acb thoughts

It’s been almost a month since I graduated from college and I quite honestly, I’m not sure I could have picked a worse time to finish school. The problem, in fewer words, is that jobs are just a little hard to come by these days. I can’t keep track of how many people I’ve emailed in the last month, inquiring about job opportunities, contacts within the industry, etc. The responses are the same almost every time: “We’re sorry. We are not currently hiring but we will keep your resume on file.” Along with a couple hundred others, I’m guessing.

A breath of fresh air in the midst of this mountain of rejection, was an email I received from Caroline Duffy, marketing director at Jackson Spalding-Atlanta. Caroline took the time to send me a personal email saying that although JS wasn’t currently hiring, she would love to have me down to Atlanta for a visit. I was completely humbled and impressed by this kind invitation and within a week, was on the road to Georgia.

My visit to JS was one of the best professional experiences I’ve had. Caroline was delightful and so informative and made sure that I met several other JS employees during my visit. Though some of our conversation centered on PR, other parts of it included reminiscing about my hometown of Asheville, N.C. and laughing about which fraternities are still popular at Auburn.

We ended our meeting on great terms and have already exchanged several emails in the last few weeks. This experience epitomizes good public relations. A senior-level staff member taking the time to advise and assist a young professional; building a relationship that has the potential to benefit both parties in the future. The overall result of this experience left me searching, but satisfied.

On Saturday morning, I drove through Chick-fil-A in a daze of fatigue and hurriedness. At the drive-in window I was greeted by the usual perky voice, “It’s a great day at Chick-fil-A; this is Sally, how may I serve you?” Perhaps I embittered by the rushed nature of my own morning, but I was a little put of by this display of over-exuberance. Begrudgingly, I placed my order and drove to the second window.

As I handed the cashier my money, she looked right at me and said, “Wow, you have the most beautiful eye color.” Completely caught off guard by this comment, I think I managed a confused “thank you” before I drove off. Looking back, I’m surprised she even noticed my eyes considering that I didn’t even look up at her until she made that comment.

Even so, it was a pleasant surprise to receive a genuine compliment from a total stranger. It seems that Chick-fil-A goes out of their way to make their customers feel valued and important. Although I’ve been guilty of labeling their animated employees as insincere and even annoying, I was thoroughly impressed this weekend with a new, genuine kindness.

I recently read an interesting article in the NY Times on branding. Opinion editor, Steven Heller, interviewed branding expert, Brian Collins, about the typographical design scheme of Barrack Obama’s presidential campaign.

To be honest, I really hadn’t thought of typography as having much of an impact when it comes to words and ideas. However, after reading this interview, I can see where Heller and Collins are coming from.

If I really think about it, I would never write an email to a potential employer in Comic Sans MS. I would never turn in a research paper written in Lucida Calligraphy. If I saw an SGA election poster done in Chiller, I’d be worried.   

Bottom line: typography and other branding techniques can work strongly to your advantage (or disadvantage) when it comes to getting your messages across. In other words, it’s worth some time and attention. 

Deep down, I believe that everyone has something they yearn to do. For my friend Callie Cooper, that yearning is to serve others. It’s amazing how she has found a way to do that. Back in January, Callie had a vision of painting a mural for the city of Auburn…the key phrase there being for the city of Auburn (i.e. not just the university). 

Callie sees, as many do, the segregation between the Auburn and Opelika communities, and hopes that painting this mural will help bridge some of that gap. In the initial stages of this project, Callie consulted children from the Boykin Center and Boys & Girls Club and let them come up with a theme for the mural.

The decided upon theme, “Dreams Come True” will depicted through ocean waves rising up to the sky and eventually turning into birds flying off into the sunset. Members of both communities are invited to help Callie and others paint the mural on Saturday, April 12, from 9-4 pm. The mural wall is located beside the Bicycle Shop at 147 N. College St.

As an Auburn student whose world has been shaken by tragedy this past week, I must say that I am extremely disappointed with my university and their lack of effective crisis management in the situation regarding Lauren Burk.

First of all, the story hit national news before most Auburn students and residents were even aware that the tragedy had occurred. Secondly, the much hyped-up AU Alert system was not utilized to warn students about the shooting. Instead, messages were sent 24 hours later informing students that rumors of an additional shooting were untrue. As if all that wasn’t bad enough, neither the Auburn Police Force nor the University’s Office of Marketing and Communication held a press conference until 2 days after the event.

Bottom line: the longer you wait to address a crisis situation, the more time people have to speculate, spread rumors, and blow the story WAY out of proportion. In the last 3 days I have heard more inaccurate versions of Lauren’s death than can be imagined. Both Lauren’s name and Auburn University were among the top 5 Google hits on Wednesday night and the story (regardless of the true version) is spreading like wildfire on the Web. 

