I'm Baaaaaaack

Okay, just kidding on the whole "retiring the blog" thing... who was I kidding? This stuff is addictive.

Those of you who know me (hi Mom & Dad) know I've been semi-active in the blog world with my post-graduate picture project, 365 Days After Walking Under The Arch. Since the day I graduated from UGA, I've posted a picture a day to chronicle my adventures of apartment hunting, moving to NYC, landing a job, and just life in the big city. I've had a blast keeping up with it, and even better time looking back on it - which is why I started it in the first place, so I would have it to reflect back on. Now as April comes to a close, my 365 days are about to come to an end (nostalgic "OMG I've been out of college for a year" post to come, don't worry)... but I've really enjoyed the experience and don't want the blog to end! Sooo through an informal Twitter poll and conversations with friends and colleagues I've decided to bring this guy out of retirement. I thought about continuing on with the 365 days after that year was up, but that blog had a theme and a purpose and it will be over after May 8th.

So here I am, back to the original, since "The Next Chapter" can really still be applicable for the rest of my life (or however long I keep the blog around..). Being young and still figuring out where I belong in this city and in life, there are sure to be many changes for me in the next 365 days and beyond, and I want to document them. I'm doing this for me, so I'll have something to look back and reflect on (although I love comments so keep them coming!). Yes, I've been made fun of by some friends for my nerdy blog, etc. but I'm just going to embrace it... because I've decided I really am a bit of a nerd and that's okay :) Expect rambling, random posts about whatever I'm interested in at the moment. Hopefully I'll be able to stick with it better this time, but who knows...

Here's to seeing what the next chapter will be!

All Good Things Must Come To An End...

Every week I find myself making excuses of why I can't post on here. Busy with work. Out of town. Internet doesn't work (excuse for the last 2 weeks, thanks TWC). Nothing relevant to post.

So I've decided to retire my blog... I've really enjoyed having an outlet for my random thoughts and ramblings, and I've learned a lot about the blogosphere through maintaining this page (the reason I started the blog in the first place). However, I just can't seem to commit to updating regularly and that defeats the purpose of having a blog!

Thanks to anyone who has been reading and commenting :) I'm still planning on keeping up with my project I started right after graduation so check out my picture a day blog.

All the best,

Jess

Time for a Change

As much as I loved my skyline banner, I decided over the weekend it was time for a blog makeover. I wanted something more personal, so I made this one with pictures from all of the "chapters" of my life (if I'm sticking with the book metaphor, which I think I am) - growing up in Sarasota, college in Athens, and now whatever this stage of my life is in New York (adulthood? ah!). Anyway, I'd love some feedback! :)

Never a Dull Moment

A few days ago, I was asked (as I often am) what exactly I like about public relations. For some reason this is always a hard question to answer, not because I don't know what I like about it but I guess it's just kind of hard to articulate. 

When I first applied to the PR major in UGA's Grady College of Journalism, I have to admit I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I remember some mention in a class of event planning as a career, which I thought was the coolest thing you could do for a job, and after doing some research PR seemed like the logical path to get me there. However, I still didn't know what exactly public relations was. I'd taken marketing classes for my business major, and don't think I really grasped the difference between the two industries. 

The farther I got in my classes, the more I fell in love with the field of public relations. I love the writing, the pitching (as much as anyone can actually love pitching) and all of the opportunities to be creative. I also love the constant interaction with people. I'm really fascinated by people and the way they communicate, so figuring out how to get a client in the public spotlight is so interesting to me.

The one thing I heard over and over about PR, which remains my favorite aspect of a career in this area, is that there is no typical day and there is no such thing as "9 to 5." My worst nightmare would be to go to a job and do the same exact thing every single day without any sort of excitement or variety. This is the opposite of PR. Just this summer I've had so many fun, random experiences from painting baseballs for a giveaway to writing for a newsletter, posting to the company blog to researching why people prefer a certain franchise over competitors. Aside from a few daily monitors, I go in to work every morning having absolutely no idea what to expect from the day - and I wouldn't have it any other way.

100th Blogiversary

I had another idea for a post tonight but when I logged in I realized I've reached a milestone with my blog - this is my 100th post! Aaand let the nostalgic tangent begin...

