I can't even be mad that it's a vegetable...it's too good.

Michelle spent today welcoming an 18 1/2 foot Douglas fir tree to be decorated for the season’s revolving door of holiday parties, while Mr. President himself made a turkey sandwich and sat down to work on his upcoming speech regarding his Afghanistan policy. He probably also had some more pie. And thought about the state dinner crashers, presumably with a little chuckle. Pie does that to people. It makes you happier.

What does this have to with public relations you might ask? Truthfully, very little. I just really love pie and thought that it was awesome that the leader of the free world agrees with me. But let’s see if I can make this connect, if for no other reason than this is my last post for my class grade. Hmm….

Our country has a curious fascination with the goings on in the White House, what the President and his family do, and the traditions that are part and parcel of his position. We wait each Thanksgiving season to see our nation’s top elected official pardon a turkey. Yep, a turkey. We also can’t wait for details like the White House menus for important holiday and state dinners to be released. “Turkey and ham? Gee, maybe we should do that next year, honey.” Communicators can use this to their benefit, especially during the holiday season.

Here’s how: consumers don’t want to hear about serious issues in sombre tones, they want to hear fluff that lifts their spirits and incites holiday cheer. For nonprofits, especially, this can be hard. When the holidays are the season when need is highest, how do you get the average American to reach into their wallet and give up on a Black Friday deal in order to donate to your worthy cause? Well, you certainly don’t reach them with begging and pleas. You reach them by telling them what Obama’s favorite kind of pie is at the Thanksgiving table. Well, not literally, but as communicators we have to start thinking beyond the “we need – you give” mentality during the holidays. We have to find how to help our consumers “keep up with the Joneses,” or more appropriately the Obamas. If you can tell me how I can get the satisfaction of 6 pies on my Thanksgiving table by donating to your nonprofit, or make giving a family holiday tradition to rival Black Friday – I’m in.

Sure, that sounds easy. Ha. Here I go, off to change American holiday thinking! That, and eat some pie.

I'm gonna cut a b**** for that blender.

This year was no different. I stayed in working on homework and watching movies like “Elf” rather than going out into the cold to spend money I really don’t have. But there was something different about this year – this was the first year that retailers called the deals offered today “Black Friday” deals in advertising.  The popular phrase has been around for as long as I can remember (coming from the fact that the day after Thanksgiving is the first day that retailers move from the red to the black accounting-wise), but it has never before been seen in advertisement copy for major retail chains.

This year is also the start of another holiday shopping season trend: the use and reliance upon social media. Major retailers have started including plugs for their social media profiles in their advertisements. Sears ads offering deals and discounts on large home appliances show small icons for the Sears Twitter, Facebook and YouTube accounts. And it’s not just retailers using social media to advertise and reach consumers. Consumers are also turning to applications on Facebook and “tweets” from those they follow on Twitter to find the best deals and discuss specific products.

So, will social media make a difference in revenue today for major retailing chains? Only time will tell. It will be interesting to see if Facebook and Twitter use will make a noticable difference in store traffic, or whether consumers will really be as reliant on social media this holiday shopping season as retailers are hoping. No matter the results, anyone in public relations or advertising should be looking forward to the returns, because this new trend may become a holiday shopping staple, and a case study for further uses of social media.

(here are some articles I read related to this topic: “Black Friday shoppers tweet…“, “Black Friday may be first…“, “Black Friday Sales Ads…”)

While Thanksgiving is a time to eat until we can’t walk, because that’s what the Pilgrims would have wanted, Thanksgiving is, oddly enough, also a time to give thanks.  Get it? “Give” and “thanks” are both right there in the name! Wow, that’s handy!

In most families, everyone takes a turn saying thanks for all that we Americans take for granted the other 364 days of the year. Thanks for good food. Thanks for family. Thanks for friends. Thanks for our relatively good health. Thanks for Donny Osmond’s win on Dancing with the Stars. Thanks for pre-sliced cheese. You know, the essentials. And while I am whole-heartedly thankful for these fabulous things, I am also thankful for so much more. Things I would never share at the table, and things that don’t come to mind right away, but only after long reflection and soul-searching.

