The best part of this semester was being able to coordinate Y Are You in PR? our PRSSA chapter’s Regional Conference. I could have cried on the day when I saw everyone enjoying the speakers and other events. I started preparing for the Conference May of last year when I researched for the bid. I still can’t believe how amazing everything turned out. Another huge positive was all the work experience I was able to gain this semester. Between my internships and job, I really stopped feeling like a student. I really enjoy working and the respect and accomplishment gained from completing a project.

However, work also led to the biggest low of the semester. I put my time management skills to the test this semester by over packing my schedule. While I did learn how to delegate like a pro, I feel like I truly learned my limit. The word “no” is firmly in my vocabulary. Just because opportunities exist does not mean I need to take everyone one of them on.

For my internship this summer I am going to rely heavily on the skills I learned this semester. I got my first taste in media relations with my Visiting Nurse Internship. I was able to learn about all the event details with Regional Conference and my Career Services Internship. My student assistant position at Student Affairs has left me with a wealth of knowledge from Adobe and Microsoft skills, to working with designers and writing copy for a million different projects. Most of all I have learned what I can handle and how to say no. I feel confident that I am ready to enter the real world and put my skills to use.

“The more you read the more you’ll know. The more you learn the more places you’ll go!” – Dr. Seuss

Nothing is better then a bunch of excited Braves fans tailgating all day and then dancing in the stands. Because of this I think the Braves should do a campaign to go back to the culture of the sport. When the Braves have a poor season, they still have still have a strong fan base. Their fan base goes beyond the Atlanta area to a larger southern reach. I think the marketing and communications team for the Braves should bring out a campaign to acknowledge the large reach of Braves fans. The campaign should consist of commercials, billboards, and other print advertisements as well as a huge reach into social media.

In order to incorporate a winning season, they should do the same cultural aspect that stretches across all Braves fans introducing fans in other areas. But uniquely this campaign would encourage the excitement of a winning season. I think they should go back to the National Anthem finishing it out like a true Braves fan would. They should incorporate this in all traditional media. They should also ask fans to incorporate the song if videos and submit them via social media. They could even put on a competition for the ultimate braves fan to possibly go go the world series.

Everyone needs to be doing the Tomahawk Chop!

But I have had first hand experience trying to sell the idea of social media in my internships. And speaking from experience, other generations are not a quick to jump to social media as the answer. Most of my supervisors would rather resort to traditional communication strategies.

However, I have had luck convincing them to consider social media with research and providing a way to evaluate the social media strategy. For example for my event planning internship at Career Services, I first researched other Career Services that had social media policies and strategies. I used Princeton as my primary source because of the success of their social media strategies. Next, I showed her different evaluation methods such as tracking statistics on hootsuite that would be the most suitable for my supervisor to continue using after I left. After all my hard work, she has now taken the strategies we put together to get approved for budget next year.

After all was said and done the most important thing was to make sure that she understood the return on investment that Career Services could gain from the social media strategy. If you can find the ROI, you can better pitch your ideas.

When everyone else was watching Friends, I was not allowed to watch “adult shows.” My parents kept me under a PG rock as far as movies and tv shows are concerned. So I stuck to the basic shows. My favorite was “Boy Meets World.” I used to watch it every week. When the reruns began, I was hooked all over again.

I would say I hope they bring this show back, but it is still on tv in the early afternoon. ABC Family still runs the show with some of my other favorites such as “Gilmore Girls.” The only problem is that lovely Statesboro, Ga. cable, Northland Cable, no longer offers ABC Family. Soon I will be back in Atlanta, and I will be once again hooked on “Boy Meets World.”

The most important thing is to think about what your decisions could do to your future. This is not high school. No one is going to clean up after you besides yourself.

No one puts it better than How Do I Put this Gently?

Graduation

High School:

College: 

Advantages 

On a professional level social media has opened the doors to a wide variety of interactions with an organization’s chosen public. With social media, professionals no longer have to rely on a less versatile print media. Professionals now have the opportunity to tailor messages to a direct audience through advertising on the correct social media site. Most importantly organizations can build relationships with their key target markets. There is no longer just a concept of relating to the consumer. Now relationships are forming with consumers every day through discussion boards, video posts, etc. Social media has transformed the web of communication.

