Workflow: July 17th, 2015

I love reading articles on how to hack your workflow! Here are some of my favorite posts for you to read this weekend!

Work Hacks:
One of the best ways to be noticed in the office is to sound confident.

Intern and end of the year client presentations, here are some brilliant ways to start a presentation.

Gmail hacks to make you a pro.

Need to interview someone famous? Tips on how to meet anyone you want (that's still alive).

We multi-task too much, learn how to stay focused and re-train your brain! It really works!

Want to increase your brainpower? Daily habits that will help.

Ending your internship soon? Make sure to ask these people to lunch and follow this advice!

Need to network? (The answer is always yes) Here is a quick guide to getting comfortable at networking events

Leading a team? 5 tasks for effective communication leadership.



Public Relations:
IBM got 1,000 employees to become brand advocates. Borderline genius!

Freelancing? Thinking about it? Here are some tips on how to do it with a full time job!

Did you read my post about Jared Fogle & Subway? Here are lessons to glean from it!

Feel Good
One of my pledge class sisters is a Make-A-Wish Wish Granter! She is raising money for her participation in the Walk for Wishes! Please donate here so that she can help kids with terminal illnesses dreams come true! Even $5 will help her to her goal of $500!

Have a fun & safe weekend (sorry the Mom in me came out there)

xoxo

Chevy's Emoji Press Release: Did it Hit the Mark?

Last week while browsing Twitter, I found that Chevy had released an emoji press release. The entire release was typed using emojis. At first I was a little confused. While I consider myself an avid emoji user, I didn't quite understand the whole release.

You can view the post here!

After reading some articles, I discovered that Chevy has a new model that is being marketed as a millennial car. What better way than to write a news release in their own language?

While I completely understand the premiss, I think Chevy missed their mark. I sent this news release to my boyfriend, who had no idea how to read it. After showing it to a couple more people, the only person I found who was able to comprehend the meaning was my 14 year old sister. She's at least 4 years away from buying her own car, let alone a new one.

Chevy missed the mark in two ways-- they assumed that millennials who use emojis can buy a car and that the news release would reach their target audience.

First, not all millennials use emojis. A lot of people assume millennials are in college or just getting out. However the majority of us are late twenties, early thirties. A majority of them have grown up without the emoji keyboard. My boyfriend and I are actually looking at cars, but neither of us understood the information presented. While they did release a translation of the release the next day, it kind of lost momentum.

Second, the news release didn't get that much publicity. I found a tweet from a public relations website on Thursday, three days after the release. While there has been discussion among marketing and public relations professionals over the effectiveness of the method, there hasn't been a lot of media coverage outside of social media. Chevy might have made a small splash, but they didn't attract the attention of their target audience.


Was it worth it? Maybe. I think that if Chevy had waited about 5 years, they would have had a better response. It's a great, innovative and creative way to grab people's attention. Unfortunately a little ahead of it's time.

What do you think of the emoji release? Did you understand it? Did they hit or miss the mark?

Links to Like

Here are some of the links I liked the most this week! If you're looking for even more, or you like what you see here follow me on Twitter!

LOVE this print combination for spring!

Career:

Why don't millennial women want to be CEO's? 

#ask4more 5 negotiation tips!

You don't have to follow a traditional career path, check out Tanya Somander!

3 ways millennials can frame youth in a positive light!


Fun/Helpful/Interesting: 

23 reasons the Badgers still won this season! #Badgersfan

Love Dorothy's post about persistence over perfection!

Carly's digital hacks are great!

How to wake up with pretty curls even if you have straight hair!


What did you like from this week? Any fun suggestions?

xoxo

Public Relations Fridays: Race Together or Apart?

As many of you may know, last week Starbucks' employees were encouraged to discuss racial tensions and issues with their customers by writing "Race Together" on their cups. There has been a lot of criticism in the media over whether or not this was the correct manner in which to address the current racial disparity in the United States.

Via

From a communication perspective, this could have been a nightmare. You get one renegade customer or employee, and there could have been a public relations crisis. There hasn't been any word on whether or not employees received any sort of training on how to start conversations for them to be productive.

Many journalists believe that this was a shallow attempt at starting the conversation, and that Starbucks could do much more in terms of changing the discussion on race.

