Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Blogging: The beginning

In this day and age the economy is clearly a very rough market. Being a student about to graduate within the next year, I have realized that I need to seriously find a way to distinguish myself from every other more-qualified individual out there looking for a job. I mean what do I have to offer? Yes I've worked for my mom's pubic relations firm since I was old enough to answer a telephone, but when looking for my own career in the field of public relations I know that I need more to stand out than just saying I can put together a media list or write a creative press release. I know that in order to even get considered for a job next year I'll have to have internships (I'm thinking 3 or 4) but to be considered for those I need to have something impressive. WHAT DO I HAVE THAT'S IMPRESSIVE?? So far nothing.

That's why this past month I've been getting creative. In my classes I've been hearing the same thing over and over: SOCIAL MEDIA! "PR these days is all online, there's little face-to-face contact, you need to have a twitter, linkedin, facebook, and blog.." blah blah blah. I get it. I know why it's important. I know why I need to have all of those things, but I was always busy and would think to myself, "I'll get around to making one of those things eventually." Well now the day has come. My LinkedIn is updated with my personal resume. My twitter follows fashion PR professionals around the country. My Facebook, which I've actually had forever, is updated so that it's more professional. And a blog...well you can see how that's going.

Right now I'm working on the design. I used to make Web sites all the time when I was in middle school and high school, and I loved designing the flashy banners that would go across the top of the page and the backgrounds that would nicely complement them. I'm hoping that by the end of this week I can have something like that done.

As for the content, I plan to write each day (okay it probably won't be every day...) about something related to either fashion or PR. As I get more experienced you can look to me for tips and tricks of the fashion PR world but for now just expect links to other fashion PR blogs, ideas about new or cool methods of PR that I've been studying, or just great fashion trends that I'm currently obsessed with.

So my first topic: Susan G. Komen's Global Race for the Cure. Yes, I know it has almost nothing to do with fashion, but I studied it for a class today and thought that the PR tactics they used were so clever! First, a little background. I'm sure most people have heard about Susan G. Komen's Race for the Cure but you may not have heard that it recently became the global race for the cure. To celebrate this change Race for the Cure held a symbolic race in Washington D.C. (wish I could have been there! It's only 20 minutes from me!). First they had Dr. Jill Biden, the second lady, thank everyone for attending and tell them that they were all "paving the way for the cure." Then they had an inspirational message by CEO of Komen's Race for the Cure Nancy G. Brinker. Nancy lost her sister, Susan, to breast cancer in 1982 and made her a promise that she would do everything she could to find a cure...and voila! A huge global organization was born! The race also featured two performances and tributes by singers/songwriters, a Prince and Princess from other countries, a parade of 3,600 breast cancer survivors including 21 survivors from 18 countries, a symbolic seven-foot pink globe, and a visit from MGM's pink panther. The event was also emceed by reporters from CBS's The early show and W*USA.

I think that Susan G. Komen's Global Walk for the Cure did an excellent job making the walk inspirational and touching for everyone who attended. Surely all of these attractions would have driven people to come to the race and donate. Readers should keep this in mind next time they're planning an event: get speakers from capitol hill, get performers and celebrities, make it touching and emotional (women love that of course) and make it fun!

Oh I know...I make it sound so easy...