Topic of the Week – PR Writing – Final Thoughts

The highs of the semester were being able to be creative in this class and think in a different way to achieve a different writing style. The lows of the semester were getting information from an outside source (the client) to base every assignment off of. The assignments were interesting because we communicated with a real client, but it is also difficult getting a grade on information from an outside source via an organization.

I would want to change the client aspect in that instead of every student having their own client, use one client for the whole class so that information is evenly dispersed and research about the client can be discussed in class.

I liked the promotional item assignment the most because there was even more availability to be creative on that assignment and think outside of the box. The final project was the assignment I liked least because of the critique aspect of the assignment. While critiquing professional media kits was interesting, it was difficult to find professional media kits that fit the idea of a media kit in this particular class. I also felt like I was repeating myself in the three critiques I did because the three media kits I found had similar strengths and weaknesses.

If I could add an assignment to this course I would recommend creating an advertising aspect to the course. To do this, I would require students to sign up to meet with Dr. Groover during her office hours over the course of a week. The students would have to dress professionally and act as though Dr. Groover was prospective client, investor, or vendor for their client/organization during the course and they would have to pitch/sell their organization to Dr. Groover. I would create this assignment because it is important to know how to communicate with people about the organization you work for. If you don’t know how to communicate your organization’s attributes to someone then you could cost your organization a new client, investor, or vendor.

This semester I have learned how important it is to pay attention to the details of your work. It is also important to stay organized in order to have that ability to pay attention to the details of your work. I will definitely be taking these aspects into the next semester.

Topic of the Week – PR Writing – Being Thankful

The first person I am thankful for is my mother. Last Thursday her mother passed away and I know Thanksgiving and Christmas are going to be hard for her. Her mother’s birthday is the day after Christmas so in fact I know Christmas will be difficult this year. She has always been the over the top mom when it comes to holidays and I hope this year I can keep her in high spirits. I feel pain for her because I can not imagine what it is like to not have your mom in this world and I pray that I don’t have to experience that for a long time. I’m thankful this Thanksgiving for not only everything my mom does for me and my family, but for the fact that I still have my mom with me.

The second person I am thankful for is my dad. I don’t think I have ever met a more honest, sincere, caring, stand up man in my entire life. And I’m not just saying that because he’s my dad. I’m saying that because that is who he is. He doesn’t have to say who he is because you see it in how he lives his life. I hope that I am half the human being he is and I hope one day I am at least half the parent he is to me. I never knew how much you can learn from a person by just watching them until I think about everything my dad has taught me. He has taught me to be compassionate when I am upset or angry. He has taught me to always be honest and work hard. He has taught me how important it is to help others in need. He has also taught me how give respect and earn respect, how to communicate with people, and how to do things that I think I can’t do because I’m a girl. If every girl was as lucky as me to have a dad like mine, this world would be a better place.

The next person I am thankful for is my boyfriend. I know that may sound like a cliche – but it’s true. He amazes me everyday by how much he helps people. He is always there if someone needs him and he gives me more support than I ever thought I needed. I don’t know if it’s because he is a stand up guy like my dad or if it’s his ability to make me laugh until I cry and my sides are burning, but I always seem to want him near me. He is three years younger than me, but he is more mature than half of the grown men I know. To say I lucked out in the romance department would be an understatement.

I am also thankful for my boyfriends family. Not only is his sister my best friend, but his parents are amazing! I have always heard the saying “when you marry the man, you marry his family too”. Well I am going to say “when you date a man, you are dating his family too”. After dating some guys with crazy mothers, fathers, or siblings, I am happy to say I have struck gold with this group. His parents remind me of my parents. They are funny when it’s time to be funny, teachers when it’s time to teach and supporters when their loved ones need support. I could not be more thankful that they have taken me in as part of their family. It was as if we clicked instantly and they clicked instantly with my parents too. To me this is a very good sign and likely that I have landed just where I belong.

I am thankful for my friends. They are a support group like no other and I can’t imagine not having them in my life. We are a bunch of jokesters who bring humor to any situation, but we know when one us needs the other and we come together in the best and worst of times. To only be 22 and 23 years old, we have experienced many different things in our lives and we have all been there together through it all.

