how i came to live in wisconsin...a fairytale of sorts :)

I’m standing in my boyfriend’s one bedroom apartment which straddles the Madison Middleton line of everyone’s favorite Midwestern state…Wisconsin. A week ago this place was, as he said it “four walls and a place to sleep.” Somehow, and rather quickly I might add, it’s become our home. We have art on the walls, food in the fridge…and of course a ridiculously crowded closet J

Eight days ago I got into my overflowing 2007 Toyota Prius, and nineteen hours later I was at his door. And I puked in the parking lot. How romantic, huh? A girl who’s lived on every continent except for Antarctica and I’m nervous about America’s Dairyland….geez Louise. The truth is…this move was not like all of my other haphazard plans and schemes. I’m here because I felt something I didn’t think existed.

When I was a little girl I never thought of weddings and babies. My happily ever after was a little different. I craved adventure, excitement, a life of strangers and one way plan tickets that would make Carmen Sandiego look like a stay at home mom.  And for a few years, I did just that. During college I had amazing opportunities to study in Europe and South America. I spent the summer after college living the island life on St Simons, and after that I decided to spend a few years in the cultural melting pot of Orlando, Florida working at the happiest place on earth. When that got a little dull I applied for a visa to Australia and bought a one way ticket.

So how did I end up in Wisconsin from all that? Rewind to summer of 2009 (or was it 08?), Scottsdale, Arizona.  I represented GCSU at the PRSSA conference. I was meeting and greeting with about 297 females…and six males. Clearly I ended up at the boys table, because I had a conversation with one of them at the pool early that day. And by a conversation I clearly mean a drink.

Our technical “first date” was at a place called Bada Boom Pasta Room. As we were walking in the doorman said “can I see your ID?” and I said “NO.” I can’t believe 20 year old me didn’t get questioned.  Noah now tells me I said it with such conviction that even he didn’t think to ask how old I was. After the pasta room came margaritas at Salty Senorita and then the opening of a club called Cream. And there was our ridiculous first kiss story…sorry guys not giving up all the details J  It was a weekend of working hard and playing hard…and it was seldom I met people so great at both.

Later that summer, my new friend Noah invited me to his friend’s wedding in Wisconsin. He said the wedding was on a Saturday so I arranged to fly on Friday…the actual day of the wedding as I later found out. Just before scheduled departure, they announced that Milwaukee was flooded and my flight was cancelled. So there I am waiting in line to change my flight for a weekend in L.A., when an older Spanish lady is frantically trying to be reunited with her family. Trouble is none of the airline employees can understand a word she’s saying.  After they repeatedly asked anyone and everyone in line to translate, I stepped forward and used my terrible Spanish to somewhat resolve the situation. When my turn in line came around, lo and behold it was the same non-Spanish speaking Delta employee I had assisted in her crisis ten minutes prior. …so clearly I flew first class on the first flight into Milwaukee that afternoon J

The adventure continued…a stranger came to get me from the airport as Noah was actually IN the wedding…that was happening at that very moment….so I was fashionably late to the reception but still managed to be part of the maid of honor and best man’s speeches J We enjoyed the zoo, caught a Brewers game, saw a few shows at Summerfest, and went to some sort of street festival with lots of cheese.  Go figure. Next summer, different wedding, same story.  Once he came down to Florida to visit his grandmother for her birthday and we went to Disney and saw the Magic beat the Lakers back when Dwight and Kobe were on different teams. Wherever we were, good times were sure to follow.

In Australia, I got a package on the opening day of Brewers season. A Brewers tee and a note saying see you next season. So clearly that’s why I’m here. Dude owes me a baseball game. Okay, that’s a lie. I’m here because he’s all I think about. After Australia he and I toured Georgia and Florida and had an amazing time in Orlando, Palm Beach, St Simons, Savannah, and Atlanta. These places all have special meanings for me and I loved letting him see those parts of me. And I got acquainted with his family really fast as we all celebrated grandma’s 80^th birthday together down in Florida. He came to Atlanta for the NCAA Final Four and to California when I was working out there last month. For whatever reason, I feel at home with him…wherever we are.

So the past week we’ve made breakfast, gone to the gym, made tacos, played catch, gone to the movies (a first for us as a couple), cooked spaghetti, snuggled on the couch, went grocery shopping,  and done those couple things I always thought were boring. Turns out they’re not.

Are things different? Hell yes. He now has tampons in his bathroom and 37 pairs of women’s size 7.5 shoes in his closet. And different for me? In the corner of our living room sits an army green Mezlan shoe box that once contained a pair of men’s size 10.5 dress shoes made in Spain but now holds 47 miniature horse figurines all delicately wrapped in newspaper from 2001.  After I stumbled upon this beauty, I text his brother “why did I unpack?!”  haha. Truth is, we both have our random little trivia facts. He collected horses, I collect (yes, still, as in present tense) elephants. We’re weird. Whatever. We’re weird together. For the first time, for me at least, I am who I am, not who I think I should be. It’s liberating.

So here I am. With my love. In Wisconsin of all places.  And its crazy .But life’s crazy. I always said I would never change anything in my life for a guy. Some of you may distinctly remember me saying something along the lines of “never change who you are or what you do or where you live for a guy, because he’s only a temp.” Ouch. Eating my words right now. But really the truth is, I still stand by that. I didn’t change for just “a guy” being with THIS guy is the best thing that’s happened to me. I moved to be with my best friend.  And for now, life has never been sweeter <3 font="">

**disclaimer: this story is also available in a 2 minute or less rehearsed “elevator speech” as we both have been forced to tell it numerous times to numerous people who don’t really care for the facts just the hows and whys. Contact either of us in the event that reading the above is too daunting J cheers mates!

