Powerhouse Networking!!!

Greetings everyone!

 I hope that this post finds everyone in great spirits. I want to tell you guys about this awesome opporunity I had on November 13th in Milwaukee! As a requirement for my PR Tactics class, I attended a "powerhouse networking" event at the Hudson Business Lounge in the Third Ward. During this event I had the opportunity to listen to a brief presentation by Jeff Carrigan of Big Shoes Network, participate in two mock interviews with established communications professionals and conduct my own informational interview in order to learn more about the communications field!

The presentation by Carrigan was very informative and gave me facts that I didn't know about the public relations field. Big Shoes Network is the largest communications job website in the area. But of the jobs that are posted on the site, 33% of them are entry level. These jobs include agency, non-profit, and corporate sectors of marketing, public relations and advertising. That statistic alone makes me very optimistic for my post-graduation job search.

My mock interviews were my favorite part of the event. I was interviewed by Jackie Hribar, Public Relations Account Executive for Celtic Inc. and Tim Olsen, Manager of Public Relations for Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin. Both interviews went very well as my interviewers had nothing but positive things to say to me. Most of the interview consisted of me explaining my prior Emerging Markets internship with the Brewers and how that experience is going to help me in my future career goals. Both professionals gave me their business cards with the hopes of assisting me in achieving more professionally.

Finally, my informational interview was very ironic. I got the chance to interview Kenna Dubrink, Assistant Marketing Manager for Marcus Hotels & Resorts. As we began to converse about her job duties and overall professional career, I began to see that a lot of the consumer marketing projects that she does is similar to projects I have done in the past. That fact alone made our session go by almost too fast, but still made it enjoyable. She also gave me her card and insisted that I stayed in contact so that she could keep me updated on some of her unique marketing ideas, which could benefit me in the future.

Given my work experience, this whole event was easy for me. There were no questions that caught me off guard and I felt relaxed, no matter who was sitting across from me. This experience will undoubtedly contribute greatly to my future professional development, and for that I am truly grateful. Anyways, have a good night and a safe weekend guys! -Rickey

Cision!!!!

Hello everyone,

Hope this post finds you all in good spirits after a good weekend of football! So last class period in PR Tactics II we took part in a webinar on a great program called Cision. I have to be honest, I had no idea of what was a webinar. But it is exactly as it sounds---a seminar on the web! The program is basically meant to serve as a guide for all communications professionals. It can really be useful to PR practitioners because it provides an updated database of media professionals. This can lead to more efficient press releases, news breaks, and PR strategies because direct contact information is given right through the program. There are some really interesting features that the Cision software offers. If a PR practitioner is trying to contact a certain media member, they can do it by using the software's smart search feature. This search not only allows for a practitioner to search for a certain member (like Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel), but also a particular outlet such as the Chicago Tribune. Each search result features basic contact information (email, mailing address, phone, etc.), influence ratings that range from 0-99, costs of ads, and related articles. Relationships can be developed through this search feature because the software allows for comments to be made towards different media personnel. In addition to smart search, Cision also features the ability to list build. As practitioners find outlets or members, they can add them to lists with the purpose of organizing contact lists. Once these list are completed, they can be exported through Microsoft Excel, which allows for the practitioner to have a soft copy of their contacts. This software can save a lot of time for PR practitioners by eliminating the strenuous search process that comes up when preparing strategies and tactics. I was surprised by so many things regarding this software but the biggest one was the price. Our professor told us that the cheapest price was thousands of dollars, and the most expensive is exponentially greater than that. Cision is a great program if it can be afforded. It provides great transparency and efficiency to PR practitioners, which results in better services for a client. I loved the webinar and hope to see more in the future! Have a good night guys! 

My continuing journey in PR

Hey everyone!

It's been a couple of weeks since my last post and I am excited to get back in the flow of expressing my thoughts with you all. Currently, I am starting my PR Tactics II course and I could not be happier about it! Yes, taking this means I am a step closer to Graduation, but it also signifies a huge step towards becoming a well-rounded PR professional. Of the things that we are slated to learn in this course, I am most excited about the social media tools that will be introduced to us. I truly am eager to get to work, finish this upcoming paper that we are going to be assigned, and learn all that I can. Personally, not much has changed with me. I am finishing my internship with the brewers and I am really sad about that. The organization took a chance on me and I have given everything that I could to it. I have even planne a Greek stepping event that is slated to occur on September 20th. No matter what happens in my future I know that the experience I gained at Miller Park will last a lifetime. I look forward to talking more with you guys! Take it easy.