Now let’s get to the things I am thankful for. I am thankful for Thanksgiving! Sometimes I think people over look Thanksgiving because they are either excited about Halloween or Christmas or both. But Thanksgiving is very important. The history of Thanksgiving, the meaning of Thanksgiving and the fellowship that takes place on Thanksgiving is very important. Most people tell their families and friends what they are thankful for and that they are thankful for them as well. What we should all do is tell the people we are thankful for that we appreciate them and love them year round, but this holiday reminds us to do that. How great is that! To have a day to remind everyone to tell your loved ones you are thankful for them and to try and remind them of that more!

As simplistic as it may sound, Thanksgiving makes me thankful for food. Not just the heaping dump truck full of food I eat on Thanksgiving day, but just food in general. I have never had to experience starvation in my entire life. I have never gone without water to drink. This Thanksgiving I am thankful for the necessities to survive because I know some people are starving on Thanksgiving. Some people don’t have a roof over their head or clothes on their back. This Thanksgiving I am thankful for the food I receive and the food I give to others. This Thanksgiving I plan to give more food year round and not just during the holiday season.

I am thankful for my dog. I LOVE my dog. Yes, I am a crazy dog lady. I predict in my future to live somewhere with a lot of land and have about 10 dogs running around everywhere. I’m going to be that woman that no one wants to come to her house because she has too many dogs. But hey, sometimes I love to be around my dog more than people. The current dog – notice I just said one dog – I own is a Mini Australian Shepard named Bear and he is the cutest, softest, most cuddly dog I have ever had. His favorite things to do are chase birds and squirrels (obviously) and try to out run cars (I know, I know). Luckily with the help of my mom I have him trained pretty well to keep him from running in front of a car. But when I go to my parent’s house where they have an underground fence for their dogs, Bear will stay outside in the front yard all day long just running back and forth alongside any passing car going down the street. And that is as close as he will ever get!

I am thankful for my bed. My bed is so comfortable. If you ask anyone close to me they will tell you that I love to sleep. I love to get my eight hours every night and I love to take my naps. As a college student, I realize how important sleep is and I know the effects my mind and my body take when I don’t get enough sleep. This Thanksgiving I am thankful that I have a comfortable bed to snuggle into at night.

I know some of the things I’ve said I’m thankful for seem trivial, but these are the things that make me happy. These are the things I can’t see myself living without. These are the things that make me thankful. With that being said, the tenth thing I am thankful for is hot showers. Hot showers can make me feel like a brand new woman. There is nothing better after a long day than to come home, take a hot shower, lay in my comfy bed, and snuggle with Bear until I fall asleep. When I sit down and think about it, these are some of the times I am most thankful for. I am thankful for the days when I take hot showers – and I take hot showers everyday.

Topic of the Week – PR Writing – Using Social Media

I agree with this Media Post article that teens and tweens are so obsessed with their phones that they experience FOMO. I also agree with the article that even though these teens and tweens are obsessed with their phones, they aren’t obsessed with social media. As the article states, while tweens and teens do use social media, it is not their favorite thing to do. In fact, social media wasn’t even on the tweens list of their favorite things to do, and it came in last on the teens list of favorite things to do.

With the exception of keeping up with their friends social media accounts, I don’t think tweens and teens really care about social media at all. Whereas college age students and adults actually read the news articles that are being shared. Most of my friends get their news from social media instead of traditional media like the newspaper or television or radio newscasts. I am sure teens and tweens are glued to their phones, but I don’t think the sole reason is because they are looking at social media.

When I was in high school I barely used social media. I was more glued to my phone so I could text my friends. At the beginning of my high school career, I didn’t know anyone who used the internet on their phone or had apps. Towards the end of my high school career, however, using the Internet on your phone became more common, but except for the occasional updating your status on Facebook, changing your profile picture, or uploading a picture to Instagram, social media was not a huge deal.

Now, since I have been in college (and I’m going on my fifth year) the use of social media has exploded. I find myself checking my phone for a text and then scrolling through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and sending a few Snapchats before I put my phone back down. I have easily lost about 30 minutes of time a day looking at social media. It has turned into a habit with the easy access that apps have created. Whenever I’m waiting in line somewhere, sitting in the waiting room at a doctors office, or even eating out at a restaurant, I find myself and the people around me scrolling mindlessly through their phones – mostly on social media. I think college students and adults have topped the charts at being so obsessed with their phones that they experience FOMO if they are without it. And everyone thinks it’s the teens and tweens who have a problem…

Topic of the Week – PR Writing – Dream Job

My career dream job is to work with a public relations team for a hospital and hospice. I would love to be a hospital’s PR spokesperson and help them with any PR needs they may have such as writing press releases, newsletters, talking about their mission to boards of directors or donors, and being the medium between the media and the hospital.

