The end…also known as the beginning

           The end comes faster than the beginning. This last year has passed by within a few days. The beginning of freshman year seemed to take a long time. Now, graduation is a mere 22 days away.

            I understand why public relations capstone is the last class before graduation. This class has the real life application, which we will use upon graduating. Being able to have a real client, that is in Baton Rouge, where we can set up meetings to see what they want and how to truly impact their organization is remarkable. For roughly 12 weeks, my group and I got to take over Istrouma Spots Organization public relations department. Experience is the key to any job search. Experience is just as important as location, location, and location when looking for a home. Having the service learning aspect of this class offer hands on experience, right in time for graduation. Standing out amongst all the other resumes in the pile is everyone’s goal. However, not everyone will have the experience we do coming from this class.

            We wrote our own press release, brochure, communication and crisis management plan to bring about awareness to Istrouma Sports Organization. ML got to tell us what the organization was lacking, what he wanted and had in mind for ISO. The one big thing I saw that the organization needed badly was an intern to handle social media. Social media has taken over the way people seek and receive their news and any other information they are looking for.

            The ISO Facebook needs to be continuously updated with pictures and news on current events for the organization. In our groups’ communication plan we discussed and included plans on what to do for Facebook as well as twitter. The Facebook and Twitter accounts need to be linked so it is easy to keep both updated regularly. This addition would make the world of difference for ISO.

            This experience has reinforced my love for public relations. Having to create communication plans and finding new innovate ways to bring awareness to an organization, is a sure fire way to not get bored at a 9 to 5 job. My education is very important to me in order to have a career not just a job where I punch a timesheet and wait for the clock to strike five. Before starting this project I am glad we had a mini lessons as reminders to the types of research, professional skills and so on. One of the best pieces of advice I received from this class is to have a LinkedIn account. LinkedIn has been a godsend. The ability to connect with different professionals all over the world opens multiple outlets for future success.

            My next step is to go to graduate school to obtain masters in business administration. While in graduate school I plan on having an internship in the National Football League’s corporate office in New York. Ultimately, I plan on working within the entertainment marketing and promotions department. 

If you have any information to share with me please follow me on Facebook, twitter and linkedIn. 

National Women’s History needs more public attention

As the month of March comes to an end so does National Women’s History Month. Women’s National History Month started in 1978 first as Women’s History Week in California. During this week, March 8^th was chosen as the day to celebrate Women’s Day Internationally. Senator Orrin Hatch and Representative Barbara Mikulski co-sponsored a Congressional resolution claiming National Women’s History Week in 1981. Then Congress decided to give Women an entire month in 1987. With that being said, a Representative from Wisconsin wants to push the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. The act if put into play would revitalize domestic violence prevention and survivor support programs by providing grants. These programs allow for legal assistance to be made available for victims of violence, undocumented immigrants and same sex couples.

Rep. Gwen Moore pushed this act on the floor. When Rep. Moore pushed this bill, she gave her own personal experience as to why this bill is so important. She confessed that as a child, she was sexually assaulted repeatedly and raped as an adult.

The opponents of this bill were some Senate Republicans, which made Rep. Moore feel as though she were being talked about in the boy’s locker room again. From this speech she made another reference to being date raped. However, some of those in opposition of the bill said the “extras,” added on the bill make it not supportable. The “extras,” of this bill being the possibility for undocumented immigrants to obtain a temporary visa. That excludes conservatives from supporting the bill.

This bill grabbed my attention, because my god-sister was a rape survivor. I believe these crimes are sicken and as big a problem as human trafficking. According to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network every two minutes someone in the United States is sexually assaulted. That face average to about 213,000 victims per year. The same website stated only 54% of sexual assaults are reported, and 97% of rapists never spend a day in jail. It is a fact that one in every five women are either raped or a victim of domestic abuse. People make fun of Lifetime Network for Women but they are dedicated to helping victims of domestic violence. Lifetime dedicates days, weekends and months to bring awareness to these facts. With these kinds of odds something has to be changed. Why is our judicial system set up for the guilty to be treated innocently? This article infuriates me. I think the new direction that social media has taken could be formed to get the facts out sexual assaults and what we “citizens,” can do to get politicians to make changes. I want to make a change and the first step is awareness.

Waiting, Waiting, Waiting

Should we have to wait an extended amount of time for political candidates to arrive? Well, in Lafayette, Louisiana audience members had no choice. Over a hundred people gathered for presidential candidate, Rick Santorum, for a rally and fundraiser. Spectators attended the event for a variety of reasons, the most noteworthy reason, was the chance to see the possible future President of the United States of America in person. All of these types of events are moments in history and personally I would love the opportunity to be a part of this.

