Decentralization 101

As of April 1, my job title dropped the word "Program" and my business card lost the campus "Marietta." GHC is in the process of decentralizing it's student services so they are more accessible to the students. For me this means: I have my own budget, I am over New Student Orientations on my two campuses, the orientation leaders report to me, I get to decide the programming for my campuses next year, and I am the central student life contact in Douglasville and Paulding.

So far the process to being fully decentralized has had it's ups and downs. The best part will be all the new responsibilities I will be gaining with this new position. The down side is that every aspect of student life is having to be rewritten, reconfigured, and redistributed. I was just starting to get the hang of things.

At this very moment, the Campus Deans are meeting to hopefully finalize our budget for the next fiscal year. At the moment all our planning is on hold until we know how much money we have to work with. I know the final budget will be less money for me than last year, but I am excited about the challenge of utilizing my resources.

From Clocking-In to Business Cards

Georgia Highlands College Student Life Program Coordinator

As of September 1, I became Georgia Highlands' first Student Life Program Coordinator. My main role is to work between 3 of their 5 campuses and act as the student life representative at these sites. My main office is in Douglasville, and I share offices in Marietta and Paulding. These first two weeks have been a whirl wind of driving around, meeting faculty, staff, and students, and getting acclimated. Last weekend I got to go rafting down the Ocoee with 30 students in the Northwest Cresent Leadership Alliance. I enjoyed getting to watch the ice-breakers and activities and not feel the pressure of it all. I am having to figure out the right way to be a professional, but still relate and be personable.

3+2.2=5

So I just completed my first week as a double intern. I am spending 3 days a week at the Chamber of Commerce and 2 days a week and some random time doing marketing for my Chick-fil-A. Today I spent my first full day at Chick-fil-A and loved it. We are starting a new program called "boom texting" where we send out specials & events going on at the store via SMS. There are 2 different groups for this, one is for the general public/customers and one is for just mall employees. I spent my afternoon going around to each store on the top level of the mall explaining the program and leaving them instruction cards for all their employees.

I love the kind of interaction and reaction I got with people today. This was one of the things that made me fall in love with my internship last year. I love making people feel loved and special and Chick-fil-A is great about going the "second-mile" to be more than just a fast food restaurant.

If you want to be one of the first to taste the Spicy Chicken Sandwich visit this website and register for your free sandwich, they are filling up fast.

Skill #1

So after three days at the Douglas County Chamber of Commerce, and interning in the professional world, I have realized one thing about myself that is conflicting. For all of my school career I have been almost too involved, but have managed to stay organized. I work by getting one thing done and then moving onto another. Working in the professional world, or maybe just at the Chamber, I can have 4 things going on at once and still have to answer the phone. I am having to get into the habit of setting one project down and starting work on another before getting to finish the first one. It is all very exciting to me and I am looking forward to be assigned more projects.

When I finally got settled....

So Monday I moved out of my home for the last 3 years. Tuesday I moved back into my previous home and before nightfall had almost everything organized. Today I started my internship at the Douglas County Chamber of Commerce. Today was just training, but I am looking forward to the rest of the summer, the atmosphere is so cheerful, and I am beginning to understand what a Chamber of Commerce is good for. Tonight I got a call from Chick-fil-A offering me a marketing internship for the summer that could lead into something else... Instead of feeling relaxed and calm about this summer, I have to talk to my new boss, due a lot of praying and figure out if I am capable of working 2 jobs...I am ready

10 Things I learned as a PR Major

1. Have a back-up plan.

Whether it's a rain plan, or a document saved to your jump-drive, make sure you have a way to save yourself if something does not go right.

2. Save everything for your portfolio.

If anything it tells you how far you have come in four years.

3. Although networking is important, if you get someone's name wrong, it is not the end of the world.

4. The client is always right.

5. Follow your intuition.

Sometimes the best thing in PR is to go with what feels right.

6. Rarely is there a next time, so come prepared.

7. Brand yourself, figuratively.

I do not mean a personal logo. Brand yourself as an individual with strong work ethics and creativity, or you will always be looked over.

8. Eat before your event.

Just because there is food, does not mean you will have time to eat.

9. Be a listener, leader, and follower.

Listen to the people you work for, under, and above. Realize the time to take the reigns or to jump on the bandwagon.

10. As long as you put yourself into it, you will get something out of it.

If you slack on a project, paper, or event, you will not enjoy it and gain nothing from it.

