Depression sets in.

It’s that time of the semester. This week I ask that you reflect on the semester. What were the highs and the lows? What would you want to change & why? For those of you who are graduating, what will you take with you into your first job outside college?

I don’t want to reflect! It makes me sad..but I guess I can since this is for a grade.

The highs of this semester would have to be that I have had the opportunity to meet so many people and acquire many more connections than I had last year. As aforementioned in previous posts, I have served as the Public Relations/Marketing Intern at Georgia Southern Career Services since May 2011. Throughout this internship, I have learned SO much more than I could have possibly imagined. Not to mention, I had the opportunity to work in an environment that was pleasant to walk into every day and be greeted by a group that never failed to have a smile on their face.

There were honestly no lows, except that I had to take Web Page Development. However, that class actually did teach me some useful tools and the professor was extremely helpful when needed. She made the class much mroe tolerable than it would have been otherwise.

I do not think that I would change a thing about this semester. I thoroughly enjoyed the places I went and the people I was able to come into contact with. I was challenged in my classes and in my workplace and I overcame it all. This has been a semester that I have learned from and will never forget.

Graduation… 😦

My first job outside of college? I haven’t decided on it yet, but I do know that I will be successful in whatever I choose to do. I will apply my knowledge from the workplace as well as all of the classes that I have taken part in.

I loved my social media class this semester and I will miss you all!!! 🙂 Good luck to the class of 2012 and God bless!

This is why we chop.

The 2012 baseball season started recently. Are you a fan?  Fan or not, if you worked for the public relations team at one of the 30 major league teams, what would you suggest to entice people to come to a game? Special prices? Giveaways? Be specific in what you would do. Remember, it’s easier to have fans in the seats when your team is winning. Therefore, come up with two plans: one, if the team is doing well and a second, when the team is in a slump.

Baseball, baseball, baseball…

I haven’t always been too fond of baseball (I’m a football gal), but I have become more so due to the fact that my boyfriends forces me to watch the games on TV. However, I have come to like the game more than I had in the past.

The Braves (hence the title of my post) would be my number one go-to team to work for. I have lived in Georgia all my life and therefore, I have grown up experiencing the kind of team spirit the fans possess. I know that teams from around the country, and especially up North, are big on baseball; but, there is just something unique about the south’s fan base.

It would not seem to be hard to get people to attend the games, but if I were the PR professional in charge of doing so, there are a few ways I would go about it. Clearly, people love to pay less to attend a game. However, there are already tickets to the games as low as $5. What more can you ask for?

If the team was not winning, I would strongly focus on giveaways which would include tickets to a game in a decent section. Word of mouth is a HUGE part of PR as far as giveaways go. I would also spread the word about it via social media and utilize other media outlets including TV commercials, radio spots and newspaper ads.

If the team was winning, I would focus more so on giveaways that were focused around team merchandise. Having something to wear to the game definitely makes people think about attending and even buying additional merchandise. Throwing t-shirts into the stands involves interaction with consumers and could prove to beneficial to the expansion of the fan base.

There are many other ways I could think of, but this will do for now.

Chop on, you hooligans!

A pitcher of Guinness please.

If you had the resources and the time, where would you want to travel? Why? What is it about the location(s) that make it desirable for you to want to visit?

This is an easy answer…IRELAND.

I have always wanted to go to Ireland because I am..well..Irish. I had planned to do study abroad last summer, but I was unable to because I got a great job that was perfect work experience and allowed me to earn credit hours. However, that was the best choice I could have made because I was asked to be the intern for the Fall and current semester. I will have been with GSU Career Services for a year in May. That’s pretty cool to say, huh? Having a steady job that actually allows me to learn so many things in a whole year? Yes, please.

Anyway, sorry for the rant. Back to Ireland — As I mentioned, I am Irish and I would love to learn about the place that I came from. Not to mention, the scenery is absolutely incredible. And how could a few rounds of Guinness hurt? 🙂

The other main reason I want to go to Ireland is because of the scenery that I mentioned previously. Although the climate is usually a bit rainy, the greenery around the country is absolutely breathtaking. My mom studied abroad in Ireland when she was in college as well and I want to follow in her foot steps.

Please dear Lord, send me some money fast!

