TV to Talk About, Music to Jam About

TV to Talk About, Music to Jam About. This was the slogan for our CW Event. We chose to have our event on front campus on Thursday, Oct. 8 from about 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. We had two different acts on stage and also had chips and salsa from Chili's and cookies too. Our main draw for our event was the raffle. We had about $600 to $700 dollars worth of donated items that we raffled off. We had a wide range of gifts to, from hair care products to some of the newest DVD's, as well as gift certificates to several local restaurants. As a whole, I thought our event turned out very well and it was a great success.

We did have a few things that didn't go as planned though:

-We had two performers, Blake Whitworth and The Whales. They did an awesome job, but they were late. I feel that if they had gotten to the event on time (4 p.m.), more people would have stayed for our event. Most of the people were there when they got out of class earlier at the event and the music didn't get there til about 5 p.m. or so.

-We should have taken into consideration that it was the Thursday before Fall Break and most people were already headed on their way to their weekend plans. The only reason we chose this date is because that's when the bands were available. It was our last resort and somewhat poor planning.

-The main thing that ticked me off was before our event even started. Alcohol Awareness Week was going on at the same time as our event, which we were told when reserving our space on front campus. We never though twice about having to reserve a SPECIFIC spot on campus. Well just a little FYI, you have to specify. So, we get to campus to set up and we are given a small space right on the bobcat in between Atkinson & Terrell. We continue to set up and run into a confrontation with the girl in charge of AAW who said we were taking up too much space and interfering with her activities. The way she approached us was very rude and demanding. It was a good experience to have to deal with someone like this and be able to reason with them...but trust me, I was FURIOUS!

I think it is always a good idea to ask, "What could we have done better," after an event. This is what I came up with, but I am still happy with the turnout of our event.

Ashlee Simpson Case Study

Ann & I had the class read the Ashlee Simpson case study for our presentation on Chapter 8. The main point of Chapter 8 dealt with crisis management and how celebrities and famous athletes need to brand themselves in a positive way and react quickly when a crisis occurs.

Ashlee Simpson had a lip syncing fiasco one night on Saturday Night Live and could have handled it a lot better. At the end of the show she tried to blame it on her band and that they started playing the wrong song and then on TV interviews she claimed that she had not been feeling well before the show and she had a sore throat.

This event caused a lot of people to lose some of their respect for Ashlee due to the fact that she would not just admit that she had planned to sing along with a track. Tons of performers do this at their concerts and I think that if she had just come out and admitted to her mistake that people would have gained respect for her fessing up to her own mistake.

Celebrities choose to be in the spotlight and have their name known everywhere. Therefore, they need to act in a respectable manner. It is sickening hearing about all of the trashy female celebs who make fools of themselves in public.

I read a quote the other day that stated, "Not only are you representing yourself, but also your family's name." I found this to be very insightful and so true. I just wish these celebrities who make fools of themselves would realize how childish they make themselves look.

Team Taylor

I was shocked to see Kanye casually walk onto the stage as he did. I have never been a big fan of his, but now I have no use for him. People are saying it was a publicity stunt, but I don't agree. Kanye has never been surrounded by positive press. First thing that comes to my mind is when he got into an altercation at an airport a few years back. I think he is just an angry person.

So that is my personal opinion. I realize that he has apologized several times, but that still does't take back what he did. I think the fact that he did it to Taylor Swift shocks people more than if it were someone else. She is a very young girl who is always surrounded by positive press.

As MTV has posted a long article about this on their website talking about how people are creating spoofs of this event. So I say, Team Taylor....it woud not surprise me one bit if someone created shirts for this either!

PR: Do I have what it takes?

I think Dave Fleet's 14 Key Attributes are directly on target and I feel that I qualify for most of them.

I have always considered myself an "o.k" writer, but my confidence has grown over the last few years. Writing for The Colonnade really helped me to realize my talent and I now feel comfortable classifying my writing skills as "above average."

My communication skills have increased drastically after my internship this past summer. I am now more comfortable talking on the the phone with people while our world's more personable means of communication are slowly disintegrating. Until about 10th grade, I was deathly shy...I know, it's very hard to believe, but I was. Looking back, I never thought I would get my degree in a field that requires so much communication with people on a daily basis. I am very proud of myself of how outgoing and personable I have come and consider my personality one of my greatest attributes.

