Sunday, April 29, 2012

Presidentially Proud


A little under a year ago I was elected president of the Journalism Student Advisory Council. I was nervous. I avoided clubs in high school and have never been a “club person.” Well that changed quickly, when I took over as president of JSAC.

When I took over we had $160 in our club account, I am pleased to say that we have raised over $1300 and donated some of it to charity.

We just had our last meeting and I couldn’t help but shed a tear when I got home.  Bittersweet indeed. I have learned so much during my year as president and will take with me these life lessons into my future endeavors.

These girls, yes my club happens to consist of awesome femme fatales, have warmed my heart and become my personal friends. They put up with my flightiness, extreme positivity, and sarcastic humor.

I learned so much being president of a club and these are just some of the major things I have learned as president:

1.     Take notes-In order to stay organized, it is crucial to keep an organized notebook of things you want to discuss in meetings, things previously discussed, and duties.
2.     Set a meeting agenda- It is so much easier to have an effective club meeting if you have a clear idea of what you want to discuss. That way the members know what is going on and you cover every topic you planned on covering.
3.     Delegate- People join a club so they can be of use and help out with things they enjoy doing. Get to know your members and delegate according to their passions. No one wants to do things they hate doing; they do enough of that in their classes. Give them duties they will enjoy doing.
4.     Feed yourself with food not power- No one likes a dictator. Instead of being Mussolini, ask the members for their input.  I tend to have a very chill attitude towards life; I set all of our club meetings at Starbucks and each meeting was filled with creativity, productivity, and most importantly-laughter.
5.     Follow through- these people depend on you to lead them and get things done. If you promise to do something or execute an event, in the words of Nike “JUST DO IT.”
6.     Enjoy it- I have enjoyed watching my members grow personally and academically. I am so proud of everything we have accomplished and treasure all the fun times we have had. From auctions to dean’s lunches to our annual dinner, it has been a pleasure.

Each one of these girls has taught me something. I could not have asked for more amazing members. Furthermore, I couldn’t think of better women to spend my time with.

I know the next president will continue to do amazing things with JSAC and will continue to make the Reynolds School of Journalism proud.

Next semester, I will be a mentor for freshman and I cannot wait to start that next chapter of my life and share my many life lessons, learned the hard way of course, with freshman.

Huge journalism hugs

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Five Things PR Students Can Learn From Alice in Wonderland


I stayed home tonight and whilst flipping through the channels, I came across a childhood treasure-Alice in Wonderland. As I watched the magical film as an adult, I took many lessons from it which I never got as a young girl.

Alice 101

1. Never be late
Time is of the essence. Rabbit, may take punctuality to the extreme, however we can learn a lesson from our furry friend. By being on time, you are acknowledging that the other persons time matters, it shows you respect them.


2. Encourage creativity
Alice says she thinks if six impossible things every day. Challenge yourself to think of at least two. Step out of the box and into an innovative creative think.

  • Here are my two for the day:

Slamming a revolving door & finding something to rhyme with orange (Flourange, pourange, gourange.... work in progress)

3. Brand yourself
Alice constantly questions who she is. When businesses do this it causes consumer confusion. Ask yourself what you stand for and if you are representing yourself or your client in that light. Know who you are, build your brand, and stick to it.


4. Decide where you want to go
Alice does not know where she is going and blindly falls into a hole. While this may lead to an exciting adventure, most of the time this carelessness leads into a confused mess. Know what you want to achieve and do not stray from that path.For example, when creating a strategic plan, do extensive research so that you are aware of the challenges that may arise and are prepared to handle them. When it comes to a business plan never go in blind.


"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"
"That depends a good deal on where you want to go," said the Cat.
"I don't much care where--" said Alice.
"Then it doesn't much matter which way you go," said the Cat.


5. Effective communication
"Say what you mean" is the advice Alice is repeatedly given. This resonates in creating key messages for strategic plans. Figure out what it is exactly that you want to get across and focus on that. Create a concise, succinct, and memorable message that your target audience will never forget.

"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them."-Walt Disney

Easy Healthy Mexican Summer Salad!

One of my major passions in life besides public relations is healthy eating. You won't find me in a fast-food restaurant, or many restaurants. The only Dr I go to is my Ayurvedic one, Laura Hennings. Ayurveda is an indian herb and eating plan that has kept me in great health. I'm a Pitta, for those of you who understand Ayurveda.

Eating healthy can be challenging because not only do I follow Ayurveda, but I'm lactose and gluten intolerant. I know right? Anyways enough about my dietary habits...

