Me as an Intern

My internship experience this semester is really geared towards the entertainment world. Working with Pink Alliance Pr has been really exciting. Our first meeting was jammed pack with information about our upcoming projects. Florida A&M University's Homecoming is our next big project. Pink Alliance along with Ethnicity Models will be hosting a model search at the Moon. One thing that I know we have to do is consider our publics target them so that we have a great turn out. The attendance for last year was around 200 people, which is great but it can be better. We are going to utilize all media outlets to insure that we have better numbers.
My strategic thought process is something that I can bring to this company. I do consider this to be one of my talents. So many times we as practitioners get focused on the day to day and not what we can do to set us apart and give us that competitive edge. I know that I can try to get more clients for the company. Reaching out to contacts that I may have so that the company can build its portfolio.
I would definitely like to develop my own project while working for this company. I want to be able to bring on a client and have Pink Alliance help them to have a successful event. I also plan to use this internship as a way for me to become a better writer. Working with Pink Alliance also offers me the opportunity to gain contacts with people who are working in the entertainment field.

My Last Summer of Freedom

LSAT, job, and school were how my summer was spent. It wasn't how I wanted to spend my last summer of freedom, but I needed to get those things accomplished. I viewed this summer as an opportunity for growth. I really needed to get my life and career goals in order.I took the time to think about how am I going to prepare myself for this competitive field. At the end of the summer I was however able to take a week vacation with my family to Puerto Rico.
Being that this is my graduating semester I do not have that many classes. I am taking 11 hours. I have PR Campaigns, PR Practicum, African American Legacy, Basic Photography, and Colloquium. I feel that these classes will help me become more of a strategic practitioner. PR has become more of a multimedia career, having a class like photography I feel will help to give me more of a competitive edge when applying for a job. I want to do very well in my last semester, I am applying for law school and I need to have the best grades possible in my last semesters.
This fall is going to be busy. I am putting together a campaign book for my friends promotional company, I am applying to law school, I am involved in Hatchett Pre- Law Society, not to mention school. I am trying to involve myself in a plethora of activities so that I can have experience to add to my resume. I know that the more experience you have the better your opportunities are. I am going to utilize all my resources. So in the end surrendering my last semester has it benefits.

Internships

Every PR student should have at least one internship while in school. Experience is key, it helps you to get that leg up on someone who is competing for that same position.
This semester instead of just choosing one, I will be involved in three internships. I will be working on a radio show at 90.5. I will also be working with Pink Alliance which is a public relations company that is strictly just for woman. Lastly, I will be working on a speaking engagement for Aaron Arnold at FSU.
The reason I chose to do this is because I want to get the feel for different areas to decide what best suits me.
My past internships were campus based I wanted to venture out and be able to work on projects that allowed me to do more than just Florida A&M University projects. Working for Kaplan test prep I spent the bulk of my time on FAMU's campus. The internship was a good opportunity for me to learn office politics and organizational behavior. I do however, wished that I had the opportunity and freedom to do more innovative campaigns.
At 90.5 I will be helping to plan the segment "The Love Lounge," the show is a relationship advice segment that deals with “love,“ topics that young people face. We plan out the questions that we are going to ask the day before. We also come up with key points that we want our listeners to hear. By doing this we insure that we get a wide range of callers. It's really interesting to see the calls and feedback that we get from them. Brinton Flowers who is over the show really helps with the input of the show, he always wants to make sure that what we talk about is epic. The show comes on Tuesday and Thursday from 6:10-7:00 p.m.
Pink Alliance is a woman ran PR firm. Focusing on the entertainment aspect of PR. Entertainment PR is something that I have always found intriguing. Being behind the scenes of a big production is exciting. On this internship we will have meetings at least twice a week. At the meetings we will discuss the different accounts that we will be working on. Whether it's a press junket or a news release that needs to get put out we will discuss and issue out responsibilities. I expect this internship to be fun and informative. I also expect to grow as a writer and a communicator. Working with these girls to build the name of this company will be a lot of hard work but I’m sure that it will be worth it.
Lastly, I will be planning a speaking engagement for Aaron Arnold. Aaron Arnold is the founder of Music is My Business. He is also a FAMU alum as well as a Journalism school alum. Aaron came to speak at our colloquium about two years ago. When he came I was impressed by his drive and commitment to his passion. By planning this speaking engagement I expect to gain some connections with the Florida State campus. I also expect to gain more insight from Mr. Arnold.
On all my internships I would like to implement social media, transparent communication, and effective strategies. I want to come in and see the problem that they may have and become the solution. I also want to learn more and more about the fascinating aspects of media.

What does it take to have a Great Campaign?

Every PR practitioner should know that every campaign begins with research and ends with evaluation. No mater what model you use be it RACE, ROSIE, or RPIE you have to research your publics and then come up with an efficient way to evaluate them.

But how do you go about this? A great place to start is with formative and evaluative research. According to Professor LaRae Donnellan, formative is done before you start the communication process of your campaign. This can help you decide what kind of strategies and tactics that you would like to use. (PR Research Methods June 2010) During this process it is important that a practitioner comes up with a list of metrics for their campaign. A metric is a measurement; it is how you measure your objective.

Evaluative Research can be performed during or after your campaign. It is important to measure after you have completed your campaign however; I think that it is more important to do this while the campaign is going on. You can make adjustments to certain objectives if they are not getting the best results from your publics.

After you have performed these research methods you may want to use some of these measurable objectives to track your results:

- CPM ( cost per thousand impressions)

- Clip Counting

- ROI ( Return on Investment)

- Benchmarking

Another good tactic is to perform a SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for strength, weakness, opportunities, and threats. This exercise is beneficial to understanding all the aspects of the client. You start by making a list of all the strengths that your company/ client may have, such as:

- Location

- Price point

- Contacts

- Reputation

Listing these items will help you get a better understanding of what you may do better than your competitors.

