PR in Action

Last night, December 5th, I participated in a Holiday Acoustics Concert held at Blackbird. It was planned by Tyler Pearson. He put together a group of musicians to play to help raise money to buy Christmas Gifts for some of the kids that attend Kid's Ministry. The band consisted of Mike Palombo, Jami Smith, Tyler Pearson, Jonathan Chancey, and myself. We played some original pieces, some covers and Christmas songs as well.

This was PR in action because of our use of social media. This event was proof to me that the best way to reach College age people is through facebook. A Facebook event and word of mouth got enough publicity for us to have a sold out show. 115 people crammed into the basement of Blackbird. We also raised enough money to buy atleast 8 kids the presents that they asked for.

It was a really fun night! And definitely a lesson in how powerful social media is.

Anti-Binge Drinking Campaign

I created an anti-binge drinking advertisement. The assignment was more difficult than I first anticipated. Not only is it extremely important to know how to execute an advertisement, it is important to do thorough background research. Due to errors of uploading this is not the completed ad, but it is the picture that used.

I started my background research by learning about binge-drinking and specifically binge drinking in college. I then researched why people like to drink. Some people drink to forget their worries, to have fun with friends, to be more comfortable or to fit in, just to name a few. I then started to research what it is that people love about college, by talking to friends. I got a lot of different answers so it was difficult to narrow down the topics. People said things like, “I love college because of the friendships I have made,” or “I love college because of the life long memories that it brings.” After my research I decided to make my target audience 18-24 year old females. I had the most background research and also could relate.

My first thought was to go along with the whole idea that college is the best four years of your life. Most college girls come to school hoping to meet lifelong friends, have fun, meet new and exciting people, experience life in a new an adventurous way. My first idea was to make a scrapbook like ad chronicling the life of a party girl. She would be wasted and aloof and the slogan would be, “Best four years of my life.” I started my photo shoot with that in mind.

I recruited several of my roommates and friends to dress up and enact several scenes of people partying with alcohol. Then I took several shots of people suffering the consequences of the overconsumption of alcohol such as, a hangover, unwanted sexual advances, and passing out.

After creating a scrapbook like ad, I changed my mind about the theme. While the overall message was clear, the pictures were not strong enough to portray binge drinking as a negative. In fact some of the pictures looked like the people really were having the time of their lives.

So it made me analyze some of the other consequences that binge drinkers encounter. The one that rang with the most resonance was the idea that by partaking in binge drinking you won’t remember anything. Now at first not remembering can seem like a good idea, but not when college is supposed to be the best four years of your life. Also I spoke to a lot of people who although they don’t remember what they did when they were drunk, they still suffered negative consequences. That is how I came up with the slogan, “The night I can’t remember…but wish I could forget.”

This slogan can target any college age student, but mainly serves to target female drinkers who did something they regretted after getting drunk. It also serves to remind them that they might do something they regret when they are drunk.

The picture in the advertisement is actually two pictures superimposed. One is a soft focus picture of alcohol and the other is a picture of a girl hugging the toilet after a night of partying. The two pictures together act to make the images a little bit blurry. The blurriness of the picture is supposed to serve as a double meaning. The girl’s memory is blurry because of the “blurry” alcohol.

As far as the execution of the ad was concerned I wish that I was more skilled on the computer. I would really like to gain more computer skills and learn how to create visually appealing advertisements.

This advertisement taught me the importance of research, the importance of brainstorming and the importance of being willing to change to your plan.

Relay For Life Kickoff

Last Tuesday, after months of planning, we finally executed the Relay For Life Kickoff. The event was a huge success! The theme "Celebrate a Memory" was carried out throughout the entire evening. A beautiful slideshow created by Keri Allgood and Andrea Lowery that honored cancer survivors throughout Baldwin County. There was not dry eye in the room. The slideshow reminded everyone of why RLF is so important. More than just "Celebrating a Memory" the event really celebrated life!

It was an honor to participate in RLF and I had a great time working with my classmates! I grew a lot closer to all of my classmates in planning this event and on the night of the event it really showed. By knowing each other, we know each other strengths which made us much better equipped to pull of the event.