Today I was craving mexican food so I decided to make a yummy mexican salad with all organic, gluten free, dairy free ingredients..

I used:

1/2 cup white mushrooms

2 cups of spring mix lettuce

1 slice of of chicken breast and cut it up finely

1/3 of a cucumber

1/2 can of Trader Joes organic black beans, way better than normal black beans!

1 tsp of Trader Joes organic salsa.. this stuff is just so good ( I only used a little because my Ayurvedic constitution doesn't allow me many tomatoes in my diet)

2 tsp of Braggs healthy vinaigrette  (You will go crazy for this stuff it is just so amazing and yummy) You can buy this at Whole Foods for about four bucks.

1 gluten free tostada which i broke into small pieces

I mixed everything together and nom nom nom. This is my new favo-rito recipe!

Now I think I'll go get myself some watermelon sorbet with gummy bears :)

Hugs from my kitchen to yours!

Friday, April 27, 2012

PR Is A Chocolate Cake

It is my belief that too many PR campaigns center around social media. I think of a campaign as a delicious chocolate cake and social media as the delicious buttercream frosting that finishes the cake & keeps it moist.

To make a cake:

1. You find the best recipe: ( RESEARCH! Too many PR practitioners jump to the tactics before researching not only the client, but the target audience) After all when baking a chocolate cake, you want to find the best recipe instead of just jumping to the first cake recipe you come across.

2. You measure out the ingredients: (Evaluate your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats and see how you can use all of these to your advantage and which problems may arise while creating your campaign)

3. Take out your baking utensils and preheat the oven:(Survey you audience and test out the market to see how well your target responds to your potential campaign)

4. Mix the ingredients in a bowl and whisk: (Evaluate which tactics worked and mix those tactics together to create a campaign: key messages, event plans, press releases, newsletters, website.. etc)

5. Put the cake in the oven and mix the frosting:(Social media is the frosting of the cake. Only after the meat (cake) of your campaign is built, you want to reach out to the audience in their medium which nowadays is social media. Only after your key messages and overall message of your campaign is certain, should you communicate those messages over Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest... the list goes on)

6. Frost your cake and serve! This is important. Watch for the reactions of the people digesting your cake: (EVALUATE! Now that you have cooked up a delicious campaign measure the success and evaluate your tactics. Did you reach your goal?)

When all is said and done, everyone loves the frosting on the cake. Social media is important and relevant in todays society. However, we cannot forget to bake the cake first so that we have something to frost!

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Linkedin Helped Me Score My Dream Internship

It was sophomore year of college and we were assigned a paper, in my Intro To Advertising class, requiring us to interview a professional in the field we were considering breaking into...

I had found David Branby- A local branding genius recipient of 150 ADDY awards and president of David Branby Advertising. I interviewed him and gained insight into the creative world of strategic branding. It was then that I decided I was going to get into the branding business.

Two years passed and I decided to make a Linkedin Account, I know finally! Once I had created my account I saw the incredible opportunity to connect with a wide array of PR and Advertising professionals. One in particular- David Branby. I messaged him and told him how I had not forgotten our interview and how it had inspired me to learn more about the business of branding. It was then that he offered me an internship with his company. I had had a Linkedin for three weeks and gotten an internship out of it.

I start in May and I absolutely cannot wait.

This site is gold. If used correctly it will connect you to people who will help you make your professional dreams a reality.

Some tips for using Linkedin:

1. Connect with the right people-Now this may seem obvious, however due to a series of just clicking next, I had connected with over 50 people in under 5 minutes.. One being a dentist in India. I suppose it's always good to have dentist contacts in India. It is far better to pick people who will help you advance and can offer you a position in your desired field.

2. Make sure your resume is current and relevant-No one cares that you worked at Hot Topic in high school. Think of the internships and jobs you have taken on in college and how they relate to the field you want to break into. This is a helpful article for resume tips: http://www.campusestocareers.info/2012/03/fatal-resume-mistakes-2/ 

3. Have no shame- Ok, this does not mean stalk the person you want to connect with, but feel no shame in messaging them. Seek their advice about the business, tell them you would love the opportunity to learn from them.

4. Make sure only certain tweets post to Linkedin. You wouldn't rant about Kim Kardashian's fashion choices to a future employer, so why put that on a professional site where 26% of companies screen potential employees.

5. Recommend people-Practice good karma in a cutthroat business world where everyone may appear to be out for themselves. Also there is no shame in asking for recommendations from previous employers.

Get connected get Linked in!