Events, Running AND Public Relations?

I feel like I learned more about the real-world event industry over the summer than I could ever learn in a classroom. My internship was with a company called Corporate Sports Unlimited. The company had three main divisions; Corporate Events and Meetings, The U.S. 10K Classic and the World Children's Center. Since I had such a wide variety of interests CSU allowed me to split my time at the internship between the separate divisions.

I began my internship working everyday in the events division. I got to attend all the event planning meetings, site visits, sales calls and much more. The VP of this division, Bob, made sure I was included in every step of the event planning process. Some days I would help research venues or organize activities for the events. Other days I would be out of the office meeting with our clients or actually working at events. One of my favorite parts was getting to go to so many events. CEM does so many events, and I had no idea corporations spent so much money to make their employees happy. Over the course of the summer I worked at family appreciation days, team building, picnics, carnivals, lunch parties, snow cone parties, ice cream socials and sponsor luncheons. CEM produces so many different types of events, and it was exciting for me to see how these events are planned and executed in the real-world.

The other divisions I worked for were The U.S. 10K Classic and The World Children's Center. The U.S. 10k is a huge (12,500 participants) road race in Cobb County on Labor Day. All the money raised from the U.S. 1oK goes toward the World Children's Center, which is the non-different profit division of the company. I really loved everything I got to do to help with the race because running is something I am extremely passionate about. It was really cool to work with my boss Stephanie in designing things for the race and helping her pull little details together for race day. I got to have some interaction with sponsors and see how some things work in the non-profit world. It was definitely a lot different then I expected.

About a month before the race (August 16th) the World Children's Center hosted a huge Gala for all the race sponsors. I got to do a lot of work helping prepare for this. It was neat because the Gala was similar to the athletic auction, except with a MUCH larger budget. They had hundreds of items for the auction, and tickets were $200 a seat. The event took place at the Cobb Galeria Center and the presentation was breathtaking. I was absolutely amazing at how lavish everything was, and it reminded me how much I love event planning. It felt great to know I had helped put so much together for this event.

Overall, I learned so much from my summer internship. I realized that doing PR for road races or triathlons is definitely something I am interested in. It was a great experience getting to work with an events division and a non-profit division all under the same company. It was just neat to combine so many things I am passionate about.....Events, Running AND Public Relations! What a great combo!

Oh, and if you don't have plans for Labor Day...check it out!

PR in Action...Younglife style!

Younglife is a high school outreach ministry. Every week Younglife leaders spend hours contacting high schoolers and spending time hanging out with them. We go to lunch, soccer games, track practice, chorus concerts and anything else we can to get to see the kids. Every Monday the leaders hold an event called club. Club is when all high school kids come to a meeting place and the leaders plan things for them to do. We act out characters, play games and sing songs, and one of the leaders shares at the end. (I know it sounds a little lame, but we always tell the kids they have to try it before they knock it.) 

At the end of the year all the leaders work together for the final club. We combine all the characters from all the clubs to make a big musical called the opera. Last Monday Gatewood Younglife held their annual Opera. Seven of the leaders wrote out their own script, gathered costumes, and rehearsed the opera over and over. We were all really excited to get to share all the opera with the kids, but we had to use a few PR techniques to get the word out...  

Now a little clip from the Opera. Enjoy...

This social network is getting a little crazy...

I officially just joined my SIXTH social networking website, and I have a feeling it's really only beginning. Pubic Relations people LOVE networking. Although I do feel like all these websites are getting a little crazy I was actually very impressed with the PROpenMic website. 

PROpenMic was almost a bit overwhelming when I first logged in. There were so many options I just didn't know where to begin. First I updated my information and chose a theme for my page so it looked presentable. Then I began to explore the website further. I saw a link to post your resume, and I thought that seemed like a good idea. 

I posted my resume, and then continued to click around. I found a list of internships, and jobs which would have definitely been useful during my internship search. I will be using that next year when it comes time to find a job. After clicking around a little more I found this article  about a PR Campaigns class at Auburn. 

I found the article to be very encouraging because this semester I have been doing PR for MBC-4, the GCSU news show. When I first started the position I was starting from scratch. They had never had a PR person, never advertised and had absolutely no budget for me to work with. It has definitely been a challenge, but I feel like MBC-4 has come a long way. This article gave me some great new ideas to publicize the show. If I end of working with MBC again I will definitely have some fresh new ideas next semester. It really is incredible what all social networking can be used for. 

Overall PROpenMic seems like a combination of a lot of the social networks I am already a member of. You can create a profile, chat with online friends and add pictures like Facebook. You can write posts and publish them like Blogger. It updates you on the latest PR news like Twitter. It has a place to look for jobs and internships like LinkedIn. It is really just a fantastic combination of social networks all rolled into one. 

Athletic Auction 2009 is a SUCCESS!

Planning the Athletic Auction for 2009 only assured me that event planning is what I want to do post graduation. When we got the motorcycle assignment months ago I couldn't exactly picture it, but Saturday night everything really came together. 

Our class worked so well together under the three AE's for the event. We stuck to out timeline, and everything went so smoothly. At no point did I feel extremely stressed out about anything. I think that is because we were very well organized about everything we were doing. The AE's assigned everyone an equal distribution of work so we all felt like we were contributing to the progression of the action. 