My aunt is a nurse who works for Hospice in Waycross, Georgia. She has been handed a lot of the PR work for Hospice because they do not have a PR professional on staff nor do they have the money to pay a PR professional for their work. My aunt works for Hospice because she believes in their cause and what they do. She has years of experience as a nurse and therefore is needed tremendously because of the knowledge she has accumulated from not only working as a nurse, but a hospice nurse as well. Seeing the work she does and how much she has to learn about the PR field even though she has no background in it, makes we want to have a career in the PR nonprofit field as well.

So my dream job would be to work for a hospital, as well as work for a non profit health organization. I have tried to set myself apart from others by volunteering my time with the American Cancer Society. I have been able to take what I have learned in class and help them organize their PR materials. I will also use my developed interpersonal communications skills and the knowledge I have developed about the PR field to shine among others.

I believe that through volunteer work I will be able to learn a lot about the nonprofit and the health fields that will help me develop a better understanding of how to create and cater PR materials to these two particular fields.

Topic of the Week – PR Writing – Halloween

I absolutely love Halloween! I love the decorations, the costumes, the candy and treats, and especially the movies!! My mom has always been great at holidays. She gets just as excited as kids do around the holiday season which has resulted in her being a big kid and passing her enthusiasm down to me. We spend a lot of time decorating the house, making treats and watching holiday movies together. I would say some of the greatest times I’ve had bonding with my mom are the times we are preparing for the holidays.

One reason I think I love Halloween so much is because it means the beginning of fall (my favorite season) and the beginning of the holiday season. When Halloween comes around I think to myself, “Okay now it’s Halloween, then it will be Thanksgiving, and then CHRISTMAS!!! And after Christmas, it’s my birthday on January 6! Even my name reminds me of the holidays! My name, Natalie, means Christmas child. I was due on Christmas day, but overshot that mark by two weeks.

Another reason I think I love Halloween is that I have always been interested in witches, warlocks, vampires, werewolves, goblins, and all around magic. I even have plans to visit St. Helen’s, Oregon one day. The Disney Channel movie Halloweentown was filmed in St. Helen’s and the town puts on a month long festival every year called Spirit of Halloweentown. It’s literally Halloween there for the entire month of October! I also want to visit Salem, Massachusetts because they supposedly go all out for Halloween too and because the town makes me think of my other favorite Halloween movie, Hocus Pocus. I plan to one day visit Whidbey Island in Coupeville Washington because that is where some of the scenes from my all time favorite movie, Practical Magic, was filmed. The town looks very interesting and a great place to visit.

I do still dress up for Halloween and if I am home with my parents I will help pass out candy to trick or treaters. But, I usually go to a Halloween party or to the Halloween Horror Nights at Wild Adventures in Valdosta. This year I will be going to Wild Adventures on Halloween to be scared by their “Terror in the Wild” themed haunted park.

My family and sometimes my friends get together and make a day of carving and painting pumpkins to put on the porch. carve and paint multiple pumpkins for Halloween so my porch usually has about 6-8 pumpkins on it every year. My family and sometimes my friends get together and make a day of carving and painting pumpkins to put on the porch.

My favorite Halloween memory was when I was in middle school and I invited my closest friends to go trick or treating with me and then spend the night at my house afterwards. My mom helped all of us with our costumes and makeup. My dad raked up all of the leaves in our backyard and before we went trick or treating, we all went outside and jumped and played in the piles of leaves. My mom took pictures of us and they turned out to be some hilarious pictures. Then my parents took all of trick or treating in my neighborhood and afterwards we ate our candy and watched Halloween movies the rest of the night. Halloween is a holiday where it seems everyone turns into a kid again!

Topic of the Week – PR Writing – Changes

If I could go back to freshman year, I don’t think I would do anything differently. I would actually try to be more like my freshman self throughout the rest of my college career. When I started college as a freshman, I was more organized, focused, and motivated than my Sophomore and Junior years. I started college knowing how difficult it may be and therefore worked very hard to make sure I didn’t fail. As I got more adjusted to college, however, I started to get more lazy in my work. I would skip classes, procrastinate, and barely study for tests. I just did the bare minimum to get by and make it from semester to semester.