Back in the U.S.!

I had mixed feelings on coming back to the U.S. after an amazing year in Australia. I found myself asking for rubbish bins instead of trash cans, telling people things like "no worries mate" or "good on ya," and keeping an eye out for kangaroos instead of deer while driving at dusk. Thank goodness I brought some Vegemite back for brekky to make my transition a little easier :) 

Downunder, I worked in hotels, restaurants, and nightclubs and did a lot of traveling. I lived in a van for three weeks traveling up the east coast, snorkeling the great barrier reef, visiting the world's oldest rain forest, and getting to know some amazing people. I saw a lot of Australia, and even went to Bali for some time before my visa ended (please see my Facebook for these awesome pics). I was afraid that when I came home nothing would compare to the experiences I had lived for that year, but thankfully I have a great group of friends and family who have shown me an amazing time since the moment I got back.

I was so thankful to spend Christmas with my family back in Onionville USA aka Vidalia, Ga. I visited some old friends (and former co-workers) at the happiest place on earth, stayed at an amazing hotel in historic downtown Savannah, spent some time back on St. Simons Island, saw some great concerts in Atlanta (P!ink and Big Gigantic), and got a behind the scenes tour of the Georgia Aquarium! I even did some work with a few former and new employers in Georgia. I  had the opportunity to do some writing again. I can't believe it had been nearly 3 years since my last article!! I got to interview two Southeastern Technical  College students for their website. I wrote articles about A father of two who was inspired to go back to school and a first assistant in the operating room. I loved being back with family and friends, and I must admit it felt so good to dust off the ol' recorder and AP Stylebook. Last week I visited Virginia Beach and then road tripped to West Virginia where I got to see snow and go to a Pittsburgh Penguins game, and now the adventure continues..

So where in the world is Beth Benton now?? Im currently in Huntington Beach, California soaking up the sun and doing a bit of work here and there. I work with Eat Well Play Well, a new company dedicated to providing nutritional meal options to busy families. This week we made turkey meatloaf with basil pesto, skinny mac n cheese with broccoli, Moroccan spiced carrots, chipotle corn and potato chowder, and black bean soup with a hint of jalapeno. This weekend I'll be working at a children and baby photography studio in Santa Monica, and next week I have plans for a trip to Vegas!

Guys, I thought when I came back to the U.S. I'd be sucked into a nine to five and wake up ten years later and wonder what happened. Thank goodness I could not have been more wrong. The thing is, life is what you make it. I have learned through all my travels (now every continent except for Antartica) that you can find adventure anywhere. If you do have that office job treat yourself to a weekend trip, go to a park, try a new recipe. Regardless of where you are, there are opportunities to try new things.

 I loved sitting on the beach in Port Douglas, Australia but I must say I haven't hated the view from Palm Beach, Florida or Huntington Beach, California. 

The truth is, happiness in something that's in us, not in where we are or even who we are with. This being said, don't expect my adventures to stop, just know that I'm happy where I am. There's nothing like the feeling of coming back through customs and hearing "Welcome home Miss Benton."

"A man travels the world over in search of what he needs, and returns home to find it." - George Moore

Living life like we should

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” -St. Augustine


So for those of you who don't know, for the past 5 months I've been on a little adventure....and by little I mean I packed up and moved to the other side of the world. Twenty seven hours of travel, $1,600 and two suitcases with the destination Brisbane Australia. I lived three weeks in Brisbane and then went for a visit of Surfers Paradise (the name says it all). I went back to Brisbane, packed my bags, and moved into a little apartment a block away from the ocean in Surfers. I worked at QT, a luxury designer hotel as a hostess, server and barista in their restaurant outlets, and saved up some money to go on what has been my most amazing trip to date: Ten days on the road seeing the most amazing sites in Australia. I fed a tiger at Dreamworld, got kissed by a seal at Underwater world, swam in Lake Mackenzie and floated down Eli Creek on Fraser Island, visited the largest waterfall in Australia, and snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef. The people are so friendly and laid back, and the sights are absolutely breathtaking. I still cant believe that I actually live here.

So what about getting a big girl job and moving back to the states and settling down and getting a mini van with some carseats??? Ehhh, I'll save it for my thirties :) Time is love. Gotta run.

catching up on life

Life has been a whirlwind lately!! Since I last wrote I have changed apartments, changed jobs, and embarked on many new journeys. Things are going great. I spent a few days in Daytona last week, sat three rows from the court at the Orlando Magic basketball game last night, and the week before that I went skydiving. Oh yea, and in two weeks I am headed back to California for a long weekend.

My new job is with Guest Relations at Walt Disney World. I get to meet people from all over the world and do all sorts of things from selling tickets, to planning their vacation, to my favorite (and most challenging) guest recovery. I hear amazing stories and see smiling faces all day. And if people are not having such a magical day, its my job to make it that way. I love the people I work with, and still I love being in Florida. There is always so much to do in Orlando, especially for a gal from a small town in south Georgia.

so whats next for me?

No really, I'm asking. The saying the world is my oyster could not be more fitting for my current situation. I love my job now but I just don't know that I am ready to settle into a "career", so as of now I will finish my current job on June 17. Part of me wants to go back to school, get a master's and maybe even become a professor one day. Another part of me wants to pack a backpack, get on a plane, and see where I end up. I want a job that allows me to travel. I want a job with a company that encourages people to think outside the box and doesn't feel like the traditional 9 to 5 you always hear people talk about. Whatever it is I end up doing, I intend to get the most I can out of it, and give back all the knowledge and success I can, and then some. I want to do something great with my life, and maybe that starts today, or maybe when I am 72. But for now, I am just soaking up every experience I can, living in the moment, and loving not knowing what comes next.