So, here goes. I’m putting my “thankful for” list out for the people…my loyal fans. You can read it, judge me, agree, skim through, or ignore me. No matter your opinion, these are the things I am truly thankful for in 2009 (in no particular order):

20 years of fantastic memories of my Grandpa – RIP Donald, you are truly missed

my mom’s continued health post-transplant

my first-rate education

my intelligence and love for learning

the friends that have seen me through this last year – it was rough at times, but we’ve made it!

raisinettes

good books (of which I’ve read several this last year)

sappy chick flicks that make you cry

the Oreo McFlurry

all 80 of the freshmen girls I have lived with in 2009

getting everything for free because “that’s how college is”

unlimited text messaging plans

my ability to legally consume alcohol/TEQUILA!

Dawson’s Creek on DVD

…and finally,

that the end of my senior year of college is rapidly approaching, and I think I can make it!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! May you have as much to be thankful about this year as I feel fortunate to have! Now it’s time for a nap…or a coma.

I am not Martha Stewart or in the third grade, so cookies are out. I’m not a professional yet, and don’t feel fully qualified to give my peers tips on being a successful cause marketer. Not to mention the fact that no one else in my class cares about my project anyway.  Which is why a list of takeaways is out, too. We’ve already sat through enough pointless two-minute speeches as a class on what each of us is researching, has learned from interviews and plans to do for our final project. I could not care any less about what other people are doing, and therefore refuse to waste paper by giving my classmates a handout of my main presentation points.

So, that leaves me with…what? Well, I finally decided. I don’t care if my “one page senior gift” makes me appear pretentious or nerdy. I don’t care if my peers read it once and throw it out. I don’t even really care if they understand it. I’m giving them a poem taken from the very end of Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll. That’s right.

I’m THAT girl. Oh, and I’m stapling my new business cards to the top so they have my contact information should they choose to call or e-mail me about how obnoxious my “one page senior gift” is. Don’t worry, I chose the poem for a reason.

I just finished reading both Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass last week and loved every second of my trip through Carroll’s bizarre world. I felt as mad as a hatter and as confused as the white rabbit. It was great! The reason I loved it so much was because it was just a fun, completely ridiculous, wholly pleasurable read that I think every one should take more time to enjoy. If my peers get anything out of my “one page senior gift” I hope it is the thought “I should read more often” or, at least a thought. That’s the point of the poem – I want my classmates to read it and THINK. Plus, if you read the poem carefully enough, it has an important meaning for college seniors about to enter the real world…or really anyone for that matter.

So, why be an intern? Well, for starters, you get the practice of applying your book learnin’ in the real world. Interns generally walk away with a portfolio of relevant materials exemplifying the best of their work. And, you never know when an internship position will turn into a full-time gig following graduation or the end of your designated internship period. Then they will pay you the big bucks, or at least some bucks. In public relations, you never know when that media pitch you wrote or gave, or that news release you sent out, or that special event you helped plan, will get you the attention you deserve and a surprise benefit. Your work could catch the eye of a client or your supervisor and lead to a position or important recognition.

Sure you will have those days, or weeks, where you feel that you are doing your bosses job for him/her and getting relatively little credit for it. Sure, you will spend countless hours doing research for media list and never interact with the media you find. Sure, you will make copies and maybe even make a pot of coffee for the office break room. The most important thing to consider when it comes to internships is: you get out of the experience what you put in. Make the best darn pot of coffee you will ever make,  because maybe your dedication to your supervisor’s caffeine needs will earn you their respect and prove to them that you want to be there, no matter what nonsense they throw your way. That’s not to say you should be an unmitigated suck-up, brown-noser, or boss’s pet – hold your head up high and keep your dignity, just know that today you are brewing coffee but tomorrow you may be pitching a story to a major media outlet.

