My Lyrics

Decentralization 101

2011-04-28T07:55:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-14T18:42:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-21T17:57:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-14T12:54:00.000-07:00

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....

2010-05-12T18:48:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-28T14:32:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-26T15:05:00.000-07:00

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.

Women: Active Social Media Users

2010-04-19T10:36:00.000-07:00

I recently just read an article titled: Social Media Study: 3 in 4 Online Women Are Active Social Media Users; Blogs, Message Boards and Social Networks Now Daily Destinations for Many. The article talks about how women are turning there focus in on social media before making a large purchase. A study co-sponsored by Ketchum and the Nielsen Company found that 73% of online women are now active social media users, engaging weekly or more often with top social media platforms. If companies can capture on this new market they are making a strong move.

“The study confirms that social networks are a key place to capture women's attention on the path to purchase,” said Jodi Kahn, Executive Vice President, iVillage. “The days of relying on one source for information are over. Online peer-to-peer advice on message boards has increasingly become one of the most valuable sources for product recommendations. Marketers cannot afford to overlook this captive audience."

Student Research Conference

2010-04-16T07:22:00.000-07:00

This morning was the Student Research Conference for Georgia College. My groups research topic was The Analyzation of Food and Beverage Commercials on Children's Television Networks. We watched 527 commercials on four different networks: NBC Discovery Kids, ABC Kids, Nickelodeon, and Cartoon Network. 104 of those commercials advertised food and beverage products. With our research we found that most commercials advertised convience foods, they used generic kids to sell the product more than popular characters, and more of the commercials showed their products as a snack or it was nondiscernable. Out of the total commercials we watched, 24% were for toy products and only 19% for food or beverage commercials.

For the conference we were split into 4 related-topic presentations in an hour segment. Since our topic centered around children, the 3 other presenations related to children also. At the end of our 12 minute presentation we were the only group to have the audience members ask us questions.

This morning was surprising to me because of the boring and wrong powerpoints of some of the other groups. Powerpoints should not contain paragraphs and never be read completely word for word.

President's Award Ceremony

2010-04-15T20:11:00.000-07:00

For my practicum this semester, I planned the Presidential Volunteer Award Ceremony. This ceremony recognizes GCSU Students, and staff who volunteer over 100 hours during a calendar year. The ceremony for the 2009 year was this past Tuesday. The whole evening went exactly as planned. This year I played more of a master of ceremony part instead of just back stage. I gave the welcome, and introduced every guest speaker, along with telling my story of service at the end of the ceremony when I retrieved the Giving Tree Award. To fix the announcing of the recipients from last year everyone’s name was on an index card and Dr. Jahr was handed the cards of everyone that was in line to walk across stage. Every review I heard was wonderful with no complaints. If I could change one thing I would have less speakers, but because so many people play such a vital role in students receiving the award we did not want to leave any one out of congratulating the students.

An Multicultural Session at Fleishmen Hilliard

2010-04-06T14:28:00.000-07:00

This past Friday April 2^nd, I visited the Fleishman Hilliard office to participate in a Multicultural Diversity Session through the LaGrant Foundation. The LaGrant Foundation is a non-profit organization whose mission is to increase the number of ethnic minorities in the fields of advertising, marketing, and public relations. They do this through providing scholarships, career development workshops, and internships to African Americans, American Indian/Native Americans, Asian and Hispanic/Latino undergraduate and graduate students.

The most interesting session to me took place after lunch (Chick-fil-A boxed lunches). It was entitled “The Right Approach to the Right People.” The two multicultural discussion leaders began by asking us questions about the multicultural scene that they gathered from the 2006 Census. Georgia has had the greatest gains in African American blacks compared to nine other southern states. 99% of US counties report having at least one or more gay or lesbian couple. One really surprising fact was that Fleishman Hilliard is the only global communications firm with a multicultural capability that embraces African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and Native American Audiences.

Chamber of Commerce Intern

2010-03-29T20:48:00.000-07:00

The Douglas County Chamber of Commerce hires a college summer intern every year. They look for someone from the Douglas County area that is good with people. The intern is not paid, but they try to pay them a stipend at the end of the summer if possible.