Jake Linshi, wrote for Times that Howard Schultz could learn from Chipotle's burrito. Chipotle started to publish great literary quotes on their paper products as part of a Linshi believes that Starbucks made this issue an argument, where you had to take sides, rather than an honest conversation about how racism is actually a problem everywhere.

In a letter to Starbucks Partners from Howard Schultz emphasizing that this campaign was the first step in the "Race Together" initiative. He assures shareholders and partners that they never expected praise, and stressed that this campaign is about “humanity: the promise of the American Dream should be available to every person in this country, not just a select few."  If Starbucks looks at this as a loss, they aren't showing it. 

From a different point of view, Starbucks was brave enough to make a big statement. Was it necessarily done the right way? Maybe not. But is there a right way to discuss race? In the current climate each side is on the defensive, and no one is holding out the olive branch. Racism is inherent in many systems in the United States, and those who say it's not haven't experienced it.

There should be the ability for people to ask frank questions about race. One of the problems is ignorance of racism in our daily lives. People often get defensive when asked about how they experience racism, but instead of getting defensive they should give examples. While it's not fair to have to explain yourself, it can give people a better understanding of white privilege.

As an optimist, there is most definitely a change that can occur here. There is a new generation that is already tackling huge social issues, such as gay marriage and healthcare. What really needs to happen is an honest conversation as to why there are stereotypes and how to change them. Including more diversity training, and programs that help at-risk youth. There are plenty of successful programs that could be expanded to assist youth in keeping off the streets and receiving a secondary education.

Starbucks did not do a very thorough issue analysis on their slogan, and it definitely does not have any sort of power behind it. #RaceTogether is boring and a little confusing. Hopefully the impact will be positive however.

There is a solution to this, and while Starbucks may not have done the best job at trying to find it at least they started.

Public Relations Friday: Classes I'm glad I took

Let me tell you there are a lot of classes I may or may not complain about taking sometimes. As a communications major I really don't understand the need for four science classes, but I digress. Here are classes I'm actually glad I took, even though they were pretty difficult for me.

Statistics// I took this my senior year of high school and the benefits have been numerous. First I feel like  think critically about statistics that are presented to me. This makes me more suspicious but more confident in my opinions. Second it has put me ahead in my classes. I'm normally the only one who understands what p means as well as the differences between a mean and mode. I've used statistics while analyzing surveys and creating communication plans as well as in my role as an intern. If you have the ability to, I recommend taking a statistics class!

Global Food & Nutrition// This was one of the science classes I had to take, and it was most definitely one of my favorite science classes of all time. (Which isn't saying much, it's a short list) This class opened my eyes to the problems in developing nations of our world, as well as in our own country. I now understand the importance of sustainable food practices and make choices accordingly.

Information Technologies// This is a class about how technology is adapted and used. While it can be a little too abstract for me, I have already found it useful. One of the ways it's been helpful is evaluating updates in technology, the costs and benefits of adoption of said technology as well as the importance of how rich the communication technology is. Well this sounds really complicated, it gives me the ability to critically think about new technologies, like the Apple Watch, and how they could benefit or cost a client.

What classes are you glad you took, even though you may have complained about them?

The Best of 2014

Public relations had a great year, and a not so great year. There were a lot of social media disasters, #myNYPD, but there were some amazing campaigns.

One of the best in my opinion was #LikeaGirl. This was a campaign by Always, a feminine products brand. Their video was eye opening and helped to create conversation about the connotation we give to words associated with being female.

As a #GirlBoss and feminist, this campaign was great. When you look at this from a public relations standpoint, Always reached out the its consumer and empowered them. Most women need their products and by uplifting their daughters, friends, sisters and mothers. They stood up for their consumers and made a statement. They made Americans stops and think for a minute about what "like a girl" meant. 

Many people say "like a girl" (even myself) to refer to a motion in sports that was done loosely or badly. This video shows everybody that it's not something we are born inherently believing females are bad at sports. Young girls show us that they can run, throw and hit "like a girl" better than you can "like a boy". 

This was also a great campaign in terms of combining television and social media. They aired #LikeAGirl commercials but also used Twitter, Facebook and Youtube to further their message. It was just one of many pro-female campaigns this past year, but in my opinion this may have been the most brilliant for a brand. Uplifting your primary consumers is brilliant and a great way of doing business. 

Brava Always. 