*This post is dedicated to all of my friends and colleagues out there who are currently slaving away in cubicles, fighting their way to the top, enduring the perils of the everyday intern experience. (That means you, Schnuks! And you, AJP!)*

Wait, what? Did I just read that right? That can’t be a real story; it has to be a hoax. Unfortunately for the CTA, it’s no hoax. No journalist would make that up, even as newspapers are dying and looking for anything to keep them afloat. That’s just not something you joke about, and it’s certainly not something the CTA public relations/external relations specialist wanted to hear about. I can’t even imagine getting that call last night.

“So, a southbound Red Line train left the station with a 22-month old baby in a stroller trapped in the doors with the parents left on the platform. And, the baby was dragged along the platform, its head bouncing along, until baby and stroller hit a barrier and fell to the tracks. No worries, though, the baby didn’t hit the third rail and is doing well. Could you just whip up a press release for us to deal with this? We would rather have this not look bad for the CTA.”

No surprise, a search of the CTA online press room reveals a BIG FAT NOTHING. Which corresponds nicely to the CTA spokeswoman comment in the Chicago Tribune article — she didn’t give any answers and could only say that “the incident was being investigated.” Well, great. There’s no question that it should be investigated, the questions is, what is the CTA going to say about it?

Be cautious with all extremities...and babies. THE DOORS ARE CLOSING.

I’m by no means saying that I have the answer. I have no idea how I would be that spokeswoman, or what I would tell the press to cover the CTA’s butt after a disaster like this. I do know that I would want to say something. No matter what the higher-ups at the CTA wanted to do, silence is not the answer. I think most people (if not everyone) in the city of Chicago are waiting to hear the CTA be honest about this ridiculous and enormous mistake, and then apologize for it. Instead of using public relations to skirt around the real issue and divert the blame, the CTA needs to take responsibility, and use communication to prove concern and prove that the issue is being addressed with real action.

This is a perfect example of how a single moment can either cause consumer trust to plummet or soar, and how public relations and external communications can single-handedly make or break the company’s future in a crisis situation. It’s already been a tough year for the CTA public relations team, and this was not the way they wanted to end 2009. Thank goodness I’m watching this one unfold from the outside.

A week later I got a text from this friend saying “they just did a whole episode of Glee about mashups! haha. at least i knew what they were thanks to you ” What an interesting coincidence! Most people in my class had no idea what a mashup was when I presented my research to them, and didn’t know that those “mega-hit” compilations were in fact mashups. And yet, an entire episode of a wildly popular network program was dedicated to the concept.

The reason I bring this up is, as public relations professionals, it is essential for us to stay on top of the latest fads and technology revolutions because we can use them to reach our audience in new and engaging ways. Especially in a profession filled with social media news releases featuring video and all kinds of linked content, public relations specialists have to start incorporating every form of media into our press to get the message across. Knowing what a mashup is and how it can be used to attract an audience, or even knowing how to effectively manage a Twitter account, use delicious to bookmark content, and digg to track search trends, can make or break a viral public relations campaign.

I think it is also crucial to incorporate popular culture into news releases and public relations content, especially when targeting younger audiences. Once public relations professionals can harness the power of “pop” and make their content relevant and their audience curious, we will have a captive group more willing to take action. Making public relations campaigns into fads would be even more powerful, but we have to start with relevancy first.

The speech I wrote took relatively no time to write, approximately 8 minutes total. I would attribute that to the fact that I really care about the subject, and that I was writing for myself. I wrote the way I talk, and was able to use my own sense of humor. After I wrote, edited and practiced my speech out loud, I realized that had I been writing for someone else to recite, it would have been a much harder assignment. And then I realized that that is exactly the kind of speech writing public relations professionals do–for other people, in a different voice, on topics that have little or no personal significance. Well that’s awesome.

This epiphany makes me a little nervous. I don’t want to be one of those public relations people who has to write speeches for the president or CEO. Unless, of course, the president or CEO is just as sarcastic and quippy as I am. And they work for a company that does something I give a crap about. And the president or CEO thinks I’m a genius and never questions the work I do. Which, I’m just guessing, will NEVER be the case.

