Real World PR Re-cap

This past Friday I attended the Real World PR conference, hosted by the Georgia chapter of PRSA. I attended some very interesting breakout sessions about Agency v. Corporate PR and Seal the Deal. I attended a resume review during the third breakout session and it ran a little long and unfortunately by the time I got out of the review, the final session had started and the room was full. Sadness. Luckily, during the final breakout session I got the opportunity to talk with representatives from Atlanta-area companies that were seeking PR interns which gave me a new outlook on my career path- it is OK to accept an internship so long as it furthers your experience. Below I have highlighted some of the main points of the day:

• Opening Session: Social Media & Politics

• Panelists from CNN: Victor Hernandez, Lila King, Jennifer Martin
• The most significant difference in political communication that has occurred in the past four years is the advent of citizen journalism which gives a view into the crowd. CNN iReport has capitalized on citizen journalism by allowing users to post video and commentary in the 1st person regarding breaking news
• Social media is enabling people to connect at a “virtual water cooler”
• User generated content is helpful to news because it can cover every corner of the world.

• Agency or Corporate

• Panelists from both Agency and Corporate PR: Renee Kopkowski, Don Roundtree, Hilary McKean
• Inevitably you will work in both Agency and Corporate PR in some way or another
• It is more valuable to take a job that gets you experience than anything else
• The first 5 years are a huge learning opportunity and it is important to take every opportunity afforded to you.
• Be persistant, trust the big picture. In times like this, it may be helpful to offer services pro-bono in order to get experience

• Seal the Deal-What you Need to Know to Land the Job
• Be able to pipe right up and shake people’s hands
• Be aware of your presence online (NO ONE looks cute being sloppy drunk on Facebook)
• Make sure you don’t have typos ANYWHERE in your resume or cover letter
• Research as much as possible before you interview with a company and come prepared with questions
• Be resourceful and step up once you are hired. People are always watching to see how you are doing!

I am really bummed that I did not get to attend the last two sessions, but I got some great pointers on my resume and I did get some serious face-time with some Atlanta firms that I would really love to work for.

All in all a good day! I hope it helps!

Now, its back to RealWorld Clemson, aka finishing senior year without a hitch

I could be studying…

I have always heard that senioritis hits MUCH harder in college than it does in high school. I never really agreed to that until this week. I have always been able to at least push through and get whatever it is I needed to get done finished at least by the time I went to bed the night before. Not so much the case anymore. I think I have developed a serious physical aversion to studying and I will find every excuse not to study! It doesn’t help that the next two weeks I have midterms and the weather happens to wonderfully gorgeous! I have contemplated residing my house over studying for the test I have today. I suppose that is a bit of an exaggeration, but I did happen to wind up taking a nap while studying and then going to bed at my usual prompt 11pm bedtime. I am not sure if I am prepared for the test that I am taking at 11am, but I do know that I am not going to get any more prepared because just looking at the notes makes me cringe!

I know for a fact I am not the only one with this serious aversion to studying, and from this fact I wonder if there is a market in offering a senioritis support group.  The group could meet and motivate one another to make to-do lists (my fave) and prioritize what needs to be studied and maybe even keep one another on track by studying together….or they could talk about how much studying they have and motivate one another to actually study and then meet Downtown for drinks, which can lead to the need for another support group. Phew! I can see how this can easily turn into a vicious cycle.

On a completely unrelated note, spring break is almost 1 month away!!!!

Brr!!

I woke up this morning to find that there is no hot water in my house. It is 32 degrees outside. BRRRR!!! I almost wish I hadn’t bathed this morning, I think I could have gotten hypothermia.

Today I am meeting with my Capstone advisor to go over my lit review for my senior thesis. I wrote the lit review a year ago so luckily I only had to go back and tweak it, but I did find that I will have to conduct a whole new study than the ony I proposed because my proposed study will take far too long to complete-maybe if I decide to go for my Masters I will do the study… Either way, tweaking my lit review was like pulling teeth!! I have been having a difficult time getting myself into gear this semester, maybe its senioritis, maybe its me secretly trying to prolong my final semester by not doing work, whatever it is, I need to step it up. Any ideas on how to motivate myself?

I have joined the blogging world

It’s taken me long enough I suppose…I figure I was becoming a blog mooch considering I lurk on other people’s blogs all the time BUT have nothing to contribute to the blogging world. Now I do!

So,  as of today there are approximately 100 days left before I am shot into the real world expected to take my dignified Clemson University degree and do something useful with it. No pressure. I am sure one of these days I will be ready to walk across that stage at Littlejohn, but tody is definitley not that day (tomorrow isn’t looking too good either). Like every second semester senior in college I am trying to devise ways to start freshman year again. It is not going so well, I suppose that is fine because life can’t stop just because I am not ready for a change.

Speaking of change, I found this  column in the Examiner by Heather Huhman about entry-level careers, her post yesterday called Your Last Semester Game Plan, which seemed especially relevant as I was looking for direction to guide my last 100 days.