I took a minute to read my first post, from the middle of December after a hectic week of informational interviews in NYC. I literally remember that night, staying up all night at my aunt's house in New Jersey thinking about where I would be after graduation. I was so determined to get back to New York after living here last summer, and that week in December was just the beginning of my journey to becoming a New Yorker. One of the interviews I went on was at Peppercom, and after several more rounds of interviews and writing tests, I'm so happy to be interning there. I'm learning so much from some incredible people in the industry I've dreamed about working in, and am having an even more amazing experience than I could have ever hoped for.

The second part to that dream was moving to New York by myself and supporting myself - which I think I'm actually succeeding at too! I have a lot of friends here, though most are just up for the summer, but I'm meeting new people every day and thanks to a few part time jobs I'm avoiding depending on my parents for the most part.

It's so cool to look back to just six months ago and realize how much I've done, and how I've truly accomplished everything I hoped I would by now. Happy anniversary blog, thanks for the memories!

No Day But Today

As I mentioned in my last post, I started a "picture of the day" blog about a month ago.  Each day, I post a picture of something I did that day or something that caught my eye.  When I started this, I figured it would just be cool to look back on in a year.  I know, without a doubt, that this first year after graduation will be the most exciting and life-changing thus far.  I'm living in a new city, interning for the summer, and for the first time paying my own rent and supporting myself the best I can (hello, 2 jobs).  I literally have no idea what I'll be doing in a year, which I'm actually really excited about for once.  Up until now, I've always known where I would be a year from the day.  Life was always dictated by what I was "supposed" to be doing... elementary school, middle school, high school, college, with some traveling, jobs and internships thrown in the mix.  For the first time ever, I have no plans, which is a great mixture of thrilling and terrifying.

Anyway, back to what I intended to write about.  Rather than something I'll look back on, my picture blog has turned into a part of every day.  Now that I have an iPhone, I find myself snapping pictures of random things I pass in the city that make me smile.  There are so many cool/funny/quirky things going on at any given moment in this crazy city, and I always end up with many pictures to choose from. 

Taking a picture every day makes me truly appreciate what I did that day.  Even those relaxing days where you do nothing but read 100 pages of Twilight and watch an entire season of Sex & the City (oh... just me that has days like that?) are special, and everyone deserves them every now and then.  It will definitely be cool to look back at the end of the year (well, May 2010) and see what I've done and where I've been, but for now I'm enjoying every day and what it has to offer... even if it's just vampires and HBO re-runs.

Week 1, Accomplished

Good news first... now that I have Internet in my apartment, I can finally start posting more frequently than once a week when I go to a coffee shop that has free wifi! 

So I finished my first week of the internship, and it was great. It was a short week because we started on Tuesday, and Friday was a half day because we have "summer Fridays" where we get out early every other Friday (assuming our work is done for the day).  I'm working on some really cool accounts and they're all very different which is exactly what I had hoped for! No day is the same, and there's so much work to be done so I've been very busy.  To top it off, everyone is so nice and helpful! It's obvious that everyone in the office gets along very well, and they have a lot of fun social events (that interns are included in) so there's so much fun stuff to do.

I've been thinking of a lot of things I want to write about, so check back soon and there should be some good posts coming up!

New Project

I'm about to start the crazy adventure of life after college. A year from now, I have no idea what I'll be doing and I couldn't be more excited about it! The first year after graduation will surely be filled with exciting milestones and accomplishments, and I want to be able to document that.

Starting yesterday, the day of graduation, I will post a picture every day for the next year that has some significance of what that day represented to me. Of course yesterday was too hectic to post any so I'm already starting off by cheating, but from now on I will post my pictures daily. This project was inspired by a friend and classmate of mine who did something similar (the year leading up to graduation) and I thought it was the coolest idea so I wanted to try it. So here goes...

Click here to visit my new blog, 365 Days After Walking Under The Arch.

