Never Stop Learning, Part 2

Friday afternoon I had the opportunity to attend Internfest, an event for public relations interns in New York City hosted by the Council of PR Firms and Fleishman-Hillard. There were about 100 interns there from 14 different firms, all eager for advice about entering the job market. The event consisted of two panels and a session with a recruiter from APCO Worldwide, Jessica Lee. The panel speakers discussed what they like about public relations, how they got into the field, and their recommendations for those of us looking to land that coveted entry-level position (check out my post on Pepperdigital about our discussion on social media).

It was especially interesting to hear from a recruiter and learn a little bit more about what they're truly looking for. One of the first things Jessica said, and this shouldn't surprise any of you, is that when she gets an application one of the first things she does is Google the candidate. This reinforces how important it is to always be aware of what is said about you on the Internet, whether it's on one of your own personal sites or otherwise. She also recommended five sites that anyone trying to build a personal brand should be active on: Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, VisualCV, and Google profile. I was proud to realize I'm on four of the five sites (task for today: set up my VisualCV).

Jessica equated establishing a personal brand to the way companies establish their brand. After asking for successful brands that resonate with us, she recommended we figure out how to turn ourselves into a Target or a Starbucks. I also liked her point about building our brand even when we're straight out of school and don't have much experience to reference. "Think of Paris Hilton," she said. She is the perfect example of someone who has built her brand based on basically nothing. Does anyone really know what she's famous for? Probably not. Is she a household name? Absolutely.

I definitely enjoyed hearing from the speakers and was so inspired by meeting successful people in the industry as well as my fellow interns. Now to go work on that Visual CV of mine...

Twitter Does it Again

I've been contemplating all week if I should write something about the whole Twitter/CNN situation but haven't yet because I (a) just haven't had the time and (b) don't feel the need to "re-invent the blog post" so to speak, since there are so many great articles out there already (check out The Power of Twitter, written by a PepperDigital co-worker, or scan through the latest New York Times articles - there are new ones every day!).

The bottom line is that Twitter has once again made a huge impact on current affairs, and continues to beat out traditional news as a means of communication. We saw this a few months ago with the first pictures of the U.S. Airways crash being posted to Twitter before they made it to a broadcast news station. Today, Twitter once again "beat out" traditional news with the quickest updates on a story that hit close to home for me. Or should I say, close to my old home.

Having gone to the University of Georgia, I fell in love with the sweet little town of Athens over the last four years. Athens, affectionately known as "the Classic City," has an amazing downtown scene with tons of old buildings and hundreds of years of history. There are so many landmarks around the town that are well-known and loved by students and locals alike, but today there is one less.

When I woke up this morning, the first thing I did was check my e-mail, Twitter, and Facebook like I do every morning (okay, after I hit the snooze about 4 times - Fridays are rough). One of the first tweets I saw was about the Georgia Theater catching fire. WHAT?? I was immediately wide awake and began frantically searching the news for more information. (For those of you who don't know, the Georgia Theater is an old movie theater in downtown Athens that was converted into the most popular music venue in Athens, with headliners like R.E.M., Widespread Panic and other Athens legends over the years.)

I first did a Google News search to see what was going on... which gave me frustratingly few details (the theater caught fire this morning, more information to come..).  So, I posted a question to Twitter...

... and within minutes had responses from complete strangers filling me in on what had happened.  All morning, people have been posting live updates, pictures and videos.  Even now, there are few details to be found on traditional news outlets but Athenians continue to post the latest snippets of news on their Twitter feeds.  

When the U.S. Airways crash happened, people started saying that "it would only be a matter of time" before citizen journalism truly overtakes traditional media.  Where do we officially draw that line? Did it start to happen with the Twitter picture of the U.S. Airways plane down in the Hudson River? Can I say today, since I have relied solely on Twitter and have stopped bothering checking the local news sites, that Twitter has actually taken over? Or what about the situation in Iran, where citizens there can only rely on this one means of communication and all others are blocked? When will people stop saying it is "going to happen" and realize it is actually happening before our eyes?

Takeover of Twitter

When I first joined Twitter back in September, I had no idea what I was getting into.  I was participating in UGA's Connect Conference which featured a "social media boot camp" and many influential speakers from the world of public relations and social media.  One of the first things everyone did was set up a Twitter account, and although I had never heard of it I quickly got the hang of it and was live tweeting the conference in no time.  And so the obsession began...