On the other hand spectators waited more than two hours for president hopeful, Santorum to give his speech. Being a part of history comes at timely price. In the begin the crowd chanted “We Want Rick,” and at times breaking into symbolic songs such as “America the Beautiful.” The crowd wanted to showcase its enthusiasm for Santorum’s victory. However as time lagged on so did the audience. It was reported the crowd was more perturbed and lost its kind demeanor. This was heightened as members of Santorum’s staff assured audience members, Santorum would be out shortly. Members became restless and some left.

One member of the audience Erin Romero of New Iberia, stayed only because her husband wanted to stay. Romero felt it was rude not to send a staff member out to tell the audience why Santorum was late. Although she will not let her annoyance cloud her judgment of the president hopeful, it has left a sour spot with her.

Santorum has already won Alabama and Mississippi at Tuesday’s primaries. He stopped by Louisiana on a nation tour. The Louisiana voters hit the polls March 24^th for the primaries.

I believe a good antidote would have been of course to have somebody go out and talk to the audience. However, I think an even better decision would be to make a game or something out of Twitter, Facebook or Foursquare. Social media has become an even bigger outlet than news. I think it would have been a great distraction to make a game out of Santorum being late. It could have been as simple as giveaways. For example, the first person to name Santorum’s political views on certain situations the better; taxes and budget deficits, jobs and economic growth, health care, global warming, foreign policy, social issues and immigration policy. The topic could have been mentioned on Twitter and the first person to retweet with a comment, would win a Santorum signed banner or pen. I feel like the smallest thing would have been better than nothing at all. Especially during the 2008 election when Obama used social media to his absolute advantage. I feel like president hopefuls should take a look at all the resources they have available and find a way to make it relevant to the platform at hand.

An Apple by any other name

I spy with my little eye an apple. However, this is not just an ordinary apple, it is a special technological advanced apple, an iPad. The newest iPad is the third in the iPad family. There have been leaks of iPad 3 photos on the Internet as well as social media. I personally found out on via Disney’s Twitter. The only question now is what date will the new iPad be released. There was a great deal of speculation surrounding the iPhone 4S release in October of last year. Many commentators guessed the release would be a month earlier than what it actually was. However, with March 7^th being the date for a special Apple event, it should be safe to say, apple will officially announce the iPad 3 then.

Apple does not do anything by the conventional book. The March 2^nd announcement of the iPad 2, released nine days after, with an international release coming 23 days after that, according to the Financial Post. Spectators guess if Apple follows this timeline, a late March (around the 31^st) release of the iPad 3 will happen. With the announcement and release so close, it is also likely Apple will lower the price of the iPad 2. A recent survey by a department of the Financial Post came up with 20% of non-iPad buyers would be more inclined to purchase the newly cheap iPad 2.

The iPad 3 is not the only Apple product to look out for. Surely, the newest iPad will bring about what to expect from the iPhone 5. Features being showcased on the iPad 3 will definitely leave room to expect great things for the iPhone 5. For example, if the iPad 3 has a bigger screen and faster processor, it is likely to assume so will the iPhone 5. This is the Apple product; I am personally looking out for. I would like to complete my Apple family. Apple has a gorgeous way of syncing all of there inventions to allow for seamless retrieval between products. Being able to type on my iPad 2 then without attaching cords, or wires those notes automatically pop up on my MacBook Pro, for easy editing and emailing.

On the other hand, if Apple surprises users with little changes to the iPhone, they will definitely disappoint. There are companies, which have taken advantage of Apple’s iPhone per year reputation, but launching smart phones with faster processors, big screens and allowing the same games as Apple. An example of major competition is the Samsung releasing the Galaxy Note, three weeks ago. A commercial during the Super Bowl, made the reference of people waiting in line for the iPhone 5, during a sign saying “It’s Coming,” to people leaving the line to get the new Samsung Galaxy Note, which is a tablet and phone in one.

The bottom line…Apple is going to have to bring it with the iPhone 5. For myself I think Apple is more than able to compete against these smart phones. Although, I am not one of those people whom want my tablet and phone connected for those people whom do the phone is out there. At the end of the day, I believe it comes down to are you an Android or an Apple or Autonomous.

