A New Direction

I’ve decided to keep up with my blog as much as I can although its purpose for class has now come to an end. I have found blogging to be an interesting and beneficial habit. So for now, here are just some tidbits of who I am and what I enjoy doing.

Listening: Maria Taylor’s new album, LadyLuck

Reading: Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife

Wanting: Wall pockets from Container Store. I’m about to move in a house so room decor is on my mind.

Needing: An A+ on my French final on Monday. En travaillant plus, je pourrais avoir de bonnes notes. Mais c’est non amuser.

Missing: My dog, Abby. Always.

A Realization. . .

So over the past few weeks I have felt incredibly overwhelmed with the need to be relevant, tactful, strategic and meaningful. The truth is, there’s only so much I can do. At the end of the day, I’m just me but I have learned a lot over the course of this school year.

Recently I realized just how much I have learned because I found myself applying what I had been taught in my journalism classes to a situation in a completely different kind of class. My struggle was that I believed the material presented in the class was not adequately covered by the professor in order to prepare us for the tests. When I attempted to approach him about my problem I felt there was little room for change (in his opinion) although I had several ideas on how to improve the situation.

Then it hit me.

Suddenly I was  aware that I had been unconsciously  forming objectives, measurement and tactics for this class. There was a problem, a miscommunication and I wanted to find a solution. Then I didn’t feel so discouraged about the outcome of the class because I felt confident and optimistic knowing that my other classes had equipped me well to approach tough situations.

As for the class, I may not end up doing as well as I’d like but I will do the best I can, take the grade and move on. I’m sure we’ve all felt that way each semester. More importantly, I know that I am beginning to grasp the tactics of PR in a new way that will help me as I gain more experience, especially this summer at my internship.

Reflecting on moments like these was actually enjoyable because a lot of things came to mind. I’ve changed a lot and found better ways to make my path through OSU lead to even bigger, exciting things. I’m not sure where I’ll end up but I think I’ll be ready when I get there.

Now, I leave you with a song…

Listen.

TOMS… JOIN the MOVEMENT

TOMS. You’ve seen them. You know about them. You may have already bought some. But I’m going to tell you what you may or may not know about the trendy, colorful shoes you see all over campus and why TOMS wants you to not wear any shoes at all this Thursday.

The purpose of TOMS is simple: buy a pair of shoes and another pair is automatically donated to a child in need of shoes. But there’s more to it than that. TOMS is a movement. If you take a look on the official TOMS shoes Web site, you can find under “Our Movement” a clear explanation of what TOMS is and how it came to be. Basically, a traveler by the name of Blake Mycoskie (@BlakeMycoskie) befriended children in Argentina who had no shoes. Troubled by this, Blake decided to create a company that would match every pair of shoes sold with a pair given to a child in need.

Since then, TOMS has given through shoe drops and trusted organizations over 140,000 pairs of shoes (as of April 2009) to children in need through the this One for One model. This year, TOMS plans to give over 300,000 pairs of shoes to children around the world. You can join TOMS by hosting community events to tell people about the shoes, applying for an internship or enter to win a Shoe Drop Tour in Argentina, which allows you to experience firsthand the act of giving.

Ok so, “Why shoes?” you ask. In developing countries, walking is usually the primary mode of getting around. Some children walk MILES just to get food, water or medical help. Because of this, their feet are prone to cuts and sores, which can lead to infection. Did you know the leading cause of disease in developing countries is soil-transmitted parasites which penetrate the skin through open sores? Wearing shoes can prevent this. (All of this information and more can be found on the official Web site, check it out!! and watch a short video of a shoe drop) If you have yet to get your own pair of TOMS, shop around on the Web site and use the promo code odwssa6EIX09050 once you find the pair you want!