I hope that RLF continues to have a great season! I hope the powerful commencement will give them the inspiration they need to have a great Relay!

Jamie's Story

Prior to April 19, 2005, the idea of cancer never crossed Jamie Ekstrom’s mind. He was an active 16 year- old junior in high school. He had a job, ran track, did cross-country, competed on the swim team and loved music. He was a typical easy-going teenager.

At the end of Jamie’s junior year of high school, right before prom he developed a high fever and started having flu like symptoms. After waking up one day with intense pain throughout his whole body, he went to the doctor for testing. Immediately the doctor saw a problem with his lab work and sent him to the hospital. Jamie spent four days in the hospital as the doctors tried to find out what was wrong. Finally on April 19, 2005 Jamie was diagnosed with A.L.L. or Acute Lymphoid Leukemia. That week Jamie was transferred to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and began his battle against cancer.

“The first thing I asked my doctor when he told me about the treatment, was when I was going to be able to run again,” said Jamie. “Being told I wasn’t going to be able to run senior year was one of the hardest things. In high school running was what kind of defined me. I stayed on the cross-country team and worked as a trainer, but I couldn’t run in the fall.”

Jamie had a long road of treatment ahead of him. He began with chemotherapy treatments every week, and then he went down to treatments every other week and finally he went to having chemo on a monthly basis. This went on for three years. Jamie responded well to treatments, but it was not easy.

“I had long hair and it started falling out,” said Jamie. I was able to hold onto it until the end of junior year and then I had to cut it short, three weeks into summer I had to shave it totally off. That was tough. The hardest part of having cancer was looking like I had cancer.”

Jamie began his freshman year at Georgia College & State University within the first year of his treatment. He lived in the dorms and traveled back home once a month for chemotherapy.

“I really wanted to go,” said Jamie. “Lots of parents probably wouldn’t send their kids to college with cancer. Family played a huge, huge part in my recovery. Going through something like this can either break a family apart or pull them closer together. It really drew us closer together. It helped me understand the love of a parent.”

Starting college for most freshmen is challenging enough, but undergoing grueling rounds of chemotherapy added a whole new layer to the meaning of the word challenging. The chemo compromised his immune system and Jamie had to deal with meningitis, pancreatitis and numerous hospitalizations. Finals sent Jamie into the hospital every semester, but he kept on going.

Jamie attributes his faith as a driving force in his life.

“ I tried my best to focus on the positive,” said Jamie. “From the beginning I knew I was going to beat it. Faith is what really drove a lot of things. Prior to that I was thing that got me going, but when I was diagnosed I kind of made a deal with God. I prayed that if He could heal me I would devote my life to Him. From that day on I knew it was not in my hands anymore.”

On August 3, 2008 Jamie finished his last treatment. Jamie is planning to get a tattoo of the dates 04/19/05 and 08/03/08 to commemorate the day he was diagnosed and the day he beat cancer. Next April will mark the fifth anniversary of his diagnosis and at that point he will be considered cured of leukemia. Right now Jamie is focusing on living in the moment and planning for his future. He is graduating in May and plans on attending graduate school to become a counselor. He has a love for people and hopes to counsel pediatric cancer patients.

“I’ve learned that people are what really are important,” said Jamie. “Most everything else that seems important doesn’t really matter. Spending as much time with the people you care about is what really matters.”

“Be careful. Journalism is more addictive than crack cocaine. Your life can get out of balance.” Dan Rather

I briefly mentioned my practicum with University Communications in a previous blog. My primary job is to write news releases and article for the GCSU Info Page and also the GCSU page for the Union Recorder. This has greatly challenged my writing, interviewing, and communication skills.

I have learned the importance of an editor and that any story can be made even better. No matter how many times I edit a story, someone else will find things that I didn't see. I usually have 2-3 people edit for me. I have discovered a need to write faster. The communications world is at record pace and in order to stay on top of it I need to speed up!

I discovered that my favorite kind of interview is conversational. I love to just sit down and talk with person to hear the story. It is important to do background research and having questions prepared is smart, but it can also skew a story. By just allowing the source to talk, their unique story unfolds.