I am participating in PRSSA’s “Progressions Writing Prompt” exercise for (month and year). To learn more, check out this post for details.

Great Tips for Writing

One of my favorite parts about being in the PRSSA is the monthly twitter chats! Last week I participated in one where the topic was writing. As an aspiring public relations professional I love to write. I never realized how much until I started my little space on the inter web. Here are some of the best tips from me and those who participated in the twitter chat!

Read in order to write better// @paigeweber tweeted this and I don't think it could be more true in my opinion. I would recommend following @WSJ (the Wall Street Journal), @nytimes (The New York Times) and @theskimm (The Skimm). Read how you would like to write!


Writers Block// I have a couple of tips.
        1.Step away. Sometimes you just need to take a break and come back.
        2. Call or talk to someone nearby about what you're trying to say. Just blurt it out!

Read your piece out loud//  This is probably my best piece of advice when it comes to editing. It won't take nearly as long as emailing it to someone. It's great if you're on a deadline!

Just write// Jane Dvorak, APR gave some wonderful advice during the Twitter Chat. Just write. Write press releases off of a headline, or articles off of a press release. You don't need to have an internship or class to write. Submit articles to your local or student newspapers. Just write.



What are some writing tips you live by? Were these helpful?
xoxo

The Case for Diverse Internships

College is about having diverse experiences, and experimenting. This is true in all parts of college life, including which type of internships that you apply for. As you start to apply for internships, look at the description, the place, and the type of company.

Where? 
Are you from a small town and looking for big city job? Try both. Take a summer internship in a smaller town, or a semester internship in a town near to your university. Then take an internship in a bigger city and compare. The great thing about college is that your decision isn't permanent, and moving costs are low.

What? 
While entering an agency after graduation is a great choice, consider working in a non-profit or for a company. If you like sports look to working for a sports team. Don't just automatically look to a public relations agency either. Look at ad agencies that have client services departments or teams, they often have similar opportunities.

Which? 
Don't just look at public relations internships. Look at media planning in ad agencies, or marketing internships. They aren't pure public relations, but they have similar tasks and will diversify your resume, setting you apart from others.


In college you have at least 6 semesters, and two summers of possible internships. Use them to build your resume and help narrow down what you might want to do after graduation. You will also have a diversified portfolio and skill set that can be applicable to more jobs then one.

Don't despair if you don't receive an offer for the coveted agency internship. Think if it as a way to expand your capabilities and become a more well rounded public relations professional when you enter the real world.


What types of experiences have you had that set you apart from your peers? What do you do to expand your portfolio and skill set?

Millennials

As a millennial, everyone is attempting to categorize me and define the characteristics of my generation. Many experts fail, in my opinion, to recognize the positives and negatives of our generation as a whole. Many experts look at my generation a little too narrowly. Instead of noticing our strengths  as well as our weaknesses, they tend to only focus on our weaknesses.

Here are some of the best and worst traits of my generation.


1. We're connected: Whether this is entirely good is up for debate, but we're the most connected generation. We have friends throughout the world, as well as the ability to access information about any country. Don't underestimate our ability to find information, but realize the uniqueness in each individual.

2. We adapt: Most of our lives, technology has been growing quickly. We aren't scared to test out new technology, or adopt to changes  (especially updates) in technology.

3. We want instant gratification: As much as we hate to admit it, most of us want to see results right away. Whether it's fast internet connection or the ability to reply to emails quickly. We haven't had to wait for much, and this desire for results can be good and bad.

4. We have debt: While it may not be something that most adults think of, college tuition has inflated enormously over the past decades. Every year we are graduating with more and more debt. Not all of our parents can afford tuition, especially since the recession.

5. We give our time when we can't give our money: Many of us volunteered in high school for college admissions, but the habit stuck and we now join organizations on our campuses to volunteer. In light of how connected we are, we understand that there are others less fortunate, and we act.

6. We're used to recognition: Unlike other generations, we received recognition just for participating. Most of us are used to receiving recognition for our work, even if it doesn't really "matter". Letting a millennial know that they did a job well can reinvigorate them to work even harder.

As a millennial who believes in constant self-improvement, I believe that good will come out of our generation. Our potential will be tapped if mentors step up and utilize our knowledge and skills, as well as teach us what you know. That doesn't just mean technical skills but networking and work-life balancing skills.

What characteristics would you add? Disagree with any?