The End is Near!

Ahh! I’m graduating from COLLEGE is just one week! I really can’ believe it. I think it will hit me next week when I start packing up my room. This semester went really well, considering I thought it was going to be very difficult! Somehow, I managed to keep up with class projects, a massive campaign, research papers, a PE class every day, tours, and my job. Whew! The low of this semester would have to be mt Spring Break plans. I thought I would have this crazy, last ever, typical Spring Break, but the one I had was pretty low-key. Still, if that is the only thing that I am complaining about- I think I did okay! My high would definitely be gaining my internship and finding a place to live in Florida. There were many times when I was stressed out and thought nothing would work out- but I just prayed about it and sure, enough, things were never as bad as I thought they were!

I’m going to take every self-analysis I have ever had to give myself in Semantics or Comm & Conflict with me in the future! Learning how to assess my thoughts and why I felt the way I did about certain things has helped me become a much more understanding person. Also, (obviously) everything I have learned in my social media class. Just the other day, one of the higher-up people I work with had to ask me a simple question about a computer program that he had no clue the answer to! In general, being forced to do group projects with people who I didn’t choose/didn’t like has taught me about patience and being an even tougher team-player.

I still am shocked that I am about to graduate and even though I am nervous, worried things will work out, and excited, I know that I have all of the skills I need to do great work and succeed in my internship! ( And hopefully get a job afterwards!)

MLB and PR

While I not a die-hard fan of major league baseball as some of my friends- if I got invited to a Braves game, I would definitely go! I think it would be really cool working in any professional sports industry. The fans are usually fans for life and that is very hard to come by today.

If the team I was working for was in a slump, I would push special pricing. Giving discounts to groups (more people at one time), paying special attention to certain holidays and when people usually take time off of work. Father’s Day would be a good holiday to focus on (possibly even Mother’s Day). Also, I would try to give discounts to people wearing specific outfits or something like that. Maybe even have a promotion of “if you go to blank, you get a discount off one game ticket.”

On the other hand, if my team was WINNING, my job would be a bit easier. Giveaways is where I would focus for this scenario. Since people are filling seats, why not reward them and assure them they are in the right place and it was worth taking off work to watch a game? Maybe randomly selecting a ticket number to win something or just being the 100th fan to come through the gates.

I have actually considered the option of perusing a career with professional sports. I think it would fun, exciting and very eventful!

Where, Oh Where, Would I Go?

If I had unlimited resources and could travel anywhere I wanted to, I would want to travel to many, many places- all of which I am curious about or are surrounded with historical meaning. When you read about a country, city or monument in a book during school, or hear about it on the news, it’s a totally different experience to see it for yourself. I got my first taste of this when I visited Niagara Falls as a kid. I remembered learning about it and I know it was considered to be a “wonder of the world,” but seeing it in person was such a cool experience that I have never forgotten it.

• The statues on Easter Island (I want to see those statues! So cool!)
• Stonehenge (I want to see those freaking stones!!!!)
• Area 51 (blame this on a recent UFO video my roommate made me watch!)
• Ireland (As someone with a large Irish heritage, this would be really interesting to visit)
• Scotland (Again, with the heritage. MACDonald is my last name after all.)
• Germany (History purposes)
• Italy (and I would ride on a gondola with a super hot Italian guy)
• New York City (a little closer to home and more realistic)
• Greece (for the history and the culture)
• The castle that was used as Hogwarts in the Harry Potter movies (hey, the assignment said UNLIMITED resources!)

That’s it for my list, I’m sure it will continue to grow as I get older. Feel free to give me your opinions of where you would like to go, or if you have already been to any of these amazing places!

Bridging the Generation Gap with Social Media

As a “millennial,” I know that I grew up differently than most of the people I will be employed by in the future. I remember having a computer in our house when I was still in elementary school and I got a cell phone in 9^th grade (texting came later). Older generations, however, are just now starting to get used to newer technologies and the way they use social media. Even those who know of social media sites have most likely heard of it from someone younger than them. Bridging this divide is going to be a difficult process that all of us “millennial” will encounter.

It is important to remember to explain to the older generations who have grown up talking in person with someone instead of over a computer, that social media is a faster way of communication that will greatly improve their company or business.  You would want to demonstrate examples of cases in which social media was utilized and the outcome it had on sales growth. This data-based response will further show that there is a way to make a profit using social media, and that it’s not just a way to talk to your friends.

Even though I’m writing this post now, at the age of 21, I know that in about 40 years, some young student will be figuring out a way to explain to me the new ways to communicate with the masses. Hopefully when that time comes, I will be able to reflect back on this topic and remember the challenges that I faced while trying to bridge the gap between generations.

