The Great Flood 2011

So as many of you already know that on Sunday night we had quite a storm come through good old Chucktown. As I spent two hours in my chapter room singing "Anyway You Want It" and "21 Guns" over and over and over and over again, little did I and the rest of my sorority know that Greek Court was turning into one giant river/mud bath. Once our practice ended, we all went outside to see that the rest of Greek Life was enjoying the crazy weather. People had on their rain boots and rain coats jumping in puddles. Others had nothing but their shorts on and were running and sliding across the lawns. For a split second a bunch of college kids transformed into a bunch of children. I have to say the random things that happen in Greek Court such as this are always entertaining. It was nice to see that everyone was just having a good time and interacting with others. We always talk about how we need to strengthen our Greek Unity and this was a perfect opportunity.

Facebook For Kids?

With Facebook becoming more and more popular each day among teens and adults, the Walt Disney Company has decided to jump on the bandwagon and market their own version of a social networking site called, Togetherville. This site will allow parents to interact and monitor their kids. While the kids can somewhat freely roam around on the site and talk to friends, play games, update statuses, etc. parents have the control of who their child is friends with and what they can post on a daily basis.

My thoughts on this newest social media site is that I think it is a good idea and a bad idea at the same time. Why it's a good idea is because as time goes on and new generations come into this world, this is the sort of communication we are learning to have. Kids need to start learning how to use these skills on being on the internet to an extent because that is just how things are starting to become. Why it's a bad idea? I don't think that it will reach the popularity as Facebook has and I'm not sure how well the site will actually do. Also, the idea of being safe on the internet is something that kids need to be taught, but at the same time how do we know parents aren't just going to let their kids get an account on Togetherville and do what they please. I mean even kids can start up a Facebook account without the permission of their parents as it is.

Here is a link to read more about the topic:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/disney-acquires-togetherville-a-social-161023

New Found Passion

One of my new passions is non-profit organizations. I love everything that they stand for and their purpose in life. That is why I really hope that some day I can work for a non-profit organization and do public relations work for them. It wasn't until about a year ago that really loved the idea of helping others and fund-raising. I had done small things in the past, but it never really had any meaning to me besides that I knew that the money I raised was going to others who needed it. Now I know that it is so much more than that. The process of getting to that ultimate goal is what truly makes me happy and bringing awareness to others is what I found is the best part of it.

For example, last year my sorority decided to take an awful situation into our hands that affected people we knew that were also a part of Greek Life. We brought awareness to the campus about Domestic Violence and in the end raised over 1,000 dollars. It was so uplifting to see this side of a lot of the girls in my house that wanted so badly to help out a friend and her family. We spent countless hours making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and making posters to get people to donate. From all that time and effort it really did pay off and I think the best part was having the family come down to thank us for everything that we did.

This year we are taking on a new cause because it hit close to home for all of us. One of our own sisters, Briana was diagnosed with Lemierre's Syndrome which is extremely rare. Since Thanksgiving she has been in the hospital and thankfully she has pulled through it all and is beginning to slowly recover. We really want to help the family with their hospital bills and let others know about this rare syndrome since I know most people don't even know about it. The fact that she is our sister really has driven us and myself to want to reach out to her and her family since we know it has been tough for them and ourselves as well. And even though she may not remember who we are, we still want to send her a message that we will always be there for her.

Safety First

On Friday night I came home late to find that the side door to my house was wide open. Immediately I freaked out. I was with a friend and we both walked in panicked that someone could potentially be roaming around the house without anyone knowing, so out of the kindness of our hearts (or as some people will say just being plain loud) we ran through the hallways screaming and yelling to tell everyone that someone had left the side door open. Besides the fact that it was sort of funny at the time, it really is a serious matter. Thankfully on all the doors to our rooms have locks and I locked mine before I left, but for those people who didn't if someone were to have got in the house who knows what could have happened. You here all these stories of young girls getting raped at different college campuses and you always think that won't be me, but in this case it could have been.

I really think that where I live, which is in Greek Court that it would not be that hard for someone who had bad intentions to get into the houses or approach someone since the lighting is minimal. It scares me at night when I come home struggling to find my keys that there isn't a light by my back door and that anyone could be hiding there and waiting to get me or someone that I know. I just think that the safety measures need to be raised and that not only should it be the effort of the residences but the university as well.

Mission For Health

Over the weekend as I watching television I noticed a new commercial that Lysol is running. The commercial focused on a new campaign that is called, "Mission For Health". This campaign is targeting mothers, schools, and disaster relief efforts. Health is clearly very important and extending their efforts to beyond just the normal household they are hoping to create a nationwide brand that can do more than just that. They want to focus on the bigger picture. With this latest campaign, the Lysol website provides tips and information for mothers, schools, and disaster relief workers about how to better the health of the environment around them and educate others about it too.