Next, you should list the weaknesses of you client/company. Some examples of weaknesses are:

- Poor reputation

- Poor communication skills

- Poor availability

- Lack of resources

Next, you need to make a list of opportunities. Are known as the external factors affecting your client/ company, opportunities are things like:

- New Developments within your market

- Sponsorship

- The change in common trends with your public

The last step to the SWOT analysis is the threat step. Threats are potential opportunities according to Professor Donnellan. Competition is one of the main threats that a client/company may face.

While there are many other strategies a practitioner may use these are a few that can take your campaign further.

Is My Message Sticky Enough?

One of the many responsibilities of a PR practitioner is to make sure that the message is able to stick in the minds of the publics. Malcolm Gladwell the author of “The Tipping Point” described stickiness as, “the specific quality that a message needs to be successful.” (Malcolm Gladwell, 2002 pg 92)

It’s interesting when we watch a commercial on TV how fast we pick up on a jingle, or when you watch your favorite movie you can quote that movie line for line. What makes those messages stick? Gladwell says that when most of us want a person to remember something we try to put a direct emphasis on that message. We may try to speak loudly, or highlight a specific set of words, but Gladwell says while that may work for some messages there are other subtle approaches.

For example, Sesame Street one of the most influential educational programs for children in my opinion, researched how to make these subtle approaches effective. One thing that set Sesame Street apart from everyone else was it was on TV. They were utilizing a medium that had never been used before in order to educate children. The creator’s of Sesame Street said that the creators realize one simple but important thing; if you can capture and keep someone’s attention you can educate them.

The Distracter was the biggest stickiness mechanism. The Distracter was a slide show that was used while an episode of Sesame Street was being played. The slide show would consist of random things varying from a falling leaf to a flowing stream. They would then bring children in the room and make them watch the episode. They would change the slide periodically while the episode was playing; the idea was to track how many times the children diverted their attention from the episode to the slide show. From their findings they would then extract that segment out of the show. The Distracter made their message stick; they realized that if the children weren’t entertained their message would get lost in translation.

So many times a PR practitioner may have an awesome message that some how gets lost in all the media clutter. It is important when drafting a message you find creative ways to make your message stick. Another key ingredient to make your message stick is being mindful of those delivering the message. Gladwell says that in order to give your message that extra stickiness, you have to have three important people on your team: Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen.

Connectors are the networking people. They can put your message in the right hands and introduce you to the people who can help your message stick. Maven’s are the educators; they know a wealth of knowledge and tell people information because they know it’s the right thing to do. Lastly, the salesman is known as the persuader. This person is the last step to making your idea stick. They can persuade people into accepting your message and applying it.

The Importance of Knowing How to Frame Your Message

Framing is one of the most important tools in public relations. This tool allows your publics to see the story in a different light. Much of our media today goes through a gatekeeper, a gatekeeper is responsible for “filtering,” the messages that we receive. While the gatekeeper is filtering he is also framing the message to suit his/her publics. For example, one of the biggest issues we have facing the world today is “Climate Change.” Climate change, global warming, climate crisis and the list goes on are some of the names used to refer to the biggest issues facing the world. Why is it that we have so many names for one particular issue? Well, it is simple it’s all about how people feel. When people here climate crisis it sounds very alarming. It doesn’t sound as if this is normal and it starts to instill fear in these publics mind. According to The Psychology of Climate Communications, framing is important because it brings central points to the forefront. Framing helps the publics organize their ideas in order to formulate an opinion. Framing also helps to place “blame.” Framing can help the publics decide who the aggressor is and what should be done to deal with that person. According Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping Point there are a group of people that are key influencers in getting a message delivered the connector, maven, and salesmen. It is important that these people are on board when you are trying to frame a particular message. Framing has many different steps that can be used in order to promote a call to action. CRED says that are two people that have certain goals and what they focus on. There are the promotion focused and the prevention focused. The promotion focused people are concerned about progression. While the prevention focused people are concerned with they are a concerned with maintain the “status quo.” It is important as a PR practitioner that you keep in mind the various publics that you have. Every message has to be framed in a certain context in order for it to be received well. In framing it is important to remember the proximity of the frame. Localizing the frame can make it more effective. Giving the publics a sense of loyalty and familiarity makes them more comfortable with the message. Lastly, on important strategy for framing is alluding to the future. It is important to give the publics a look to the future at the same time it is important not loose focus of the present. The important thing for a PR practitioner to remember is that framing can come across a manipulative being sure to include the facts and to appear unbiased is important. Being able to frame is a great way to spread a message, move a call to action, and appealing to the publics.

Dimdim

Dimdim is a web conferencing program. Much like skype Dimdim offers video and phone conferencing for its customers. The difference however is that this program allows you to share pdf files and show pictures. Unlike the other web conferencing programs, Dimdim was created more for the business savvy individual.
Dimdim was started in February 2006. One of the important factors for the inventors was to have a user friendly product. They also didn’t want people to have to download software in order to utilize the program. Dimdim offers its services for free and does offer a paid program for its clients who want to customize their conferencing.
Even at its most basic level customers can meet up with 20 people at a time. There is also an advanced scheduling book that you can set up to plan future events. Much like the free conference calls you are given a moderator pass code and a participant one. You can send out an e-mail list and set up different time zones. You even have the option to use a white board where you can post comments that everyone can share.
Another interesting aspect is being able to host webinars on the program. All of your members can view a presentation that you have put together. You can show them by either sharing your screen or by having the option to click on the webinar option.