The responsibilities of a chamber intern are to assist in all areas and programs, as needed. This includes helping to promote, market, prepare for, and carry to fruition all chamber events, functions, programs, and other actions relating to member services. Interns are asked to assist all staff members when needed. That includes attending meetings, working with volunteers and staff to plan and organize various events, promote events to chamber members, and provide clerical support and labor as necessary to prepare for and carry the event in to completion.

The Douglas County Chamber of Commerce was organized in 1945 and is the oldest and largest representation of business in Douglas County. The chamber is made up of four full-time employees, with the help of occasional part-time staff and many volunteers. Five program areas make up the chamber: Membership and Events, Government Affairs, Economic Development, Marketing, and Workforce Development. I was a student ambassador in high school to the chamber and thoroughly enjoyed my experience.

I am starting as an intern on May 12th and am excited to learn more about what I will be doing this summer.

Digital Bridges Promotional Event

2010-03-02T12:18:00.001-08:00

For my Public Relations Campaign class we were assigned Digital Bridges, an internet and technology awareness company that offers classes to Milledgeville residents. Their goals are to increase the awareness and knowledge of community members in regards to computers and the internet.

To begin our campaign we planned and executed an event at the Milledgeville Mall. On the day of our event the mall was having a beauty pageant, a blood drive and a bake sale, so there was already an established large crowd of people there.

Three of my classmates and I set-up a table of 4 macs and allowed everyone to come and take a picture on photobooth and play around with all the different effects. The idea was to introduce the fun possibilities computers have and to spread awareness for Digital Bridges and the classes they offer.

When the person was happy with the effect they chose, we showed them how to take their picture and then we printed it off for them. We placed their photo in a magnet that gave Digital Bridges' boiler plate and contact information. The top of the photograph said "How do you see yourself using technology?"

Our hopes is that people will come and see the copy of their photo that we posted inside the center and ask about classes. We are evaluating our event by how many people come by the center, point out their picture and receive a Chick-fil-A coupon.

We printed over 60 photos and gathered about 50 people's contact information. We are presenting our event to board members and entrepreneurs this evening.

PR in the "REAL World"

2010-02-28T11:58:00.000-08:00

Two Friday's ago I went to my first ever PR Real World Conference. The conference is for members of the Public Relations Student Society of America and it took place all day in Atlanta. The idea was to learn how to market yourself to make an entrance into the "real world," and to network with other student members and other PR Professional's who attended. Except for having to get up at 4:45 a.m. I was very excited about the day. My friends were coming, I had my portfolio and resume ready to have critiqued and I was ready to learn something beneficial. After lunch I had my resume and portfolio looked at by two different people in the field and that was useful. The most helpful thing that I took from the whole day went along with my portfolio. Multiple professionals advised that when going into an interview to not only leave them with your resume and references, but to also leave them with a little piece of your portfolio. I had two interviews for internships last week and I left them both with my spreadsheet of the coverage I gained for The Colonnade with the "Rock, Colonnade, Scissors" Tournament. My hope is that the sheet will give them another reason to remember me and all of my experience and qualifications.

Purple Glove Dance

2010-02-24T07:19:00.000-08:00

Please watch this video to help us raise money for Relay for Life. The most clicks wins. Click here

A logo to remember Lyric

2010-02-18T13:15:00.000-08:00

To graduate from the Mass Communication Department at Georgia College you have to complete a senior exit exam. Our exam is a portfolio consisting of client work, experience, published pieces, and anything else to showcase what you are capable of. We also must include a cover letter, references, a business card and our resume. Besides taking the hours to organize and edit the whole thing, we have to come up with a logo/brand for ourself. The point of the logo is to make our product (resume, cover letter, portfolio) stand out and be remembered. With PRSA Real World 2010 taking place this Friday, everyone is stressed about getting their logo created to design their business card and finish their resume. Two of my friends have changed their logo more times that I can count, just to find that ideal image that captures the essence of them.

Can one image really do that?

Sure the golden arches stand for McDonald's, and the blue F stands for facebook, but until you have experienced those products and gotten a taste for yourself, you cannot associate positive or negative feelings with the symbol/image.

So why are we stressing over an image that, come this August, will be irrelevant to us? Hopefully by then we will all be working for our own company that has their own brand/logo and whose public understands what the image means and can associate with it.

