The F Word

How do you spell stress? Why, F-I-N-A-L-S of course. Only one exam into the four that I am scheduled for this week, and I firmly believe that my high school may have failed me. You see, at my high school, we were rewarded for good grades, attitude, and attendance with what was called a "Rennisance Card"; you recieved a Gold, Red, or Silver card depending on your achivements (Gold being the highest, and so on down the line). Along with the perks that came with this card was the oppurtunity to exempt exams (Gold- 3 exams, Red- 2 exams, Silver- 1). Now, by the time you exempted three exams, most high achievers were left with one semi-hard class, but most likley there "easiest" hard class, and elective classes. Sure, we had to take the exam if we were in AP, but besides all of that, my point is that I've never had to study for four equallly challenging exams all at once; this may be obvious, seeing that I still have three more exms to go and instead of studying, I've decided that blogging is a better use of my time. I guess this will just give me an oppurtunity to learn how to better manage my time while studying though, right?

Any suggestions, drop them my way!

"If I could change the world..."

Although I wouldn't call this blog political, it seems to be the theme lately (and for good reason). The recent election seems to have brought the good and the bad out of everyone. Although my political preference may be obvious, I'm going to try to keep this post as neutral as possible. So here goes:

In my opinion, "trash talking" the current president-elect is pointless. The Democratic candidate won (and by a fairly large margin) and any arguments that can be made about why he shouldn't have been elected will not change the results. As someone who believes that the best form of  election publicity is to promote one's strengths rather than expose the opponent's weaknesses, I don't believe that this kind of talk works before election day, much less after. Both candidates had, in my opinion, good and bad things to offer, and now all that America can do is see what happens. 

Also, while I'm on the subject, although I'd like to believe that every person who voted is educated about the decision they made, I know that this isn't the case. It makes me think of one of the possible essay questions I could have answered in a local pageant I was in. Although I didn't choose to write about this question, I think about it a lot; the question was:

"Do you believe that a woman is capable of being the next president of the United States?"

Now, although I know that this question was asked because we were young high school women expected to write about woman's rights, I think that this question was very irrelevant. Do I believe that a woman is capable of being the next president? Of course, a woman is just as capable as anyone else. Would I choose a candidate because she's a woman and I want a woman to be president? No way. President's should be chosen for one reason and one reason only: their stance on the issues and what they plan to do. Picking a president should be done with eyes closed. I wouldn't vote for someone because they were white or because they have something in common with me, and other voters shouldn't either.

Then again, these ideas are all pretty irrelevant now that the election is over. Promise me you'll keep it in mind for in four years?

Until then, here's something funny to ease all the post-election tension! Enjoy.

 

DON'T VOTE

Caught you off guard didn't I? We're so use to hearing "Vote", "Rock the Vote", "Get out and Vote", that the thought of someone encouraging us not to vote is almost crazy. I personally don't think I could make a strong case to anyone as to why voting would not benefit them. Although individual reasons for voting may not be the same, the outcome is: change. Change: a chance to have a say in what's happening where we live, where our parents live, where our children (will) live. 

As a PR student, I found this particular YouTube Ad to be pretty powerful. Maybe I was first drawn in because of the big names in it, but I continued watching it because it is real; real passion, real ideas, a real message. Sure it's humorous at times, but the message is such a serious one. Today is  November 4th 2008, have you voted yet?

"Whatever you like.."

Two posts in two days! No, I'm not going crazy... I just came across something that I thought was worth sharing. Click here to see why I still believe that America has a promising future. Please still check out my last post "My First PRSuccess" story. I know it looks long and the title is a little bland compared to my previous posts but I think that you just might learn something from it...or if you knew it all already, maybe you have something I can add!

Thanks for stopping by!