Google Analytics: A Nice Ego Boost

When I started this blog in December, the purpose was to give me an outlet to express myself, to get some practice with writing, and to figure out how this whole blogging thing works.  So yes, I blog mainly for me, but let's be honest... it's nice to know there are some people out there who are interested in what I have to say.  As with all forms of social media, it's hard to measure the visibility and effectiveness of a blog.  Do I measure my readership by the number of comments I get?  By the feedback my fellow students and professors give me in class?  While these are great ways to gauge my readership, the only way to truly know who is visiting my blog is Google Analytics.

I first learned about Google Analytics in Dr. Kaye Sweetser's PR Research class last semester, in which we used the tool to analyze the traffic to certain blogs.  I was amazed at all of the things you can discover using Google Analytics, and best of all - it's FREE!!  So a few weeks ago, I decided to set up an account of my own and see who is reading my blog.

The statistics include number of visits, pages per visits, average time on the site, and bounce rate.  You can delve deeper into each of these topics, such is finding out demographic information about your visitors.  My favorite feature is the map overlay - it tells you how many visitors come to your site from different states, how long they spend there, and how many pages they visit.  Who knew there were people from Texas, California, and Michigan who have read my blog?  

Reading these statistics gave me a little ego boost that my blog is worth reading, but what I really would like is some kind of interaction with my readers.  If you're one of those people who came across this site on a search engine, or I've never met you before but you're interested in my humble little blog - say hello! Introduce yourself! I like meeting new people, even if it is via a comment box :)

If You Don't Have Anything Significant to Say, Don't Say Anything at All

The last few days have been pretty hectic... I've been getting unpacked from Winter Break, going to class, buying books and school supplies, studying (keeping up on my reading was a New Year's Resolution I forgot), and working.  I've been so wrapped up in my busy schedule that I've almost forgotten to post on here.  The truth is though, I haven't felt like I had anything important to say.  Which brings me to an important point about blogging...

If you don't have anything significant to say, don't say anything at all.  

Sure, it's important to update regularly especially if you're working to develop a following for your blog, but if you don't have timely, interesting information to present then what is the point in writing?  It's the same idea as news releases - if you don't have timely, interesting information then nobody is going to cover your story.  

I'm definitely excited about the semester though, and plan to post regularly about what is going on in my classes.  I have a full load of 15 hours - Public Relations Campaigns, Journalism & Mass Communication Law, Rhetoric & Pop Culture, Strategic Management, and Entrepreneurship.  I'm also planning to either intern or work for UGA's Creative Consultants (a student run PR firm), and am working two jobs - so it's going to be a busy last semester! 

How Often is Often Enough?

A debatable point when it comes to blogging is how often you "should" post.  Of course there is no concrete answer to this question, and if you google "how often should you blog?", you will come up with over 50,000,000 hits with different people's opinions!  

The general consensus seems to be that posting daily is best, because this gives your readers new content to look forward to.  If you have a pretty good following, your readers are likely to anticipate your daily posts and updating frequently will keep them coming back.  One article I read compared blogs to newspapers - if the newspaper was going to repeat the same story every day, would you ever purchase a new one? No.  The same is true with blogging - if you see the same post day after day, you're going to stop visiting the blog.

In the bigger picture, posting more frequently will give your blog better search engine optimization - meaning the each post is an entry point for possible readers to find your blog.  The more entry points your blog has, the more like you are to attract new readers.  

The answer to this question really comes down to the goals you set for your blog.  If you are blogging for personal reasons it would be okay to post more like 2-3 times per week.  However, if you are looking to grow your blog and attract a following of regular readers, it is important to update more frequently.  

(Yes - this post was inspired because I didn't have time to post yesterday.  I had a busy day at the beach and relaxing in the beautiful 80-degree Florida weather.  It's okay to be jealous.)

Here goes...

I've been toying with the idea of a personal blog for awhile now.  Ever since social media has become so big, especially in my field of study (public relations), it's all I ever hear about - who posted what, when, about who?  I helped launch a video blog for my last internship and enjoyed having an outlet for my thoughts, and with that internship having recently ended I have a void that needs to be filled.

Voila.  My blog is born.

With so many changes coming up in my life (graduating college, searching for a job, moving to a new city, etc.), I figured a blog would be a good way to keep track of my thoughts and experiences.  

And there's no better way to learn about the world of social media than diving headfirst into it right?  So here goes, I'm officially becoming a blogger...