This guy could give my speeches...but I'm sure he writes even better than I do.

While I thoroughly enjoyed our assignment, know that speech writing is an important part of public relations work, and understand the fundamentals of writing a good speech, I don’t think I’m cut out to write speeches for others. Hopefully, if I am ever assigned this task in the professional setting, I will be able to extrapolate what made my speech successful from a technique standpoint and replicate that for someone else. That, or I will be writing for someone I know very well. Or at least someone who is willing to help me write a speech that we are both proud of.

Essentially what I’m saying is, I like writing speeches for me. I tend to know how my delivery will impact the words I choose, and I can write to my strengths. When it comes to writing speeches for other people, ask me at your own risk. I will write a killer speech, just not one for someone else to give successfully.

I felt proud to deliver my speech. I wanted the class to know that although RAs are the people who document you when you drink in the dorms underage or when you are too loud past quiet hours, we are also truly dedicated to our residents and want them to succeed.  We are the people to come to when you are in crisis; we’ve had training in that. We’re the first responders and often the first real impression a student has of Loyola. We live among you, and not in a creepy stalker kind of way. We choose this job because it really means something to us and we sacrifice living in swanky off-campus Rogers Park apartments with our friends to hang out with 40 freshmen on a daily basis. Yeah, I actually made that choice of my own free will.

So, what does this have to do with public relations? A whole heck of a lot, to be honest. My communication skills have greatly improved, and I’ve added to my communicator arsenal nearly every day. I have lived, worked, and dealt with people from all backgrounds and walks of life. I have learned to develop meaningful working and professional relationships with more than 70 different staff members, and will be leaving in May with a huge network of colleagues and friends. I have been trained to be a crisis manager, a first responder, and a mediator, all of which I have put to use in real-life situations. I have planned, marketed and executed educational and social programs for as many as 1000 people. I’ve done all of that and been a full-time student with an on-campus job.

Being an RA is a fantastic resume booster, sure. But, as I said in my speech, I could not have done it for the money or title alone. I have learned just as much from my residents as they have from me, and I can say without a doubt that I am a significantly different person now than I would have been had I not been an RA. I know, too, that I am a stronger and more confident communicator, which can be directly attributed to my training and experience in the RA position. So, thank you Loyola University Chicago Department of Residence Life for helping me become the best communications professional I can be. Oh, and thanks for the room and board, too.

Maybe I’m just too snarky. My bitter wit is too much for people when not delivered with my trademark smile. Also, I tend to laugh at my own jokes. I’m just that funny. Either way, I found this post to be helpful, even though I know I’m naturally funny.  (And very modest.) Matthew Willard, the post’s author, references Phyllis Diller so it really couldn’t go wrong. And there’s a joke about Letterman’s lady-loving. Also a hit.

I found it interesting, but also very true, that both exaggeration and subtlety are keys to getting a laugh. You have to subtly introduce your exaggeration, otherwise it just feels like you are trying too hard.  That’s why “yo mama” jokes are so seventh grade. Swearing is also a tried and true humor ploy, but Willard is right.  It’s only funny if it’s not prolific and there is little indication that it’s coming. Saying the f-word just to say it will never be funny. Leading up to a swear with a great anecdote or joke and then throwing it in there for emphasis, well that’s just gold. Sometimes even analyzing those choice 4-letter words can be very humorous (a la Dane Cook and his rant about why the f-bomb is so great).

Willard’s discussion of sarcasm left a little bit to be desired. He said that if you are already sarcastic then you should just write how you speak. But I feel as though that has failed for me in the past. Some of my sarcasm is very much about tone and inflection, which cannot be translated into prose. Unless you know me well enough to read in my voice, which some of my close friends have had to learn. He did say that in print sarcasm is more about the structure than the sound, which is very true. I just feel though, that there has to be a better way to translate sarcasm than simply relying on the format of the joke.  To me that would make for very dry writing, which my humor is in theory, but not in delivery.