Embarking on my PR career!

The job search has officially begun....I am so excited to see what is around the corner. I feel prepared to start my career journey and can't wait to have an answer to the popular question I receive at least 20 times a day, "So what are your plans after graduation."

I am interested in non-profit or ministry related PR. I want my PR work to help enrich the lives of others. There is a really satisfying feeling I get from knowing my PR work is spreading good will. My main goal in life in to enjoy what I do. I've always thought life is too short to wake up everyday hating your job so I plan to do what I like and like what I do.

Networking, something I have always heard about and now I am reaping the benefits of being an out going people person. I have really benefitted from asking advice from experienced PR professionals. I believe there is power in wisdom. Not only have I received encouragement and advice from well seasoned PR professionals it doesn't hurt that they have passed my resume on to their other PR friends! One day when I am a PR professional I hope to pay forward the kindness I received to budding PR college graduates.

I must admit I am also ready to have an income. Now I know money isn't everything but it is crucial for groceries, gas, bills...you get my point! Starting out I am aware I will not be making the big bucks but I will be so blessed and fortunate to have a job.

Graduation day is less than a month away. It will be a day full of emotions. I have had such a wonderful college experience and God has placed amazing people in my path. GCSU was the perfect college for me, I couldn't imagine being anywhere else. On May 8, 2010 I will graduate with honors and have a B.A in Mass Communication and a minor in Rhetoric. Sometimes I feel like I am not old enough to be a college graduate and wonder where the past 4 year went.

Please feel free to email me Lauren.Chandley@gmail.com if you have any career advice, life wisdom or job opportunities available.

Watch out real world here I come!!!!

10 pieces of advice to a new PR student

Looking back and reflecting I had four great, fun, memorable, challenging, and life-changing years at Georgia College & State University. I am so happy with the major and minor I chose and learned so much as a PR concentration and I discovered a lot about myself too. Here are the top ten lessons I learned during my days as a PR student that I would share with a new PR student:

10. Get a planner and use it- Organization and punctuality are so crucial in PR. I relied on my planner to keep me on track for group meetings, deadlines, events and reminders.

9. Learn to delegate jobs- When working on an event it is always awkward when you have to tell your peers what to do, but gain their respect and delegate jobs in a respectful way. I was guilty of overwhelming myself with tasks when I cold have divided some of the work.

8. Network- There are so many opportunities for networking these days. I love talking with people and making a connection with them. You never know when you can help them out one day or they could be a future employer of yours!

7. Be aware of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)- Once I learned the concept of CSR it is a topic of interest for me and I am now more aware of how companies are acting responsible.

6. Make and effort to get real world experience-The GCSU mass comm department requires students to do 3 practicums, which is such a great learning experience. The more you put into your practicum the more you get out of it.

5. Learn to plan a successful event- Personally I enjoy event planning because I love or organization, details and working hard on something and seeing it come together so beautifully. As a PR student of Ging's I learned how to plan events from the best!

4. Create a campaign and campaign book- I had no idea what all a campaign entailed until my group and I had to implement one and put together a campaign booklet. It is quite the process but I learned so much through doing it.

3. Learn how to write a press release- The more you write the easier writing press releases will become. I know my writing skills improved over my four years and it was because I got a lot of practice

2. Become a social media enthusiast- Learn how to really tweet and use a blog for PR. At first I didn't understand the purpose of Twitter or a blog, I just liked facebook, but now that I know how to use them for my benefit I see that social media is such a large part of PR.

1. Never stop learning- With the ever changing business of PR I know how important it is to stay sharp on my skills, current events and trends. Take any opportunity to learn something new. Life is too short just to wonder or be in the dark about something....so ask or research to find the answers to your questions. There are so many helpful resources in front of us as college students so take advantage of them!

College is awesome so soak it up and take lots of pictures!!!

Corporate Social Responsibility- Philip Morris

Corporate Social Responsibility has always interested in me and after researching Phillip Morris' efforts to act socially I am impressed with their their initiatives even though I am do not support their product, I do support their CSR programs.

Philip Morris is the largest cigarette manufacturer in the United States. Their brands include Marlboro, Parliament, Virginia Slims, Basic and L&M. Since their product is addictive and causes a multitude of health problems, Philip Morris realizes the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility. On the PM website there is plenty of information on what they are doing to be socially responsible and I will highlight five of their seven initiatives: help reduce underage tobacco use, support cessation, invest in communities, reduce environmental impact and engage with business partners.

The effort I found most interesting was their initiative to prevent underage tobacco use and the creation the Youth Tobacco Prevention Department. The department focuses on three areas; parent communication, grant programs and youth access prevention. PM creates and provided resources for parents that assist them in talking to their kids about not using tobacco products. The grant programs of PM provide grants to schools, school districts and youth-serving organizations to support positive youth development and healthy alternatives for kids. PM also supports the “We Card” program in efforts to reduce underage tobacco use.

I think PM's take on CSR is summed up perfectly in this statement on their website, “There are some who believe that a company that makes a dangerous product cannot be responsible. We believe that responsibility is defined not only by the products a company makes but also the actions it takes.”

Check out their responsibility page here for more information on all 7 of their initiatives!

What Will You Be Doing After You Graduate?

This is the question I get at least once a day.....what an intimidating yet exciting question.