Until then, I am sticking with a simple yet elegant logo, I have a love for flowers and what better way for a potential employee to remember my name than by placing my initials on everything that they will come in contact with.

PR 'N Their Socks Off

2010-02-09T11:34:00.000-08:00

PR 'N Their Socks Off was the title of 2 presentations/speeches I have given in the last month on public relations.

My first experience as a guest speaker was to about 40 greek and organizational leaders on my campus. I was asked to inform them about all the different PR options this school has to offer and the benefits of publicizing their event. I spoke for about 15 minutes and was told that my segment was one of the most interesting ones of the day.

The second time I spoke about public relations was this past weekend at the Georgia College Press Association's (GCPA) yearly conference. Andrea Lowery, Marianna Miller and I were asked to talk for 50 minutes on the PR work we did for our college newspaper last semester and the benefits of having a PR representative for a college newspaper. It appeared that the crowd was very attentive and when we asked for the audiences thoughts and questions many people spoke up.

I felt very honored to speak at both these events and enjoyed the public speaking practice.

Online Reviews

2010-02-09T10:49:00.000-08:00

When my boyfriend starts thinking about buying a piece for his car or longboard he begins his process online. He has told me all about these online forums where you can ask any question related to a certain product and consumers of the product give you their honest thoughts and answers. He uses these forums to help him solidify his decision to purchase.

There was a recent article in PRSA's Public Relations Tactics that discusses the "ethical lapses" some PR professionals are having when it comes to online reviews. Ann Subervi found a few scenarios where PR firms are turning their cheek, or in some cases supporting the idea of employers giving online reviews pretending to be satisfied customers. Thankfully the FTC is cracking down on this; an organization in New York had to pay the State of New York $300,000 in penalties for artificially creating an online buzz about their company.

If you have ever read the book "The Tipping Point," I am very much a maven. When I feel moved to comment about a company I get on their website and leave them my honest thoughts. I do not give unjust praise, and my criticism is always constructive. I hope that these "ethical lapses online" were just a minor lapse and will not become a regular occurrence.

My "tweetering" thoughts

2010-02-02T08:07:00.000-08:00

class assignment 2 tweet 35 times in a week, then blog my thoughts about it. decided to write all my thoughts in tweeting format 4 practice.
somedays I enjoyed tweeting n @replys to what other ppl are saying, other days it became a huge hassle and I tweeted only because I had to.
I read links that gave me confidence about finding a job in PR. http://tinyurl.com/ylhumxm
Somedays I would get lost in reading links and when I realized how much time I wasted it would make me mad.
while watching the #grammyawards it was fun to read everyones opinion, the tweets were coming so fast.
I created a list @lyrjet/gcsu to keep track of my people,
I also followed @KarenRussell/prprofs to keep track of hers. Does that count for following PR professionals?
I sent a direct message n never got a response, was a little disheartened but I haven't given up. Am confident an internship is in my future
After this assignment is over I will continue tweeting, but 5 times a day #thatsaNoNo

My understandings of Public Relations

2010-01-29T14:32:00.000-08:00

One of the most confusing questions I have had to answer in my college career is the one that comes after telling someone my concentration is public relations. If I do not receive that glazed over and confused look, I get asked "what will you do with that?" It has even been a joke between me and some of my aspiring PR friends. We have been confused about the exact responsibilities we will have once we make it to "the real world" and the role of a public relations professional. I have been torn between some semesters thinking that my job will be to strictly write press releases, and deal with the media and other times thinking my job is to plan and execute events. With the sudden boom in social media, my new belief is that my job will be to control the online presence of whatever company I am working for. As you can see these are 3 different roles that could lead to very different jobs.

After many semesters, and graduation right before me, I have finally come to the decision that Public Relations is going to be what the business you are working for wants it to be. I might be an event planner one week, a liaison between the CEO and his employees, or the business and it's consumers another week, I might just sit in front of a computer and update social media all day. Whatever the job, I am beginning to prepare for all the possibilities.

Edward Burns defines Public Relations as "the management function which evaluates public attitudes, identifies policies and procedures of an individual or an organization with the public interest, and plans, executes and evaluates a program of action to earn public understanding and exceptance."