Life since graduation

Hello again blogging world, its been a while. My life has been nonstop since graduation, but I have had an amazing time. This summer I interned at Sea Island, a 5 star resort off the coast of Georgia. I was a Senior Staff member in charge of coordinating family and children's events. We had a camp program during the day, children's dinners at night, pirate parties, princess tea parties, and many other special events. I loved getting to play with kids, and living at the beach wasn't too bad either. I left Sea Island in August, took a short vacation in California, and then embarked on my next journey.

I moved to Orlando, Florida on September 6, 2010 and it was probably one of the best life decisions I have made. I work at Disney World!! I work in EPCOT at Innoventions, "where invention and innovation intersect on the road to tomorrow." When Walt Disney bought land in Florida for his next big project, he did so because he wanted lots of land to build a future world...Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow. EPCOT houses the world showcase, but it also has some amazing things sponsored by companies that use technology to better our world. EPCOT is continuously evolving, and best of all, it contains the coolest examples of PR I have even seen.

In Innoventions, companies can show off their products and services in a way that gets people excited. Raytheon sponsors Sum of All Thrills, where guests can design their own bobsled, roller coaster, or jet ride and then test it on a simulator. Their goal is to get kids to realize that you can do really cool stuff with math and physics. Our world needs new creative engineers, and this venue does an awesome job of getting kids excited about technology. In Test The Limits Lab sponsored by Underwriters Laboratory, kids learn how the company tests products to make sure they are safe for homes. They can release a weight equivalent to a 22 mph baseball on a TV screen to see if it shatters or drop a steel drum on a fireman's hat to test its durability. IBM sponsors RunTime where guests run, jump, and dance on camera and are then put into their own video game. The most out of the box example of PR I have ever seen is the venue sponsored by Velcro. Slapstick Studios houses a comedy game show where guests do some wacky things with Velcro hook and loop fasteners. Kids stick blocks together to see who can build the tallest tower, couples attach Velcro covered bags to each other to pack for vacation, and (most entertaining) dads use Velcro to put diapers on baby dolls and attach them to their purple aprons. :) After the show, guests can decorate their own Velcro frog with princess crowns and dresses, pirate hats and clothes, or even mickey ears.

Before working here, I knew nothing about any of these companies, and now I have such a respect for them. Did you know that Underwriters Laboratories began when one man was concerned with fire safety at the Worlds Fair in 1893? William Henry Merrill then went on to develop a company that tested the first TVs and PCs as well as many other home appliances. The multinational company has its UL safety symbol on over 17 billion appliances worldwide and serves not for profit. Their main goal is to "Know by Test and State the Facts." IBM got its start with punch machines used in the census and is now at the cutting edge of computer technology. The Velcro company got its start from Georgle de Mestral in 1955 after he noticed cockleburs sticking to his dog's fur. He made hook and loop fasteners that are now used on NASA suits and even tanks for the armed forces (and lets not forget those awesome shoes for those of us who can't quite loop swoop and pull yet).

As someone with a degree in PR, I know how hard it can be to get a product or company out into the public, and then how much harder it can be to actually have the audience take an interest in it. I applaud these companies (and several others I didn't mention) for coming into Innoventions with a goal of getting kids and families excited about what they have to offer. It's far from traditional PR, and I think thats exactly what it takes to succeed in today's world.

Things I've Learned

As I get ready to graduate (only a week from today!) I can't help but look back on the lessons I have learned during my time in college both in and out of the classroom. Part of me is so ready to hit the ground running and take the real world by storm, yet there is some part of me that wonders what will happen out in the grown up world. It's interesting; one of my new favorite artists, Jess Chalker, has a song that says "the lessons you will learn aren't from pages you can turn." Looking back, I realize just how much truth there is in that statement. Miss Chalker also has another song that says "I'm not scared of change but I'm terrified of staying in exactly the same place." This too really fits with my life right now. I am so excited to move to St. Simons this summer and meet new people while interning at Sea Island, and I know that I will have a blast at the Disney College Program in the fall. I hate when things are predictable, the usual Monday/Wednesday class, the same small town scene; I'm ready to break free, but at the same time I know I'll miss these crazy college days. Anyway, enough of the trip down memory lane. Here's what I found out along the way (some are career related--some are just life lessons):

1. PR professionals don't need sleep, just caffeine and a smile :)
2. No matter how old you get, you still have times when you need your mom. And if you end up in the hospital having an emergency appendectomy, nothing makes you feel as good as seeing her come through those ER doors at 3 a.m.
3. When bad things happen and cupcakes run out, you see people's true colors. Some can handle crisis; some can't. (note: try to figure out who these people are BEFORE the crisis)
4. Adding to #3, things will always work how they are meant to work out, and sometimes the most unlikely people come to the rescue. Just plan ahead and be cool under pressure.
5. Never take the one person who thinks outside the box for granted. They are most likely your most valuable team member. Also, befriend the person who has the huge purse full of any random thing you might need.
6. Sometimes an idea you thought was brilliant gets nipped in the bud...and that's okay. Maybe it wasn't so great after all.
7. Carry a shout wipe.
8. "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing" :) keep your priorities in order. focus on the receiver not the message.
9. Never underestimate the power of networking. the guy behind you in line at the airport may offer you your next job.
10. A few randoms to end on: Try everything. Life is too short to have regrets; we just consider them lessons learned. Love is one of the most complex yet utterly amazing emotions an individual can feel, and even people who don't believe in it can stumble upon it sometimes. No matter what happens with friends work or family, NEVER LOSE YOURSELF.