Social Media Makes the World Go Round

If you attended the PRSSA Regional Conference a couple of weeks ago, some of this should sound familiar to you. As you all know, there are several generations in the workforce today from Civics to Boomers to Gen X to Millennials. According to one of the speakers at the conference, Jenny Schmitt, knowing the differences in the generations “affects nearly everything – what motivates you, what you value.” How would you, as a Millennial, who has practically grown up with technology and social media, convince someone in a different generation that social media can be effective (if employed properly) to their business?

As a Gen Y member, there are countless ways that social media have been proven beneficial.Previous generations were not as fortunate to have many of the things that we have now — (social media, technology, GOOGLE). We have been very fortunate to have the opportunity to use all of these in order to better our communication skills, but also our businesses.

Here are the top three reasons to utilize social media;

IT’S FREE. Businesses are constantly trying to find way to save money on advertising and this is the perfect way to do so.

AUDIENCE. You are able to reach wide array of consumers who are on the social media sites. For example, my current client reaches over three million people via social media.

IMMEDIACY. Social Media allows you to post constant updates and on a regular basis. You are able to interact with your customers in a personable way.

Get on it.

Hey, Football Head!

If you had the power to bring back one of your favorite childhood TV shows, what would it be & why?

Hey Arnold, Double Dare, Doug, Hey Arnold, Kenan & Kel, Rugrats, All That…

Where do I even begin?

These were some of the best years of my life because of these television shows. How can I even choose just one?

I guess if I ABSOLUTELY have to..I’ll go with one of my all time favorites — HEY ARNOLD!

Don’t ask me why I loved this show or why I watched it every day after coming home from high school because I honestly don’t know.

I guess I loved it so much because Helga kept me entertained by acting like she hated the football head, when she really loved him (puppy love of course, I mean let’s be real, they’re like ten). I think that every girl can relate by thinking back to the younger days when we were mean to boys to get them to like us. I think that we all looked for a tv show that we could relate to when we were younger and Hey Arnold was just the one that did it for me.

Man, were those the times or what? There is no way to choose an absolute favorite..I mean come on, Doug was pretty phenomenal too. And back then, the shows were all so clean, there was hardly ever an on-screen CARTOON kiss. Now look at what we are dealing with. The innocent times of our youth have almost completely disappeared and I cannot even imagine what my children will be watching when they are young.

Honestly, what the heck happened to these entertaining and clean-cut shows that we used to know and love? Why did they all of a sudden disappear? Nickelodeon recently hosted an entire evening of 90s shows, such as the ones I have listed above. They clearly know that these shows were gems, so why not bring them back for our children in a few years? I’ve got to be honest though, I would probably become a lazy mom because I would be sitting right alongside my children watching these classics. 🙂

Regardless, I’m begging..PRETTY PLEASSSEEE!

Social Media Sales Pitch

With the skill set you have, or will have by the time you graduate,  you understand the importance (hopefully) of social media. How would you sell new technology (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr, etc.) to a client or to your employer? What are the advantages of using social media in a campaign?

Social Media has become more important than people have yet to realize. Many use it as a means of simply staying connected with friends, family and acquaintances; however, social media has taken on a new purpose. It has become the central way for company’s to promote their products and services and it has also been a way for them to stay in touch with their consumers so that customers feel appreciated and as though their voices are being heard.

The advantages of using social media are that you are able to reach a much broader audience rather than alternative methods of doing so. In addition, it is easy to post as much information as you would like as soon as you want to. The information is disseminated instantly and you can move on to other projects from there. Another advantage is that it is a way to promote your business free of charge on most social media sites, including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. There is an option to upgrade your account on some sites, but it is not necessarily important to do so.

I would recommend social media to any business trying to expand and grow in an efficient manner. Social media will continue to gain more and more users and I believe that it will eventually trump over other forms of marketing.

Live it up like it’s the weekend.

If you could go back to freshman year, would you do anything differently? If so what & why?

I would absolutely, positively, without a doubt never change a single thing about my freshman year of college. That year was the most outrageous, spontaneous time of my life and I lived it up like it was the weekend. I did stay on top of my studies, but I enjoyed being young, wild and free. 🙂 Quoting too many rap songs? Maybe…but they describe that year to a T.

Freshman year was a time of making mistakes, experiencing changes, and learning from everything that I encountered. I have grown so much since I got to Georgia Southern as a 17 year-old in May 2008. I entered the university as an EIP student and now I am leaving as a full-grown eagle and I am damn proud of it.