Chick-fil-A's Corporate Social Responsibility

I started a solid relationship with Chick-fil-A at a very young age. For as long as I can remember it has been my fast-food restaurant of choice. From ages 6-12 Chick-fil-A was the Friday lunch at the end of every week of vacation bible school. I can remember on the way to a family camping trip wanting to listen to cassette tapes containing different character lessons that I had received in my kid’s meals. From ages 6-18 Chick-fil-A was the family dinner when my family was going in five different directions. For the last four years, Chick-fil-A has been the place where my boyfriend and I eat our last meal before departing for Christmas break or the summer. From a very young age Chick-fil-A has played a vital role in my life, not just because one of my favorite foods is a chicken nugget, but also because the corporation stands for more than just good fast food. They stand for a Christian lifestyle.

In 1946, Truett Cathy opened his first restaurant in Hapeville, Georgia, called the Dwarf Grill. In the early 1960s, Cathy founded Chick-fil-A, Inc. and pioneered the establishment of restaurants in shopping malls. The first Chick-fil-A opened in 1967 at Greenbrier Mall in suburban Atlanta. Since then, Chick-fil-A has steadily grown to become the second largest quick-service chicken restaurant chain in the United States, with more than 1,550 locations in 38 states and Washington, D.C., and annual sales of more than $2.9 billion. Chick-fil-A is still privately held and family owned. Since the very beginning all Chick-fil-A units have been closed on Sunday’s. Cathy believed in giving himself and his employees time to worship and be with their family. (Chick-fil-A.com)

“Our decision to close on Sunday was our way of honoring God and directing our attention to things more important than the business. If it took seven days to make a living with a restaurant, then we needed to be in some other line of work. Through the years, I have never wavered from that position.” – S. Truett Cathy

In 1984 Truett Cathy and his wife began the WinShape Foundation in association with Chick-fil-A. The foundation was created to help “shape winners” and build leaders among youth. The WinShape Foundation supports a variety of programs including, college programs, foster care, retreats, summer camps, marriage retreats, and scholarship programs. The foster care homes are group homes where children are provided a permanent home with two loving full-time parents, summer camp, and a college education if they choose. The first home was established in 1987 in Mt. Berry, Georgia. Part of the WinShape Foundation core belief is that you can't be a good parent unless your marriage is strong, which is why the WinShape Retreat for marriage enrichment was born as a high-end retreat on the Mountain Campus of Berry College. “"The father is the chief executive officer of the greatest institute in the world: the family. Make Sunday family day instead of going to play golf or watch football. What we need today are some good, stable marriages, and the most important thing you can give to children is your time," Cathy said.

Chick-fil-A credits its success to its core values and its focus on developing leaders. Chick-fil-A Leadercast is a global gathering of leaders with one purpose in mind: to develop leaders at all levels, positions, and stages. Ten of the world’s best leaders speak on their leadership principles. May 7, 2010 will mark a ten year milestone of this global leadership event. The goal of the event is to inspire and develop leaders to make a lasting impact on the lives of those they lead. Chick-fil-A is passionate about supporting organizations' and individuals' efforts to grow their leadership potential. This event will be live in Atlanta, but will be aired at 500 Leadercast locations across North America. Chick-fil-A Leadercast wants to make a lasting impact on the participants, and wants them to be catalysts for change. The organizers of Leadercast believe that this leadership conference is valuable because it will engage all of the participant’s senses and provide a truly experiential day of leadership training. They expect that every person that invests a day at the conference will leave feeling energized and inspired.

Chick-fil-A does not just sponsor events and foundations to better the world morally, they also sponsor events to build brand recognition. In 1998 Chick-fil-A became the title sponsor for the Peach Bowl, an annual college football bowl game. In 2006, Chick-fil-A bought five years of rights to the name of the bowl, so it became the Chick-fil-A Bowl. The funds from the Chick-fil-A naming rights contract is used to increase payouts for attending teams and hopefully boost attendance and stature of the bowl game. The bowl has sold out for eleven consecutive years, making it the most attended non-BCS bowl in the last decade. The game was also the highest-rated ESPN broadcast bowl game of 2007-2008, higher than even the two New Year's Day bowls – the Cotton Bowl and the Gator Bowl. The Chick-fil-A Bowl is one of three bowls to receive an NCAA grant for the Youth Football Program, and the game endows a $100,000 scholarship at each participating university annually. The current payout for the Chick-fil-A Bowl is $3,250,000.

Chick-fil-A has done a phenomenal job of building their brand. As seen clearly through a highlight of just three ways they are involved in the community, Chick-fil-A values its customers and wants to change the world. From my experience and understanding of Chick-fil-A, I would not say that this is their Corporate Social Responsibility; I would call this their Faith-Based Practice.