I know every one says this about themselves, but I really do have a great work ethic. I will not quit until everything is finished just right. This also goes along with pro-activeness. When I began my internship there was a ton of stuff I did not know, but I would try and figure it out on my own. If I had any doubt, I never thought twice about asking a question though. This kind of leads into my attention for detail. I want things done right, and as I said above, I won't stop working until things are perfect. I am a perfectionist which can sometimes drive me a little insane :)

I need to work on my use of social media. Ging, I'm trying my best to keep up with the blogs:) They are just not my forte. As I talked about in a previous blog, I am a person who likes to stay on the go, all the time. I prefer social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook where I can vent/update my status in one sentence and that is all that is allowed! Being able to write THIS much is overwhelming to me. BUUTTTT...I am trying.

Some of the terms on Dave's "new" list I have not heard of...but don't worry. I am about to use my search skills on Google to find it out for myself (proactiveness) haha.

Til next time,
hopefully next week . . .

What I wish I knew now. . .

Over the past four years I cannot believe how much I have matured!! PR is definitely the major for me even though it took two other majors for me to find this one. I was originally Marketing but realized I would never survive with the math that was required. Then I was Early Childhood Education because I love kids, but there is no way I could do that for the rest of my life.

The main thing that I have learned from PR is DO NOT PROCRASTINATE! I am the one who alway puts everything off until last minute and then I stress out when I rush to finish assignments. PR is all about time management and planning. If you do not have a set plan, you will drive yourself crazy when everything is due last minute.

Learning to accept criticism is key. People will give you constructive criticism and do not get offended...take it with a grain of salt and apply what they have told you. PR is all about meeting peoples' needs so listen to what people have to say.

I have also learned the MAJOR importance of NETWORKING. Social media are key these days and you cannot be a successful PR Professional without networking. I am on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, PR OpenMic & I have my blog. I learned the importance of social media this summer at my internship with getting the Milledgeville CVB on Facebook, MySpace and eventually Twitter.

I absolutely love being a PR major and cannot wait to get into the real world!

Milledgeville Convention & Visitors Bureau

This summer I was lucky enough to get an internship at the Milledgeville Convention & Visitors Bureau and I could not have asked for a better experience. I began working the middle of May and worked half days until my Spanish 4 class was over.

I cannot believe how much I learned in one summer. I worked on everything from simple media requests for local magazines to helping plan and execute this year's Deep Roots Festival. I got to write a few press releases and design a few different things that I am still working on. I updated all of our websites (we have around 4) and kept up with all of our events coming up and made sure all of the times/dates and other information was correct.

One of my favorite parts of my internship was getting to interact with all of the visitors and getting to know them. I was surprised to see how many visitors we had on a daily basis, but I loved getting to tell them about Milledgeville and fun things for them to do. I ever got better with my "direction-giving skills," which were somewhat pathetic before (and still kind of are, but they are better). Not only was it fun getting to help people, but it also really improved my confidence. Most of you would find it hard to believe that I used to be deathly shy and could not carry on a conversation with a stranger to save my life. Now, that was about 6/7 years ago, but this internship helped me to become more confident with conversing with new people which is crucial in the PR field. This was definitely one of the greatest aspects of my experience.

I was also given the opportunity to attend regional meetings and partake in very productive meetings concerning budgets, advertising, new websites we are working on, etc... I really appreciated that everyone treated me as an equal and not just as an intern with no ranking. The meetings definitely expanded my knowledge of the tourism industry which I have grown to love. Working with the other CVB's and visitor centers within the middle Georgia (Historic Heartland) area has really been an awesome experience.

My co-workers were (and still are) the highlight of my internship. I have formed great relationships with each of them and I feel as though this is one of the most important things in any work environment. If you do not get along with your co-workers, chances are you will not like your job. The four other ladies that I worked with all summer were incredible and treated me with the utmost respect. They appreciated every little thing that I did and never failed to tell me how appreciative they were.

I have enjoyed my internship so much that I have decided to stay and work through the fall. We have two BIG events coming up that everyone needs to check out!
**The first event is the Deep Roots Festival (formerly known as Sweetwater). This is Oct. 24 from 10a.m.-11p.m and the bands line up will be announced Wednesday (before class) the 26th at noon on the Tony & Philip Radio show on Z97.
**The second one is our 9th Annual Haunted Trolley Tour. It will run Oct. 26 thru Oct. 29 at 6:30p.m. and 8:30p.m. each of those nights.
(Sorry had to get my little plugs in)

So, come take a trolley tour one day soon and visit me at the CVB!

Magnolia Promotion

Magnolia Park Apartments is currently running a promotion where you can win a free trip to Cancun. Since the promotion began, leasing has increased over 10%. Take a tour, sign a lease and your name will be entered into the drawing!