Filed under: California- The Newest Chapter
Hello everyone! Sorry it has been such a long time since my last post. I have actually been pretty busy which has been great! Although finding a job in the PR/Communications field has been slow to say the least, I have found a “job” in the meantime that is in the field that I hope to be in one day: a background performer.
I signed up with a background casting agency in LA called central casting. They basically do most of the background work for the TV shows and movies that you see; basically they cast people to fill the streets and football stands in the entertainment industry. So far, I have really enjoyed it because I have met a lot of great people my age and seen a lot of behind the scenes work with some of my favorite shows.
I started off doing some work on 90210 which was really fun and I even saw myself a couple of times on “The Bachelors” episode that was shown on Monday October 4th. After that I worked on CSI: Miami as an office worker. That was one of my favorites since I watch it frequently. Another reason it was so great is because I saw the entire cast and it was filmed on the actual set, which surprisingly looks really real and high tech even on set. I even got to stand next to David Caruso (Horatio) during a few of the shots. I have also worked on Desperate Housewives, Castle, Chuck, Mr. Sunshine, The Undercovers, Lie to Me, and Friday, CSI: NY.
Desperate Housewives was awesome because it is my #1 favorite show. Bree was the only housewife I saw, but one of my favorites, so it was great to see her; she is even more beautiful in person than on TV. The only thing that could have made it better would have been to be on Wisteria Lane rather than on location, which was in a park in Burbank.
The weather continues to be fabulous in California! The past 3 days have been rainy, but I can’t complain since it is the first time that I have seen rain in 2 months. It is great to be so close to the ocean, especially being close to the dog beach in Huntington Beach. Riley loves going there, but is very afraid of the water go figure.
I am also interning at the SAG Foundation in Beverly Hills and it has been a great experience. They do non-profit work with various people in the entertainment industry and love what they do. I have assisted with their Internet and social media the most. I hope to soon go to some of their Q&A sessions with well-known people in the industry.
So far that is about it! I wish I could upload some photos, but you are not supposed to take pictures on the sets. Maybe soon I won’t be such a wimp and sneak a few. Love you all!
Here is one from 90210
And I’m in the preview
Filed under: California- The Newest Chapter
The road trip out to California was grueling at times, but over all enjoyable. I never thought I would see so much different scenery in 9 states. The drive went through: Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and finally… California! New Mexico was one of my favorite states to drive through, possibly because it was the last state of our 16-hour car trip on the second day and we were just excited to be done. Really, it was just a beautiful place and unlike any area I am used to driving.
Filed under: California- The Newest Chapter
Today was Day 1… 8 hours down… 24 more to go! We went through Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and finally Conway, Arkansas (our first real pit stop thanks to Triple A).
It was actually pretty cool to get to see all of the “Welcome to ?” signs and I would have taken pictures, but unfortunately we were driving separately. Arkansas is the only state that I have never driven through before and I had pretty low expectations but it is actually a beautiful area just from the highway. Overall it was a pretty long/low-key day. Will update more tomorrow on our 12 hour drive to Albuquerque, New Mexico!
Note to any travelers: Always follow directions from your provider; don’t try to outsmart them, which is what we (Carter) did today and we were putzing around the wrong side of Birmingham for a while :)
Filed under: Personal
Here are a few suggestions from the one and only Bill Gates. These reminders should be taught at a young age… or at least I think so.
Rule 1: Life is not fair – get used to it!
Rule 2: The world doesn’t care about your
self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won’t be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.
Rule 6: If you mess up, it’s not your parents’ fault, so don’t whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent’s generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they’ll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don’t get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.
Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.
If you can read this -Thank a teacher!
If you can read this in English - thank a soldier!!!
Filed under: Senior Seminar
I can’t believe how fast college has gone by…
4 years has gone by in the flash of an eye and I feel like I have only been here for one.
I wanted to share a few things that I have learned along the way and the progress I have made as an individual.