It took me a few months to really get into it, but once I started following all of my PR friends (they seemed to be the only people who knew about it) from classes I got hooked.  It was an easy way to communicate with everyone and as addicting as Facebook.  I also started following PR professionals and news services, thus turning Twitter into an educational tool as much as anything.  But while Twitter became immensely popular with the PR people I knew, my "normal" friends still had no idea what it was.  I can't begin to tell you how many times I had to explain Twitter, and even once I did I usually got blank stares or questions along the line of... "so what's the point?".  

Fast-forward to now, almost a year later.  My "normal" friends from other majors have started popping up on Twitter.  It's all over the news.  I'm even doing Twitter searches at work as part of a daily monitor.  When did Twitter become cool? My friends that didn't understand it three months ago and thought it was weird/"stalkerish" are now jumping on the bandwagon! It's funny to see these social media trends evolve, and it's even funnier to tell my previously skeptical friends, "I told you so!"

A year ago, Facebook was the hottest thing in social media with people my age, and started the "stalker" element that Twitter has continued.  Everyone has had the experience of starting to tell their friend something they did over the weekend, only to be cut off by "I know, I saw your pictures on Facebook."  Now it's not so much this as, "Yea, I saw your Tweet about that." Is Twitter becoming more popular than Facebook?

According to this article on TechCrunch, Facebook is still "worth" much more than Twitter, and therefore has a bigger following and more popularity.  However, I can't help but wonder if in a year from now Facebook will be long gone (like Livejournal... anyone remember that craze?) and Twitter will still be around.

At Least They're Getting Social Media Right

As someone who is planning to move to NYC in the near future, I've been trying to follow the MTA fare hike votes as closely as those already living in the city.  Yesterday, the plan was approved to raise single rides from $2 to $2.50, and monthly MetroCard passes from $81 to $103.  These changes will go into effect on May 31st, and the Metro-North Railroad and L.I.R.R. will also see rate increases starting June 1st.  There will also be service cuts, which 

will likely cause even more crowding on busses and subways (is that possible?).  

According to the New York Times, these will be the most sweeping service cuts since the city’s fiscal crisis of the mid-1970s. Only once before in the 105-year history of the subway have fares risen two years in a row (fares last increased in March 2008).  These higher fees and service cutbacks are intended to help MTA with the $1.2 billion deficit it is currently facing. 

After reading a few articles on the topic, I posted this comment to Twitter:

Within 30 seconds, I had an email in my inbox notifying me that "NYC MTA Alerts" is now following me on Twitter.  Wow.  Upon further investigation, I realized the Twitter feed provides up-to-the-minute service updates, and never actually mentioned anything about the fare hikes.  However, I was still impressed with how quickly my tweet was detected (maybe it's automated? is there even a way to do that?).  

Well, slightly impressed.  Not enough to make up for the extra $22 I'll be spending every month to get around town.

How are YOU differentiating yourself in the job market?

Tomorrow, I will be participating in a podcast discussing the difficulties upcoming graduates are facing in the job market, and how to differentiate yourself.  The conversation will be hosted by Peppercom's Co Founder Steve Cody and COO Ted Birkhahn, and I will be among one of a group of senior PR students answering questions.

(For those of you who aren't familiar with Peppercom, it's a PR agency which offers global communications services with offices in New York, London, Chicago and San Francisco. It was also ranked by the Holmes Report as one of the nation's best places to work for three consecutive years, which is why I'm hoping to intern there this summer!)

I've been thinking a lot over the last few days about what advice I can give my fellow upcoming graduates.  With the media constantly in our faces about how bad the economy is and how impossible it's going to be to find a job when we graduate, it's hard to stay positive about our future! We've all worked hard through college, we have internship experience, and we're almost done earning our degrees... so now what?

No matter how bad things get, the fact of the matter is - there are still jobs out there.  You just need to be able to differentiate yourself and prove to potential employers why you are the best one for the position.  Competition is fiercer than ever, but rather than getting discouraged and resigning yourself to move home with mom and dad in a few weeks - do something about it! 

Here is some of my humble advice, based on personal experience and recommendations I've gotten from professors and fellow students:

• Use your network! HR departments get hundreds of resumes and cover letters a day, why should they read yours?  Talk to professors, other students, family friends - see if anyone has any connections that might be useful to you.  This may sound like you're just using people, but based on my experience people are more than happy to help if they can.
  