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

-Mahatma Gandhi

Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is ideally a means for businesses to make corporate decisions with the public interest in mind. CSR campaigns allow companies to maintain ethical standards by accepting responsibility for their actions and their impact on communities, employees, and the environment. The Coca-Cola Company uses the Live Positively campaign as a way to make a positive difference. According to their website, Live Positively is a “commitment to make a positive difference in the world by redesigning the way we work and live so sustainability is part of everything we do” (www.thecoca-colacompany.com).

As part of their social responsibility efforts, Coca-Cola sponsors programs and charities to help communities around the world with things like education, climate protection, and recycling. Operations Grass Roots is a project where each bottling facility is required to get involved with their local civic organizations, business leaders and politicians. Programs working specifically with education include My Coke Rewards which helps purchase playground equipment and art supplies for schools and Teach for America which recruits teachers for low-income schools. Each year the company also provides more than 1,400 college students with scholarships to two and four year universities.

In terms of climate protection, the company says their goal is to “to grow the business, not the carbon in our manufacturing operations” (www.thecoca-colacompany.com). They strive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by improving the efficiency of coolers and vending machines and improve productivity in bottling plants to reduce manufacturing emissions. They also use fuel-efficient transportation for delivery. By the end of 2009, more than 300 diesel-electric hybrids trucks had been created. Currently, Coca-Cola has over 200,000 vehicles used to deliver their products around the world, and they are working to optimize delivery routes and create lightweight packing to cut down on pollution. The company estimates a 40 to 50 percent improvement in energy efficiency by the end of 2010 and a five percent reduction in carbon emissions in developed countries by 2015 (livepositively.com).

In terms of recycling, the company offers things like RecycleBank, where participants earn redeemable RecycleBank Points for rewards from Coca-Cola and hundreds of other participating businesses based on the weight of their recyclables. The Coca-Cola/NRC Recycling Bin Grant Program donates recycling bins to kick-start recycling programs for local organizations. The company is also working with Spain, the Czech Republic, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria and Japan to establish community organizations that promote recycling and litter reduction.

Since 1.3 billion people around the world lack access to safe drinking water and an estimated one-third of the population is expected to face water shortages by 2025, Coca-Cola is committed to protect and preserve water resources (Laitinen). The company plans to preserve resources by using water more efficiently and ensuring that every gallon of water used will make a gallon of product. Their goal is to improve water efficiency by 20 percent by 2012 (www.thecoca-colacompany.com). The company has begun 120 community water projects in over 50 countries “working on a wide range of local initiatives, such as watershed protection, expanding community drinking water access, rain water harvesting, reforestation and agricultural water use efficiency” (livepositively.com).

Coca-Cola got its start in the late 1800’s as a patent medicine and has evolved into one of the world’s most popular and well known beverages; it is sold in over 200 countries. Their marketing and PR tactics have created a brand known worldwide, and the company is constantly recognized for its achievements and initiatives. In March of this year, the company was named one of Fortune’s most admired companies. In February, the company joined world efforts to help Haiti in the aftermath of natural disaster, just after making Newsweek’s “Green Rankings.” There is no doubt that this organization has in many ways made positive strides toward a better tomorrow for our world, but like many other corporations, there have also been harmful occurrences, though positive CSR publicity often keep them out of the spotlight.

The idea of CSR is to inspire community involvement and improvement, yet some people view CSR and even corporations as a whole in a negative light. Milton Friedman and others have argued that a corporation's purpose is to maximize returns to its shareholders not society as a whole, and that only people, not organizations can have social responsibilities (Friedman). Even though Coke seems to have numerous efforts towards making the world a better place, several flaws in their CSR programs have occurred. In response to eight employees of Coke bottlers in Colombia being killed in 2006 and others threatened and jailed on terrorism charges, Ray Rogers at Rutgers University launched Killercoke.com and urged universities nationwide to stop selling the product on their campuses. He claimed "The reality is that the world of Coca-Cola is a world of lies, deceptions, corruption, gross human rights and environmental abuses," while a coke spokesperson claimed he "has no facts to support his claims" (Businessweek.com). In March of 2010, Coca-Cola’s Indian subsidiary was fined $47 million for damage to the water and soil in a southern Indian village which occurred when the company discharged a sludge that contained toxic chemicals like cadmium and lead (nytimes.com).

The important thing that we as consumers and public relations professionals need to realize is that we must dig deeper into what’s really going on in a company and not just trust the positive information displayed on the company website. Coca-Cola operates in more than 200 countries, so it is essential to look not only at the positive things it does within our specific community, but also find out about negative aspects elsewhere and make sure our society knows about them in order to make educated purchasing decisions. The company prides itself on helping to “create sustainable communities by finding solutions to local needs, building capabilities and improving quality of life through programs, partners and people;” which is certainly an admirable goal, but it is society’s job to hold them accountable (www.thecoca-colacompany.com).

Promoting HealthyMilledgeville

Today my PR group set up a table at Kroger from 2 to 4 p.m. to promote our Facebook page HealthyMilledgeville. We handed out low-fat brownies along with the recipe and gave out a list of healthy options when eating at local restaurants.

A few months ago, we read articles from the Wall Street Journal and CNN which discussed how social networking can help health care. We teamed with Digital Bridges, a local program dedicated to bettering our community through the use of technology. We decided to create a Facebook group where people could go online and share recipes and fitness tips, and before our promotional event today we already had 506 fans of the page.