Even with that definition, I still do not know how exactly to explain what my role will be when I become a professional...maybe I will just tell people "to rule the world" it's ambitious, but someone has to do it.

Fundraising for The Colonnade

2009-12-01T08:21:00.000-08:00

This video took place the Saturday before Thanksgiving at the Kroger Shopping Center in Milledgeville. Andrea Lowery, Marianna Miller and I spent most of the day bagging groceries in hopes to receive tips to help pay for a calendar that Andrea is making for the Colonnade. One thing I have learned this semester is that money does not come easy and most of the time it doesn't come at all.

The semester I created my PORTFOLIO

2009-11-23T13:41:00.000-08:00

Looking back on this semester I am exhausted. I have no idea how I managed to play my final season of college soccer, plan a world record attempt, be the event coordinator for The Relay For Life Kickoff and still manage to participate in my other extracurricular activities (oh and keep up with my other classes somewhere in there). Sitting here writing this I am counting down the days until Christmas break and am hoping that I come back next semester with a rejuvenated mind and spirit.

With the exception of our final soccer record this season, I am very happy with how all my endeavors turned out. I could not have asked for a better PR Colonnade team to help me with the Guinness World Record Attempt. Shout out and thanks to Andrea Lowery and Marianna Miller. Also a huge thanks to Kara Teresi (food) and Cara Wilmer (decorations), the executives for the Relay Kickoff. Without these 4 rising PR Professionals I would have been lost somewhere in the middle of Georgia either asking for food donations or looking for the Channel 41 NBC Station.

The actual 'Celebration Of A Memory'

2009-11-21T19:04:00.000-08:00

Last Tuesday, Nov. 17, my PR Admin class executed a lovely kickoff dinner we had been working on all semester. The event lasted about 2 hours and included dinner, a survivor slideshow, a candle lighting ceremony, and Relay For Life Team Captain information. In a previous blog I discussed the theme "Celebrate A Memory" more in depth, but the idea came from The American Cancer Society being the official sponsor of birthday's. Our theme was black and white with a hint of Relay Purple and we decorated with wrapped birthday presents, candles, and black and white photographs of cancer survivors. We managed to feed about 100 people, give them a goodie bag of candy, and decorate the fellowship hall with no expense to Baldwin County Relay For Life. We did this through generous food donations, a $100 grant from our school's volunteer organization and we each donated $5 to help offset the cost.

After a semester of getting donations, making decorations and finalizing ideas, we began set-up in the church the night before. For 2.5 hours we moved tables, chairs, set table settings and decorated the walls. The day of the event we arrived 4 hours early to do the final touches and begin cooking the food. The menu consisted of hotdogs, hamburgers, baked beans, coleslaw, potato chips, a chocolate chip cookie and a cupcake. The walkway up to the church was lit with luminaries and to enter everyone had to walk under a balloon arch made with purple and white Relay balloons. Scattered around the room were 27 candles, 26 to celebrate the years of Relay For Life and 1 to grow on. After everyone finished eating, my class went and lit a candle on everyone's cupcake and we all sang the happy birthday song in memory of a cancer survivor.

With the exception of not having the promised donated cupcakes the day of the event, and having to go and buy them at the last minute, the event went very smoothly. I am very proud of my class and the hard work they put into that night. We managed to do a lot with a little.In terms of being the event coordinator I could not have asked for a more smoothly ran night. The Relay Committee was very happy with how we ran the evening and everything we had done in preparation for it. I think the night was very memorable and we all gained great event planning experience.

The School needs a new PR Professional

2009-11-21T16:55:00.000-08:00

In a side “Public Relations note,” I am disappointed in the press release featured on the University of New Mexico’s athletic page in reference to the incident of one of there women's soccer players. Elizabeth Lambert was suspended indefinitely because of her violent actions towards her opponents. The release is short and gives only a small quote about the tolerance of such actions. The school should have made it clearer that they do not stand for this negative behavior…and are planning on doing…to make sure actions like this do not happen again.

