My goal to continue blogging

Today is the day we submit our blog link however, this is not the end!

I will continue my blog throughout my new and exciting path within the public relations world! I want to continue posting on my blog because I feel it is an excellent way for people to understand a little bit about my professional path in public relations.

I have enjoyed blogging, it's kind of like my online journal, my journey through this new part of my life. I have started two internships and will begin to blog about those as well.

I think that if I knew of a blog like mine when I first started at Mohawk it may have given me a little bit of insight to how students in public relations relate their skills to the field.

Hopefully my blog will make a difference for someone that may be going through the same challenges and experiences such as myself!

My PR POD

As the semester comes to an end, I think to myself, I am so happy I sat with these ladies on my first day at Mohawk.

Amanda, Luisa, Sadie and I have successfully almost completed this semester together. We help each other every day with the challenges that face us in PR classes. Each of us has a different outlook on the things we learn about and it has been a great experience to share our ideas and thoughts together. I have learnt from them and hopefully they have learnt from me :)

Our POD is small but cozy, it's the place we commit to every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to hopefully one day become PR experts within the industry.

I am so glad I met these future PR experts and I will continue networking with them into our futures!

Gift of Communication

Last week I attended the Gift of Communication organized by the IABC. It was one of the best experiences I have had in my world of public relations to date.

This was the first time that I have exercised my PR knowledge outside of the classroom.

I am currently starting my internship's soon so this was the first glance at PR in the real world that I have experienced.

I was paired up with another student from my class and we worked with the Social Planning and Research Council of Hamilton. The SPRS is a great organization. Although I never knew they existed before I decided to attend the Gift of Communication, I quickly came to realize that the SPRS does great work within the community.

The whole point of the event is to become part of a discussion with your chosen organization. Our discussion at my table was based on how the SPRS could communicate better through social media.

The discussion was excited, engaging and very educative. As many organizations struggle with maintaining and developing their social media presence, we discovered very quickly that the main importance is to understand the message you are trying to spread.

Knowing your message seems easy however, it is actually very difficult to pin point. This is what most of our discussion involved, understanding what exactly SPRS is and what they offer within the community and the business world. Next we talked about how they could spread this message and what way they should focus on.

I felt that our conversations could have lasted well beyond the time given which is a great feeling!

At the end of all of our discussions, we had to present those things that were discussed and discovered. Thankfully, I did not have to present as I get very nervous with public speaking especially with a room full of professionals!

The presentations were funny given that many tables talked about TWITTER! The world of social media is very new to many people and is something more businesses and organizations are learning to adapt to.

An article that sparked my interest...

Today I found this interesting article on PR Daily about the 7 deadly sins of public relations.

http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/7_deadly_sins_of_PR_12681.aspx

There was one part of the article that caught my attention most and that was number six sin, suffering from an inferiority complex.

 
“PR has a tendency to view itself as a second-tier discipline behind advertising and marketing. In today’s media environment, there is a unique opportunity for PR to lead. To do so, we must educate ourselves on the other disciplines and understand the larger landscape.”

 
I see public relations as a lot of “behind the scenes” work however, I think this statement exemplifies how PR can lead if we as PR practitioners educate ourselves in the other disciplines that are so close to us, advertising and marketing.

Today I learnt about digital printing to an extreme....a lot of information all at once!

I feel like I’m enrolled in graphics design sometimes when I’m in my Application and Design class.

However, I love designing but these new programs I am being introduced to take time to learn.

There are so many creative tools to use but the trick is to remember how and where to use them!

There should be a manual for each program that tells you all the tricks within the program...hmmm maybe there is....Adobe CS6 for dummies?? I should really look this up!

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/adobe-cs6-design-premium-allinone-for-dummies-chea.html

Done! Maybe this will help me out!

Understanding my interview skills...

Each interview I go through teaches me something new!

Understanding the questions your interviewer may ask you is helpful to be aware of before entering the room of nerves!

These are a few pointers I have learnt throughout my interviews...

·         Know your strengths and your weaknesses

·         Know the things that have made you successful or the things that have caused you to fail

·         Know you challenges and your triumphs

·         Be yourself and stay true to your goals

·         Know the examples you may use for different workplace situation questions

·         What are your skills? What can you bring to this company or organization?

·         Are you a team player? Can you work independently?

As my career continues, my experiences will grow and I will be more and more prepared for the room of nerves!

My day in Toronto discovering more about PR

I've been meaning to blog about my day in Toronto since October 31st. So, I am finally sitting down and blogging my thoughts about my PR field trip!

On October 31st I had the opportunity to venture into Toronto with my PR class to visit three interesting locations.

First, my class and I met with staff at National, a PR agency. As I entered the board meeting where we were seated for a presentation, I thought to myself, I may be working in a place like this one day. As the presentation started, I came to realize that the two individuals presenting were so down to earth and genuinely seemed to have fun doing their job. I was able to learn what a day in the life of a PR practitioner involved and from what I heard; I am drawn to PR even more so.

Secondly, my class and I met with staff at Hill and Knowlton. This was a whole different experience compare to the first agency we met with. Hill and Knowlton did an excellent job at promoting their business. After sitting through the presentation at Hill and Knowlton, I thought to myself, wow! That is definitely something to work towards.

Both agencies’s had so much information to intake; it was rather overwhelming to think of my future in this industry. I have so many thoughts and interests of where I can take my career and this day in Toronto definitely opened my eyes to even more opportunities.

Although I was tired, the day was not done yet. Next, my class and I made our way to the George Stroumboulopolos. This was a lot of fun! However, I went into the show thinking we were going to see the Canadian Tenors, a famous director and Ed the sock! I came to realized that the show is taped ahead of time and we were really going to see the Friday show. There was only one guest that we saw, Amanda Lang. She was interesting however, I must admit, I was more interested in how George conducts his interviews compared to the guest speaker.

Overall, the day was insightful and inspiring!