My First PRSuccess Story

Twitter, Facebook, Typepad, LinkedIn: with so many ways to connect being thrown into the world of Public Relations, it’s enough to make any PR major’s head spin.
However, PR students need not be afraid. Although some may choose to focus their studies on all aspects of Social Media, many PR students will find that in their personal affairs, in their future careers, and in most major companies, utilizing one or two methods of Social Media is the most beneficial.
PRSSA President, Paul Matson, prides himself on the time he spends going through new Social Media sources, researching what’s being used, and trying to find new, effective trends in the Social Media world. Matson agrees that focusing on one or two of the many means is a smart choice.
“Just because you have a message, you don’t have to use every social media outlet,” Matson said, “if you want to put something in media, you need to figure out what will reach your audience.”
For Ohio’s PRSSA chapter, two mediums are utilized that Matson feels are the most efficient in reaching the local college-age chapter, as well as other PRSSA chapters. According to Matson, most PRSSA information is sent out through Twitter and the blog, http://www.ohiouprssa.org/, because they are the “easiest to update”.
When engaging in Social Media, individuals and companies alike must realize that not all outlets are for everyone. For example, Matt Dickman, VP of Digital Marketing for Fleishman-Hillard of Cleveland, Ohio, stresses that “not everybody should blog”.
“For some companies, blogging would be a terrible idea; they would have absolutely nothing to blog about,” Dickman said.
Although blogging may not be for everyone, it is evident that Social Media of some sort can benefit any and every company. Not all organizations, however, are ready to accept Social Media as a part of everyday life.
“People don’t take the time to understand [Social Media] because they’re not use to it,” Matson said, “The older a company is, the more they’re going to try to resist. We are threatening because we are really the first digital generation”.
Many companies are afraid to engage in certain Social Media mediums because many give anyone the chance to give comments about a company, product, or person. According to both Matson and Dickman, however, the fear of “citizen journalism” is a pointless one because “the discussion is going on whether you are there or not”.
“Good or bad, information spreads quickly,” Dickman said.
“They don’t call it viral for nothing”.

Sweet Emotion

Well I just got back from my PRSSA meeting where the main topic was (what else?) social media. What is social media you may ask; well, you're reading it right now. Social media is me, the consumer, promoting products, ideas, and emotions through my (personal) websites such as Facebook, Blogspot, and Twitter. I have a Journalism midterm tomorrow and one idea from my Mass Communication book that comes to mind when thinking of social media is the idea that you can make an idea, person, or object important no matter how you portray it. That is why social media is really  a great thing. I mean sure, anyone can post whatever they want about anything, but even if someone is talking about a product that he or she dislikes, at least he or she is getting that product's name out there. I guess that's looking at the cup half-full though

Just a couple thoughts, but like I said, I have a Journalism midterm tomorrow! I will however leave you with this video that Matt Dickman, the Vice President of Digital Marketing at Fleishman-Hillard in Cleveland showed us today to prove that PR and marketing does emotion best:

 

"Poor Lamp"

You felt bad for the lamp didn't you?

"Oh baby, baby it's a wild world"

I'm not going to lie, when I was a freshman in high school journalism and politics were not on my mind. Sure, I was in American History where I memorized facts about the three branches of government and tried to have intelligent conversations, but let's face it: I was clueless when it came to real politics.

I became aware of this fact today during Journalism 101, where we watched a grad-student produced film entitled "How Ohio Pulled It Off". Now, I could go on and on about the smart and well-organized journalism that went into this piece or the amazing amount of appropriate footage collected, but what really made this film memorable to me was that it made my blood-boil.

Four years ago (when I was shielded from the complex problems of the government in my conservative hometown), millions of black, underclass voters were denied the access to vote due to limited polling booths. Hopeful voters waited in line anywhere from 3 to 7 hours to vote and countless were turned away due to lack of time, mysterious "you're name is not on our list" incidents, and even threats (not to mention the amount of people who came, saw the line, and left). With a Republican Secretary of State (Blackwell) who undeniably pulled for Bush, nothing was done to prevent or right this wrong. 

Although it is obvious that if it had not been for this situation, we could currently be living with a Bush-free government, it is nearly pointless now to take action. What I wonder, however, is : what will they do this year to alter the results of the election?  I mean, I think of myself as a fairly clever person but I know that I would have never thought that doing away with a poll booth or two would turn our "democracy" upside down; so, what will they do this time?

I would like to think that I can trust what's going on in my country, but it has lately become evident to me that most politicians work to benefit either (1) themselves or (2) their constituents. What does this mean? What is being done is not focused on what is best for the nation, but on who it benefits in election. I understand, but do not agree with this process.

That's all I have for now. If you have the documentary channel, I recommend checking out "How Ohio Pulled It Off" at eight p.m. on Monday night.