Bring Back “Full House!”

Honestly, this is such a tough blog topic to decide on! I would love to see episodes of “Clarissa Explains It All,” “Boy Meets World,” and SO many other shows from my childhood! However, the one I am deciding on is the show, Full House. Because Full House was about a family with three daughters, I could relate! Growing up in a family with three daughters was not shown very much on television, so I was excited when I first watched Full House. Granted, my dad wasn’t a single parent and his two friends didn’t help raise me, but I loved it! I think I have seen every single episode of Full House, reunions and all! As a Mary-Kate and Ashley fan, I also really liked watching them in another show. I liked watching DJ, Stephanie and Michelle grow up and deal with middle school and high school problems. I imagine my sisters in their places when I watched it.

I also liked the cheesy resolutions they had to each and every family problem on the show (slow music overture and all!). I thought their bedrooms were so cool and decorated way better than mine! And, me and my sister shared a room for a while when the youngest had her old room so I could relate to that too. If an episode came on right now, I would sit and watch it and probably recite it word-for-word. A one-hour block of time each day after school, that’s what I looked forward to! It’s so funny to think about how much television has changed. Kids don’t watch many family-oriented sitcoms anymore. Their show usually center on a group of friends and their adventures. Maybe it’s because the “typical” family doesn’t exist and would be hard to portray on a television show. Whatever the case, and even though it was super predictable and cheesy, Full House should come back on tv!!!!!

Selling Social Media

I would try to sell new forms of social media to employers by explaining to them that there are new ways to appeal to your target audience. You have to keep up with what your customers want, and with the surge of social media in the past 5 years, people of all backgrounds and ages are logging on and getting involved. I would show the client the ways you can track your impact on customers and how you can personally interact with them. Hopefully this won’t be too hard of a sell, unless they are just completely stuck in their ways. To an employer, I would position my argument to focus on the audience base. Some people are addicted to Pinterest, others Facebook, and even more to Twitter. I would explain how you have to reach all of these sites in order to reach different types of customers. Furthermore, the advantages of using social media in a campaign are HUGE! Creating a catchy slogan, image or video will propel your company’s campaign through the social media portals. In an instant, someone can post one thing, and 300 people will be able to view it. That is power by social media! Clicking “share” or “copy” is sometimes all it takes to get your name out there to your potential customers.

Dear Freshman Jordan…

I guess since most of us are about to graduate, it’s only fitting to start thinking about when we began our years at Georgia Southern. Freshman year, I lived with random roommates who I picked through the roommate matching system GSU offered. One was crazy and got replaced with a girl who didn’t shower, one played rugby and was nice enough to talk to, and one became, and still is, my best friend and roommate! I also came into school with an older boyfriend (bad idea!). This didn’t last long into freshman year, but I did meet a lot of interesting people in my time dating him. First thing I would change- start college SINGLE. It would definitely have saved me unwanted drama as an 18-year-old.

The next thing I would change would be how I wasn’t involved in anything freshman year. No clubs, intramural sports, nothing. I didn’t get involved until the very end of my freshman year. I have met so many great friends through my involvement and I wish I had known them sooner.

Overall, I really had a fantastic freshman year- better than most probably! We made friends with the guys across the hall from us and would walk over and hang out with them all of the time. We played pranks, cooked dinners, and had surprise birthday parties with those guys. Pranks include, but aren’t limited to:

-          Putting frozen fish and crabs in my roommate’s sink and towel rack

-          Fixing a tube in the toilet so it sprays on you when you flush it

-          Putting the frozen crabs outside of random kids windows

-          Hiding milk under one of the boys’ beds (not found until move-out day)

-          Dropping a massive water balloon down 4 flights of stairs

-          Putting saran wrap over the boys’ toilet seats

The girls down the hall became our friends too and so soon they were added into the mix. I’m happy to say that I’m still really good friends with almost all of them! I loved how everyone was new and interesting freshman year. I would go back to freshman year for one week, but not longer. So many great memories to look back on- and that was only the beginning.

  

Advantages and Disadvantages of Social Media

There are various advantages and disadvantages of social media. Some disadvantages include things like the “broom trick” and the “cat-playing-piano” video. These social media topics became viral all because ONE person thought they were “cool.” Lately, my Facebook has been consumed with people who are posting pictures of a kitchen broom standing vertically on its own in a kitchen. Some videos also include the even more disturbing feat of balancing an egg in each hand, while balancing the broom upright. As far as where these idiotic videos came from, all I can remember is one random “friend” on Facebook posting a picture. Then, before I was even AWARE of what was happening, an influx of people posting pictures of a dang BROOM emerged all over my Facebook news feed!! I would love nothing more than to slap the person who started this. I still am confused as to why this latest Facebook craze challenge is happening, but some sources say that the broom can stand up vertically because Jupiter and (insert planet here) are perfectly aligned. I don’t know if this is true, but I do know that there has been a solar flare occurring that is the largest in the past five years, and is covering Earth. Does this make a broom stand up vertically? Or is it just what brooms do, but no one has ever tried before? The world will never know. This, my friends, is the disadvantage of social media—the spread of useless and mindless information that people spend time trying to accomplish or achieve.

