How Do You Measure Success?

One of the things that is constantly debated in public relations is how to measure the success of a campaign. Now, more than ever, we have to prove our worth as practitioners in order for our clients to appreciate our value to their business.

Last semester, I worked on a campaign to fight poverty in Athens-Clarke County for my capstone public relations class at UGA. There were countless times throughout the grueling semester that we wondered if we were truly making a difference to this daunting problem. We conducted student focus groups, interviewed faculty and attended community meetings to try to figure out what we could do to help. The best solution we could come up with to the problem, from a PR front anyway, was to create an umbrella organization to unite the efforts currently on campus working toward this cause. The presentation to our client (or should I say clients: we had a full classroom of attendees!) went very well, they loved our ideas and were very excited to take what we had come up with and move forward. And then the 21 students who created this initiative graduated and left Athens behind, hoping that the best would come of their plan.


So why am I bringing this up now, months after graduation and after I have moved far away from Athens? Because this article on UGA's Grady College web site popped up in my Google Alerts a few days ago.

Our presentation opened with the quote, "the greatest danger is to let this initiative die out." This article is proof that it won't die out, because there are people who care and are dedicated to carrying out our initiative. If that isn't a successful campaign, I don't know what is.

Could YOU Go One Day Without Shoes?

Throughout my Campaigns class, I've learned all kinds of terrible statistics about the poverty rate in Athens-Clarke County. Athens has the fifth highest poverty rate (28%) for counties its size in the nation. One in four children in Athens lives in poverty. The list goes on and on.

I recently learned another poverty-related statistic that shocked me - more than 40% of the world goes without shoes every day. Most of us stress out on a daily basis about finding the perfect shoes to match our outfit (admit it ladies), so not owning a single pair is unfathomable. That is why TOMS at UGA (a client of one of the other PR Campaigns classes) is joining in the national campaign, "One Day Without Shoes," to raise awareness of what it would truly be like not to own a single pair of shoes. The purpose of the event at UGA is to get as many students as possible to spend time barefoot in honor of those who must walk shoeless every day.

Tomorrow, join TOMS at UGA from 12 - 6 p.m. on Brumby Beach and "bare your sole" while listening to live music and bouncing on the moonwalk. At 5:30 p.m., a group will walk barefoot from Brumby Beach to Bolton dining hall to conclude the event. Students who already own a pair of TOMS can participate in the “Style Your Sole” activity and design their own signature pair. TOMS at UGA will also show “For Tomorrow,” a documentary detailing the company's mission and history.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with TOMS Shoes, the company donates one pair of shoes to a child in need across the world for each pair purchased. The name "TOMS" comes from the word “tomorrow,” as the company strives to provide shoes to help the futures of countries worldwide. Since 2006, TOMS has donated over 100,000 pairs of shoes.

For more information about TOMS at UGA, check out their blog, follow them on Twitter, or search "TOMS at UGA" on Facebook.

Are College Towns Recession Proof?

I have always thought living in a college town like Athens is kind of like living in a bubble.  Being in the transition phase of college, where you're finally living on your own but can still turn to your parents to support, can feel like a dream.  You have all of the freedom you wanted in high school, but don't technically have the "real" responsibilities of adult life.  In all likelihood, everything you need is within a one mile radius of your apartment.  Life is basically perfect.

Sometimes I wonder if, for these reasons, it seems that college towns are immune to the bigger problems of "real" cities.  I realize that Athens is a real city and definitely has it's share of real problems (see my posts on my Anti-Poverty Campaign).  However, sometimes it's easy to feel like we don't have it as bad as everywhere else.  The unemployment rate is far lower than it is in other cities, generally because the University provides so many jobs to the community.  Unlike some of my friends in the "real world," all of my peers are students, so I'm not constantly hearing about co-workers being laid off.  Students can still turn to mom and dad to fund their expensive meals out and nights drinking downtown.  

