I’m sitting in Baked bakery and coffeehouse (who we-Byrdhouse-do PR for) and find myself marveling at the fact that I only have ONE MONTH left here in Charleston before I’m off to Garden City for two weeks then back to school at Clemson!

Where did the time go?

Is it possible I’ve learned so much in such a little time?

Do I really have 6 months until I graduate?

Ok ok ok pump the breaks….

First of all I need to fill everyone in on my internship with Byrdhouse and all the great things I’m learning and have had the opportunity to do. You can check out the website to see al the cool clients I’m working with but the main clients I have worked with this summer have been FIG Restaurant, Ted’s Butcher Block, Baked, and SunDog CatMoon.  Some of the cool things I’ve done for them is create media lists, contact media, write press releases, write media alerts, update facebook pages, do research on other competing businesses and also got to have a voice in any type of PR methods we were working with.  I have also had the opportunity to attend, set up, and see through a ground breaking ceremony and attend press conferences.

At a later date I’ll upload some of the documents I’ve worked on and fill ya in some more. But what has also been fervently on my mind as you can see from above is what I will do to secure a job after graduation.  I am also concurring that I might take another internship in the Spring before taking the plunge.  What has helped me a lot throughout this process is advice from fellow PR professionals and all the tips from CAREEREALISM through Twitter and their website.  I have started recieving their emails as well, which have great articles, answers to questions, and websites to help me out.  I highly suggest that everyone who is about to graduate join! (And to especially go through their handy 10 Step Job Searching process)

Well there’s a quick little blurb of life in Charleston and a suggestion to help all you other soon-to-be grads! Hope all your summer’s are going well, fill me in on your life and come visit me soon, I would love to have you!

PS: Why Sweet & Salty? I had one of these cupcakes while blogging here at Baked and its a medly of chocolate, runny carmel center, frosting, and sea salt.  Sounds like an odd combination but its honestly the best of all worlds and combines to be amazing.  So while life is so sweet but I have bitter thoughts of the future and a salty taste for the sea lingering in my mouth… I wouldn’t ask for more and it makes for a great combination!

This semester is over, I’m officially a senior and unlike a lot of my friends I’m not taking the super senior route but I’m actually shortening my stay in college.  Trust me this is not by choice but more of a feeling of obligation, check out my previous post Aaahh Freak Out! for more details.  So here I go, planning for the real world… the real grown up get my own job, house, insurance kinda world.  As I’ve mentioned before, I have a great internship in Charleston this summer with Byrdhouse PR and actually just acquired a waitressing job to earn some extra cash at the Swamp Fox restaurant located in the Francis Marion Hotel.  So things are going good on that end but I’m feeling really pressured to start looking for jobs and to start setting up interviews for the fall so that I have a job upon graduation.

With all these ideas buzzing around my head and my to-do list growing at a steady pace everyday, I can’t help but feel a little bit relieved when I wander across a new story on the Clue Wagon blog.  The most recent story is of Harold who sounds like he is failing miserably at job and home life.  While this may sound depressing you should check it out for yourself because author and former Human Resource executive, Kerry Sandberg Scott, ads just the right amount of humor and enthusiasm to the stories.  It will have you saying of  your worst interview “Hey, it wasn’t THAT bad”.

So if you too are a recent grad, an almost grad, or are just on the job hunt check out the Clue Wagon and even follow her on twitter (@ClueWagon) to take the edge off a little… in a healthy way that is.

Happy Searching!

Taking note from Meg Fowler and her Friday love lists I decided to create my own on this beautiful day before exams truly and treacherously begin. So here’s mine for today what would yours be?

• 80 degree weather
• real fruit Popsicles
• my internship in Charleston
• my new house in Charleston
• my girlfriends
• sunbathing
• clean, cold sheets
• smell of leather
• peanut butter and peperoni sandwiches (trust me they’re delicious)
• horseback riding
• adopting animals
• the selflessness of a dog (see Seddie above)
• hydrangeas
• the colors salmon and mint green
• a bright sundress (especially yellow, or the above)
• spring cleaning
• rearranging
• high heels (particularly these)
• sunkissed cheeks
• a first kiss
• Martina McBride music
• a bright pink pedicure
• shopping!
• Audrey Hepburn – and everything associated
• dreams of the future
• traveling
• Sedona, Arizona (where the name Seddie comes from)
• love lists
• love.

I could go on all day and night, it really makes ya happy to make a love list, I highly encourage it!

Post yours on your blog and link it here and to Meg’s blog so we can take a gander!

Happy Loving!

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:

So I like Staples, I really do, I shop there for all my school supplies and even for my camera and printer equipment but… their facebook page is just not the best thing ever.  Granted they have 711 fans but what are they giving these fans?

Answer: Nothing. Well, there are 10 pictures of different stores but really if you’re a fan haven’t you already seen that?

Therefore Staples facebook page is my bad PR exapmle because their wall has no posts, there is no info, and only 10 just store photos.

Lets jazz it up Staples, lets get active, lets get involved.  I want to see discussions with fans, info about your company, and your fans uploadig their photos to the page. What about specials, their community evolvement, or even commercials featuring the easy button… fans might like to respond to those things right?

Visit the page on your own account and let me know what you think!

Recently, I read fellow classmate Ashley Hall’s post “I will survive” and found her information very helpful along with the post from The New PR blog with reassurance . I commented with what I thought was helpful so check it out for yourself and let her know what you think!

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.

We had Kristen Obaranec with the YMCA of Metro Atlanta, Jami Buck at Cox Enterprises, and Lisa Bokovoy with Imagine It! The Children’s Museum of Atlanta. There were three main areas of concentration for the panel:

1. Skills to have:

• 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!

More to come…

• Heather Oldani with McDonalds
• More than “Invitations 101″: Event Planning

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:

• Non-profit and Corporate Social Responsibility
• Presentation with Heather Oldani of McDonalds
• More than “Invitations 101″: Event Planning

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.

In co-ordinance with this I found a blog post  on the Bad Pitch Blog about “How Many Phone Calls Are Too Many” which talks about not pestering your media and how to even take “no” for an answer.

So check it out students interested in PR, we may need to keep these tips in mind for our future internships and jobs!