Georgia Southern University is the best school in America and I believe that we do have the prettiest little stadium in America. 🙂 I did not attend many games freshman year because we chose to tailgate and be fans that way — but this year I was at every single game unless I absolutely could not make it. I have made countless friends and memories throughout my four years at this school and I will forever hold this small town close to my heart. I will leave here with the best boyfriend I could ever ask for, the best friends I could ever ask for, and a pride for my school that exceeds any expectations that I may have previously had.

I could not ask for a better college experience than the one I had at Georgia Southern University. ONE MORE TIME.

Throughout my career and my life, I will continue to…GATA!

Social Media – Yay or Nay?

In your opinion, what are the advantages and disadvantages of social media?

Social Media has had its ups & downs for me. I think that it has been extremely beneficial to the success and growth of various companies around the world, but I also think that it can prove to be somewhat destructive as well.

Advantages:

• Global reach – You can reach a much broader audience than you could previously.
• Interactivity – Increased communication for the company to connect with its consumers on a more personable level.
• Immediacy – Companies are able to communicate with consumers on an hourly basis and whenever they need to disseminate information quickly.

Disadvantages:

• Ability for consumers to knock your company or business.
• Openness of information about issues with the company.

These are only a few examples, but I believe that social media has proven to be beneficial overall and allow companies to grow exponentially. At my current job, I am responsible for the various social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. I am able to update the sites easily via Hootsuite. This is a site where you can update your status or post new information for consumers on all the sites at once with one click.

I’ll continue to use social media and I believe that it will evolve for many years to come and grow into an even larger segment of its own.

Dream Job

What is your career dream job? How do you plan to shine among all the others wanting the same dream job? What are you doing now to achieve the end goal of your “dream job”?

My career dream job…

Wow. I am now a senior and I finally have to decide what I want to do with my life. Well, what I’d really like to do is go to Ireland for 2 weeks before beginning a job. However, you and I both know that’s not happening, so I have had to begin planning — which is fine too, but as long as I do something that makes me want to get out of bed every day, rather than something that causes me to dread waking up. Basically, I want to do something that will make me happy. That is my main goal for now.

As for my career dream job, I’ll be honest…I’d rather not post what my dream job is in case an employer from another dream job of mine decides to browse through my blog entries. 😉 What I will say is that I am dedicated to whatever I do, whenever I do it. I love helping other people and I enjoy staying one step ahead of the rest.

To stand apart from others that are applying for or seeking my same dream, I have built a pretty impressive resume and taken part in numerous volunteer opportunities. I am currently the PR/Marketing Intern for GSU Office of Career Services. I will have completed a one year internship in May and I am extremely proud of that. The experience that I have gained from my internship will allow me to be the ultimate employee in the future. I have also kept my grades up while I have been at GSU and I think that I have what it takes to land my dream job — honestly.

I’m prepared for whatever life brings — what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?

2012 addiction.

As we discussed in class last week, Pinterest is a fast growing social media site. It was reported that the site set the record for the “fastest standalone website to surpass the 10 million mark” (http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/10784.aspx).  Read the following articles and use the following questions to craft your blog post. Do you see PR value in Pinterest? Please describe why/why not. Do you think it is a fad that will be here today and gone in a few months? Do you have your own Pinterest account? How often do you use it, repin or like items, etc.? Would you recommend Pinterest to others (friends, co-workers, etc.)? Why/why not?

I see great PR value in Pinterest because of its broad array of products and ideas. In addition, the fact that it is such an interactive website could prove very positive for a PR controller. Almost all consumers appreciate when a company wants to stay in touch with its consumers and give them a sense of interactivity and that their relationship with the company is more personable.

I think that Pinterest is definitely a fad; however, I also believe that it is such an ingenius idea that it will stay around for quite a while. Everything in the PR world changes on a daily basis, so why not try out Pinterest for a while? For example, we have had Facebook for years now, but the hype is still up and there are even more users now than there were in the past. Businesses have even formed due to Facebook and millions of companies continue to use Facebook to promote their product or service.

I have my own Pinterest account and I use it on a daily basis to repin, like or comment on it. I recommend Pinterest to tohers; however, it truly does become addictive — sort of like Facebook did. So watch out! I would recommend it because it has a lot of DIY projects and provides regular people with an opportunity to share their favorite things.

Pin away!