Maybe it's this mentality of "living the dream" that will make it that much harder to graduate and leave this all behind.  Only once we start searching for jobs do some of us start to truly realize the gravity of the situation our country is facing.  I guess we all have to grow up some time, but as I said in my last post, for now I'm going to enjoy every minute of living in my little college bubble.  

Shock Value: Is it Really Worth it?

Walking to class today, I was confronted with some disturbing images.  Despite the warning I had already gotten (via Twitter) to avoid the Tate Plaza today, I basically had to walk through there to get to my class in the SLC (I refuse to start calling it the 'MLC'... it just doesn't sound right).  For those of you who don't go to UGA, the Tate Plaza is basically an open forum on campus where various interest groups usually congregate and try to get out whatever message they are passionate about (and the SLC/'MLC' is our Student Learning Center, recently renamed the 'Miller Learning Center' after a former Georgia Governor).

So as I came down the stairs into Tate, I was bombarded with horrifying images of aborted fetuses.  Not just horrifying, but HUGE - the billboards must have been 20 feet tall (where do you even go to print something like that?).  There was a tiny sign in front of the display that said something to the effect of "Caution: Disturbing Images Ahead," but by that point there was no way you hadn't already seen the images.  There were posters with all kinds of facts about abortion, and a man preaching to passersby about why abortion is wrong.  

Abortion is a controversial issue, and I'm not going to get into my own views on it.  However, no matter what your views are, this display got your attention.  I understand what the protestors were going for - hoping to shock people into thinking abortion is wrong.  But how effective is that really?  The display definitely got people thinking and talking about the issue, but could it really change someone's mind?  When it comes down to beliefs about such personal issues, can something as simple (albeit shocking) affect their decision?

The main reason I'm so curious about this is that these exact abortion displays came up in our focus group for my Campaigns class.  We were discussing how to really get the attention of UGA students when it comes to the anti-poverty effort in Athens-Clarke County.  One student brought up graphic images like the ones in the anti-abortion displays.  Students agreed when something is so big and staring you right in the face, you can't ignore it, which I agree with.  However, it's one thing to create buzz and get people thinking about an issue, and it's another thing entirely to get them to act on these thoughts.  Would oversized posters with images of impoverished children and statistics about dropout and pregnancy rates in Athens get attention on campus?  Sure.  But the real question is, would these posters actually drive people to join the anti-poverty effort?

Ups and Downs of Campaigns

Throughout my life as a PR major at UGA, I've heard countless stories about how much work to anticipate in my capstone Campaigns class (see Dr. Kaye Sweetser's video, "True Life: Campaigns").  The class is designed to draw on every concept we've ever learned in our PR classes, from writing to strategic planning.  Even though I've had quite a bit of internship experience, this class has provided me with a whole new learning environment.  There have definitely been some ups and downs along the way, but as we get closer to the end of the semester I'm so excited to see how everything turns out!

I've posted before about this class, but here's a quick little aside about what we're doing...

Our class is helping various entities involved with combating poverty in Athens.  Most students don't realize that UGA's host, Athens-Clarke County, is the 5th poorest county in the nation.  Obviously, this project is a huge undertaking, and a class of 21 seniors can't solve the problems that have existed in this region for generations.  Our hope is that we will be able to re-energize the campus and make students more aware of the situation so they will be inspired to help.  Our main thought was to form an umbrella organization to bring existing anti-poverty student organizations together.

Everyone was so enthusiastic about the project at the beginning and couldn't wait to get started on forming a solution.  However, there was a lot of research that had to be done before we could jump straight into tackling the problem.  We have spent the last few months conducting student focus groups, interviewing faculty, and gauging the general interest on campus in the fight against poverty.  While everyone is anxious to "get something done," we have had to realize that our efforts would be wasted if we didn't put in the proper research first.  As graduation quickly approaches, we have had to adjust our strategy to more of a research-based campaign.  In the next few weeks, we will be creating a book to present to the client that includes all of our research and case studies.  It is our hope that our work will lay the groundwork for future classes.  While we may not get to see the direct outcome this semester, I know we will one day. 

