Tripping over Technology

So this blog post was inspired by the Cricut scrapbooking machine. I tried out the Cricut the other night  for the first time, it was ah-mazing! I can’t believe such a simple machine took so long to make.

 I miss how simple life use to be. I love my phone, but honestly I feel like I had fewer problems when all I had to do was raise the antenna and call up a friend. Now, I can’t even operate the outside of my phone because the touch screen doesn’t work, I have to purchase special headphones in order to listen to music on my phone and I still don’t know how to work all its features.

 Technology baffles me. I feel so out of the loop most of the time, like I’m always two steps behind. (Now I know how my parents feel.) I feel like people are stretching their imaginations so far that instead of making life more simplistic this overwhelming surge in new technology can be stressful. We need more machines like the Cricut: simple, time saving and fulfills a need. When watching commercials on TV I feel like all you see is one company trying to beat out the next; they are creating to have the competitive edge, now to fill a need.

 Although there have been some pretty cool inventions the past year or two, I have to say that I am most impressed by the inventions that are so simple and so easy that I can’t help but think, “Wow, I can’t believe no one thought of that before.” The Cricut, the wireless printer and the two sided window camera were clearly made with convenience in mind.

 I’m excited to see what the future has in store for us; I just hope that it’s something I can find a use for. Now, someone just needs to make a more durable and compact umbrella, I’m tired of having to buy a new one every time it rains.

I’m an HP

I’m an HP. 

When I graduated from high school I was so excited about shopping for my brand new laptop that was going to take me through my four years of college (which is now going to be five years of college). I knew that I couldn’t afford a Mac and nor did I really care about getting one—I just wanted something fairly fast, cute and BIG. For some reason I really liked the widescreen computers back in the day, I was so naive. Any who, I found the perfect computer for me. This computer contained all the things my dad knew I needed and all the things I knew I wanted. It was an HP.

 I’m an HP.

 So, when I got to college I slowly realized that the widescreen probably wasn’t the best way to go because it made it harder to carry around to classes, but overall I never had any problems. While others accidently stepped on, dropped and spilled mystery drinks on their computers I managed to keep mine accident free. As the years went by people with Dells seemed to have the most trouble with their computers. Surprisingly, the almighty, ever so popular Mac seemed to breakdown not too long after Dells did. But my HP kept going strong!

 I’m an HP.

 Then came the summer before senior year… I went off to Croatia and stupidly left my laptop in my apartment. I knew that my roommate would be there to watch after my room and my parents wouldn’t need to use my laptop for anything so I left it. Honestly, I meant to bring it after my dad said he thought it’d be a good idea to bring it home but I was in such a hurry to head to the most beautiful place on earth that I forgot to bring it. When I came home I arrived to a computer case with no computer in it and a computer charger with no computer to plug it in.

 I’m an HP.

 You can imagine how upset I was when I realized that my computer was stolen while I was studying abroad. All my files, papers, projects gone, just like that. But somehow I managed to make it through the summer (and Anatomy, ugh) without my beloved computer. For my birthday my parents decided to buy me a new computer because they love me and would do anything for me;-) I was really surprised because the same summer my brother went off the start his first year in college and they had to buy him a laptop too. I know that it must have been hard for them to gather more money to buy me one too, so here’s a shout out to my parents, “I love you and ya’ll are the best!!!”

 We started shopping, and this time I took a lot more things into consideration when searching for the perfect computer for me. Of course, it being cute was yet again a huge priority, but I also wanted something smaller, faster, media savvy and with plenty of USB and various cable ports. As a Grady student, I use Macs in some of my classes and have become somewhat familiar with them. I struggled to decide if I should convert to a Mac user or stick to my trusty HP.

 To me, Macs are overly complicated, slow, unreliable and really not worth the extra $1000.  Needless to say, I decided to go with another HP and so far no problems. Well, I have to go. My friend’s Mac is acting up again so she needs me to look online for another internet port, battery charger, and Mac technician who can fix her three year old Mac.

 Without a doubt, I’m an HP.

Money, Sex and PR

 

I would like to dedicate this blog post to my new favorite show, Entourage. I recently just jumped on the Entourage bandwagon but I’ve fallen hard. The show is about four childhood friends who have made their way into Hollywood, but it’s hilarious and relates to PR so I thought I’d blog about it.

 It’s crazy how not too long ago nobody knew what PR was. Even today I don’t think my dad understands exactly what I can do with my major—he’s very old school, he’d rather me be a doctor or lawyer. Entourage gives people a glimpse of life in entertainment PR, not an easy job but somebody’s got to do it. There are a lot of perks that come with entertainment PR, however, it can be extremely stressful and tedious. Entertainment PR is for a special breed, you have to be able to deal with people on a personal level but also be stern and move with the punches.