At our event, we asked people if they had heard of HealthyMillegeville and then told them about it and encouraged them to become a fan of the page and share the information with their friends. Not everyone answered our survey (some just took the info and brownies), but of those surveyed 15 knew about HealthyMilledgeville and 41 did not. When asked about what aspect health they were most concerned with, most people said nutrition and health were most important. We handed out about 80 brownies and got a great response from the shoppers going in and out of Kroger. Two women who stopped by work at local doctor's offices and said they would put the word out in their offices, and one man who works with Healthy Baldwin invited us to work at a health fair he is hosting on May 1. Overall, our event was very successful, and I look forward to seeing how many more fans the facebook page gets after our promotions.

I'm on island time

Since last Sunday I have been working as a member of the Junior Staff at Sea Island. After a relaxing 5 day spring break in Daytona, I jumped into Camp Cloister, a day camp with 50 kids under the age of 9. This job constantly puts my hospitality and childcare skills to the test, but is one of the best experiences I have had. On my first day, four-year-old twin boys who look and act exactly like Disney channel's Zack and Cody walked in with the collars popped on their pastel Lacoste polos. Each grabbed one of my hands and one said "Hey babe who's your favorite super hero" (thankfully we both like Batman and a bond was instantly formed). The rest of my day was spent doing tye dye and playing duck duck goose on the beach. Each day, each second for that matter has been different. Sometimes the kids love the activities we have planned for them, and other times we have to come up with things spur of the moment with 13 screaming six-year-olds waiting impatiently...event planning improvising at its finest :) Sometimes I work at the movie theater, sometimes I am a camp counselor, sometimes I make flyers or posters for upcoming events, and sometimes I dress up like a princess, wear a tiara, and drink pink lemonade. I think this is what it means to be in PR...just taking things as they come, being prepared for anything, and staying flexible yet in control of the situation. My first few days here have been all about that, and its been a whirlwind to say the least. I have met families from all over the U.S. and even the world and built some amazing relationships with the children and families so far this week, and I can't wait to make more great memories this summer.

BrAiNStOrM!?!?!

Last Friday, I spent the day at Manning Salvage and Lee in Atlanta, learning more about the real PR world and shadowing GCSU's PRSSA professional adviser Carlos Campos. I had a great day networking with people at MS&L, learning about their particular clients and experience and getting valuable advice about internships and much more, but one of the highlights of the day was an offsite "field trip" in the afternoon. We met Professor Larry Stultz of the Atlanta Art Institute, who is known for his creative brainstorming techniques, in order to get some fresh new ideas for the MS&L crew. Mr. Stultz had some amazing ideas. He said that with creativity, the sky is the limit and everyone must be involved and engaged in every step. He said that when brainstorming, the group should have toys, music, pictures, and NO smart phones.

First, he mentioned assumption smashing, where you ask questions like what can we add, what can we take away, can we make it bigger or smaller, or can we change the color or style? Then he talked about mind mapping, where you write the key word in the middle and let people write things around it, drawing lines and connecting other questions, phrases and ideas. He then talked about the six thinking hats of Debono (blue is the leader, white is positive, black is negative, green is creative, yellow is optimistic, and red is emotional) where group members put on different theoretical hats to look at the situation from different points of view. My favorite was “Out of the Blue” where everyone makes a paper airplane and writes one word on it. Then everyone flies their own plane, picks up a new one, reads the word on it, and then writes the first word that comes to their mind related to what they just read. All of this is done with loud music and lots of energy.

What I liked most about all of these ideas was the simple fact that they encourage outside of the box thinking, which I think people don't do nearly enough. In a world where we have information at our fingertips, I think people loose the ability to think critically, or creatively for that matter. If things as simple as toys, music and simple group activities can boost brain power, .why are we not incorporating more of these things into the classroom or workplace, and what could happen if we did??

Think Outside the Box

I recently read an article called Great Minds Don't think alike by Ray Silverstein. In it, Mr. Silverstein talks about how it is easy to hire people who think like you...everyone agrees and there are no conflicts. But really, this type of thinking is detrimental to growth and innovation. Silverstein says that in the workplace, collaboration is must. He says that to do this, we can encourage and reward new ideas, take action against negativity, let others be in charge, and bring in people from diverse backgrounds.

This article made me think about how things in the past have been negatively impacted because everyone just went along with the group, and agreed blindly to whatever the status quo proposed...groupthink. In fact, I can't think of any event in history where groupthink was a positive thing. I think of how a few girls fueled the crazy witch hunts in Salem in 1692 that ended in the lynching of innocent people and how thousands of people were senselessly killed in the Holocaust, blindly following orders to torture other human beings. I think of how engineers have failed with the crash of the Challenger shuttle and the sinking of the Titanic. Did one person not think differently, ask why, or propose better ideas for construction? Or how about with things like cults or the Pregnancy Pact (where a group of teenage girls agreed to all have babies together before even graduating high school). How do people rationalize killing themselves in the name of religion or throwing away their future at the thought of "playing mommy."

Groupthink, occurs when people don't want to shake things up, when they attempt to minimize conflict by not voicing or evaluating new ideas. Everything runs smoothly when we are in agreement, but is that always a good thing? History certainly says no.

So, my advice for the day:

BREAK OUT OF YOUR BOX!!

Senior Seminar Research....AHHH!!