2009-11-11T14:50:00.000-08:00

Watch GCTV's News Piece

After a successful, yet not successful afternoon, I have to decide which outlook to take on the Guinness World Record Attempt. The outlook of a great success, or not so much. The Colonnade, our student newspaper, attempted to break the Guinness Record for the "Largest Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament." The record is 793 people and our attempt took place this afternoon. We only had 751 participants, just short of beating the record. In terms of our goals for the event: to spread awareness for the Colonnade, have fun, bring the school and community together, and break the Guinness Record, we did really well. Numerous news media attended and covered the event. They included: 13-WMAZ, 41-NBC, FOX-24, Macon Telegraph, Union Recorder, Baldwin Bulletin, and Z97.7, along with our own school media (The Colonnade, WGUR, and Channel-4). My favorite part of the tournament was when we were down to 4 people left in the tournament and people were chanting for who they wanted to win. When Taylor Harold won the tournament her friends charged the tournament area and threw her up in the air. It was such a fun and accomplished feeling. Accomplishing 3 out of 4 of the goals for the event was great, but that final goal, to beat the World Record, and knowing that we did not beat it is disheartening. A lot of time and effort was put into trying to make it happen. I gained so much from this experience, and was reassured that this is what I want to do with my life.

Faith, Hope and Love

2009-11-04T18:34:00.000-08:00

All You Need Is Love

Love is what got Patsy Spear and Louise Lyles through their hard times, and love is what has given them the strength to keep on. Lyles and Spear are not your average mother- daughter pair. They have experienced their fair share of heartache and pain, but through it all they have had each other. The two are each other’s best friends.

In May 2001 Louise Lyles was diagnosed with breast cancer. After the surgery, Lyles’ daughter, Spear took a leave of absence to stay with her mother for her recovery period. Just seven months later Spear was diagnosed with breast cancer, and had to go through the same surgery. Spear spent her recovery time with her mother.

“This time in our lives brought me and my mom closer together because we are the only people we have,” Spear said.

In May of 1999, they lost their husband and father, Robert Lyles. Shortly after Lyles lost her second sister to lung cancer and Spear lost a cousin with colon cancer. Spear’s has no siblings; her mother is all she has.

“Our faith is the main thing that carried us through,” Spear said. “It has always been a big part of our lives, even more so now.”

Lyles lives in Gordon and is retired from Warner Robbins. Spear has been the information specialist at the Convention Visitors Bureau for the last 15 years. She moved to Milledgeville in 1965.

For five years after their diagnoses Spear and Lyles had to take a daily pill. At the five-year mark, when there was no sign of the cancer returning, the mother-daughter paired realized they had been truly blessed to still have each other and went out to dinner to celebrate.

In April 2009, Spears nominated her mother for Channel 13 WMAZ “Remarkable Moms.”

“My mother has a big heart and is a giving person,” said Spear. “My mom is my best friend and I do not go a day without talking to her multiple times.”

Lyles was chosen as a remarkable mom because of the faith, hope, and love she has shown her daughter.

“If you do not begin your family with love and care, you will not get far,” said Lyles.

Spear’s contributes her passion and good heart to the examples her mother set for her all her life.

“I am the person I am today because of the things she taught me growing up,” Spear said. “She does not let little things bother her, and she has always been there when I needed her.”

Lyles loves her daughter for a lot of the same reasons. They both are thankful for each other’s devotion and loyalty to one another.

“I love my daughter because she is true to herself,” said Lyles. “I believe she is a gift from God. She is all that I have.”

The mother-daughter best friends spend every weekend together. Spear’s loves their quiet, quality time together. They both make it a point to embrace each other on every visit and they never end a night without saying to each other “I love you.”

Rock, Colonnade, Scissors

2009-11-02T19:14:00.000-08:00

Through my practicum with The Colonnade, our student newspaper, I am planning a large event. We are attempting to break the Guinness World Record for the largest Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament. Below is my press release. I have contacted many different media outlets with this information. This coming Monday I will be on Channel 41 NBC inviting the community to the event.

Guinness World Record™ “Rock, ‘Colonnade’, Scissors Tournament” Attempt by Georgia College’s Student Newspaper

The Middle Georgia community is invited to join hands with the students, faculty, and staff of GCSU in attempting to break the Guinness World Record™ for the “Largest Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament” on Nov.11, in an event sponsored by Georgia College & State University’s student newspaper, The Colonnade.