Now, in my Senior year, I have become as organized, focused, and motivated as I was my freshman year. I have realized how I allowed myself to slip into the typical college student ways and how it has hurt me in my college career more than anything else. This year, as I am concluding my college career, I find myself wanting to work harder, focus more, and continue to keep myself organized by going to class, working on assignments ahead of time, and studying all material for tests.

If there is one thing I could go back to freshman year and do, it would be to tell myself how important it is to stay focused, get involved on campus, and develop relationships with professors. I would explain how networking with people and making connections in college will truly help me once I graduate and enter the real world.

Topic of the Week – PR Writing – TV

While I seem to always be too busy to keep up with television shows, I always make time to watch the new television series’ that come out around Halloween. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays and I love when Halloween movies and television shows start to come on tv. My favorite scary/thrill series is American Horror Story. The fifth season, American Horror Story: Hotel, premiered on October 7 and it is extremely interesting.

Some shows that I try to watch from season to season are American Horror Story (obviously), Supernatural, Orange Is the New Black (does Netflix count?), The Blacklist, How to Get Away with Murder, Scandal, Modern Family, Parks and Recreation, and Saturday Night Live.

When I select shows that I am going to watch on a weekly basis it is mostly because they are shows I have already seen before that I know are premiering a new season. However, if I see an interesting show advertised on tv and I have time to watch it, I will see what it is about. If it is interesting enough to me then I will try to start watching it every week. I will stop watching a series after one or two episodes if the episodes are not interesting, humorous, or suspenseful. The first few episodes must grab my attention and make me want to watch the next episode to see what is going to happen. So I usually lose interest in shows with a very boring or slow storyline.

As a 90s and early 2000s kid, I would love to bring back the shows I watched as kid on ABC Family, Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, and the CW like Lizzie McGuire, Evens Stevens, That’s So Raven, The Amanda Show, Drake and Josh, All That, Zoey 101, 90210, Gossip Girl, Dawson’s Creek, Boy Meets World and Gilmore Girls. I would want to bring them back because they were very funny shows that just showed kids being kids and being silly. Shows for kids that come on tv today are very stupid, they don’t teach kids very good life lessons, and they show children trying or doing things that are too old for them to be involved in.

As a PR Professional, I believe I would use the social media method to publicize a show because of how much social media has grown and how it is growing everyday. For instance, trailers for shows can be shared instantly and go viral in a matter of hours. That is a great way to get the word out about a new show or new season of a show because it grabs the audience’s attention and makes them want to watch for the premiere of that show. Also, different television channels are creating their own apps so that viewers can download the app and watch trailers for the shows that particular television channel puts out. The app also lets viewers watch full episodes of any episodes they may have missed or if they found out about the show after the season already premiered. Overall, social media has become the way to publicize just about anything and it will only continue to grow.

Topic of the Week – PR Writing – Music

I have always enjoyed listening to many different types/genres of music from bluegrass to rock and roll to country pop/alternative to rap/hip hop to alternative rock to 2000s country to today’s hits. I believe that I base what music I listen to at a certain time on what type of mood I am in at that time. Some of my all time favorite artists are Shania Twain, Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks, Sugar Ray, Smash Mouth, Good Charlotte, Dave Matthews Band, Dixie Chicks, Faith Hill, Joni Mitchell, Michelle Lewis, Harry Nilsson, Alan Silvestri, SHeDAISY, T-Pain, Ludacris, Outkast, Lil Kim, Missy Elliott, Akon, LL Cool J, Nelly, Ice Cube, 50 Cent, Lil Wayne, The Notorious B.I.G, Usher, Meghan Trainor, and Maroon 5, just to name a few.

Sometimes I like to listen to songs I grew up listening to as a kid because they bring back memories. Whether those songs be my classic 90s music or my parents 70s and 80s music that they would listened to when I rode in the car with them, I enjoy all of it because of the memories attached to those songs.

I think if I had to choose my favorite artist it would be Shania Twain because I grew up listening to her so much and now as I’ve gotten older, I only appreciate her music more. I think she is a very strong woman who truly wants her music to empower women. Twain had a very rough childhood. Her family was very poor, sometimes they didn’t have any food to eat, and she would sing in bars until late at night when she was about 8 years old to earn money for her family. She worked for her father in his reforestation business which is very hard labor work, and would clean her singing coaches house in exchange for singing lessons. I have always admired how hard she worked to get to where she is today and that she never thought a job seemed too beneath her because she knew it was what she had to do survive and to get closer to where she wanted to be in life.

