While this song Le Freak by Chic doesn’t necissarily capture how I feel, I can’t help but sing it in rotation in my head whenever I think about my new graduation plans. Thats right… graduation. In December. Ugh.
When my advisor told me that I only needed 13 more hours to graduate I immediately started searching for ways to extend my time at Clemson because I never thought my stay here would only last 31/2 years. After some heavy weighing out of classes, hours, and resources I’ve decided it really does make sense.
So, here’s my plan… I’ll take my last 13 hours (and add some for good measure) in the fall and stay in Clemson with the hopes of snagging an internship in Greenville so I can commute and still enjoy my last semester in Clemson.
But why does this matter to all of you? Well I thought I would share with you some people who have given me guidance, while they may not know it, through their tweets and just general conversation.
First off, I have to mention Byrdhouse PR and the owner Annie Byrd (@byrdhouse) for extending to me their summer 2009 internship! This is going to be a great opportunity to learn more skills to prepare me for graduation and I definitely look forward to blogging about it!
Next, here’s a good list of people to visit on Twitter to follow to help you with PR advice, decisions, and more:
@danschawbel – follow him on twitter for his great insights and links
@skimtheocean – she is a Clemson alum after all, but offers great PR advice and other entertaining tweets
@prprof_mv – my PR professor who is there to answer any questions
@CAREERALISM – advice from top career professionals, provides great links
@heatherhuhman – she helps others find internships and other entry-level jobs
@jspepper – keen to answering my questions on PR and all the gadgets associated
These are just a really small assortment of people but I hope this is a start that helps you if you are graduating now, soon, later, or have already graduated! Check out my profile as well too to see who else I’m following!
And for your entertainment (hope you don’t get it stuck in you head) here’s a little video:
I was really excited for Round Two because I was going to attend Non-Profit and Corporate Social Responsibility PR which is something that I am highly interested in and ultimately wish to persue. Not to mention, I was looking to pick up some tips and ideas that would help me with my current internship with the non-profit Main Street Deli.
Writing/Design Skills – AP Style, ability to Edit, Photoship, etc.
Creativity
Internships!
Public Speaking abilities
Be fearless
Respectful (remember you have to pay your dues)
*Passion for organization
2. What these economic times mean for non-profits.
Consolidation of non-profits – so many organizations out to support the same thing and now they have to pull their resources together.
It is now more important than ever for companies to come through for non-profits to ensure company support.
3. How to get company support for your non-profit.
Get support from companies that want to get in the face of your audience because they will have more drive and initiative to be there.
Research what other causes the organization has helped so they can stay on track and you are not wasting their time and yours with a pitch.
I stayed after to talk to the panelists to get some more information and the one thing that I really saw in these women was a passion. I realized that to work with non-profits and throughly enjoy your job passion is key.
If you want more specifics or have in-depth questions on what I learned, I have deeper notes and the contacts for the above speakers so just let me know!
My journey of blog posts continues with all that I experienced through Real World PR. I’m on to session one where I attended Career Path Track: Agency or Corporate.
I’ve always wondered what the core differences were and which route I would be more suited for. Luckily, I came to a very satisfying conclusion and I hope you all learn through this post what your conclusion might be too.
The three speakers for this session were Renee Kopkowski with Mars Inc., Don Rountree with the Rountree Group, and Hilary McKean with Ketchum Public Relations. For a really basic differentation of the two I saw that in an agency you work with multiple companies on a day-to-day basis but in a corporate environment you only with your corporation. So, here are the main points I took from our panelists:
You probably will work in both.
Agencies have fast-paced environments, you learn a lot of different things, and it helps to fuel curiosity.
Corporations are more deep, you are helping your company, and you become more of an expert/specialist.
A good idea might be to work for an agency out of college to gain exposure to many different ways of work for industries.
Some tips from the panelists included:
Volunteer for everything that is offered to you.
Think of a creative way to ask for things when you pitch don’t just say “Can I have…”.
Have at least two internships before graduation.