The attempt will take place on the college’s front campus directly off Hancock Street in downtown Milledgeville at 12:20 p.m. The largest Rock, Paper, Scissors tournament in record was achieved by 793 participants in an event organized at Brigham Young University, in Provo City, Utah, on April 11, 2008.

The Colonnade, a weekly newspaper ran entirely by students, is trying to break ground by doing something new at the college to promote the award-winning publication.

“The Colonnade is excited about having the GCSU community come together to break this record,” said Claire Dykes, editor and chief. “Since I have been a student on campus, I have not heard of any world records being broken, or even a record attempt organized by a student organization.”

The more than 793 participants will have to check-in before the start of the tournament to ensure proper documentation: photographs, video footage, and witness and participant signatures will be submitted to Guinness.

“I am personally inviting everyone I know, inside and outside The Colonnade office,” Dykes said. “This is a great way to inform students, faculty, and staff of their news source on campus, and to encourage them to pick-up a Colonnade at the event.”

At the start of the tournament participants will partner up and begin to compete. Each game will consist of three plays (the best of three is the winner) for each play each player has the choice of three throws: rock, paper, or scissors.

How it works: Rock: wins against scissors, loses to paper and stalemates against itself. Paper: wins against rock, loses to scissors and stalemates against itself. Scissors: wins against paper, loses to rock and stalemates against itself.

When a participant has lost, they must leave the roped off area immediately. The winner will find another winner and play best out of three again. This will continue until there is only one winner who will have their name sent in to Guinness as the reigning champion and will earn bragging rights.

Aha Moments

2009-10-26T19:41:00.000-07:00

In response to my Tipping Point ideas for the Relay For Life Kick-off, I was given a comment about checking out the aha moment website by Mutual of Omaha. I was asked to view Michelle's aha moment. Michelle's aha moment is her decision to start a Relay For Life team, after the death of her mother to breast cancer. After voting for Michelle's aha moment I went on to view other moving aha moments, but had to pull myself away before I voted for all of them. Mutual of Omaha is having a vote for the best aha moment commercials, the winners will be used in their 2010 aha moment TV commercials. The voting ends October 31 and what a better way to help start tipping Relay For Life than to have a commercial advertise it. So please go vote for Michelle's aha moment and help spread awareness for Relay For Life.

Tipping to the Front

2009-10-19T19:03:00.000-07:00

In Malcolm Gladwell’s book The Tipping Point, it is easy to get lost in the statistics and true facts of historic situations in the world. Galdwell defines a “tipping point” as when something (product, epidemic, disease, characteristic) takes off. It becomes popular, commonplace, and in some scenarios deadly. Galdwell believes “tipping” happens because of specific people using their key influential characteristics to talk about “something.” Things tip when statistics drastically change, items are suddenly on backorder, and people or communities do not know what hit them.

The specific people that control whether something “tips” are connectors, mavens, and salespersons. Connectors are like your social butterflies, or your overly involved people. Mavens hold products/companies in-check. Salespersons do just as a business salesman does, they convince their friends and innocent bystanders to share their same feeling. When trying to decide which type of person I am, I found it much easier to place my classmates under their own type. I can say confidently that I am not a salesperson, but I am stuck between a maven and a connector. I am not a social butterfly, but in the literal sense of the word connector I know lots of people, I know the right people to go to to get things done and who to go to when things need to happen. I could be part maven because I am a voice of truth and will not let people down.

My suggestion to make the Relay For Life Kick-off “tip” is to build personal connections with the team captains and cancer-survivors we want to come this year and every year after. In hopes that there will always be a Relay For Life Kick-off, our “tipping” should be to increase the participation for this event and also year after year. Go the extra step to make sure they are informed of the Kick-off and that they know this evening is especially for them. We can do this through building a relationship with our individual cancer survivor and by making them feel like a special part of this night. Then build connections with the team captains by making the night memorable and fun.

In a few weeks I have a very large event I am planning for the Colonnade. I have already started to apply what I have taken from this book to my event. Besides the normal advertising and promotions done for any event, I am working to make personal connections with people and encourage them to come. Instead of just relying on flyers, Bobcat Vision and facebook events, I am going to tell as many people as I can about my event with the hopes that they will see my intentions and come. I hope that with my connection and selling of the event the turnout will be phenomenal.

