Interviewing a PR Pro

The PR professional that I chose to interview for this assignment was Ashley Cleveland. Ashley is the Communications and Public Relations Specialist at the Stillwater Chamber of Commerce. Ashley is a graduate of Oklahoma State University, where she majored in Spanish and Journalism and Broadcasting, specializing in Public Relations.

It was interesting to hear her talk about what a typical week is like for her, mostly because she said her weeks are not typical at all. Other than the handful of mandatory tasks that she must complete each week, such as sending out the weekly emails to Chamber members and reading the local newspapers to stay current with local news, every week is different for her.

One thing Ashley said she wished she would have known before starting her career in PR is that it is not as easy as it looks. More specifically, the media is not as interested in the press releases she sends out as she thought they would be. She emphasized that this is why having impeccable writing skills is invaluable to a PR professional’s career. She said writing is at the heart of everything she does as a PR practitioner. Having good writing skills helps her with everything from being an effective speaker to being able to deliver a message concisely on Twitter.

After interviewing Ashley I think I am more likely to want a career in PR. After talking to her I realize it might be harder than I am imagining it to be but it sounds like a challenge I want to take on. A lot of the answers I got from the interview are what I expected them to be, but others surprised me. I was surprised to hear how unpredictable each work day is for her, even working in a smaller town like Stillwater. This assignment really opened my eyes to what being a PR practitioner really is and I think I learned a lot.

Flashmob City. Population: Me.

This past Thursday I took part in the first Flashmob to ever take place on Oklahoma State University's campus. And it was awesome! For those of you who don't know what a Flashmob is, it can best be described as an a large gathering of people at a public place to perform an act. In our case, this act was dancing. The students of my Advanced PR Media class organized the event to raise awareness of the name change of our school from the School of Journalism and Broadcasting to the School of Media and Strategic Communications. We were put into groups and each group was given a specific area to focus on.

I obviously volunteered to be in the group in charge of making up the dance and teaching it to everyone. I love to boogie so this seemed like the natural choice for me. We had three practices to teach the dance to other OSU students. We then performed the dance on Thursday, just after the Spirit Walk and before the kick off of the Oklahoma State v. Texas A&M game.

This was a really cool project to be a part of and a major reason for it's success was the use of social media. By using Facebook and Twitter, we were able to communicate with a much larger group of students than we would have had we not been able to use this tool. Our Twitter page http://twitter.com/OKStateflashmob acted as a reminder to all those participating in the event.

Here is a taste of the swagging that went on...

To say that the Flashmob was fly wouldn't be doing it justice. I'm not saying it had anything to do with OSU's come-from-behind, thrilling win over Texas A&M...but I'm not saying it DIDN"T have anything to do with it either.

Oklahoma is swagging again...

Well it looks like Oklahoma is back at it again. Literally swagging off the Richter! I think that September should be officially renamed to Swaggtember in Oklahoma. Earthquakes have been blowing up all over the state this month. I think this has little to do with seismic waves and more to do with just how fly our state is being.

This article gives some of the specifics on the 'quaking that has been taking place. This kind of earthquake activity is rare (like Mr. Clean with hair) in Oklahoma. I'm hoping this is a precursor for a season of swagging. That's right, I'm calling you out fall! You'd better bring in a season of fresh foliage. You officially started fresh, so I suggest you stay fresh.

I'm not saying we need to have a devastating earthquake hit our state or anything crazy like that, I'm just saying I will do everything in my power to keep up the swagging. If we keep it up they might have to do away with the Richter Scale all together and make a new one. Any name suggestions? I'm thinking maybe Rachel, just a suggestion.

Hands-free Partying

Have you ever been trying to get your party on and thought,  "Man, this would be a lot easier if I didn't have to have my purse on my arm!"? I bet you have. I've been dealing with this problem for as long as I can remember and I am sad to admit I even let it bring down my swag a few times. But worry no more, I have found the solution to this problem...It is called the fanny pack.

When most people hear the words "fanny" and "pack" they are less than excited. The fanny pack really has a bad rap. Most people associate it with mom jeans and scrunchies, but the fanny pack has been reborn. Watch out world! There are so many ways to trick out your pack and there is no need to follow the trends of clutches and shoulder bags.

I love a good fanny pack. Not only does it allow you to be hands-free in whatever you are trying to accomplish at that moment, (whether it be tailgating or bar-hoping) it also provides you with a great conversation piece with complete strangers. I wish I had a dollar for every compliment I've gotten on my various packs.

So what if not everyone "gets it"? You can almost guarentee that you'll be the only one at your respective bar/party/gathering with one. That is, unless I'm there.

Introduction

My name is Rachel Martin and I enjoy all things awesome. This blog will be my way of sharing all of the awesome things I see and hear with all of you! You are welcome in advance.

I am a senior at Oklahoma State University majoring in Sports Public Relations. This is my first blogging experience, so bear with me if this is a little awkward ;). I am excited to start sharing my ideas and hopefully getting feedback from all of you.

The things that interest me include but are not limited to: good music, Nike High Tops, dancing, anything mustache related (I will fill you in on what some people have told me is an "obsession" with stashes in later blogs), sports, and pretty much anything that is hilarious. 

If you're wondering how I came up with the name for my blog, I'll fill you in. So this summer I hit the town, Joe's to be specific, on a Thursday night with my partner in fly, Kasey. I'll paint you a word picture of our attire. We were both wearing different pairs of Nike Dunks and I believe mustache t-shirts that we created ourselves. We were approached and told we were "Swagging off the Richter" by a stranger. Needless to say we both agreed it was the best compliment we had ever recieved. This clever phrase has been in a vocabulary ever since. Thank you 40-something year old man, I owe you one.