I think the biggest lesson I have learned in this class has been about delegating.  I've always been someone who likes to get things done myself, and hates depending on other people for anything.  However, as a co-leader of a class of 21 students, I can't possibly do everything myself.  Myself and my other co-leader have spent so much time delegating work and planning assignments, which has definitely been a new experience for me.  I never realized how hard it is to get college students to turn things in on time! It's hard sometimes to enforce deadlines, but I've gotten great practice in leadership and project management.

All in all, Campaigns has been a wonderful learning experience, as I knew it would be.  There is no better way to prepare for a future career in public relations than actually executing an entire campaign.  I know I will look back to lessons I learned in this class for years to come.

Athens College Track

My PR Campaigns class (which I've mentioned in several posts) has done a good bit of research about how UGA students can get involved and give back to the Athens community.  Recently I heard about an organization in town that is doing just that, and I wanted to take a minute to talk about what they have been doing.

Athens College Track, a partner of College Bound Aid, was created to inform students and parents about the financial issues involved in education post-high school.  Athens College Track also makes scholarship information easily accessible to students.

This morning, Athens College Track sponsored The College Track Game, a life-sized board game designed to teach students about the importance of saving for college.  Two weeks before the event (which was hosted by Clarke Central High School), students competed in an essay contest, answering the question, “Why do you think college students graduate with debt? How can you start early to avoid this situation?”  The top three essay candidates competed in The College Track Game, which was modeled after the game of LIFE and taught students how to prepare for college in a fun, interactive way.  UGA athletes were there to cheer on the students and speak about the importance of a college education.  The game’s winner received a scholarship from Horizon Staffing.  Athens–area professionals were available after the game to talk to students about different career options.  

As we have discussed in our Campaigns class, one of the biggest causes of poverty is a lack of education.  Athens has an extremely high drop-out rate, but of those students who make it to their high school graduation, not many get the opportunity to continue on to college.  This campaign is great because it focuses on getting students information on scholarships and financial aid, and letting students (those in poverty or otherwise) know they can go to college. 

I wish I could have gone to see the event myself, but unfortunately I had to go to class (after missing them all on Friday for Real World I figured I should go today).  Here are a few pictures from today's event, which can also be found on Athens College Track's online news room.

Great job to PRSSA's 2009 Bateman team (Selena Robinson, Stephanie Perrett, Carrie Edwards, Erin Gentry, Leslie Emanuele) for planning and putting on this amazing event!

Campaigns Thoughts

So it's a month into the semester, and we're still in the very early stages of our "poverty" campaign.  We had yet another meeting today to get a better direction, and one thing is starting to become very clear: we have to narrow down our objectives, or we're not going to get anything done.

The problem facing us, poverty in the southern "Black Belt" (named for the color of the soil), has been around for hundreds of years.  When I said at the beginning of the semester that it was overwhelming, I figured it was because we were just getting started... but it's still overwhelming.  And it's February.  We graduate and this class ends in the first week of May.

The challenge our class has now is to figure out exactly what we can do to help, and how we can leave a lasting impression.  Let's be honest, can we completely solve the problem of poverty in 3 months?  No.  Can we do research, conduct focus groups, and lay the groundwork for a sustainable program to bond the community and the university in the coming years?  Absolutely, and that's what we're going to do.  

Campaigns Class Assignment

Over the weekend, I was responsible for compiling the class responses (for my Campaigns class) to a very difficult question – what is a better word for “poverty”?

One of our clients' main goals is to come up with a better word for “poverty,” because they think it has the negative connotation of people who essentially should be blamed for their own bad situation in life.   The reality is that many of these people come from generations of poverty, and it’s really one big cycle that’s very hard to climb out of. 

*Click here for more details about our campaign.