The advantages of social media, to me, outweigh the disadvantages. While there are things like brooms and cats floating through our social media world, there are also positive things happening. People can connect to each other instantly. Families can be reunited, friends can be found, and miracles witnessed. I once heard about a rescue via Twitter and Facebook only ten minutes after it happened! That is incredible. The “Joseph Kony 2012” campaign has been a recent bomb for Facebook and Twitter. This social movement focuses on bringing war criminals to light, and making positive changes that will help children’s lives in other countries. If this video about Kony had not been published on Facebook or YouTube, millions of people would have not known about the social injustices that are occurring in Africa. Yes, there are details about the campaign and the organization that people should look further into, but that’s the whole idea…awareness. Social media can make you aware of topics and ideas that you previously knew nothing about. You can find out what your friends, family, and enemies think about something with just a click of a button. That power is what will induce change in our world and that is a major advantage.

To sum this topic up, the way we are constantly and consistently connected to each other is both an advantage and a disadvantage of social media. It should be used and harnessed carefully and with caution.

Turning a Dream Job Into Reality

My dream job is something that I can’t define with one job title. I’ve thought about jobs and thought to myself, “Hey, that’s really cool! I’d like to do that!” but I don’t have one, specific job in mind that I consider to be a “dream job.” So, instead of naming a job title and describing that job, I am going to explain traits of my dream job.

I want my dream job to be something that I thoroughly enjoy doing. I know that sounds impossible, but to me it’s achievable! I want to become a Vice President of a company- not a CEO because they have way to many decisions to make. I want my job to be focused on customer service where I get to meet and talk to new people each and every day. My dream job makes six figures (shallow? not in this economy!). I want to make decisions that positively influence people’s lives. I want it to be a job where I am doing something different each day. Overall, since I don’t know what I want as my dream job, I have left the room for many options. I don’t want to limit myself because if I named a specific “dream job,” then every other job I had would not measure up. I believe in striving for your goals, but also, making the best of the situation you are in. I am confident that one day, I will sit down at work and think, “This is it. This is my dream job!” Until that moment, I will continue searching for it while learning something from each job along the way.

My strengths in communication, organization, and my attitude will propel in my dream job search. (Also, I have the freakishly good ability to remember people!) I will shine over other people wanting my dream job because I am determined and will not give up something that I truly want. The communication skills I have learned, honed, and perfected while in college will aid in preparing me for my dream job. Oftentimes, it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. I continuously keep in touch with people I have met and thank them when they offer me assistance. This ability to network will help me reach my goals.

Finally, I will not settle for anything less than greatness in my life. My constant focus on my future will ensure that the decisions I make today, positively impact what happens to me tomorrow.

Pinterest as a PR Prop

When I first discover Pinterest, I pinned and pinned for hours on end! Now, I don’t have as much free time as I used to and I haven’t pinned anything in about a month. As far as how Pinterest holds a place in the public relations world, I’m not sure if I am 100% sold on it yet. I think for people who are visual when it comes to identifying what they like, Pinterest is ideal. If your company produces a product or service that can be shown through photos, I would probably encourage the use of Pinterest. Clothing is a very popular “pin” topic as well as food and crafts. You can get really creative when figuring out how to include your product in each pin. However, I don’t think that if your company is straining trying to decide how to create a “pin-worthy” photo, you shouldn’t use Pinterest. Good photos are repined over and over and can show up on someone’s feed for weeks. A bad photo just for the purpose of having it on the site is useless.

I can’t decide if Pinterest will become a short fad or not. I think there are some adjustments that need to be made to the details of specific parts of the site, but the concept is easy and effective. These two elements make Pinterest a type of site that could stay around for a long time. As mentioned earlier, I have my own Pinterest account. To be honest, it took me a while to figure out how to maneuver the site. A better tutorial could be something that is fixed in the future. I actually have recommended Pinterest to coworkers and they love it! My old coworkers, however, do not really understand the simplicity of how to use it, but the younger people had no problem learning. If some changes are not made to Pinterest then it could possibly fade away. But if it is constantly improved, there is hope for Pinterest to become a regular tool for use in public relations.