-Rickey

UWW PR ALUMIN VIDEOS

Hey everyone!

So last night I viewed all fourteen videos that we were required to watch for class, and I must say they were all very interesting in their own right. It was very refreshing to so many professionals who were once in our shoes. One video that stood out to me was Rick Daniels' interview that featured some very wise words. Rick spoke on his role in campus greek life and how PR is tied in to that. But what really stood out for me was when he commented on internships. Basically, Rick advised that as PR students we should be open to all sorts of internships, both large and small. According to him, the smaller ones may lead to larger ones, but either way still result in valuable professional experience. I think this is very important because I have always believed that you have to struggle in order to achieve success and that belief ties directly into what Rick said. The second video that I really enjoyed was Kristin Gritt's interview, which turned out to be the longest. What stood out to me was the fact that she had the ambition to not only change majors, but to assert herself on campus and join as many organizations as she could. She also took that same ambition off campus and got a few internships. I found that to be impressive because it is difficult to secure one internship, but to get multiple must be very difficult. Finally, the last video that stood out to me was the interview of Jennie Krajeck which featured alot of good information. She mentioned that two days are the same for her, which I think is a true quality of any PR career. If we are going to be successful in this field, we have to embrace the versatility and uncertainty that the field can have. I also found it quite interesting that she was planning for the governor to come for a dinner, which I can imagine is very stressful and exciting at the same time. Part of her video was really funny because she did a portion of the interview in one of those kiddie rides that you sometime see outside of shopping malls.
 Overall, these videos were great and all gave great advice. I think it is up to us, as PR students, to take the advice given seriously and use it to our advantage. Well, it's time for me to go to work! Hope you guys have a great day!

-Rickey

The greatness of social media!

I LOVE social media! It has been known as something that can serve as a venue for casual networking and interaction. But recently, its role in PR has increased drastically over the past few years. One trend that really sticks out with me is twitter and the immediacy it provides to the business-customer relationship. Here mashable notes that some of the biggest brands have constant twitter content flowing out to its followers. Personally, I can attest this through the job that our social media team does at the Brewers. The Bernie Brewer twitter account, ran by someone in our consumer marketing department, clearly illustrates this through direct dialogue with its followers. This not only helps to promote all of the Brewers promotions but also the Brewers brand. I have tried to similarly achieve this through the Brewers spanish twitter handle through re-tweeting positive comments send to us by fans.

Social media cannot only help build brands but also give them humor. When Walgreens tweeted out a pair of humorous posts during the Super Bowl blackout, they gained followers and positive publicity that didn't come from a high-priced TV ad. Social media is underrated in its ability to motivate and captivate followers. That is why we, as future PR professionals, must gain understanding of it professional power.

-Rickey

AP style explained

Hey guys!

My PR tactics class is going smoothly thus far. I feel like I am set up to be successful in the class for the next three weeks but in order for me to do that, I have to understand The Associated Press style of writing. According to this article from articllama.com (http://www.arcticllama.com/blog/writing-tips/what-is-ap-style/), AP style is a set of rules and guidelines for formalized news writing published by The Associated Press. Simply put, AP style is writing that is found in news articles. Some people (like myself) constantly wonder why it is essential to be proficient with the rules that come with this style of writing. But according to journalism.about.com (http://journalism.about.com/od/writing/a/apstyle.htm), if students don’t familiarize themselves with those rules they will be subject to few career options due to the amount of errors that he/she would make. As a future public relations practitioner, it would be essential for me to familiarize myself with this style because it would make my documents (such as press releases) easier to understand for different media outlets. The less work I would leave for them, the more likely I am to have my story published. According to Nancy Edmonds from Minnesota State- Moorhead (http://web.mnstate.edu/hanson/MC307/mc_307_AP_tips.htm), using AP style doesn't just ease the workload for editors, but it will establish credibility for press releases and fact sheets. Since this style is so important for PR practitioners, I wouldn't be surprised if I was given a quiz on it during a job interview. It is something that has the potential to make or break you in this business, and if I am not prepared to be tested on it, then I shouldn't be applying for the job! Any who, it's been a long day for me and once again, I don't want to bore you all to death with my late-night ramblings. Hope you have a great night!

-Rickey