A word of advice to my university and community safety forces: be proactive in your crisis management and say something as soon as possible after the event has occurred. Otherwise, you are hurting yourselves and the reputations of your organizations more than you know. Always do everything in your power to keep your community safe and bring closure to a situation as soon as possible.  

Please note that this entry is not meant to be a slam on Auburn University or the Auburn Police Force. The following thoughts are merely my opinions as student whose observations/suggestions have only heartfelt concern behind them.

I had a completely different idea for a blog post this week, but then I went to my photojournalism class this morning and we discussed something that really confused me. Each member of the class is required to bring in 3 photos on Mondays to be critiqued. Today, a girl had a picture of a man etching off names from the Vietnam memorial in Washington, D.C. Our teacher said that the picture would have been much better had the girl been closer to the subject, kneeling down beside him. I commented that since the subject was obviously grieving, the girl did the respectful thing in keeping her distance.

This comment led to a discussion about ethics in photography, more specifically the issue of respect. My teacher said that when you’re on a job assignment as a photographer, respect shouldn’t be a factor. In other words, do whatever it takes to do your job and do it well (i.e. getting the best picture possible). That comment really frustrated me and led me to wonder, is it possible to get the best picture possible and still be respectful of your subject?

I hope so…because if you can’t, my career as a photographer will be short lived. Fortunately,  I’m getting my degree in PR instead of photojournalism, but still. The question of ethics is relevant in any profession. In PR, it may not be invading someone’s privacy with a camera, but it could be being asked to lie for your boss. Regardless of profession or major, we as students would do well to consider our personal ethical standards now, before entering the workforce. The lines just seem to start fading the longer you’re out “in the real world.”

Hearst Magazines recently launched YouTube channels for three of its most popular magazines, Marie Claire, Seventeen, and Good Housekeeping. The channels sponsor magazine-branded contests that ask readers to upload their personalized videos. Contest topics focus on raising awareness about challenging issues, such as teenage pregnancy.

Lucia Moses of MediaWeek, says that Hearst’s “user-generated approach sets its deal apart from others that preceded it.” I would have to agree there. Currently, I am working on a campaign where my group plans to make use of video interviews.

In an effort to increase donations to the public relations scholarship fund at Auburn, we would like to interview previous scholarship recipients and post video versions of the interviews on the department’s website, blogs, and perhaps even YouTube.

In having an online presence, especially on a site as frequently visited as YouTube, we hope to increase awareness about the fund. In addition, sharing personal stories from people who have benefited from the scholarship can serve as an incentive to get people to give. Heart Magazines is using similar tactics to raise awareness and support for their issues, so if they can do it, why not us? 

This weekend I interviewed for two internships, both at smaller organizations. When asked what set me apart from other candidates, I mentioned my knowledge and experience with social media. Surprisingly, both organizations had the response of, “social media…what’s that?”

Even more surprising was the fact that neither organization had heard of many of the social media outlets I mentioned (Twitter, del.ici.ous, podcasting, etc.) Before I knew it, I was rattling off about the many benefits of social media; targeting niche audiences, crafting messages especially for an audience, networking, reaching buyers directly, etc. I didn’t realize until I finished that my interviewers were looking back at me with blank stares.

Looking back on both interviews, I worry that my “social media soap box” may have come across as cocky. I mean, I’m interviewing to be an intern and sounding like you know more than the CEO of the company probably doesn’t paint you in the best light. And so I’ve been thinking, how do we present our experience with social media to an unfamiliar public in a non-cocky, non-presumptuous way? How should we handle the people that have never been exposed to it or who are skeptical about it? If anyone has constructive thoughts on this matter…let me know.
 

Hats off to Union University (Tenn.) for their recent use of social media in response to a crisis situation. Following the devastating tornados of last Wednesday, the university posted messages on its blog, www.uurecovery.com, informing students of damaged dorms/ apartment complexes along with schedules of when housing areas would be available for visitation.

I suggest that other colleges and universities follow Union’s example and use what social media outlets they have (seriously…who isn’t on Facebook) to communicate with students in a timely and efficient manner.

My own university (Auburn) could stand to be a little more proactive in their selection of crisis communication channels. A few weeks ago, the pharmacy school at Auburn received an email that the authorities defined as “threatening.” While police were stationed at all entrances to the pharmacy building almost immediately, the student body was not informed of the potentially “threatening” incident until over 24 hours later. Ironically, a new security notification system, AU Alert, was implemented a few days later.    

Sara Goodkind, a senior majoring in public relations at Auburn, is doing more than her share of hard work. For the last two years, Sara has interned at the Jan Dempsey Community Arts Center.

While the Department of Communication and Journalism only requires its student to complete one, semester-long internship, Sara believes that the experience she will gain from working longer is invaluable.

As she nears the end of her college and internship careers, Sara is eager to share her experiences and advice with her fellow PR students at Auburn.