So I am in the process of completing my first (and final) big research project. For my mass communication senior seminar class, we are required to do a group and personal paper on a research topic of our choice. A few weeks ago, we all submitted research proposals...mine was an idea to look at TV shows from the 1950's , 60's 70's 80's and 90's and compare them with the popular shows of today. Our society has gone from I Love Lucy where a married couple was shown sleeping in separate beds, to shows like Teen Mom, where we highlight the lives of unwed teenage mothers. After breaking up into groups, however, my team decided to look at alcohol advertising deciphering how beer, wine, liquor, and anti-alcohol campaigns all use different methods to hook their target audience.

Previous research has shown that beer ads as a whole appeal more to men, and often involve humor and women depicted as sexual objects. Wine ads have two main target audiences, ages 21-29 and 30-45. Their ads use specific jargon, leading viewers to believe knowledge is required in order for the consumer to appreciate wine as an experience. Liquor ads use lifestyle branding, grabbing their target audience by showing a desirable lifestyle of luxury or leisure.

So what next? we are going to look at the top ten brands of beer, wine and liquor and view five commercials and then compare these with anti-alcohol ads. At the end of the semester, we are going to turn in a 15 page paper on our findings and hopefully present at the student research conference at GCSU on April 16. Wish us luck!

Smile...You're in PR :)

For my small group communication class this semester, we were required to do research on a particular area of nonverbal communications, so I chose smiling. My researched showed that smiling, no doubt has a positive effect on human communication. The studies discussed in the articles I read proved that people are more responsive to other people when they are approached with a smile. In communication, public relations especially, a simple smile may be the key opening the doorway to gaining trust and building positive relationships.

Here are a few interesting things I found:

1. In Top 10 Reasons to Smile, Dr. Mark Stibich tells us that smiling can improve our attractiveness, health, and stress level. He notes that smiling can trick the body into changing the mood, and can even reduce stress and boost the immune system. It can lower blood pressure, release endorphins, as well as make one look younger and seem successful. Smiling is contagious; it helps one stay positive.
2. A Slow Smile Attracts found that a longer smile was seen as more authentic, flirtatious, and trustworthy and less dominant. Head tilting increased attractiveness and trustworthiness, but only when the head was tilted to the right. Smiling was associated with attractiveness in females and dominance in males, and in general, female smiles were found to be less genuine than those from males, though women seemed to be better at detecting the difference in short and long onset smiles.

3. Four graduate students in Amsterdam stopped people in the city square and asked them to help with a survey; when the experimenters approached participants with a smile, they were much more likely to get a positive response. They found that smiling participants were more willing to help and that smiles from the experimenter increased the helpfulness of the participants. Interestingly, it was also found that women smiled more than men, but a smile from a male experimenter was more likely to elicit helpfulness than a smile from a female experimenter.

4. A 2003 BBC news article showed a sonogram picture of a baby that appeared to be smiling, even though typically babies do not smile until about six weeks after birth. Dr. David Chamberlin says that infants instinctively respond to smiles. In his studies of brain activity in early infants, he found that smile centers in the brain become active early on in prenatal development.
5. Dr. Norman Cousins claimed to have cured his cancer by watching funny movies, stating that the body has its own biochemical responses to laughter and that even a fake smile can bring happiness by activating pleasure centers in the brain. Also, Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Hughes tells of how he and his troops used smiles rather than weapons when dealing with a hostile situation in Iraq.

So, PR professionals, get out there and show off those pearly whites!! :)

Meeting Management in PR

I found a great article in PRSA's Issues and Trends, so I thought I would share...

Jill Geisler wrote an article called "What Great Bosses Know About Managing Meetings." In it she first talks about the goals that we hope to accomplish by having meetings. We may seek to provide timely information, give direction, make group decisions, produce a product, generate ideas, or observe rituals. But Ms. Geisler also goes a step further, providing a checklist for how to manage our meetings. In her list, she asks many questions, including how important is this meeting to our organization? is there an agenda? is the right person leading the meeting? are the people contributing? what can we do to improve participation? how well do we stay on track? and most importantly, do we end with a clear message?

After reading this article, I began to think of what I could take away and use in my current job as well as during PRSSA meetings. Firstly, knowing how important the meeting is makes a huge difference in who shows up and contributes to conversations. For example, at our last PRSSA meeting, we had three people come to speak about internships, which are of extreme importance to those of us graduating in May. By letting people know that they would be receiving valuable information that could possibly land them with a future internship, we increased our attendance. Also, agendas and staying on track are really important, especially in large groups. At my job as phonathon manager, we have a 15 minute meeting after our break to discuss and work through any issues that we may have encountered. If we lose track, people tend to forget about the overall importance of the meaning and go off on random conversations (like last week, when one employee brought up the fact that Wendy's was out of frostys, and suddenly everyone in the office had a story to share about fast food places) Though the stories may have been entertaining, they ultimately had nothing to do with fundraising tactics, the overall goal of the meeting. The most important thing I took from Ms. Geisler's article was to end each meeting with a clear understanding of next steps, roles, responsibilities, and deadlines and to keep communication channels open between meetings. This is important in PRSSA meetings because since we only meet once a month, it is essential that everyone has a clear idea of the goals we need to accomplish before the next meeting. Also, the exec board especially, needs to stay in contact throughout the month to follow-up on progress and set the agenda for the next meeting.

I found this article to be very helpful in the management world, and also the PR world. Ms. Geisler's checklist was a simple list of questions that could help any professional get the most out of their next meeting. To listen to more of her management tips, lister to her podcast.

Enacting a Senior Giving Campaign at GCSU

As part of my fundraising efforts towards Georgia College and State University, I am currently working on a team to enact a Senior Giving Campaign at GCSU. Last semester, we held an interest meeting and got some senior leaders and Student Government members to join our cause, and this semester we are working to spread the word about the campaign.

