The Amandas!

For those of you who haven’t heard of “The Amandas,” it is the latest show to hit the style network. Amanda LeBlanc, an Alabama alumni, is an avid organizer who brings a unique outlook on how to reorganize particular areas without a mental breakdown. Amanda and her six cast members bring a quirky yet realistic way to transform items in your room and house to life. I had the opportunity to see Amanda LeBlanc and her cast members speak at Lovoy’s in Homewood, Alabama, on March 28th.

The event took place in the same town Amanda grew up in, thus,  it was inspirational to see all the neighborhood supporters, along with several UA students show up to listen to the reality star discuss hardships, her show and upcoming episodes. In correlation with the event, the first 100 guests received grab bags filled with goodies such as; Moroccan oil, earrings and other stylish products. The event ended up having a little over 200 attendees and Amanda made a point to keep everyone entertained the entire evening. “The Amandas,” had a successful first season and were eager to great all of their new fans. As a guest, I enjoyed hearing organizing tips from the self proclaimed “control freak.”

For those of you who haven’t tuned in to watch the show, I highly recommend it!

Tim Tebow & the Drama Surrounding

As an obsessive NFL fan, I understand and appreciate news revolving around teams I root for. However, in the past three weeks, I have been completely overwhelmed with the amount of coverage Tim Tebow has received. I’m not bashing him as a player, I’m merely stating the fact that, while, he is a talented young man, not to mention an excellent role model for children, he is not consistent and the constant uproar on ESPN is starting to get under my skin. Tehow has yet to prove to coaches, analysts and sporting professionals whether or not he truly belongs in the NFL. In fact, in Tim Tebow’s final three regular season games, he completed only 30 of 73 passes for one touchdown and four interceptions. The trade that actually took place in fact has added to the “Tebowmania,” even more so than before. The NY Jets, being an overly talked about publicity based team have officially turned SportsCenter into a debate over starting Tebow vs. Sanchez and their predictions of his success with the Jets. In conclusion, I’m an avid sports fan and I’m ready to see something new on the headlines. Whose with me?

Major Fair Takes Over Campus

The spring is a busy time at the University of Alabama. As the flowers start to bud and the quad turns greener, more and more students flock to campus to pass out fliers as students walk to class. Recently, as I was on my way to class, I was handed a flier for a “Majors Fair,” which included information about various majors on campus. Despite the fact that I’m graduating in August, I was intrigued and went to check it out. The fair took place in the Ferguson Center, on the third floor. The event was very well put together with tables and booths set up to help draw in potential students. As I attended this majors fair, I came to the conclusion that I indeed made the right decision when I chose to major in Hospitality and minor in PR. However, I would highly recommend to incoming students the importance of attending career and major fairs around campus. I’m grateful I checked them out freshman year because it helped guide me into making an educated decision about my future.

 

The Influence of a Professional

Recently I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to hear Senior VP of Time Warner and University of Alabama alumni, Ellen East speak to the school of communications. Ellen East joined Time Warner in 2007 after working for the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Ellen East captivated the eyes of over 75 students while discussing the “Golden Age of public relations,” explaining how the perception of public relations as a whole has increased internationally. According to the Time Warner VP, corporations are starting to understand the value of public relations and the fact that we live in a “reputation economy,” with a mere 38 percent of U.S. citizens actually trusting businesses and what they stand for. Public relations is a crucial part of managing reputations. Ellen East went on to emphasize the importance of utilizing social media in all aspects of maintaining your reputation and public image. According to studies, 73 percent of Americans use some form of social media. In conclusion, today’s companies are judged on so many different levels that the cost of getting public relations is more pricey now than ever.

Get Linked on LinkedIn

One of my favorite things to do in my free time is to read www.PRDaily.com, I have grown to really enjoy and appreciate the articles that are published. Earlier today I came across an article about the site LinkedIn, it caught my eye because it is becoming increasingly more popular and I recently made one myself. The article, written by Pam Velazquez, was to inform readers about the top 5 ways to attract an audience to your LinkedIn account. LinkedIn, with more than 60 million users, is a great way to connect with other professionals. Velazquez highlighted the importance of asking for recommendations, returning the favor and recommending others, use an image to create an image, start a brand group and regularly update your profile. I took a look at my LinkedIn today and decided I needed to focus on getting a few more recommendations and to constantly check for updates. It’s a little late to add a New Year’s resolution, however, my resolution starting this month is to better maintain my social media sites to help me stay up to date and connected with other professionals.

 

P.S. The article is http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/10917.aspx if anyone is looking for a quick read!

The Importance of Being Well Rounded in the Communications Industry

Graduate with a journalism degree and find yourself in the real world only to realize that your journalism degree isn’t all that you’re going to need to land a job. Recently, my journalism class had a guest speaker, Caleb Calhoun, a recent graduate from the University of Maryland. Caleb knew he had a strong desire to work in Journalism but what he wasn’t aware of was the little daily details his new job would consist of. Several industries especially in the communications fields are combining various jobs into one category, for example: Caleb is now a multimedia journalist for the Herald-Mail, a Maryland based news station that requires Caleb to not only report on traffic but also update website information along with his other posts. When Caleb visited the University of Alabama, he stressed the importance of learning a wide range of skills from writing, social media and website updating. Again, more organizations across America now expect students to have a basic understanding of all aspects of communications if that is the field you are interested in. Note to self: How important it is to remain up to date on the latest websites, trends, technologies and other useful information that you may be able to incorporate into your resume or job.

UA Get On Board Day 2012

Each semester at the University of Alabama, students crowd the Ferguson Center and swamp the brick sidewalks anxiously anticipating what clubs they are going to sign up for this semester. As you make your way through the mass amounts of people you are immediately drawn in by the colorful booths and signs promoting a variety of clubs. This particular day is “Get on Board Day,” each year the clubs on campus come together to recruit new members by setting up tables, booths and tents surrounding the center of Alabama’s campus. Seeing as this is not my first time attending “Get on Board Day,” I wanted to look into activities I haven’t already signed up for. I decided to head over to the PRSSA booth, which is a communications based club for public relations majors and minors. I ended up running into several classmates that were also intrigued by PRSSA. Since I have been a student here, I have only been a member of PRCA, after reading the information they provided, I decided that this would be a good opportunity to help further build my resume and get involved with new people. PRSSA has a lot to offer; internship advice, guest speakers, writing tips and social media outreach initiatives. In conclusion, I am anxiously awaiting my first meeting which will be this February.