Looking into the Future

It is crazy to think how fast these past four years have gone. To think that graduation is a week away is a very scary yet exciting thought. There are so many emotions at once; feeling excited to end a certain chapter in your life, but yet scared to think what the next chapter will bring. In this tough economy, finding a job is not that easy, and it can be frustrating sending out a ton of resumes and waiting anxiously to hear back and hopefully get an interview.

From my experience in the classroom, to real world experience at my internships, I feel that I am prepared to start my career in PR and hopeful that I will be able to find a job sooner than later. I am excited to take all the knowledge that I have learned in these past four years, and put it to work as I look to start my career.

To close, I want to wish the PR graduates of 2011 good luck in whatever path they choose to follow. In addition, I hope that we will all find the right job that will make us excited to go and work each and every day in the field that we have all studied so hard to master. Good luck class of 2011!!

Give to Get?

Singer Jessica Simpson recently surprised seven girls who are students at Father’s H.A.R.B.O.R Academy in Jacksonville, FL on The Oprah Winfrey Show. The girls’ teacher wrote into Oprah that some of the girls were unable to afford attire to wear for the prom this year. Simpson surprised the girls with a visit, and outfitted them head to toe for the prom, as well as providing them with a whole new wardrobe from her Jessica Simpson Collection.

This is such a great story, but as a PR person, I smell some publicity behind Simpson’s actions. It was great that she was able to make these seven girls happy and outfit them for the prom as well as providing them with a whole new wardrobe, but was the hidden agenda to gain publicity for herself and her collection? Being on The Oprah Winfrey Show is a great platform to gain publicity, and with Simpson making a positive gesture by helping these girls out, it looks like a win win situation for Simpson and her collection. Do you think Simpson genuinely got involved to help the girls out, or did her PR person set this up for her to gain positive publicity?

PR Panel

I attended the PR panel that Prof. Frisina put together on Monday. I thought that the advice that the panel of five hiring managers gave was really interesting and useful as we prepare to graduate within the next few weeks. It's scary to think of the transition we must make as seniors from "school life" to REAL life.

There are so many things to worry about when preparing to apply for jobs and going on the actual interview. The one piece of advice from the panel members was that it is best to just be yourself on the interview. This sounds a lot easier than it actually is. It is hard to be calm, cool and collective when you are worrying about the interview itself and making sure it goes well.

Overall, the advice given will be invaluable as we enter the career stage of our lives, and hope that all of the internships and school work will pay of at the end.

Jet "Blues" - Shame on You JetBlue

Over the weekend I traveled up to Buffalo to watch my brother play ice hockey at the 2011 States Tournament with his team. I booked JetBlue for my travel, as I have had nothing but great experience with them in the past. However, I had the absolute WORST experience imaginable with two JetBlue employees while waiting for my returning flight. I have NEVER been spoken to in the manner in which these two employees spoke to not only me, but all of the passengers waiting for the flight at the gate. Due to the employees misjudgment, I even had to “sleep” in the airport, after finding out MYSELF via my cell phone at 1AM that our flight back to JFK was canceled (the two employees at the gate didn’t even know until I alerted everyone)

To make a long story short, I immediately called the 1-800-Jet-Blue number to express the appalling series of events which took place, and the demeaning and disrespectful way these two employees addressed us. I was told from the representative on the line that I would hear back within 24 hours of my complaint. I had a feeling this wouldn't happen (and I was correct...still haven't heard a word) so I took to Twitter for a more immediate response. Low and behold, I heard back from JetBlue via direct message within hours after I tweeted them, which said they were "sorry for my bad experience" and to fill out a Speak Up form. First off, my experience was beyond "bad," to the extent that an airport employee heard the two JetBlue gate staff members screaming from about 100 Feet away, and was equally appalled at what had occurred. Once I replied to JetBlue's DM on Twitter letting them know that my form was filled out, they asked for the confirmation number of the Speak Up form. Since the JetBlue representative filled it out for me via phone, she never game me a confirmation number. I instead gave them the confirmation number that my mom received when she filled out the Speak Up form herself. In the meantime, I am waiting to see how long it takes for them to actually "hear" me after I "Speak Up."

Relating this to PR, it's amazing and interesting to actually witness and experience the shift in how a consumer can connect or reach out to a company. If I had this horrific experience with these two disrespectful and demeaning JetBlue employees a couple years ago, I would have to keep calling the customer service line, and write a letter to send in. Now, I can tweet them minutes after the situation occurred and get a more immediate response, which will hopefully lead to direct actions. I am hoping JetBlue will reach out to me via email or phone to rectify the situation that transpired to ensure this doesn't happen to any other customer.

Employees are a direct representation of the brand, which can either make or break the company’s image in the eyes of the public. Does JetBlue have another Steve Slater on their hands? These two disgruntled employees could just fit the bill, and could lose their cool at the drop of a dime. I think JetBlue should take a closer look at the employees they hire to represent their brand. Stay tuned to see how long it takes for me to finally be "HEARD."

Charlie "Shambles" Sheen

It's about time...that Sheen's publicist quits. Stan Rosenfeld has dealt with his fair share of Sheen crises for over a decade, but finally cut the tie with Sheen after his latest tirades. As Sheen continues to spiral out of control, would any publicist be able to tame this beast? After Sheens two bizarre and somewhat hilarious interviews with a few different media outlets, including NBC, ABC and Radar Online, Sheen has joined the world of Twitter. He has even set a new Guinness World Record of getting over 1 million followers in 25 hours and 17 minutes. It seems that the whole world wants to witness first hand Sheens next big flop or crazy outburst. As a publicist, you are employed by your client to generate and manage publicity, and act as the liaison between the client and the media. If Sheen is even looking to hire another publicist, would anybody in their right mind be up to the task? If you were a publicist and had to choose between representing Sheen or Lohan, who would you pick? Tough choice...hmmm

PR Problemo

All eyes have been on Egypt recently, with all that is going on with the protests and uprising. From Anderson Cooper to Brian Williams, news anchors has been giving the world a play by play of what is actually occurring. But a Mr. Kenneth Cole seemed to have a completely different view on what he thought was going on in Egypt. His recent twitter status read as following: "“Millions are in uproar in #Cairo. Rumor is they heard our new spring collection is now available online at http://bit.ly/KCairo -KC” Given the fact the his initials are at the end of this tweet, Kenneth himself was fully aware of this post. Did this tweet cross the line from being creative and witty, to being thoughtless and tasteless? Many are furious over this latest tweet from MR. KC....your thoughts?