One interesting thing that stood out to me when I started to write this was that Gladwell wrote nothing about the perceiving part of tipping when the three different “types” of people would communicate. It would not matter if you were a connector, a maven, or a salesperson if the person you were talking to did not understand or did not want to understand what you were telling them. I only have one negative thought about The Tipping Point. There were so many references to different people it was very hard to keep up and I had to continually look back and figure out who exactly he was referring too. With that being said, all the stories and personal examples is what made the book real and recommendable.

Little steps to reduce my carbon footprint

2009-10-14T19:22:00.000-07:00

A carbon footprint is how an individual changes the environment through the life that they live. As I began to look at climate change with a public relations perspective I decided to begin with myself and how I live my life. When I was young, anytime anyone in my family would leave a light on, my father would make us come and turn it off. It did not matter if you were on a different floor from the light, or if you were outside playing with friends. Because of this I became very conscious of energy saving actions. I turn lights off, I turn water off while brushing my teeth, I take short showers, and I only do laundry when my load is full. One large action I take, which people have mixed emotions about, is the car that I drive. I drive a Volkswagon Beetle which gets great gas mileage. The kicker is that it is a diesel, so I use less gas than non-diesel cars, but my little car puts out a lot of black exhaust.

I next decided to look at my future (non-existent) job. When I get to the company I plan to look at ways the company can decrease their carbon footprint. There are so many ways this could be done: using less paper, unplugging outlets for weekends or off-days, recycling everything, setting up carpooling, purchasing community grown food items for employee parties or luncheons, use manual staplers, and have less elevator trips to conserve energy. I would also look into ways the company can conserve natural resources and I will promote this so it will become part of the companies public image.

*Another way I will help spread awareness for climate change in my future job is through social work. I will do this by participating in Earth Day and other environmental awareness days and encouraging my co-workers to participate with me.

At the current moment I believe my carbon footprint is pretty small and I hope that over the course of the rest of my life, including my career it stays that way. This site is great for calculating your carbon footprint. I was not able to my own because the apartment I am living in includes utilities so I could not fill out most of the important blanks.

Relay For Life Pitch thoughts

2009-10-05T11:54:00.000-07:00

Last week my Public Relations Admin class pitched our theme ideas for the Relay For Life kick-off to the Baldwin County Relay For Life committee members. My class was split into 5 groups of 3 and were told to run with how the American Cancer Society is the official sponsor of birthdays. We all had to create our own slogan,theme, menu, table decorations, wall decorations, and budget proposal (only being told we had $100 that we should not use). My group's theme was "Celebrate A Memory." We decided that you can celebrate a memory about more things than just a birthday so this would allow more angles of ideas for Relay For Life teams in the Spring . We chose to do this through black and white memories, like a polaroid picture. My class pitched our ideas in the fellowship hall of the church we will being using for the actual kick-off. Each group set-up their table decoration ideas and had proposal packets for the committee members that explained all our ideas. We were given 10 minutes to explain our ideas and answer questions to the roughly 20 person committee. I was nervous during our pitch time because I was not expecting to be talking in front of so many people. My group did great though because they picked our idea for Relay this year. Once my group finished presenting, I actually had to leave for soccer practice so I did not get to experience the rest of the evening. I am very excited about this experience and the role I am getting to play in this important event. I hope that everything goes as close as possible to planned.

The Colonnade's Golden Ticket

2009-09-22T11:45:00.000-07:00

This blog is going to be about what I am doing for my practicum with the Colonnade, my college's newspaper. Half of my practicum is writing articles for the paper and the other half is P.R. for the paper. With that I am doing 2 projects and keeping up with the newspaper's twitter accounts and facebook account. One of my projects is weekly. I have created a "Golden Ticket", much like Willy Wonka's Golden Ticket for the Colonnade. I randomly disperse 8 of these tickets every Friday into the 2nd page of 8 different papers. When a lucky student, or faculty picks up the paper with the "Golden Ticket" they are given instructions on when to come by the the Colonnade office and pick up their prize. Just like Wonka's ticket they are allowed to bring one friend with them. The prize consists of different Colonnade items/ apparel, usually a t-shirt, pen and grocery bag with the Colonnade logo on each item. My goal for “Golden Ticket” is to increase readership among students. Maybe a student does not regularly pick-up a Colonnade but last week they won a free t-shirt and really enjoyed reading about GCSU sports so from now on they choose to pick-up the newspaper and follow our sports teams. Another benefit is brand recognition which will be increased with students wearing the t-shirt, using the pen and shopping with the "going green" grocery bag. I will save my other larger project for a later blog.