• Do your research.  If there is a company you're interested in working for, know them inside and out.  Read their blog, follow them on Twitter, find out everything you can about them.  Being knowledgeable about a company will set you apart from other candidates when applying for a job.
• Be proactive. After living and interning in NYC last summer, I knew it was where I wanted to be after graduation.  So, in December, I flew up for a few days for informational interviews with a few companies I researched and was interested in.  Just showing your face and talking with someone shows your interest and can teach you a lot about a company, more than you could ever learn from their website.
• Be open-minded.  Don't just look at big agencies, research smaller companies and internal communications positions.  There are a lot of opportunities in public relations, so look outside your comfort zone to find other jobs than you had imagined you would be looking for.  
• Intern! By now, we all should have internship experience, but you can never have too much.  There's nothing wrong with interning after graduation, and you never know where your connections with a company may lead you.  
• Immerse yourself in the industry and keep up with the trends. There is so much to learn about public relations outside the classroom, it's almost intimidating.  Spend time every day reading relevant news articles, follow the latest social media trends.  I learn so much every day just by clicking through links on my Twitter feed.  There are so many knowledgeable professionals out there with great information, so follow them!

Hopefully some of this has been helpful.  I'm really looking forward to hearing what other seniors have to say, and am so honored to be participating in this! I'll post links once the podcast is finished.

I'd also love any feedback on what you are doing to differentiate yourself, or just any thoughts in general on this topic!

Is This Real Life?

It seems like every few months, a new video comes up on youtube that everyone and their mother can't stop quoting.  The latest popular video has been David After Dentist... if you haven't seen it yet, take a minute to watch it:

Before everyone was asking if "this is real life" and if "this is going to be forever," all my friends were watching and obsessing over an adorable little girl's narration of a picture book of kittens:

And before that, who could forget about "Charlie Bit Me":

Each of these videos have millions of  views, comments, and ratings.  People have made their own spinoff versions, some even have blogs and are selling products with the most popular catch-phrases inscribed on them.  And while I'm one of those people that gets sucked into it, and can't wait to pass these videos along to everyone I know, I can't help but wonder how it all gets started.

Who was the first person to watch a video of a 7-year-old doped up after surgery and decide this would be the next biggest viral video?  How do these simple home videos get so much visibility that everyone knows about them, no matter what city or state they live in?  And what are these kids going to think when they grow up and realize they were social media celebrities before they even knew what youtube was? 

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 it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I realize this post is a little dated but it's taken me awhile to get back into the swing of things since my work trip last week.  Between my spotty internet access and very limited free time, it took me a few days to notice what happened when I was gone. 

Yesterday, when I got on Facebook to jealously stalk my friends' cruise pictures from Spring Break, this was the first thing I saw:


A few weeks (months?) ago, the layout of Facebook drastically changed, and it seemed that nobody was happy. All of my friends' statuses lamented the new format and hundreds of groups started popping up petitioning for the old Facebook. But of course within a week or so everyone quieted down and resigned themselves to the new layout. We all got used to it, and I can barely even remember what the old layout looked like.

So now that everyone has gotten used to the new Facebook, Mark Zuckerbeg has done it again. The layout has completely changed, I can't find anything, and everyone is confused all over again. Why, Facebook, why are you doing this to us? What was so wrong with the original Facebook that it needed two makeovers in the last six months? Facebook has been hugely successful since it was introduced in 2004. Are the people at Facebook just bored, so they keep switching things up on us?

Whatever the reasoning is behind it, I'm sure this new layout will get just as much flack as the previous "new Facebook." Maybe it's time Mr. Zuckerberg started sorting through the inevitable hate groups and realized the value behind the phrase, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Tweet Tweet

I feel like every few weeks, I post randomly about something cool I've found on Twitter... so in keeping with the that trend, here is one of my newest discoveries.

I've seen a few blog posts and tweets in the last few days about Twitter Mosaic (Dr. Karen Russell & Bert DuMars just as a few examples).  This tool is pretty self-explanatory, here is my Twitter Mosaic:

Get your twitter mosaic here.

Whenever I see things like this, I can't help but wonder (sorry, techie Carrie Bradshaw moment) what people will think of next.  Sure, it's cool to see a big mosaic of all the people who follow me on Twitter, but who sat down and developed this application?  I can't even begin to count how many times, when I mention Twitter, people ask "but... what's the point?".  There are so many useful things you can use Twitter for, but things like Twitter Mosaic prove that for each useful tool there is a pointless one (Tweet Like a Pirate... seriously?).  

I actually googled applications and toys for Twitter, and was shocked at how many hits came up.  There are hundreds of thousands of blog posts, wikis, and articles about different applications but the best resource I came up with is the Twitter Fan Wiki, which has a comprehensive list of desktop applications, web applications, and mobile applications.  You can also click here to see Twitter downloads available.

Oh Twitter, you never cease to amaze me.