My communication skills are challenged on a daily basis. I am generally a quiet person and often I find it humorous that I ended up in the Mass Communications world. Although it's fun to see the humor, I also see the benefit. Developing strong communication skills will greatly benefit any career. Interviewing people helps to develop those skills. It demands boldness, persistence, and confidence.

I didn't discover my love for journalism until I started taking Mass Communications classes and tried my hand at writing.

Check out some of my stories to see what I've learned!

Freshman Conquers Challenges with Determination - I gained a new appreciation for interviewing and learned the importance of immersing yourself into the story.

Team returns to Tibetan Children's Village - I learned a lot about editing with this story.

Gov. McDonald's portrait hangs in Old Governor's Mansion- I was challenged to be bold and confident and to think on my feet with this story.

I still have a lot of learning to do, but that only helps me to keep working!

The Tipping Point

Malcolm Gladwell’s book, The Tipping Point, is about how an idea spreads the same way that an epidemic does. People commonly believe that trends and ideas are gradual and that in order for something to become an epidemic it must go through a slow process. Gladwell dispels that way of thinking. He points out three characteristics of an epidemic: “It must be contagious, small causes can have big effects and the change happens not gradually, but at one dramatic moment.” (9) The tipping point is that moment when everything changes, the moment when crime declines or blogging takes off, or twitter becomes a phenomenon. The tipping point is when the idea or event becomes an epidemic.

Gladwell points out three parts of an epidemic which he calls the “three agents of change” - The Law of the Few, The Stickiness Factor and the Power of Context. (19)

Our class' goal is to make the Relay For Life Kickoff an epidemic! Our class can utilize Gladwell's "agents of change" tip the event, but in order to do so we must first understand the agents of change.

The first agent of change is “The Law of the Few.” This law talks about how a few people use their talents to set off an epidemic. In this law there are three types of people: the connector, the maven, and the salesman. The connector connects people to other people, they are the kind of person who knows virtually everyone. The maven is the person who connects people to information, they know a lot about the world and how it works. The salesman is a person with a lot of charm that can easily influence others. (30-88)

I believe that I am most like a maven. I love gathering information. I love learning about and researching things in the world. I am constantly reading the news and trying to keep up with what is going on around me. A maven is not just someone who loves to gather information though; they have to love sharing it as well. As soon as I learn something I want to share it with everyone around me. When I learn about new things I am constantly connecting that new piece of information to someone I know. To me that is one of the best parts of social networking. If I find something that I want to share with others it is easy to post a link or write about in a blog, on Facebook, or Twitter. I love music and as soon as I find a song I like I want to share it with everyone I know so they can enjoy it in the same way. My friends are used to hearing me say, “So I heard this song and you’re going to LOVE it!” I love sharing information and that is a big part of why I decided to become study public relations.

The second agent of change is “The Stickiness Factor.” This establishes whether the idea will stick. You can have a great connector, maven or salesman, but if you don’t have a good message it doesn’t matter. The stickiness factor determines whether the idea is good enough to start an epidemic. The stickiness factor plays a huge role in why social networking is so popular. Facebook and Twitter took off because they were great ideas. They stepped away from the norm enough for it to stick. (89-132)

The last agent of change is the “Power of the Context.” Introducing an idea or concept into the right environment is key if you want it to explode into an epidemic. The idea behind the context is that you have to know your audience, their environment and their needs.(167)

All three of these agents of change can play a role in the tipping point of the Relay For Life Kickoff. Our class is full of connectors, mavens, and salesmen. We have to hone in on our skills and allow our passion for the event to overflow to the community. The goal of the kickoff is to honor, inspire and motivate team captains. The connectors of our class can connect us to the right people for donations. The mavens can connect us to the information about prices and quality. The salesmen can sell the kickoff to the community. The kickoff should not have a problem with the stickiness factor if we correctly use our skills to publicize it. It is important for captains to want to come back each year. By making it a fun, honoring and unique kickoff the event should stick. As far as the context is concerned it is important for us to understand not only our client, but also who our client serves. Our client is the planning committee, but they serve the cancer survivors and team captains of Baldwin County. It is important for our class to understand their needs and what will honor them.