Pause to Support a Cause

2009-09-16T06:48:00.000-07:00

The "Pause to Support a Cause" initiative is a very attractive way for corporations to demonstrate social responsibility. "Pause to Support a Cause" is a program to help companies gain market research while also creating an appeal to the consumer. After the customer fills out their profile for "Pause to Support a Cause" they will be sent market research survey's from different corporations to complete. The incentive for them to fill-out the surveys is what makes this program socially responsible. When you fill out your profile you get to decide which non-profit you would like money donated to. The non-profits include Special Olympics, Toy for Tots, the American Red Cross, and many others. "Pause for a Cause" allows consumers a way to contribute to their favorite charities without paying from their own pocket. This concept is great for corporations because they are able to reach the market they desire because of the consumer profiling information. Also, while accomplishing their research objectives they have the potential to improve the lives of many people around the world.

I think this concept is brilliant because of the way the economy is right now. People do not feel as though they have the money to donate to non-profits, and with not strong incentive people will not take the time to complete a survey. The program is also a beneficial move for corporations to increase their feedback, and to have a socially responsible plan to show consumers. This is a great initiative, I already signed up and plan on supporting the corporations that are using "Pause to Support a Cause" as a way to gain market research.

What I have to offer

2009-09-08T18:37:00.000-07:00

After reading Dave Fleet's post on the 14 Key Skills & Attributes For A New Public Relations Professional here is my list of personal skills that I am confident in and a list of attributes I will learn in my last semester and a half of college.

My Strengths:

Writing Skills: I have written many press releases and news articles and am comfortable with an AP stylebook
Communication Skills
Attention to Detail: I am very intuitive and always proofread
Media Relations: I created a media packet for a client including a media list
Pro-activeness: I enjoy learning, and if I do not know something, I take the initiative and figure it out. I like to look to the future and prepare for all scenarios
Work Ethic: I have a strong work ethic from having to juggle many different obligations while being a student athlete
Blogging: I am new to this area, thanks to my PR Admin teacher, and am learning the ropes
Microblogging: I just started tweeting this summer, follow me at lyrjet.
Social Networking Tools: facebook me at Lyric B
Coding: I have taken a web page design course and am very familiar with basic HTML
Social Media Ethics: The idea of ghost blogging "haunts" me, I think it gives people another reason to complain about the media

The skills I will possess soon:

SEO: If this means google I have it down, if it means electronic databases like Ebscohost...
RSS & RSS Readers
Blogger Relations

I look forward to updating this blog and moving every skill into my strengths section.

P.R. is a lifestyle

2009-09-01T11:31:00.000-07:00

Why did I choose P.R. as a concentration? Well, I became a Mass Communications major under the advisement of my mother. I am not book smart which eliminates a lot of majors and my strengths are in organization, planning, and communicating directly to the point. I chose P.R. because of my strengths and the aspect of making something appealing to two audiences, the consumer and the business/producer. I like to place my self in other people shoes and work to make them happy or content. One element of P.R. that I have loved since I was in 5th grade and on the staff of my monthly school newspaper, is planning events, marketing schemes, and handling public relations issues. I like to plan something, figure out all the miniscule details, and effectively execute it. This summer I had an internship with Chick-fil-A, where I helped plan, decorate and execute numerous family-oriented events. We put on luau nights, pirate and princess nights, superhero nights, football themed nights and other fun customer-appreciation nights. When people are all on the same page, I feel accomplished. I enjoy feeling well prepared and seeing the impact something I have done has made. I chose public relations because it best fits into who I am.

2009-08-23T17:55:00.000-07:00

I did it!