One thing I did learn from the auction was that even professionals mess up sometimes. One of my tasks was to get the T-shirts made for the class. I took the design and sizes to the place before spring break and he said he should have it ready a week later. When the week passed I sent him an e-mail to check up on the shirts, and he responded saying that the shirts would be ready the 10th. Considering that was the day before the auction I asked if we could push it back a day to the 9th. He said that would be fine. 

When I went to pick up the shirts the next day everything was wrong! Not only was the design huge on the front, but they had made up blue shirts. I have no idea how he got this idea. They didn't even have enough black shirts in the store to make the shirts that day, but they said UPS would deliver them the following day. I was just extremely thankful that I had pushed the pick-up date back a date. The owner of the T-shirt shop personally called to apologize and ended up giving me the blooper shirts, and everything worked out great. I learned a valuable lesson about how everyone makes mistakes and sometimes it is just better to plan ahead!

The thought the actual auction was a complete success. Our class worked great together, and everyone got along flawlessly. All the guests at the auction seemed to be having a great time which made all of our hard work totally worthwhile. I even got to be Thunder the Bobcat for a little while, but I won't say that was my favorite part of the night. 

Overall the auction was an amazing experience. We sold more tickets than ever before, and raised the money needed for the scholarships. I can't to plan the next event! 

The search for an internship continues...

I will not give up until I find an internship! I began my search back in February, but I guess that was not soon enough. I have sent out my resume to approximately 30 different companies, and I have gotten very few responses. 

The search for an internship has definitely been very educational. I feel like when it comes time next year to search for a job I will remember a few key things: 

1. Connections are KEY! 

Anyone who I have contacted and I have been able to mention a name of someone they knew, has been much more successful. People that know the same people I do are much more willing to work with me, and meet with me. Unfortunately I am just beginning my network of PR professionals in the real-world. I am excited to expand it with an internship this summer. 

2. Persistence is important! 

E-mails are not enough. Unless it says specifically states "no phone calls" sometimes I think it is a good idea to call. One lady e-mailed me and asked me to call her, but I had to call her multiple times before I heard back from her. These people are really busy so they need a few reminders too. 

3. It's never too early to start looking for jobs/internships

There is so much out there it can be overwhelming. You need to have an idea before you just start applying at random places. Maybe if I would have focused my search more into one aspect of PR I would have been more successful. I am currently going through a list of event planners in the Atlanta area. 

I have two interviews set up for Monday after I go home for Easter. One with a lady with the City Club of Buckhead and one with a company called Corporate Events and Meetings. I am excited about both of them, and hopefully one of them will be a success! 

My first PR interview

After I already published my post for the week I realized I wanted to write about my first PR interview. Last Monday I interviewed with a company called 360 Media in downtown Atlanta. I found the company online, and decided to apply for their internship. I sent in my resume, and a few weeks later got an e-mail about scheduling an interview. 

As the day came closer I began to get a little nervous, but I felt prepared. I made a mini portfolio and clipped a few of my best Colonnade articles, some things a did for TheraPups, an ad I designed, my best flyer and my resume. I pasted everything on nice paper got some page protectors, and bought an official looking binder. I felt much more confident walking into my interview with all my best work in hand. 

I arrived at the interview with plenty of time to spare and got to sit in the trendy little office waiting for my interview to begin. I absolutely loved the originality and sleekness of the office. Everything was so eye-catching and vibrant. It seemed like it would definitely be a really neat place to work. 

My interviewer came to get me about 20 minutes later, and took me into another well-decorated room. I really liked the attitude of everyone there, and it really made me feel at ease. She began by asking my what I was looking for and the experience I had already had in PR. She then asked my strengths and weakness, and went over a few things on my resume. She then proceeded to tell me all about 360 Media, and how they are very passionate about what they do. One thing I found extremely appealing about the company is that they only take on clients that they are excited about. She said they don't just take on a client for the money, but they want to make sure they are enthusiastic about the project. 

Overall I would say my first real interview was a good one. Whether I get the internship or not it was definitely a great experience. I felt well prepared, and really enjoyed getting to learn about this company first hand. I can't wait until I do get an internship (this one, or another) and I get to start seeing how everything I have learned in all my classes works in the real-world. 

TWEENS...What do they really want?

We have all been through those awkward in-between years otherwise known as the "tween" days. You are no longer considered a kid, but you're just not quite an adult yet. People in public relations and advertising have been trying to crack the code on this age group for years. What exactly does this age group want? 

Marketers and advertisers spend hours agonizing over what this highly sought after age category is into, especially the girls. These girls may seem young, but they are actually highly lucrative. They play a huge role on advertising, marketing and PR campaigns. Marketers are constantly attempting to decode the best way to reach these girls? 

Television? Phone? E-mail? Snail mail? Text? Facebook? Social media? What exactly are these girls into, and what exactly do they want? 

I found this article regarding the struggle among professionals to get inside these girl's minds. The author highly recommends that we stop trying to think about what these girls want, and just simply ask them. She goes on to write about how most "tween" girls are not as tech savvy as the general population. We must constantly be aware of this when trying to reach this target audience. Actually, the article said that only 84% of young girls even know what Twitter is, so forget tweeting them...

Overall these girls care about many topics that adults may not be aware of. A majority of them are much more aware of the world around them then we may assume. Marketers need to stop making assumptions about these girls, and start actually asking them what they want.