Basically, we are asking GCSU seniors to donate $20.10 in honor of their graduation year. This donation can be in honor of a friend or student, be set aside for scholarships or specific schools, or go towards the Heritage Fund which pays for things that state aid and tuition don't cover at GCSU.

We want these students to give back to GCSU for three reasons:

1) to say thank you to GCSU for four amazing years

2) to make and strengthen a tradition of giving for years to come

3) to increase alumni participation and raise our national rankings

So far with this campaign, I have learned (and been reminded of) some valuable PR lessons. Firstly, I was reminded of how important it is to get enthusiastic outgoing team players working with you. In fundraising especially, people need to be outgoing and confident. Asking for money is not for everyone, sometimes it can be really challenging. Also, I have learned how important it is to fully believe in your cause. You cannot ask someone to donate money to a cause that you do not support 100% yourself. Also, never underestimate the impact of social media. A facebook group I created in 10 minutes is continuously growing and making new people aware of our cause. The last big this I have realized lately is that you can never have enough people on your side. On May 8, over 1,000 seniors will depart from GCSU and make their way in the world, and it is my goal that all of them will have supported (or at least heard about) our campaign. In order to do this, we need to be connectors, not just within our own circles of friends. We need to branch out and come up with creative ways to reach a broad audience of students of all majors, clubs, and activities.

For more information about this campaign, please visit: http://www.gcsu.edu/alumni/seniorgiving.htm

Bobcat PRSSA

Bobcat PRSSA received its charter on Feb. 25, 2008. During our first year, membership nearly doubled to our current total of 49 members. As an up-and-coming chapter, we pride ourselves on our exceptional membership involvement and the success of the events we have executed. We participated in a fundraising event called the PRSSA Media Mix, selling used books, CD’s and DVD’s to raise money for our chapter president to attend the national organization’s leadership rally in Scottsdale, AZ in June 2009. In addition to our monthly meetings and annual holiday party and service project, we held our second PR Day on Nov. 4. During this event, four PR professionals from Atlanta spoke with students about their jobs, social media etiquette, and future internship possibilities.

The event our whole chapter looks forward to most is PR Real World, a day-long conference held in Atlanta each February. Last year, 14 members met on campus at 5 a.m. to carpool to the event. That day we all went to various workshops, where we learned how to build PR skills and strengthen professional development. On the way home we all discussed what we had learned and the contacts we had made, and immediately began looking forward to attending again the next year.

This year, thanks to a $500 grant from GA PRSA, we will be able to help our members with the cost of Real World as well as the next PRSSA assembly. In our two short years, Bobcat PRSSA has excelled beyond all expectations. We received national recognition when two teams from our chapter took first and second in the CW campaign and we received state recognition when one of our members won a recent twitter contest and got to have lunch with the PRSA President. Also, at our last meeting our professional adviser brought along two young PR professionals to talk with us about preparing for summer internships. Currently, we getting ready to start spring recruitment as well as plan this semester's fundraising event. I think that the things our chapter has done just reflects the incredible work ethic of our members. I am so proud of the progress our chapter has made and I look forward to seeing it continue to thrive in the upcoming years.

PR In Action: GCSU Phonathon

Each semester at GCSU, a group of about 20 student callers is hired to work on campus Monday through Thursday from 5:30 to 9 p.m. to do PR for Georgia College. Student callers contact GCSU parents and alumni to ask about their experiences at the college, update them on campus happenings, and ask for donations to our school's Heritage Fund, which pays for all the things that state aid and tuition don't cover (like scholarships, free tutoring, and campus safety just to name a few). These calls can last anywhere from 1 to 30 minutes and can result in hang-ups, "we're not interested," a thousand dollar donation, or one of the best conversations of your life; you never know.

Talking with the ladies who graduated from Georgia State College for Women is like a history lesson. We hear stories of how students were not allowed to ride in cars, how students and faculty lived in the old governor's mansion, and how the dining hall provided a family style formal dinner every evening (and ladies wore their white gloves of course). We talk about how much times (and tuition costs) have changed, and many are shocked to hear that our enrollment is now over 6,000. All of them, however, still take pride in the fact that no matter how much GCSU has changed (or how many times it has changed its name for that matter) our front campus still looks exactly the same: those four gigantic brick buildings with white columns standing tall in front of the grassy area where students sit to study or socialize between classes.

Talking with freshman parents is at times like a counseling session. We tell parents not to worry about their babies, offer advice from our own experiences, and answer the millions of questions they have about campus safety, dining options, getting involved on campus, registration, and residence halls. While we invite graduates to our Homecoming in February, we also make a point to inform parents about Family Day in October. We want to encourage people to come back and "stay connected."

With all of these calls its about building relationships. We teach our callers to be active listeners and to do 80% listening, and only 20% talking. We take interest in what each person has to say: maybe they are mad about that 1937 yearbook they never received, maybe their daughter gets no sleep in the dorm because her roommate is a night owl. We contact whoever we need to and do whatever we can to get these issues resolved. On the flip side, there are those who tell us that college was the best 7 years of their life and how "GCSU made me from a nobody into a somebody." As I stated before, you never know where one call will get you.

Along with building relationships, we also ask parents and alumni to donate to our Heritage Fund because it helps with so many things at GCSU. Some people give right away; some decline, and that's ok; we expect that. The students who work at Phonathon are no stranger to rejection, but it doesn't stop them. If one person doesn't donate, we maintain a positive attitude and remember that everyone, at one time, was a nondonor.