THIS THURSDAY APRIL 16TH is One Day Without Shoes. TOMS is encouraging you to leave your shoes at the door in an effort to bring attention to the impact a simple pair of shoes can have on one’s life. So go barefoot for the day or just long enough to raise awareness. One Day Without Shoes events are being planned all over the country so visit the event page or the Facebook page to get more info about how OSU will be spreading awareness and find ways to get everyone involved! It’s coming up so decide now if you’re willing to go barefoot… I know I am.

* For more information about what you can do and all the simple way to help TOMS, visit www.FriendsofTOMS.org, a non-profit organization that creates and coordinates avenues for further involvement in the TOMS One for One movement.

For Those Who Helped Along the Way

When asked who my favorite professor has been so far, two come to mind immediately: Professor Jason Landrum and Dr. John Howland. What takes my thoughts to these professors is that I thoroughly enjoyed attending their class. In college, at least for me, it’s rare that you find a class you look forward to, especially freshman and sophomore year. These professors showed me the potential of what I could gain at OSU within my first couple semesters and left me wanting to pursue the path I was meant to take.

Jason Landrum, who is no longer at OSU, taught both sections of Critical Analysis & Writing. In class we read various articles and watched films in order to draw connections, discuss and write a thorough analysis of what we had found through the material. This class challenged my writing skills and encouraged me to not only cover every aspect of a subject but to elaborate and explain why. In high school I was good at keeping it simple, to the point and getting that A. With Landrum, that wasn’t going to cut it. Thankfully he broke me of my basic structure and pushed to me to write more. Now in PR, writing skills are mandatory and I am thankful for the experience and the challenges I had in Landrum’s course.

John Howland currently teaches several French courses at OSU. I was in Howland’s French I and Reading & Conversation I courses and in the fall I will have him again for Advanced Diction & Phonetics. Howland is a favorite professor of mine because I never expected to get as much as I did out of my language courses until I had him. He strives to engage with his students, sticks to a plan and effectively covers difficult material. He encourages interaction outside of class in order to strengthen our understanding of French and is always available to discuss concerns or anything at all about his courses or any other French course. Howland expects a lot out of his students but is also willing to help them get to the level where they need to be.

My PR Path

My sister, Meredith

I will now be blogging for my Public Relations Communication Methods course as well as Social Media. For our first post, our professor asked, “Why did you pick your degree path and what do you hope to do when you graduate?”

This is a popular question that I think I’ve had several different answers for. First off, how I picked PR was really random. I was sitting with my sister during orientation wondering what my major would be because I had really given it no thought. I was leaning towards something in the journalism school because I liked to write so my sister suggested PR. “Hmm,” I thought. “OK.” And that was it. I’ve stuck with it ever since and I really like it. So I’m thankful to my sister for that one.

But really PR did seem like the choice for me because I always knew that I wanted to use what I enjoyed doing to benefit others. I like to write, travel, work with children and I love art. While those are three completely different interests, it all comes together with PR. There are so many options in the field and I am excited to be able to channel my interests into wherever I may end up.

Plus, PR is about, as Bill Handy so often reminds us, building relationships. Effectively maintaining communication with others is a vital part of almost any career you’ll look into these days. Even now as a student, I am in constant need of communication with others. The relationships being built while I am still a student will help get me to where I want to go long after I graduate.

While I would love to have a job upon graduating, I would like to take some time off to travel outside of the country. Aside from that, I’ll be looking for jobs with non-profit organizations in Dallas, Oklahoma City or Tulsa but I’m willing to go wherever a job opportunity may take me. After a few years in a PR related position doing non-profit work, I’d like to volunteer for the Peace Corps.

Advice for the O’Colly

On Tuesday we had a visitor in our social media class, David Youngblood, the editor-in-chief of OSU’s Daily O’Collegian. David wanted to hear some of our suggestions for managing the O’Colly’s newly created Twitter account (@OColly). One thing that came to mind was the updates need to be consistent. The O’Colly is a daily paper for students so it needs to be communicating through every channel each day that the paper is available. Also, because not many students visit the O’Colly Web site, updates on Twitter should often include a link for easy access to the site. By posting the link to an article, students may re-post it for their  followers and then it’s shared with a whole new audience outside of OSU.

