I never want to learn something new everyday.

Recently I have come to the realization that I have a love for learning. My parents have always said that I always asked A LOT of questions when I was a kid, and I still do. I am just a curious person trying to take in as much as possible.

I am telling you of my curiosity for the purpose of sharing some skills I want to learn before I graduate. According to this post on davefleet.com there are 14 key skills and attributes for new public relations professionals. Here are a few I would like to learn more about or improve on before that scarrrrryyy day of graduation.

1. Writing- Since this is such a crucial part of PR I want to improve my writing skills and have a distinct style of writing. I don't mind writing, but I am not confident in my work. I could use some improvement.

2. Search Engine Optimization- I am a creature of habit and just use Google and if I don't find what I am looking for in the first couple pages I then move onto another search engine. I suppose I need to learn to search the web more efficiently 

3. Coding- Considering I don't even quite know what this is, I need to learn a lot more about this skill. 

4. RSS- Here is another skill I need to look into. I am familiar with RSS but would like to learn more on how to use it properly. 

There are few skills on the list I think I possess, but none the less can still work on.

1. Attention to Detail- I love details. In event planning sometime I stress too much about the small details, but I think the small details are important and someone will notice them. 

2. Proactiveness- Once again my curiosity and task oriented personality helps in being proactive. I don't do well with idle time or procrastination so I do my best to stay on top of assignments and deadlines.

3. Social Networking Tools, Blogs, and Twitter- Thanks to my PR professor, Ging, I have learned to be a social media advocate. I was always a fan of facebook, and honestly spend too much time on facebook, but find it very beneficial for networking now that most of the world has a facebook account. I also am now a fan of Twitter and enjoy following celebrities and people who put up informative links.

Being a senior I am trying to soak in as much knowledge and wisdom I can and take with me along my PR journey. Feel free to leave any comments with advice or other important PR skills.

What I know now...That I wish I knew Then.

Life is all about living and learning and in my 21 years of life I like to think that so far I have learned a lot. Now in my 3 years at GCSU I have learned the art of Public Relations and I am looking forward to learning more. Here are my words of wisdom for a future PR student. 

1. Public Relations is like no other major.

As a college student you will learn which majors are "the easy majors," well my friend PR is not in that category. You can't wait until the night before for to plan an event. Your learning is NOT just in the classroom but rather through real world experience. You do not just learn a concept or formula in the book and move on, you learn it, apply it, and build onto it. Personally I prefer this style of learning rather than memorizing and listening to lectures. 

2. Network.

Whether it is social networking online through Twitter and blogs or sparking up a conversation with the lady in the elevator, learn to to network. It is quite intimidating at first, but you never know the connection you can make with someone and who can help you out in the future. 

3. Learn Photoshop or some sort of design program.

You will be designing flyers, invitations, logos, posters and anything else your client needs so release your inner artsy side and become familiar with the programs as soon as you can. Take a class to learn, you won't regret it.

4. Get a planner and use it.

If I write it in my planner it will get done, I have found this to be so helpful in keeping myself sane. Going back to having an outside the classroom kind of major you will have meetings, events, interviews, and deadlines weekly. Stay organized by writing everything down and plan for the weeks to come. 

5. Last but not least, write as much as you can.

Writing does not seem to be a crowd favorite, but as a PR student it is crucial to be able to write. The more I write the easier it becomes and the more I enjoy it. Find your style of writing and keep improving on it. 

Hope these little nuggets of wisdom help you along your PR journey. Never pass up an opportunity to learn!

My Small Taste of the Real World!

This summer gave me a wake up call that I am growing up and will be entering the real world May 2010. First off where did the past 3 years go? Secondly this summer there were times I felt like a real adult. Here is the story of my big girl summer.

I interned at WSB-TV in Atlanta. I started as a news intern and quickly realized I do not want to pursue a career in reporting, I had always thought about being an anchor but that would require years, and I mean years, of reporting in the field working the graveyard shift and weekends....no thanks!

I soon found my niche in the Creative Services department of the station and met my hero Donna Lampkin. Donna is over PR at WSB and is by far the most well connected woman in Atlanta, talk about networking, thats her middle name. I became Donna's shadow and soaked in all the great PR advice she gave me, including but not limited to: learn to write and enjoy it, never miss the opportunity to network, always be nice to people because you never know when they will become a client, and stay informed with everything that is going on around you. 

Through Donna I was able to work many events, including the casting call for ABC's The Bachelor. I wrote for the WSB website and had three articles posted. I even dabbled in the art department and learned a thing or two about design. I put together a promotional research packet of what the competing stations were promoting about their station and typed up all the community service and appearances the on-air talent participated in so far this year to send to corporate to show their employees give back to the community, now that is good PR!