 Another well known PR practitioner seen on TV is Samantha from Sex and the City. Samantha is notorious for her wild, free spirit and glamorous lifestyle. She is also known for telling it like it is. Even though it’s clear that she has a lot of money and connections with high profile clubs and parties you never really see what she does. Entourage gives a better picture of what entertainment PR demands, but even still it seems like a very cut-throat profession. Ari Gold, similar to Samantha, is extremely blunt, egotistical and crudely sexual. Now, I LOVE both of these shows but I have to admit that I don’t think they’re giving an accurate portrayal of PR in general.

 I love PR because there are so many different possibilities but I feel like the media conveys a bad portrayal of PR. The only time you hear about PR in the news is when there is some kind of controversy that occurs and a spokesman has to speak on behalf of the company. In TV shows, PR practitioners seem somewhat cold and very sexual.

 As time goes on, I’m sure that people will get a better gasp on PR. PR is everywhere and it is necessary in order to gain public support, increase sales, and generate a positive image. ¡Viva PR!

Facebook vs. Twitter: The Battle between Social Networks

I know that I am not the only one who misses the old facebook—the facebook when you had to have a college e-mail or be invited into facebook—the facebook where you had to say how you knew your friends. But as facebook grew more popular, it was opened to more people and now it is one of the largest online social networking sites. Personally, I am soooo over facebook. I feel that it invades my personal space too much. I feel bad when I deny my parent’s friend requests, I have a lot less control over when I want to talk to people and who I want to talk to.

 Last year I had to make a twitter account for one of my classes, and even though I was unhappy with the new facebook I was still reluctant to start up an account on twitter. To my surprise, I fell in love. I love the real time updates and twitter search. Now, I may only get on facebook every other week just to look up information but I get on twitter at least once a day.

The War

It seems to me that people who are true facebook fans are very resistant to joining new social networks. I can understand their reluctance because joining a new social network means adapting to the network’s rules. Sometimes this can be very confusing and you can find yourself violating the rules not even knowing it. (I still don’t know if it’s okay to tweet celebrities.) What I don’t really understand is why some people straight up refuse to join any other network outside of facebook. I have a friend who is in the communications field as well and she is very adamant about not joining twitter. I decided to ask her a few questions to see if maybe she could help me get a better grasp on the feelings that she and so many others share toward twitter. Here’s my mini interview:

 

Q: So how long have you been a part of facebook, and what prompted you to join?

A: Since Senior year of high school. I did it thinking that it was the same as the college facebook, but it turns out there was a college facebook and a high school facebook. I just wanted to be able to keep in touch with my college friends.

 

Q: Do you like the new facebook and all of the changes its gone through over the years?

A: No, I don’t like new facebook. But I do like all the new security features and privacy settings so people don’t have to see everything that I put on facebook. I can cater my page according to who is looking at my profile. I don’t like all the random applications though because I think they’re pointless. You get too many unwanted invitations from random people you haven’t talked to in years

 

Q:  What other forms of social media are you familiar with?

A: I have a myspace, but that was my primary thing before college. I just made a skype account so I can video chat with people who aren’t in my area.

 

Q: So, I know that you have said numerous times that you refuse to get a twitter account, why don’t you want one?

A: I think that twitter is very narcissistic. It’s probably a cool site but from the looks of it people update too much about the random things they’re doing that nobody cares about.

 

Q: How do you think social media has changed the way people communicate?

A: Nobody bothers to pick up the phone anymore and they definitely don’t hand write letters anymore. Social media has increased the width and the decreased depth of relationships.

 At the end of the interview her roommate leaves the table and announces that she’s going to clean her room then take a shower, my friend calls back, “Thanks for the update, why don’t you tweet that.”

Damage Control

Just as many others were watching the VMA’s last night, I too was glued to the TV anticipating their Michael Jackson tribute, which by the way was the most moving tribute I have ever seen. Just when we all thought that we had witnessed the best part of the show, Kanye West proceeded to ambush the stage and announce that he thought that Beyoncé should have won the Moon Man for best female video instead of Taylor Swift. I don’t think any of us were expecting him to make such a brash and inappropriate outburst.

This kind of behavior is almost expected from Kanye West, but unfortunately by bringing up Beyoncé’s name people immediately formed a negative image of Beyoncé. Within seconds of his outburst, people were uploading twitter posts bashing both Kanye and Beyoncé. Beyoncé was thrust into a situation that she had no control over, and even though what happened was in no way her fault Kanye inadvertently brought nothing bad PR to her life. Naturally, after this incident I started to think about how her publicist could clean up the situation.

As a publicist to the stars, one must always be ready for anything. In general, PR practitioners have to prepare for the worst, but entertainment PR is even more unpredictable. It’s on a whole different playing field. I think that entertainment PR is so challenging because there are so many media outlets keeping tabs on stars. Between blogs, twitter, TV shows, magazines and so much more it seems almost impossible to know about everything being published about one’s client.

Regarding the infamous Kanye stunt, I wondered how Beyoncé’s publicist would clean up the mess. I wondered if she would be advised not to comment on the situation, or if she would release a statement to the press. When is it best to leave a situation alone? And, when is it best to be at the disposal of the media until all questions have been answered? The one thing I do know is that it is always important to tell the truth.