We also talked a lot about the current economic condition and how internships and jobs are getting slimmer. If I had my choice I believe I would try an agency to get the many different aspects of PR but would ultimately want to end up in a corporation. But, I will gladly take the best opportunities that come my way whether they be corporate or agency.
Hope this helps some of you! Look for more posts to come on:
Okay so here they are… my posts on my experiences at Real World PR! I have so much info and amazing experiences to share that I had no idea how I was going to fit them all into one blog post without droning on. But, thanks to my fellow student, Madison Fisher, I have found the solution to use multiple blog posts.
Hope you enjoy, comment, and have lots of intriguing questions!
But before I begin telling you all about the yummy fruit and muffin breakfast accompanied with the “Meet the Media” panel discussion, I have to comment on the interesting ride we had on the way to the conference. Caitlin Greeley courageously volunteered to risk the crazy Atlanta traffic and drive me and Meg Reid to Real World. Granted, we left at five a.m. and didn’t really hit that much traffic, but I have to give Caitlin and her GPS props for driving through those often unpredictable streets. We may have passed the location a couple times in a round about way and gotten lost in the ghetto on the way back but I have to say, I shared some really interesting conversations and thoughts with those girls. So thanks ladies, good times!
Anyways, the morning started off with the perfect breakfast, the contents of which I told ya about above and while we were all finishing up and still sipping on our Coke products and coffees, three panelists from CNN took the stage. Victor Hernandes (@vhernandezcnn) the Director of Coverage for CNN, Lila King (@lilacina) the Senior Producer of User Participation for cnn.com and iReport.com, and lastly, Jennifer Martin (@jencnnpr) the Director of PR at CNN.
These three talked extensively about the presidental election this year and how it differentiated from the past years in reference to the country’s voices through social media.
Some points I thought were interesting to list were:
1. In the ‘08 campaign people met in the middle. Obama sent a text announcing his VP, people were not just listening but responding, and most of their questions and responses were much diffent than those asked by your every-day news reporter.
2. Different examples of twitter use.Obama used it strongly and effectively to communicate day-to-day happenings, not just what was going on with the campaign. McCain used it strictly for politics and specifics dealing with his campaign and was less successful. Yet, McCain’s daughter, Megan, who I have mentioned before on my blog, used her blogging skills very effectively.
3. Use technology & social media to your benefit. It was suggested that students strongly emphasize their knowledge of social media and technology in interviews and in real life.
4. “Slice of human life”. This is what twitter is and should be used to display.
Well, there ya have it, the first round of panel discussions we six Clemson students attended including me, Madison, Caitlin, Meg, Lauren, and Rachel. We all had our days planned, our sessions we were going to attend starred, and our resume critiquing sessions scheduled… watch out Real World PR we were there to take you by storm!
Stay tuned for…
* Agency or Corporate
* Non-Profit and Corporate Social Responsibility PR
* Heather Oldani with McDonalds
* More than “Invitations 101″: Event Planning
Last week in our PR class we had a guest speaker, Eric Connor, from the Greenville County News come and speak to us about Media Relations and more specifically for us, good ways to pitch our stories to journalists.
We learned a lot of really great tips like to call journalists before lunch time so we do not catch them on or close to deadline. Also to make relationships but don’t try to “buy” your contacts. And to make sure your emails and attachments are not full of crazy gizmos and have an html format so they are easily accessible from any computer.
Okay so we normally think of Valentines Day as a day of love, candles, romantic dinners, and chocolates. But what about those who are left without a Valentine and just have the remainders and reminders of an Ex?
Crunch fitness center is using your pent up frustration constructively on this day so you can get even, burn some calories, and be on your way to looking hot which is ultimately the best kind of revenge. They call this event the Ex-Factor and request that you bring in a picture of your Ex as motivation for an intense boxing workout. The idea is that you tape his/her picture to a focus mitt, pair up with a partner, and go at it! It doesn’t just stop here, after the class you get to mingle with the other singles over cocktails and snacks. Its even open to non-members.