Freshman:
- Truly a time to learn all of your boundaries. It was so new and scary at first to be three hours away from my family even though all of us secretly appreciated it a little bit. Everyone knew you were the freshman if you were holding up a map of campus the first few days of class and I was one of those people. It was a year of constantly meeting new people in the dorms, through joining Phi Mu and just out and about. It academically was certainly not my best (at least the first semester). It was also a year I learned how to be on my own in some respects. I had to set my limits when it came to mixing fun with school. It was one of my favorite years because I was opened up to so many opportunities and people. Statesboro was so different then too- No Chili’s, Olive Garden, or 4-lane 301 bypass- what would we do without it!
Sophomore:
- This was the year I moved out of the dorms and into Copper Beech and it was definitely my favorite place that I lived throughout the 4 years I have been here. I knew my way around school and had a lot of close friends. We were no longer “the new kids” and finally getting our grip on things. I think at this point I was an education major but soon figured out it wasn’t for me and switched to PR. I started taking more responsibility with my school work and working hard to learn a lot and make good grades. This was one of my favorite years because I really felt like a good student but still had a lot of free time too which was nice
Junior:
- This was the year I really buckled down on school- BIG TIME. I made the Dean’s List both semesters and considered that to be a pretty big accomplishment. I also became the proud mommy of my dog Riley. I adopted her at the Atlanta Humane Society and she has brought more joy to my life than I could have ever imagined. Overall, the year was tougher that the previous too but still a lot of fun with good friends, good times, and the best school year yet.
Senior:
- This year went by way too fast!!!! I love the major I chose- Public Relations! I have learned soooo much and had some of the most amazing professors. My favorite classes content wise have probably been Persuasion, Semantics, and PR Writing. The first two are communication studies classes and I liked those because I learned about the way people think which was really neat. PR writing was great because I learned how to do a lot of things that will benefit my future career if I stick with PR like press releases and media kits. Dr. Muller and Mrs. Groover are some of my favorite professors I have had throughout college and are the type who really want to see you succeed. That’s so important! This year has been amazing because I have made a hard effort to kick butt in school and am proud to say that I have kept the HOPE Scholarship the whole time! WOHOOO!!! I’ll be here all summer but am almost done with classes. It has been an absolutely fantastic year!!! Thank you Georgia Southern University for giving me the best 4 years I could ever ask for- it is the best university and I can’t imagine going anywhere else.
CONGRATULATIONS CLASS OF 2010
Always be yourself because there is no one out there just like you!
Follow your dreams-you are the only one who can make them happen. Even if people tell you what you want to do isn’t practical- it’s not their life, it’s YOURS!
“Nothing that’s worthwhile is ever easy. Remember that.” – Nicholas Sparks
Filed under: Senior Seminar
What is it really like to work with the rich and the famous? A question I would love to have the answer to. It goes without saying that PR has many different fields in communication and is going to be different depending on the business you want to work in. I have always been interested in the entertainment industry and wonder what a day in the life of a publicist is like. Or maybe someone who does PR for major film companies or TV networks.
In an article that I read, it sounds like being a Hollywood publicist involves making a lot of friends. That really doesn’t sound so bad and especially to get paid for it. In order to promote clients and make them popular it is important to be in the “in” with people in the media (magazines, TV, radio, etc).
With Young Hollywood they need to rise to fame and it is the job of the publicist to get them in the media and make the public aware of who they are and what they are up to. If you think about it, we may see these young people in movies but learn much more about who they are when their personal lives are displayed in magazine and television interviews. PR makes us relate to them.
Ashley Greene on Bonnie Hunt Show
Another job with publicists is to keep celebrities that have been around for a while in the spotlight. This may seem easy, but think about all of the competition today with celebrities and who is on top. They, as well as new celebs, need to be in the media because as much as some of us may hate to admit it we like to know whats going on with the rich and the famous.