Social Media is a perfect example of how a tipping point takes place. Facebook, Twitter, and blogging are all outlets that can start an epidemic. The speed at which something can become an epidemic on Twitter is ridiculous. The recent “Balloon Boy” exploded on Twitter. It is important in the PR field to take advantage of the opportunity to “tip” something through social media. Our class should be using these methods to try to “tip” the kickoff. We are already blogging about the event, and using Facebook and Twitter to communicate with each other about the event. Continuing to use social media could serve to create a buzz for the kickoff and possibly “tip” the event to its full potential.

Blog Action Day

Today I am a part of thousands of people blogging about climate change for Blog Action Day!

Climate Change. Why should I care? Why should YOU care? The truth is most of us don’t know why we should care. Climate change seems to be an ambiguous idea that doesn't directly affect any of us. So why should we care?

I could sit here all day and type a list of the reasons why we should care. I could tell you all about how every time we drive our car, use a hairdryer or microwave a meal we are emitting greenhouse gasses. But why would you listen to me? Why would you care?

One great privilege of Public Relations is ability to connect other people. I feel that the most powerful communication occurs when people can connect and relate to each other. Communicating does not mean cramming your opinions and beliefs down someone else’s throat, but rather about opening up the dialogue and gaining awareness. Opening up dialogue and making people more aware allows people to come to their own conclusions and take ownership of their opinions and views.

In order to gain more awareness and open up the dialogue on climate change I would propose a campaign.

I would propose a campaign that focused on everyday people and why the issue of climate change is important to them. The whole idea behind it would be to have a variety of people that many different people could relate to.

My proposal would have these major components….

1. Interviews that focused on the simple question-“Why does climate change matter to you?” Or “Why do you care about climate change?”

The interviews would be short and focus on what everyday people think.

2. The interviews would be compiled into PSA’s, advertisements to be placed in magazines and possibly even billboards.

I don’t have any idea how people would answer the question, but I do know how I would answer it.

Why do I care about climate change?

I care because living on this beautiful planet is a privilege and I want my future children to experience the same privilege.

Why do you care?

Relay For Life

My PR Admin class is undertaking the task of planning the Relay For Life Kickoff for Baldwin county. We split up into teams of three and pitched an idea to the planning committee. My wonderful team of Corinne Burnstein and Brooke Brookins came up with the idea of "Unwrapping the Cure." Our idea behind it was that Relay For Life gives incredible gifts and most importantly the gift of life.

This is a write up explaining the whole concept....

What gift does Relay For Life unwrap for you?

Relay For Life gives a gift to everyone. Relay For Life is working to unwrap the cure but it unwraps so much more. To many it unwraps the gift of hope. Relay For Life unwraps love in a tremendous way. It is an outpouring of love from our community. Most importantly Relay For Life unwraps the priceless gift of life. What gift does Relay unwrap for you?

Our goal was to keep everything uniform and to keep it simplistic, but meaningful. My favorite part of our pitch was definitely the decorations. We used purple and white with silver accents. We painted corkboard to look like presents and pitched the idea of having quotes from survivors as gift tags.

Our pitch was not picked, but I am incredibly proud of my group. We all communicated well and took responsibility for pitch. Brooke and Corinne were a pleasure to work with and I look forward to working with them again! In the meantime I am very excited about the theme for Relay this year. Celebrating A Memory is the theme that was chosen and I excited to see how we all work together to celebrate and honor Baldwin County cancer survivors!

Communicating

For my practicum I am working with GCSU University Communications and I am gaining invaluable experience. I am learning the value of developing strong client relations. I have been working with the Old Governor's Mansion on several different articles. By developing a good rapport with the Mansion has made writing the articles a millions times easier. In a world where email and Facebook rule communications it is still important to actually talk to people. By actually talking to your clients you develop a working relationship with them. Email works well for quick questions, but I have found it incredibly valuable to actually meet with people first.

Communication is constantly changing. Phone calls, email, twitter, mail, and texting have made communication easier, but it imperative to not lose the personal connection in communication. Nothing beats meeting face to face.