What the O’Colly needs is feedback from students. While there’s the option of writing a letter to the editor or visiting the site to leave a comment, it’s uncommon that students make the effort. With Twitter, it’s easy to see headlines for stories and what kind of comments have already been made. The O’Colly staff wants to hear what students think about the articles in order to make it a reliable, informative and entertaining resource.

The O’Colly has definitely made the right choice by forming a Twitter account and they should be open to different kinds of updates. Some options may be links to articles not published in the paper, requests for feedback from students about the paper or any newsworthy topic, weather updates or maybe even pictures from on the job and inside the newsroom. I think OSU students on Twitter have a lot to say in order to help the paper and now there’s an easier way to communicate those messages.

Pretty Day Playlist

For this playlist I decided to give more of an explanation as to why I recommend these certain songs. I love to hear why people listen to the music they do. Maybe someone they really care about introduced them to it, they heard it at a coffee shop or found it on a Web site. I even love to hear why people don’t listen to some music: an ex, annoying roommate’s choice, or always hated it and don’t know why.

So here are my current listening choices. Postive or negative feedback is encouraged:

Crystal, Stevie Nicks. I’ve been listening to this song a ton lately. I first heard it in one of my favorite movies, Practical Magic with Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. The movie’s story line is a little wacky but the setting is really beautiful. This song plays toward the end when Sandra Bullock is reflecting on the soulmate she may or may not have invented from a spell. It fits really well in the film and always puts me in a good mood.

Boy With a Coin, Iron & Wine. So while I do listen to Iron & Wine from time to time, I just discovered this song a couple weeks ago (thank you Last.fm!) Its faster rhythm set it apart from most of the Iron & Wine songs I had heard. Then I watched the video on YouTube and was completely fascinated (watch the video here).

Walking on a Dream, Empire of the Sun. This song played in one of the first few episodes of MTV’s “The City.” I have actually gotten a lot of good music from that show as well as from “The Hills” because the song titles are conveniently given to you at the bottom of the screen. I listened to it every morning for a while then forgot about it. Thankfully my good friend Kelsey had it playing in her car last week and it reminded me of how much I love it. I haven’t listened to anything else from this band yet but I’m definitely interested to hear more.

Someone Great, LCD Soundsystem. I first got into LCD Soundsystem from Gossip Girl (yes, I get a lot of music from TV) but only listened to one of their songs for a while before I heard more. My brother had their CD, Sound of Silver, so over the break I discovered this song. I was driving through Dallas going through some relationship stuff and the song fit perfectly. Sounds cheesy but its true. I think about someone in particular every time I hear it but still enjoy it immensely. “I wish that we could talk about it- but there, that’s the problem.”

Streets of Paris, The Teenagers. I am not sure how I first heard about this band; it was possibly from Katy Perry’s blog. Pretty random. But they’re a French trio, which I found interesting because I’m taking French (don’t ask me to say anything in French; I didn’t say I was good at it). This song is really fun and perfect for driving. It’s pretty much about a group of crazy teenagers running around Paris getting chased by some dudes in Nike caps. As for an underlying meaning, I’m not sure. I just really love this song. “C’est la folie.”

Pandora vs. Last.fm

“To play the music you love” is the mission of Pandora Radio. Last.fm is “a music service that learns what you love.” So what’s the difference? I’ve been testing out both of the sites in order to find out. Here’s what I’ve found…

Pandora, offered only in the U.S., is based on the stations you create by putting in your favorite artist. From there, a radio station is created to play music similar to that specific artist and their sound. You can have multiple stations, bookmark songs you like and skip songs you don’t like (but you’re limited to only 5 skips per hour). You can access more information about an artist as well as an explanation from the site as to why a certain song was played on your station. Overall, good quality sound and selection. I used Pandora almost daily for about 4 months until I heard about Last.fm.