After reading this article I sure am glad I didn't graduate last spring because the employment rates for graduates with a Journalism or Mass Communication degree weren't as high as they have been in years past. But I will not be discouraged, Spring 2010 Mass Communication graduates there is hope!!!

The ways I plan to prevent being jobless after graduation is by networking. I have heard the saying, "It's not the grades you make, it's the hands you shake." I never want to miss an opportunity to make a connection with someone, you never know they might know someone who is looking for an event planner for their non-profit organization, that sure would be convenient! I will also use my social media skills like Twitter and blogging to network and research job opportunities.

I am also not opposed to getting another internship the summer after I graduate, I think there are so many opportunities in internships to network, learn more about a specific PR field, and there is a chance an internship can turn into a job.

GCSU PR students also have an advantage with our portfolios. I hope to one day impress a future employer with my portfolio showcasing all I have done in my PR career at GCSU.

I am hoping by early next year I will have an answer to the question, "What will you be doing after graduation?" After all my Dad has reminded me that, "Your first job doesn't have to be your last job." I am willing to try a variety of careers dealing with non-profit or ministry related.

Community Relations Case Study: Wells College

The case study on community relations my partner and I chose to present to our PR Campaigns class is one involving Wells College.

Here is the scoop: Wells College was a small liberal arts all women college in New York. Wells began to struggle financially and their enrollment began to decline. The team threw around ideas like, reduce tuition 30%, increase student aid, add new programs and implement an advertising campaign. These ideas were unsuccessful in boosting enrollment, so the Wells Colllege board members had the idea of making the school co-ed.

There was lots of research involved and both the board and faculty voted. The end result...Men could now attend Wells College. After the decision the board decided to personally telephone employees, post a letter on the website, mail a letter to alumnae, send out news release, and email the students.

After the announcement some alumnae were upset at the decision and started a protest website and sent letters to the president of the college. Although some disagreed with the decision, it was successful; enrollment doubled the next year.

This case study dealt with community relations because should the college have asked the students instead of just allowing the board and faculty to vote? Students are the majority of the Wells community. What could the members of the board done differently to be more mindful of community relations?

Blog Action Day 2009

The topic for blog action day 2009 is climate change, and since I was not well seasoned in that topic I did some research online and interviewed my Dad who is a meteorologist. I now have a standpoint on the issue: Climate Change is a publicity stunt.

The discussion of global warming has moved from scientific to political. With that shift, facts have become twisted and thus the discussion has become quite heated.

Few would argue that the earth has warmed, the debate centers around the effect of that warming due to man. It is my opinion that climate change, both warming and cooling, happens around the globe, but that man is nothing more than a spectator.

My dad shared this example with me. The earth’s atmosphere is too large to be impacted by man on a global scale. Micro-climates can be altered, we have seen that in the heat island effect in our major metropolitan areas. The concrete and steel of the city can trap heat during the day and radiate outward at night keeping the recorded low temperatures higher than those in the suburbs. But that data would not change the overall climate for a particular area.

Here is another fact that contradicts the theory of manmade global warming. The latest surface temperatures on the planet Mars have warmed in the last decade and obviously not due to the efforts of humans.

This is a publicity stunt; consumers are buying products and ideas because companies are taking full advantage of this trend and marketing their products towards climate change advocates. This is a fad. Instead of putting time and energy in blaming man for climate change and developing new climate friendly products, how about putting those resources to work for a common good, like in the field of medicine. Surely there is no debate there.

(Don't think I am anti-environmentally friendly, I recycle and support conserving natural resources!)

Ladies Lawn Night

Ladies Lawn Night was October 1, 2009 from 6-9 p.m in the courtyard of the freshman dorms. This event was part of the PRSSA national CW campaign my PR class is competing in. I am in a group with 4 of my other classmates and we worked hours on making our event one everyone would remember. 

At LLN we showed the premiere episodes of 90210 and Melrose Place projected on a big screen and laid out blankets on the lawn. Before the sun went down we had a fashion show and the Jazz Bandits performed. A local jewelry store came and sold accessories and the clothes from the fashion show were even on sale after the show. A sister from ZETA soroity came and spoke about breast cancer awareness and handed out pink ribbons.  It was the perfect girls night!

Several community businesses were very generous in donating prizes for the raffle. We were able to give away lots of neat gifts. Plus the CW in Atlanta really helped us out and gave us boxes of CW promotional items to give out at the door and several huge CW banners that we hung on the tennis court fences so students could take pictures in front of them. 

As far as promotion goes, we did all we could. There were flyers EVERYWHERE, we handed out mini flyers on campus, sent press releases to local media, made a twitter and facebook event, posted it on the campus calendar and bobcat vision, had the event listed in the Colonnade, and updated a blog, (check it!)

When students on campus tell me they had fun at Ladies Lawn Night I feel like a proud parent because this event was my baby for the past month and it makes me happy knowing people enjoyed all our hard work. Let's just hope the CW think the same.

I learned so much about campaign planning; for example how asking someone to help never hurts. Most of the Milledgeville community was more than willing to help. Through several moments of frustration, I learned you need to triple check everything. I can see where it would come across high strung to the outsider, but as PR people we have events to plan and we have to make sure everything is in place and accounted for! 

I really have a new respect for event planners....it is a stressful yet rewarding job!

Now that the event is behind us, it is time to get going on putting together our campaign booklet!!!!