Did I mention that this is great PR for Crunch in their unique angle of blending fitness with a broken heart. It is definitely newsworthy and grabs my attention!
Unfortunately the closest location to me is in Buckhead in Atlanta but there are other locations all over the country. So go on get your revenge, its guaraneed to be your most productive Valentines Day yet!
We all know of the fight against breast cancer, the Susan G. Komen foundation, & how everyone is going pink for the cure. But what about the fight to beat heart disease? Well, the American Heart Association has launched a full-fledged campaign for this exact reason and it is called: Go Red For Women.
I first heard about this new “fight” when I was listening to the radio and heard details of a casting call for women who feel they would well represent the fight to beat heart disease. I then ventured to the website where I found that the cause is already backed by many celerity companies and people. For example, Macys stated that for any customer that wore red between February 5 to the 8th it would have all-day, store-wide savings. Even if you didn’t wear red you could buy a $2 red dress pin (the cause’s logo) to receive the savings. Also, Andie MacDowell is on the homepage stating that she is a Go Red supporter and a link to her story on heart disease is provided.
Considering that one of our assignments for PR is to present a good and a bad example of PR to the class, I am taking this as my opportunity. I think this is a fabulous idea for not only heart disease to garner more awareness but also for the American Heart Association to gain more support in their efforts.
All that heart disease prevention and support leaders needed was a name, a color, and media attention. The efforts on the part of breast cancer awareness have obviously worked and with the new idea for National Wear Red Day (February 6), the growing support of large name people/companies, and interactive capabilities of their website I believe that knowledge of this cause will only grow.
I recently happened across a blog post by Dave Fleet where he reviewed eight general questions he would ask a social media expert, here’s a run down of the questions:
1. Can you give me an example of social media work you’ve completed for a client recently?
2. How do you go about pitching bloggers?
3. How do you monitor what people are saying about you?
4. Where can I find you online?
5. Can you write my blog for me?
6. How do you measure results?
7. How would you define social media?
8. Can you just pretend to be me online?
So why have I found this particularly interesting and pertinent to me as a student? Well, I have put on my resume, along with many of my other classmates I’m sure, that I am experienced in social media. But if I get asked one of the above questions in an interview do I know how to respond correctly and am I really as experienced as I think?
1. Can you give me an example of social media work you’ve completed for a client recently?
If you hear anything other than “yes, here’s a good example” then back away slowly. Or not so slowly.
What I have taken from this post is that just knowing social media is not enough. You must also know how to apply the social media techniques that we have learned. You must also know before going into an interview how your skills can specifically help that company. For example, I learned from an interview with Bunny Richardson that BMW does not engage too much in social media but they do monitor what is said about them in social media. So, for this particular instance, one would need to know how to search blogs, twitter, articles etc.
I hope this helped my fellow students think about what to do with your knowledge of social media. So go on out there and strut your stuff, but just do it a little more tactfully. Leave some other suggestions and ideas I would love to hear them!
On September 4th, 2008 in Dr. V’s intro to PR class we got a chance to speak with Kipp Bodnar for a duration of time. During this call with him he spoke on things that employers look for in an intern. Some of the highlights included:
Important to be involved in social media through blogging.
Read! News, broad readings, or for pleasure.
Know your accomplishments and be able to speak on them.
Additionally, I found a post from the podcast Inside PR (#105). This post was made on April 1st 2008 and was on the issue entitled “Hiring Interns: the good the bad and the marvelous”. From this podcast I pulled out the following important points:
Again, active in social media.
Volunteer and Service work is key (even if you do not have too much comm experience).
Attitude (would rather work with someone with a good attitude than a lot of skill).
Have good email etiquette.
Bad things to do: Say you do not want to do admin work, this is a stepping stone to law school, and don’t list such detailed info as your Elementary school…
I thought these points were very interesting, I’ll let you know if I find more and if anyone else has anything to offer please reply, I would love to hear more pointers!