Last.fm, based in London, was a little overwhelming at first; I wasn’t sure where to start. Yet after a few minutes of clicking around and searching for a few of my favorite bands, I quickly added the site to my favorites. I was hooked. Each artist has a page that provides full tracks, band bio, tour info, tons of pictures, videos, similar artists and more. In addition, you can choose a specific radio to listen to based on one band or a genre. My personal pick is the “Indie Radio” where I’ve discovered loads of good music. You can skip through as many songs as you like, add a song to “loved tracks” or ban a song from ever being played again. Last.fm does have additional features that require a subscription of $3/month but I think that plenty of music, pictures and information are provided for free.

My preference of the two is obviously Last.fm most likely because it plays a better selection of indie music. I’ve been more satisifed with its recommendations. I also enjoy that there is more useful information about each music artist.

Blogger Matt Singley had some interesting thoughts on the two sites. Read what his preference is here.

Both sites are excellent options for finding new music based on what you already love. I think these kinds of Web sites are gaining popularity and while Pandora is ahead in numbers, Last.fm may catch up soon. Give both a try instead of listening to your own iTunes playlist and find something new.

Time to Network.

So today was the JB Communications Expo, a networking event for employers to meet with students interested in finding a job or internship.

For someone looking for an internship, I felt I had a good amount of options for networking. I talked to PR firms and non-profit organizations for most of the time. I was able to put some faces to names and hand out a few résumés.

Overall, it was very enjoyable and helpful. All the employers seemed eager to meet us and willing to talk about their company. My fear of encountering awkwardness faded quickly once I arrived and started talking.

Not only did the event create opportunities for efficient networking but I think it also motivated us to get talking. OSU journalism students have a lot to offer and I don’t think we should be afraid to tell others about it. What’s the worst that could happen? I think more networking events like this expo should occur throughout the year. I appreciate all the work that was put into it; it definitely showed.

I’m excited to contact some of the people I met today and get closer to finding where I may end up this summer. As one employer put it today, I will be “going where the internship takes me.” Well said.

In conclusion, here’s an end of the week playlist:

Keep Your Head The Ting Tings

Lovers In Japan (Osaka Sun Mix) Coldplay

Way Out Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Love Dog TV on the Radio

I Could Say Lily Allen

Let’s talk about… Twitter

I’ve mentioned Twitter in previous posts but think that I should approach the topic with full force: what I like about Twitter and why, what I don’t like about Twitter and who I enjoy following on Twitter.

First off, I enjoy the “micro-blogging” concept because the constant feed from the people I follow keeps me thoroughly entertained and well- informed. I like how I can be receiving updates from such a wide range of people. One minute it’s my close friend complaining about class and the next second it’s a rep from Nylon Magazine tweeting from Fashion Week in New York City. Pretty neat. Also, choosing people to follow on Twitter seems less intrusive than adding someone on Facebook. With one click, you’re connected. On Facebook there’s more hesitation. I feel stalker-ish adding someone I recently met. And friend requests from people I’ve never met face-to-face or don’t remember are ignored. Moving on….

What I don’t like is figuring out all the codes and such. I’m getting the hang of hashtags but the rest of it is over my head. Also, the whole concept of not being able to direct message unless that Tweeter is following you is a bit frustrating. Twitpic is neat but not as neat for people like me without a camera phone. Although in about 10 days I should have one and I will be twitpic’ing all over the place.

I enjoy following a large, diverse group on Twitter: companies I like, contacts for possible internship/job, friends, professors, OSU networks, music artists, magazines and bloggers. Everyone has a different message they want to get out. They may never know who I am but I could potentially learn a lot from them. Kinda cool.

So while I am in no way an expert on Twitter, I wanted to share what I’ve been learning along the way. There are a lot of benefits to being connected and those shying away from the emerging social networks need to step it up!

Set up an account on Twitter if you haven’t already- it’s free! (And follow me, HfWood.)

https://twitter.com/