 

Reporting Whitney Houston’s Death

Whitney Houston was found dead on the 11th of February. This news broke headlines in minutes. However, thanks to social media, the news was spread in seconds. I personally found out via Twitter. The Beverly Hills Police said Whitney Houston was pronounced dead at 3:55 p.m. According to Business Insider, the first tweet came through about Houston’s death at 4:02 p.m. The tweet was made by @BarBeeBrit, whom said “Is Whitney Houston really dead?” That is exactly seven minutes after she died. This tweet came out 55 minutes before the Associated Press confirmed Whitney Houston’s death. The second tweet came in at 4:15 p.m. from Whitney Houston’s hairstylist. The third tweet came at 4:30 from @chilemasgrande. He said “My sources say, Whitney Houston was found dead at the Beverly Hills Hotel, not in news yet.” At the time of the tweet he only had 14 followers now he has more than 400. In response to comments on his Twitter, he tweeted “just an ordinary dude, got a text message from a family member of Whitney Houston and I tweeted it #enjoyingthefame no further comment.” Following all the news my timeline instantly updated with tweets about Whitney Houston. My news feed on Twitter was also reporting Houston’s boyfriend, Ray J, found her body. There was also a video showing Ray J leaving the scene of the incident.

In an ever-growing society with technology running the world, this is another example of how news has to work that much harder to come out with statements ahead or at the same rate as social media. I honestly do not think it is possible for news to release ahead of social media. Judging by the amount of people whom have Twitter, Facebook, Path and more on his or her phone, relaying information has never been so easy. However, with information being so readily available for distribution, the question of accurate information arises. There have been many stories that have gone out on social media, which are not true. Various false stories tell about certain celebrities being dead as well, when that is not the case. Some people speculate that Twitter and other social media cites cannot be used to “break news.” According to Read Write Web, just because someone tells the story first does not mean it comes out best. That brings up the question of who is considered a journalist? Right now we are trying to define public relations, what we should also think about is how to define journalists. In a time when everyone has a camera on his or her phone, does that make them a journalist? If a person can point the camera and tell a story about the events going on, what makes them not able to portray the true story?

http://mashable.com/2012/02/15/whitney-houston-death-twitter/

http://www.taletela.com/news/13378/video-ray-j-flees-whitney-houston-death-sce after ne–refusal-to-see-body

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-one-twitter-user-broke-the-news-of-whitney-houstons-death-an-entire-hour-before-the-press-2012-2

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/twitter_did_not_break_news_of_whitney_houstons_dea.php

http://technorati.com/social-media/article/facebook-and-twitter-flooded-by-whitney/

Define Public Relations

My family always asks what is my major, and what do I plan on doing with it. They do not understand what public relations means and how it affects the world or society. I have to constantly explain and justify my education. It does not bother me because I know public relations is involved in every aspect of society, government, business, sports, finance, real estate, etc. I knew I wanted to go in a profession, which allowed me to be versatile. I want a career that is open-ended. Public relations is managing and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships. However that is simply one aspect of the definition. The meaning of public relations is much more than that and has begun to alter.

In this ever-changing society it is important to keep up with the times. The future of public relations is based on keeping up with the technology of today. The debate has been engaging and is bringing people from all over into the mix. I feel as though this is a historic time for me to be a public relations professional. This is the best time to be a public relations practitioner and join in the conversation. Given the chance to say what I feel the definition of public relations should be or at least a couple of words would be great.

When I think of the words I would say about public relations, social media would for sure make its way in there. I read the article “How Would YOU Define Public Relations?” I enjoyed the part about adding social media to the definition. I thought with the way society has been overtaken with technology, it only makes sense that social media would have its say in the meaning. In all of my higher mass communication class, where I have been in group projects to represent clients, social media has been a big part of the promotional plan. The first thing that comes to my mind is not about whether or not the client’s flyers make it to the target audience, but whether or not their website is up to date with announcements and pictures. Next, the Facebook page is an essential part of getting the word out about the company or business. Another aspect to think about are the 140 characters Twitter allows in order to get people aware of the event or broadcast. A common misconception is that social media is only used by today’s young adults and teenagers. I have personal knowledge, that my grandmother who is in her late 60’s is on Facebook, which she says helps her stay connected to the world and with some of the people she went to school with. Her statuses are often updated via iPhone as well. On the other end of the spectrum, one of my cousins is 12, and she does way more tweeting in a day than I have in a week. Though with any company, success is determinate by how well the specific publics are reached, the demographics are changing with the development of new technology. No longer would we break people into age categories, now we can break them into how savvy they are with social media.

No one can afford to be left behind the herd while society keeps running forward. It is everyone’s job to keep his or her social media temperature high. In that regard the old definition for public relations was out of date. Its a new time, a new day and time for a fresh public relations definition.

 

http://prdefinition.prsa.org/index.php/2011/12/20/public-relations-defined-update-revised-timeline/

 

http://oneguysjourney.wordpress.com/2012/01/05/defining-pr-debate/

 

http://www.prconversations.com/index.php/2011/12/a-defining-moment-for-public-relations/

 

http://conversation.cipr.co.uk/posts/philip.morgan/how-would-you-define-public-relations

 

 

 

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