If I could meet Shania Twain, I would make the focus of her bio sketch about the struggles she endured in life that encouraged her to pursue her career in country pop music and how those struggles made her the person/woman she is today. I would ask her how she felt about singing in bars at such a young age, what emotions she had as a child when her family didn’t have any food to eat, how did she survive, what was it like living in a homeless shelter, how did you help your mother raise your siblings, what jobs did you have while you were pursuing your career in country music, how difficult was it to make connections with people who could help your career, and would she have ever imagined she would be where she is today.

Topic of the Week – PR Writing – Bucket List

While I do not have a specific order in which I plan to accomplish everything on my bucket list, I do have many items I hope to experience before I am 65 years old. Traveling has always been the main item on my bucket list that I have wanted to experience. I specifically want to travel throughout the United Kingdom, Southern Ireland and Italy. I also want to jump out of an airplane over the Philippines, learn to surf in Australia, visit the orphanages in China where my cousins were adopted from, and work with relief programs in countries suffering from the effects of natural disasters.

There are so many things that have occurred in this world to inspire change and the betterment of people. I would love to learn more about these specific occurrences by emerging myself into different cultures. This idea may seem far-fetched and difficult to accomplish, but I hope to have the rest of my life to carefully plan and prepare to travel and learn as much as I can.

I believe that having these kinds of items on my bucket list can take a long time to accomplish. This is why I hope to work on my bucket list throughout the duration of my life so that one day I can look back and realize that I have experienced more than I ever thought I would. One of the best things I have on my side is a great support system of friends and family to encourage me to continue to work towards these goals and to not give up on them even if it may seem like I will never accomplish them. With encouragement like that I can fulfill my bucket list no matter if the task is big or small.

Topic of the Week – PR Writing – Dinner Party

If I were hosting a dinner party and I could invite five people, dead or alive, the first two people I would invite would be my parents. Being an only child has allowed me to experience a lot of things with my parents and has helped our relationship grow from a teenager-parent relationship to an adult friendship. I would want to experience this with them as well. My parents also have qualities that would help me with the dinner party. My dad is an amazing cook, and my mom is the most creative person I know who has an eye for how events should be set up and flow throughout the evening.

I would also want to invite Bill O’Reilly who has a list of titles behind is name, but he is known for being the host of his own political commentary program called The O’Reilly Factor on FOX News. I would invite him because not only do I believe he is very knowledgeable in world history, US history, and politics, I also believe that he has great ideas and opinions on the direction our country should be going in. He would be a great person to have a political discussion with and to receive insight from. I think my parents are very intelligent and after years of having political discussions with them, I believe they have great topics of discussion and opinions that would bring a lot to the table for a conversation with Bill O’Reilly.

I would also like to invite Steven Nardizzi who helped found the Wounded Warrior Project and is currently the CEO. I would invite him because I have always thought the Wounded Warrior Project is an amazing organization and I have always wanted to help contribute to its mission. Having Steven Nardizzi at the dinner party would allow me to learn more about the program and discuss what matters some wounded warriors are currently facing.

I would like to invite Paul Walker to the dinner party as well because as long as I have been watching movies with Paul Walker starring in them and as long as I have been a fan of his, I never knew until after he died that he had founded the REACH OUT Worldwide program which helps countries overcome the effects of natural disasters such as the earthquake that happened in Haiti. I would like to talk to him about his life and if he were still alive today, what would he like to see happen with The Paul Walker Foundation and what other organizations he would have liked to create.

For the menu, I would collaborate with my dad and he, my mom, and I would prepare and cook the food. I would really enjoy my dad’s shrimp etouffee over rice for the main dish. I would add a caesar salad, my dad’s homemade biscuits, and sautéed green beans. For dessert I would offer my dad’s 14 layer chocolate cake with coffee to drink. I would want the dinner to take place on a fall evening in the backyard of my parents house with lighting in the trees above our long wooden hand-made table with tiki torches to provide extra light. My mom would help with the setting, place mats, centerpiece for the table, and the lighting to design the perfect setting for a great discussion.