Beyoncé is a publicist’s dream. In this situation she was able to do damage control all on her own. Not only did she kill her performance, but Beyoncé also allowed Taylor to come back on stage and finish speaking during her own acceptance speech time. With this simple gesture, Beyonce’s shining reputation was back on track. By waiting to address the situation at the right time she was able to clear her name, give tribute to Taylor in a respectable way and most importantly keep the damage to a minimum. I suppose we can learn something from this situation. We have to remember to trust our clients to do the right thing because it may save us some unnecessary stress. Wouldn’t we all like to have a client like Beyoncé who’s so confident and poised at all times, even under pressure. Wouldn’t we all like a client that says, “Sit back publicist, I got this one.”

Making Something out of Nothing

I have been working with several non-profits lately and everyone knows that non-profits are, well let’s just say, lacking in the funding department. It seems that our entire profession revolves around making something out of nothing. We are here to generate awareness, publicity, and funds for the organizations that we represent with the wave of a wand. It’s not easy trying to build up a household name or to produce free publicity when the news is more interested in a celebrity getting arrested than a walk for peace. A lot of work goes into not only creating an organization’s image, but also protecting it; one must be creative and always stay on one’s toes.

Finding money where there is none can also be a challenging task. In non-profit situations, we wrestle over governmental grants and compete against heroes trying to save the world. Grants are never enough, so we are forced to prove why you should donate toward the fine arts instead of suffering chemotherapy patients. Messed up, isn’t it. As much as we want to contribute to both causes we don’t always have the opportunity.

We, as PR practitioners, must also prove our value to the organization. Like I said before, people often underestimate what we do. This is why we have developed models like MBO, which help us validate our role in the organization. MBO emphasizes the use of goals and objectives to clearly show our contributions. Making something out of nothing in this case means showing people that we are important even when they may think we’re not. It is more expensive for a company to try and make it big without us because we bring the company to life. We give the company personality, and nobody wants to date someone without a personality.

 

*The MBO link is based off a discussion in my PR administration class with Karen Russell and Ruthann Lariscy*

Tribute to the Philanthropist King

This is my very first blog post, YAY!

I’m not going to lie, this whole thing started as a project that I have to do for my Public Relations Writing class, but I’m excited about starting a blog and hope that you find some of what I have to say interesting.

The purpose of this blog is to share my experiences with PR, to express my thoughts on the things around me, and to give you a snapshot of my life.

 

Now, onto HERO…

I have to pay tribute where tribute is due. UGA HEROs is one of the largest student-lead organizations on the University of Georgia’s campus. This week, HERO started philanthropist recruitment for Fall 2009. HERO’s WOW campaign is definitely one that we can all learn from.

With the University of Georgia being home to hundreds of organizations students are bombarded with information on why each is the best at the beginning of every school year. There are so many groups that students are almost guaranteed to find an organization that caters to their interests. I have to admit that it can be difficult to draw the attention of so many new students who have so many great choices to choose from. If you’re lucky, there are certain aspects of your organization that make it so unique that it outshines the others for a select few. However, as PR practitioners we already know that even the best organization is not going to get very far without a sound PR plan.

Even if you had never heard of HERO, you would immediately know that it had something to do with AIDS and children. Its energetic crew comes up with innovative ways to encourage students to do everything they can to raise money for HERO. Because the organization is so successful and has developed so many partnerships with influential people, HERO has the money and manpower to make the impossible possible. It’s hard for other non-profits to keep from gawking in awe and all that HERO has the ability to do.

In preparation for this week’s festivities, HERO placed banners and flyers all over campus with the phrase “HERO is _____________,” and provided a web address. Personally, I thought that this was the perfect start to their week. I couldn’t go anywhere without seeing one of their banners or signs. Freshmen who were not familiar with HERO found themselves asking their friends if they knew what HERO was all about. The entire campus was covered in red and white even before their heavy recruitment started.

One thing’s for sure, HERO knows how to pump people up! HERO committee members dressed in HERO shirts, bandanas, and tattoos ran around smiling, laughing, and cheering all in the name of HERO. Music to any college student’s ears is the word “FREE!” Lord knows college students can’t get enough of anything free. HERO gave out free t-shirts and custom made balloons to anyone interested in becoming a philanthropist.

The steps HERO used to create such a successful campaign:

1. Generate curiosity
2. Disseminate information
3. Promote action
4. Encourage others

HERO is fortunate enough to have the funds to support such an extensive and extravagant campaign. They put in A LOT of money in the right places, and the benefits are clear. Last spring HERO raised over $1 million. The more money HERO raises, the more they can spend on member and philanthropist recruitment. Not too many organizations can get away with asking people to commit to raising a certain amount of money for the organization or they will face repercussion (and by repercussions I mean they cannot participate in HEROS largest event of the year). I’m not hating on HERO, because they do what they do well. I would love to work with the kind of money that HERO has but they earned their spot and the title of Philanthropist King, and I wish them all the best in their efforts. I love kids and, as a health promoter, I also have a passion for HIV/AIDS awareness, so I say, “HERO do you, and do it well!”