After my long 10 hour days I learned being a grown up isn't as fun as having a college schedule. Choosing our class times and slipping in naps during the day,  we have it made! I also realized this Christmas I will be asking for professional clothes. I am weaning myself off buying sorority T-Shirts, they just aren't practical for the professional world. Overall I had a wonderful summer and learned a lot. As intimidating as the thought of the real world can be, getting a small taste of it this summer through my internship made me very excited to see what the future brings. 

Video of Wesley's Ladies Night 2009

Event planning is my personal favorite aspect of PR and I think most people who have never planned an event do not know how much work, organization, and time goes into even a small event. 

I decided to ask the account executive for the Wesley Foundation Campus Ministry Ladies Night, Andrew Burton, Sophomore English major his thoughts on his first experience with event planning. 

Ladies Night was a success! Did I mention it was planned and put on by all the guys of Wesley? They did such a great job and made all the girls feel like true princesses! 

I shot some footage of the dinner and dance with the flip cam to give you a good idea how the night went. Attending this event makes me even more excited to jump on board doing PR for Wesley, it is such a pleasure working with great people and the ministry.

More posts to come about being the PR Intern for Wesley..... but enjoy your summer!

The Facebook of PR: PR Open Mic

I recently became a member of PR Open Mic, a social network for PR students, faculty, and practitioners. I don't really know where to begin about this mega PR site, there are blogs, forums, groups, news about PR, jobs and internships, videos and best of all... networking!!!

Take a look at my profile. I included what kind of PR I was interested in hoping that someone who is in the non-profit/ministry field of PR . I am having trouble figuring out how to see my friends list...maybe because I only have 1 friend (thanks tyler!)

It is very similar to Facebook in the sense that you have a profile, friend requests, pictures, groups and events. PR open mic has a multitude on information on happening PR events and news. I found myself spending a while on the homepage reading the news stories and following links. It was really interesting to read about different schools PR events.

My favorite aspect of PR Open Mic is the networking. There are so many people on PR Open Mic, you never know who knows who and someone could one day put in a good word for you. Not to mention I think we could learn a lot from other students who are a couple steps ahead of us, I will always take good advice!

I am still exploring PR Open Mic and I am trying to get the hang of it, but so far I think it is a great social media for us PR people to talk and share PR!

GCSU Athletic Auction: Success!

This past weekend was the 11th annual Georgia College & State University Athletic auction coordinated by my Public Relations Administration class. This is the athletics department largest fundraiser. The theme was motorcycle themed and titled"Thunder Rolls." Take a look at a few pictures

Our class was designed the invitation and flyers, wrote press releases, decorated the entrance, came up with the table scape, decided the menu, and did various others tasks for the event. Everyone worked so well together and the event ran so smoothly because our class was so prepared. Not to mention our publicity obviously worked because some people dressed up in motorcycle attire for the event. 

There were about 300 attendees, silent and live auction and reverse raffle. The auction was held in the Centennial Center. My class had event staff shirts made so we stuck out easily and it unified us. 

Personally I had a great time at the auction, because of class was so well prepared we were able to enjoy ourselves during the event, no crisis management needed. We even got to goof off and take class pictures on the motorcycles.

I wish we could do it again next year because we would dominate the auction 2 years in a row and we now know how everything works and could do even better. Our class is diverse and everyone has their speciality to the group that we make quite the event planning team. 

I love our PR Admin class!! 

New PR Opportunity for me!

Okay disclaimer: this is going to be a short post because this week is hectic, I've got a test thursday and a spanish test friday (spanish is not my favorite at the moment) and then the athletic auction on Saturday! This week is a full planner week, meaning there is no more room in my planner to write anything because all the days are filled up with To-Do lists and assignments!

Enough negative, now positive news... I am going to be doing PR for The Wesley Foundation next semester! What a great opportunity because it combines the ministry and PR, two things I am very interested in. 

Wesley is a campus ministry that meets wednesdays nights at 8. It is filled with worship, encouragement, prayer, fellowship, and a lesson. I started going this year and it has been such a blessing for me to unwind and worship in the middle of the week, plus I have met some amazing students!

The previous director left because he was called elsewhere and there has been am interim director but now we have a new director that is really going to shake things up and be very refreshing for the ministry. I met him and his wife this past weekend and they are so passionate about the ministry and working with college students. I am so excited I willbe part of this process. What a PR dream to be the one responsible the spread the good news about Wesley. I am really hoping my PR skills, new brochures, flyers, newspaper articles and word of mouth will inform GCSU students about Wesley and our numbers will increase!

I think it is so important in college to be involved in a ministry. It is such a great support system and a place to come get spiritually fed, not to mention you get to go on cool retreats.

I am in the process of brain storming ideas of how to publicize Wesley better, and I am open to suggestions! So if you are interested in coming, have any questions or ideas please comment or fell free to Tweet Me!

May you all have a blessed day!