why companies are putting so much time and effort into social media. They want to connect to their consumers, and what better way than social media?
Social media is immediate, and it involves consumers with a product. It is free to use, as long as you own a computer. It also makes a person feel personally connected to a company and that their opinion matters. This usually makes a person more inclined to use a certain product.
Now I completely understand why a company would hire one person for the sole purpose of keeping up with social media. It really can improve the company's standings in the long run.
For me social media is a means of communicating with my peers to and to market myself to the PR world. Now I see Twitter, Facebook and blogging as entertaining and informing. I hope when I enter the professional world I can use my social media skills.
I have been working with Relay For Life since last August as there Public Relations Chair. Now this Friday, the big event will be here. I am excited to see the success of my hard work come to life. At times the job was extremely difficult because of communication issues, but overall Relay has given me my first real experience with public relations. I could not be more thankful to have worked for the fight against cancer. Especially now that my grandmother is dying of pancreatic cancer.
My experience with Relay has taught me the basics of public relations. Probably, the most important thing I learned how to do was to communicate with the local media. The city of Milledgeville is a great place to build a relationship with the media because it is a small town with limited media outlets. The main outlet I communicated with was the local newspapers. I had to understand their deadlines and formatting. They helped me get vital information out to the public about Relay with efficiency.
Among other skills, I can crack out a press release in no time thanks to Relay. I have gotten extremely comfortable with writing them and obtaining quotes. This basic skill is necessary in the PR world, and now I have lots of experience with writing press releases.
I have also learned to understand the dynamics of a committee. I had to find out the hard way who was the best to get information from and who was not the best communicator. Luckily, the committee was willing to help me with anything and everything. I know this experience will help me with future employers.
Relay For Life was a great starting point in my public relations career. I was able to build my portfolio with press releases, newsletters and published work. The experience I received with Relay will benefit me for years to come. I am hoping my internship this summer will add onto my experiences; so, I can better market myself for a job when I graduate. After being denied from an internship, I truly know the importance of experience!
Today I am going to write about a recent article I read in "Public Relations Tactics." The article is called "Event planning intersection:where brands meet celebrities." This article stood out to me because I have also been fascinated with celebrity endorsements. Probably because I am a huge fan of movies and Hollywood in general.
The article by Dana Marciniak explains how to work with celebrity accounts and how to pitch your event or product to the media. A celebrity name can instantaneously draw attention to an event and get coverage. Hopefully, the coverage will be positive, and that is why who you chose to be the representative is crucial.
When I see celebrities on television being a spokesperson for a certain product, I stop and think if they are really using it. Especially, when a 30 year old actress is promoting wrinkle cream! Sometimes, I get frustrated when I see Tiger Woods endorsing Gillette when he already makes millions upon millions of dollars with many other endorsement deals and winning gold tournaments. Why do celebrates make so much money just for saying they use a certain product? This was my opinion pre-public relations student.
Now being on the public relations side, I understand why companies would want celebrity endorsements. It is because they are one of the best ways to get your product's name recognized. What professional does not want their product to be synonymous with Tiger Woods? It is all about maximum coverage for an event or product, and one huge way to get that attention can be through a celebrity endorsement.
In “The Tipping Point,” Malcolm Gladwell describes how epidemics can be explained by three rules: the Law of the Few, the Stickiness Factor and the Power of Context. These rules are also the rules for the Tipping Point. A Tipping point refers to a mysterious change or point in a company or trend that usually results in something positive. My favorite example in the book is when Malcolm writes about the Hush Puppies trend because being in college, I have seen a lot of old trends come back. Wolverine, the makers of Hush Puppies, had nothing to do with its rebirth in 1994. One group of kids in New York starting wearing them, and suddenly they became cool again, just like that. Some examples of trends reappearing that I have noticed are Ray Ban sunglasses and Jellies.
For our own class project, the Athletic Auction, there are some possible ways we could make it tip. For the first suggestion, we would use the Law of the Few. Mavens, connectors and salesmen are people who spread or contain a message. “Mavens are data banks. They provide the message. Connectors are social glue: they spread it,” said Gladwell. In the auction’s case, our PR Administration class are mavens. Therefore, we need to find the connectors of Milledgeville and of athletics to broadcast our message even further.
Another idea for the Athletic Auction to tip is to make the event sticky. Hopefully, our theme will play a big role in the stickiness factor because people will enjoy it and be drawn to the event. As a class, we need find out what has not stuck in years past and find ways to present the information to obtain stickiness.
As previously stated, there are three types of peopling according to Gladwell and they are mavens, connectors and salesmen. It is hard to categorize myself in any of these. The one I am definitely not is a salesman. With more time in the public relations field, I hope to become a connector. Networking will play a huge part on my path to becoming a connector, but I feel I already possess a few qualities of a connector. They are a passion for getting to know people and an interest in multiple groups. I doubt I will ever get to the level of obsession like Roger Horchow, but I feel everyone in public relations should be somewhat of a connector.
Through using social media, I have already become more of a connector. Social media opens up opportunities for word-of-mouth epidemics and many others. Now having used Twitter and my blog for a couple of months, I can say I have definitely experienced a tipping point with social media. It can open so many opportunities, and to think I found out about Twitter through a maven and connector!
Throughout my time as a public relations student, the importance of one word has been drilled into me: networking. A dictionary defines networking as "a supportive system of sharing information and services among individuals and groups having a common interest."
I have only heard positive things about networking: that you can gain a potential employer, obtain contacts with media, gain vital information and the list goes on and on. To me networking is intimidating exactly for those reasons. I want to be myself when I meet a new person, but knowing I have to impress that person scares me a little. What if I say the wrong thing or do not meet their standards?
Having gone to Real World PR, I got great experiences with being myself while talking to potential employers. Talking to the first organization representative was extremely intimidating, but after awhile it seemed I was just talking like I would to anyone else. As the afternoon went on, I did not hesitate to speak to public relations professionals and ask them my questions.
First impressions are an extremely important part of networking. One does not want to seem uninterested or disrespectful. Great eye contact and a firm handshake is a great start to a conversation. Networking opens doors and windows, which would otherwise be closed if you did not make that connection. Just as important as making that first connection is keeping a relationship with that person because that connection may not payoff until five years down the line.
Real World PR prepared me for a lot of things, and networking was definitely on the top of that list.