Personally social media has some huge advantages. I have a group of girlfriends from high school who have now spread out across the country. However, we can never skip a beat of each others lives. With status updates, picture/video uploads, instant messaging, check-ins and so much more, we are all constantly in the loop. My family also has a Facebook group. This allows for the entire Gault Clan to stay up-to-date in our private family group. Social media has allowed me to stay connected.

Disadvantages

Professionally social media is a key to the consumer that can not always be easy to find. I hear the phrases “Content is Key” and “Engage, Engage, Engage,” but most often this is easier said then done. Being in a college town, I often see companies jump out of the Statesboro pond and into the social media ocean. They don’t always get eaten, but they often end up getting lost in the sea. Social media is not an easy tool to use. It involves tons of research, experience and time. If companies don’t want to put in the effort, they will most likely not reap the rewards.

Personally social media is developing this growing paranoid reality that “Big Brother” is not just a fictional story in 1984. The technology is out there. The question is — Who is using it? Nothing is private anymore, so what will happen when my generation of drunk college photos has to step up and be President? It seems scary to think about, but the signs haunt me everyday. Every kid who fails to hide their weekend party from their parents Facebook page understands what I mean. Transparency is not just about having a clean professional portfolio. Your personal social media portfolio needs to be clean from the get go; no matter how young you start.

So in highschool I decided I wanted to write for magazines. I joined the newspaper. I wrote every fun feature story that I could get my hands on. Then in college I met a professor who changed that.

Most people tell the story about the professor who nurtured their dreams. My story is about the professor who made me realize I did not want to end up like him. Old and bitter about a failed career.

I did some research and every light bulb in the room went on when I discovered public relations. At this point I am new to it. I have done multiple internships, and I know I love the profession. However, I do not exactly where I want to (or will) end up.

Currently I am in my job/internship hunt. The rest is to be continued . . .

To me the value in Pinterest is the pure genius behind the idea. Pinterest has 11 million monthly veiwers. It is the fastest growing social media network. The fastest growing social media network definitely provides value. But how?

An article by Sakita Holley describes how the 11  brands are using Pinterest. I think these brands have the right idea. The key with any medium is knowing whether or not your consumer/audience is using that medium and how they use it. Restaurants, resorts, hotels, fashion designers are all perfect for Pinterest. But not to push weekly sales or deals like they do in their annoying spam emails. All pinners want is the images. Give pinners a chance to fall in love with a top, destination or unique food and watch how the pin soars.

But my personal favorite pins are the crafty pin ideas that I can do at home. I love to repin things that I would have never thought of myself like at home work outs or fun recipes. Other things that I will repin immediately are great quotes and cute animal photos. I am on Pinterest at least once a day.

I will go on Facebook to check my notifications, but then I will immediately switch to Pinterest. I pin my favorite pins to Facebook as well. Because Pinterest is just more fun and much more visual.

Plus all of my girl friends are on Facebook. The second we meet someone who isn’t on Pintereset; we get that person hooked as well. An addiction is more fun if everyone else is doing it.

However, I don’t know how long Pinterest will last. I thought Facebook would fade away when I first started it, but now it seems like Facebook is not going anywhere. So what about pinterest? Does it have the longevity to make? I guess only time will tell.

My most recent pins (some of which I pinned while writing this post):

My Friend — “I would, but I am trying to finish the book first.”

Me (thought bubble) — “Are you serious!”

That is usually how the conversation goes when I want to see a movie that was created from a book. I hate to admit this, but I am not a big reader. I love reading blogs and short articles on the internet. But if you hand me a fictional novel, I would probably let it collect dust somewhere. That is why, I hate the excuse “I want to read the book first” when I ask people to go see a movie.

When I sit down to read a book, I have to block out every little thing happening around me to concentrate. When I sit down to watch a movie, I turn up the volume so loud no one else can concentrate. I also love the environment of a movie. I love the dark room with a hot bowl of popcorn (the popcorn is always necessary). A movie is — to me — more relaxing.

Of course, I have read a book or two that have been turned into movies. My favorite book to movie transformation — I hate to say it — is Harry Potter. I only got through the fourth book, but something about Harry Potter let’s my nerd side shine through. And to make it worse my second favorite book to movie transformation is Lord of the Rings. Like I said before; I’m a complete movie nerd.

So there you have it one of my secrets. Now I want to know; what is your favorite book transformed into movie?