I think the idea of being a publicist sounds great, but I can only imagine have tough and hard it really is to compete for your client and make sure you get treated with respect. It sounds like a great way to meet people and make connections in an industry that is far different from any other.
Filed under: Senior Seminar
Something I have learned a lot about in my Senior Seminar class (I can’t believe I’m a senior!!!) is ethics. We have all probably heard about ethics a million times, but maybe not taking all of the information in. I think that ethics seems easy when you are reading or hearing about it, but in the actual situation and being a PR representative, it is really that black and white?
In my opinion I would say no, although I have yet to be put in one of those positions at any job or internship I have held. Of course, those challenges come about in daily life, maybe just telling a friend if you really like her outfit or not. When is a white lie going to far? Is it okay to lie if the benefit overall is better? If doing the right thing is going to hurt a lot more people than it is going to help what should you do? What if the right thing hurts your client? These are all questions we will most likely face at some point and there is no clear answer in many situations about what to do.
I would say with ethics most of us know right from wrong. I think that more times than not it is important to not only people in the PR industry, but professionals in general to shed light on the truth as much as possible. There are absolutely times when there are circumstances that question our judgment and that of others. Sometimes you have to be the bigger person and do what is honest and beneficial to the public.
I think it is our responsibility to use our best ethics judgment and not out way the pros and cons but think about what is right for everyone. Just because something is not against the law, does not mean it is ethical (an important point to keep in mind).
Below I have posted a website that has more information about ethics:
http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/whatisethics.html
Filed under: Senior Seminar
We all know that social media is a way that we, as individuals, can distinguish ourselves, update our statuses, make connections with new people, etc. I didn’t realize till I recently conducted a survey for my campaigns class that social media can really spark interest in a matter rather than just enhance what it already there.
My campaigns group and I did a survey for our PR Campaigns class regarding HandsOn Southeast Georgia. If you are unaware, they are a volunteer organization that works with a variety of non-profit organizations and people who donate and volunteer with projects that they are interested in. In our survey we got opinions for mostly college students because that’s where we conducted the interview. Somewhat to our surprise, we found out that only 7 of the 57 people were even aware of HandsOn and that they are a volunteer network. The results could have been different had we surveyed more of the Statesboro population, but even so the number of awareness was pretty minuscule.
A question later on in the survey asked, “What type of media would make you more inclined to volunteer and/or become more aware of HandsOn volunteer opportunities and programs?” There were a variety of options such as PSA’s, magazine/newspaper coverage, peer activity, word of mouth, etc. However, the most popular response was social media. This led to the conclusion that if HandsOn is more active in social media such as Facebook and Twitter.
It goes to show that this generation and ones in the future will be very active with social media and it might just be a new way to spark interests for new ideas, especially non-profit organizations. Maybe now we will have a more active and volunteer apt society!
Find them at:
volunteer@HandsOnSEGA.org
http://twitter.com/handsonsega
http://www.facebook.com/handsonsegapage
Graduation is right around the corner, and it is definitely bitter sweet. An end to good times and a beginning to new and exciting times. Following graduation I will be doing an internship at Abshire PR in Savannah- so I will work there and in Statesboro from home.
Abshire PR is in Savannah and was started by Jennifer Abshire who strives to “take the puzzle out of PR.” They work with a variety of clients such as Palmetto Dunes, The Coastal Bank, and the Ford Plantation. I think it is great that Abshire PR strives to work for so many clients because that lends a lot of networking opportunities. They have also won the 2010 Legal PR Award from PR Newswire.
I have met and talked to a few of the ladies that I will be working with and they all seem really great and I’m so excited to get on board and be part of the team. They are a smaller firm which I feel will be great hands-on experience and I will hopefully learn a lot. I also hope that I can be a useful part of their team and create stronger PR skills. Can’t wait to see what this internship will bring!
I will be keeping updates as I start in mid May and for the rest of the summer!