Sadly, this is my final year working at the GCSU Phonathon. Since freshman year, I have had many great conversations with parents and graduates, and I feel confident that among the over $30,000 and 300 pledges I received, I made some lasting impressions that will continue to positively affect my soon to be alma mater long after my graduation. In closing, I plan to leave my mark this year as Phonathon manager by making this the most successful Phonathon GCSU has ever had. This semester we raised over $115,000, which is already a record in itself (especially considering the current economic situation), and I am confident that once added to next semester's totals, we will well outshine any and all previous years. I am also proud to say that somewhere included in that $115,000 is my small gift of $20.10 (in honor of my graduation year). As we tell all of our callers, "every gift counts; its the amount of donors not dollars that matters." May my $20.10 help some other student have the same great experience GCSU has given me, and, more importantly, may it be the first of many larger ones to come.

A Reflection on the Relay For Life Kickoff

My PR class planned and executed the Relay For Life of Baldwin County Kickoff event on the Evening of November 19 at Northside Baptist Church. In the beginning, we all competed in teams of three to pitch ideas for the event, and it was decided that our theme would be "Celebrate a Memory." a birthday party extravaganza complete with a banner, balloon arch, hot dogs, hamburgers, baked beans, cole slaw, chips, cookies, cupcakes, and a candy bar.

Our class did a great job of working together to pull the event together. As a member of the media team, I wrote the press release about the event (which made front page of both of our local newspapers!) but once we got down to the "nitty gritty" so to speak I helped out the food and decorating teams as well. One thing that I have learned in my various jobs and as a student learning about PR is that versatility is the key. If you are assigned one task, be prepared to help out your teammates with others as needed. Although I wrote the press release, I also wrapped and tied ribbon around silverware, stirred a giant tub of baked beans, and grilled out with my best friend Nick who I recruited to help me man the grill. :) This brings up another important key to success: everyone should have a friend they could call on for help. Nick answered his phone one hour before we needed to start grilling and said he would be there, and he also helped out last year when our class did "paint the hill green" a PR event for GCSU Baseball. It nice to have friends that you can call on to be there no matter the task.

Another thing that we all learned during the event is that not everything will go as planned. Another PR class was responsible for bringing us 100 cupcakes, and only 2 people from that class remembered to bring them. Disaster was avoided thanks to Dr. Carter who went to a local grocery store and purchased them, but this event just shows that you should be prepared for anything. Things will fall through no matter what, and you have to be prepared to cope. Even with the grill sitation, Nick and I were cooking 100 hot dogs and 100 hamburgers on two small grills, one of which was falling apart. The burgers also were not exactly hand made patties, so some of them just fell right apart on the grill, nonetheless, as with any event, you just have to do the best you can with what you've got and remain positive.

In the end, the event was attended by over 100 guests, who watched a powerpoint presentation of local cancer survivors, enjoyed a delicious meal, and vowed to support the Relay For Life with their fight against cancer. I was honored to help make a difference with such a worthwhile organization and I am so proud of the work my classmates and I did. Way to go team PR Fantasy Football!

Binge Drinking Awareness Ad

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism National Advisory Council, Binge Drinking is defined as drinking four drinks during two hours for females, and five drinks in two hours for males. Binge drinking results in a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent or higher and is one of the most serious problems on college campuses, with 48 percent of college students admitting that they “drink to get drunk”(http://www.cspinet.org).

While many college students think that binge drinking is a fun way to blow off steam, few realize all of the negative consequences they could face. Students who binge drink are 21 times more likely than nondrinkers to miss class, engage in unplanned sexual activity, and get in trouble with the police. Binge drinking not only affects the individual who is participating in the drinking; it can affect those around them by disrupting their sleep and sometimes even damaging their property.

The Center for Disease Control has done numerous studies to find out who binge drinks and how they are affected. Their studies found that 75 percent of the alcohol consumed in the United States is in the form of binge drinking and that binge drinking is highest in the 18-to-20 year old group. Underage drinkers are extremely likely to binge drink, which was made evident in a recent national survey that found that 90 percent of the alcohol consumed by youth under the age of 21 in the U.S. is in the form of binge drinks (http://www.cdc.gov/alchohol). This survey also found that men are two times more likely to binge drink than females.

After researching the topic of binge drinking I began to toss around ideas of how I could create an ad discouraging college students from binge drinking. First, I went for the statistics. I chose a male model since men are twice as likely to participate in binge drinking, and I chose a college age person since binge drinking is most common in the late teens and early twenties. At first, I was thinking of including some shocking statistics or trying to scare people away from drinking, but then I realized that just trying to scare people may not do the trick since most college students are going to drink no matter how many facts and figures you throw at them. I decided to take a different approach and just be real with the target audience. My ad says “It’s easy to make fun of the guy passed out in his own puke. But what if that guy was YOU?”

I acknowledged the fact that people at parties always laugh at drunken people, but at the bottom of my ad I also said “When they show you the pictures the next day, don’t misinterpret. They’re laughing at you, not with you.” Basically, I want to let people know that one or two drinks are fine, but no one wants to be the guy passed out at 8 p.m. before his friends even go out to the bars.

Also, I decided to cover my model’s face with a circle that says “YOUR face here” because I want people to look at it and think: this could be anyone, even me. Another way I got this point across was to highlight the word “YOU” in red each time it was used and make it slightly bigger. I like the way the red contrasts with the mostly black and white toned ad, and also I think the font is very appropriate and appealing for a college age person. Overall, I wanted to keep it simple and get my point across, and I believe this ad does just that.