Being Aware

I love how my classes connect. In my advertising class we recently discussed social responsibility in a corporate buisiness. Any large corporate business that wants to be successful needs to be socially responsible. Our society is socially aware. Environment, community involvement, and global awareness have all become vital entities of running a business successfully. Public opinion of a company plays a huge role in the financial success of a business. Do companies promote their social responsibility because they want more business or is it because they genuinely care about being socially responsible?

One of the companies that I greatly admire is Gap Inc. Their work with RED product is well promoted and beneficial. Gap claims that, “it is not a charity. It’s a new way of doing business.” Gap outsources to Africa and they want to give back. The RED product gives back by giving half of the proceeds from the RED product to The Global Fund. By focusing their efforts in Africa, a place in which they outsource, it shows that Gap views social responsibility on a global level. They are not just taking what they can and giving the bare minimum, but they recognize a need and are doing what they can to meet that need.

The question remains, why are companies socially responsible? The truth is that social responsibility does help the image of a company, but it also helps the community. All efforts to be socially responsible have to be approached from a Public Relations angle. Public Relations and results run hand in hand. In relating to the world a company must understand that social awareness is key.

My Skills as a Growing Public Relations Professional

Davefleet.com has a list of "14 Key Skills & Attributes For New Public Relations Professionals." After reading the list I assessed my Public Relations Skills and found my strengths and what I need to improve on.

Writing: Writing is one of my strengths. I enjoy communicating in writing. I have gained a lot of experience in writing for Public Relations. The ability to write is one that will never leave me and the need for people to write in Public Relations will never fade either. I want to continue to build my writing skills and experience.

Communication Skills: I am continuously trying to expand my communication skills. Often I come across as quiet, but I learn about people by listening to them and asking questions. Listening is a lost art of communication. I believe that my listening skills will greatly benefit me in the Public Relations arena because in order to be a liaison you must truly understand what people are saying and listen to their needs.

Attention to Detail: I have great attention to detail in the work that I do. I take pride in the work I am do and I become a perfectionist about details. I am a firm believer that editing is an unending process and it is still something that I need to improve on.

Media Relations: I am gaining experience with media relations. The media is a great ally to a PR practitioner. It is imperative to develop a good working relationship with the media. In Writing for Public Relations I learned how to develop a media list and through my practicum I am learning how to host the press for an event. I would like to gain more experience with media relations.

Proactiveness: I like taking action. If I don't know how to do something I want to learn how!

Work Ethic: I am not a work-a-holic, but it is important to give my best to everything that I do. I am a passion and goal driven person. I develop a passion for what I am working towards no matter how small it is, then develop goals and work hard until it is done. Developing a passion for everything that I do is key!

Blogging: I am learning about the world of blogging RIGHT NOW! I still have a lot to learn about blogging, but I hope that by the end of the year I will be a avid blogger!

Microblogging: Microblogging is all new to me at the moment, but I am a willing learner! Twitter is my first experience with microblogging and I am quickly learning the ropes!

Social Networking Tools: Almost all college students I know are experts on Facebook. I would like to get more familiar with other social networking sites.

Social Media Ethics: This is something that I would love to learn more about. Social media is such a huge part of PR and I think it would be beneficial to explore the ethical issues.

There are several more technical skills that I need to develop and understand from davefleet.com's list, like coding and SEO. I hope that I can learn more about these in class before I graduate. I also look forward to continuing to cultivate all of PR skills throughout this year!

Why Pick Public Relations?

In high school I designed a fundraiser for my school to do a rock-a-thon that benefited the Children's Miracle Network. It started out as a small idea for our school to get involved in the community. In order to raise the maximum amount of funds we contacted local newspapers, radio and televison station. We went on an extenisive press tour publisizing the event. When the rock-a-thon rolled around we had incredible participation from our small school and from the community. This was my first experience with how Public Relations works. It opened my eyes to the kinds of careers you can pursue in PR. I choose to pursue a degree in Public Relations because it gives me the opportunity to make a difference. Public Relations gives me the tools required to communicate anything to anyone. PR gives me the opportunity to serve people. It is an exciting field to pursue because the opporunities are so vast. I would love to work in Non-Profit Public Relations, but I'm excited about to pursue an expansive career in PR and I can't wait to see where it takes me.