My first reaction to this assignment was that no matter what word we come up with to replace poverty, it’s going to mean the same thing. Almost any synonym you can come up with has a negative stigma attached to it (I have a list of 53 from every online thesaurus possible).  I (and the majority of my classmates, according to everyone’s assignments) thought it would be a better approach to educate people about the true meaning of poverty.   As many students pointed out, it’s more effective (especially with kids in our generation) to be up-front about poverty rather than dance around the term and try to google euphemisms for it.

However, when we brought this up in class our professor told us we needed to respect what our clients want, which is a synonym for poverty with a better connotation. Our class is facing a difficult situation – where do you draw the line between what you personally think is best and what your client wants? Even though more than half of our class proposed an educational campaign to inform people about poverty, do we throw those ideas away because they go against our client’s wishes? Can we pitch these ideas to our clients, or would that offend them since they’re more familiar with the cause and clearly know what is best? Check back, I’ll keep updating on how our campaign is going.

Athens: Home Sweet Home

The last three and a half years of college, I've been lucky enough to call Athens, Georgia my home.  I love it here, UGA offers so many opportunities and it's so much fun for someone my age to be here.  Athens is recognized throughout the country as one of the best college towns, we have a thriving music and bar scene, and UGA's football team constantly makes headlines.

All that being said, would you believe Athens' poverty rate is the 5th highest in the nation for counties with populations of 100,000 or more?  What about the fact that 28% of the people living in Athens live in poverty, or that one in four Clarke County children lives in poverty?  Until I started researching the poverty situation in Athens for my PR Campaigns class, I would have never believed these statistics.

As UGA students, we tend not to see the community outside of the campus bubble we spend the majority of our time on.  Sure, we all drive through the "bad parts" of town - but every county has those, right?  

These statistics and ways of thinking are at the root of the problem my campaign team plans to tackle this semester.  We will be working with various foundations and institutions to combat poverty in the Athens-Clarke County.  We're just now delving into the details of our clients, and have been brainstorming questions and issues to address.  My initial reaction to this campaign can be summed up in one word - overwhelmed.  How are 22 UGA seniors supposed to combat such a huge problem that has been plagued generation after generation?  I guess that's something we'll figure out over the next few months... stay tuned!

Course Expectations

Every semester, I get so excited about my classes during the craziness of the first week.  I love getting syllabi, buying books, and getting organized with new school supplies (I know, slightly dorky).  I realized though, that usually my perception of a class during the first few days turns out to be pretty different than how the rest of the course ends up (do professors do this on purpose?).  So I thought I would take a minute to write down some thoughts about my classes so I can look back at the end of the semester and see how right I was.

• PR Campaigns - I'm really excited about this one.  It's our capstone class for a Public Relations degree, applying everything we've learned so far to a real campaign.  Our class is working with entities concerned with combating poverty in the Athens-Clarke County area.  I've also volunteered to be one of the class leaders (for Honors credit) so I feel like it will be a great experience.
• Journalism & Mass Communication Law - Okay, who really gets excited about this class?  It's definitely important information, but I know it's going to be really hard work and a lot of reading.
• Rhetoric & Pop Culture - I wanted to take a fun class for my last arts & science credit, and I'm pretty sure that's what I'll get with this one.  The professor seems really cool and the subject matter is really interesting.
• Strategic Management - Another capstone class, this one is the last one I need for my Management degree in the Terry College of Business.  I'm expecting a lot of theory but it should be helpful information that I can apply to any job I have in the future, management-related or otherwise.
• Entrepreneurship - I've been waiting for years to take this class! Our professor told us we could miss class if it's a nice day outside but not if we have a job interview - he wants to encourage us to start our own business rather than "work for the man".  Although I'll probably be "working for the man" in about 5 months, it's always been a dream of mine to eventually start and run my own business (hence the Business degree).  We get to come up with a business plan for our company, so it should again be a great hands-on learning experience.

So I guess I'll be looking back on this post to see how accurate I was about which classes I loved/hated, but at this point I'm pretty optimistic about all five...