For mothers, the website gives helpful health tips and information to prepare for the arrival of newborns and the future of their babies after they are home from the hospital. For schools, Lysol is striving to improve attendance and educate students on better health through a new program called, The Blue Ribbon School Attendance Challenge. For disaster relief efforts, a donation is being made by Lysol to provide families who have been struck by a disaster and trying to aid them in anyway that they can.

As a Public Relations major, I have noticed that I tend to pick out the advertisements that aren't solely focused on selling a product, but an idea. It is important to public relations to focus on social responsibility and campaigning these ideas such as Lysol's Mission For Health to people so they understand the importance that their product may offer and how they can participate in the efforts. I thought this campaign will be very affective because I know that I use Lysol frequently in my dorm room. In college you live so closely to so many other people that germs spread fast and so Lysol is a necessity in order to prevent from spreading germs or getting sick.

For more information about the Lysol's Mission For Health campaign visit their website:
http://www.lysol.com/mission-for-health

Social Media: A PR Miracle

In the PR world social media sites have been rising in popularity like crazy. Even though prior to the Facebook era there were other social media sites like Xanga and Myspace that existed, but Facebook was the one that broke the barrier and started the craze that everyone is obsessed with. It it hard to find people who don't have a Facebook account even though I do know of a few people that haven't jumped on the bandwagon due to their own personal reasons which I completely respect. However, not being connected with social media especially for PR major is almost a sin. Social media is critical to the PR world and has only advanced the ways in which we communicate, go about creating free publicity and bringing awareness to others.

Today, there is such a variety of social media sites that it's hard to keep up with them all. Every day it seems like there is some sort of new site that is being published to the web. Social media sites are even starting to become the top used sites on the Internet and beating out the porn industry, which for a long time was the number one thing people searched for the on the web. According to The eBusiness Knowledgebass, they rated the top 15 social media sites of 2010 as Facebook(#1), Myspace (#2), Twitter(#3), LinkedIn (#4), and so on. Some of the sites that they had listed I have never heard about before, but somehow they are considered top social media sites used by people all over the world.

With these sites being created it is so beneficial for the PR world because not only is it a way to gain publicity and bring awareness, but it's FREE. It is so simple to type in a 160 character message on Twitter knowing that message can reach out to millions of people all over the world within seconds. Also, Facebook is a wonderful PR tool because many organizations now are using it to interact with it's customers, fans, followers whatever they may be and reach out to them through status updates, fan pages, and events. It's a great way to spread the word without having to spend loads of money on an advertisement campaign that many people might choose to pay attention to or ignore. Social media is a gift sent down from heaven for the PR world.

While You Were Watching The Super Bowl...

Unlike the thousands of American's last night who sat down in front of their television sets to stuff their faces with chips and dips, have a beer, and scream obnoxiously as loud as they can because the outcome of the Super Bowl was disappointing to say the least, I watched the Puppy Bowl. For the past seven years, Animal Planet has hosted a televised event called the Puppy Bowl that basically shows for two hours just a variety of puppies playing around on a miniature football field with one another. it has to be by far one of the cutest most entertaining shows I have ever watched. Literally, I caught myself laughing and saying "Aw" out loud a few times at just how gosh darn cute they are. The whole time it made me wish I had a little puppy to play with and ultimately that was the whole goal of Animal Planet airing this show in the first place. Going beyond the fact that the puppies were cute and playful looking, they wanted to encourage viewers to adopt homeless dogs and I personally think this is a great way to do so.

Every year there are so many dogs and other animals that are left abandoned and are in need of a home. There are always those commercials that show dogs and cats that are sitting in pounds looking sad and mangled wanting people to adopt them. Despite this being a heart wrenching commercial and makes you want to help them or donate to stop animal abuse, it always makes me wonder how many people actually take action. With the Puppy Bowl, it has been researched that the adoption rates tend to go up and the featured puppies that are shown running around are even adopted as well and the puppies aren't the only ones that are getting all the attention. As the half time show to give the puppies time to reenergize, the Animal Planet shows kittens doing the exact same thing and it is just as adorable. By doing this not only brings more awareness to adopting pets, but also provides something else to watch if you're not really into the real Super Bowl.

Skins

Last night, I had the unfortunate opportunity to watch the MTV show, Skins. I heard that there was a lot of controversy about it because it was exploiting underage actors in scenes that were too steamy for television and that it is just pushing the limits of being banned. Sometime people overreact to new shows, but this one is just BAD. All the talk about it isn't any sort of exaggeration, it really is probably one of the more controversial shows on television right now.

I understand that sometimes writers like to break the mold and try to be a little controversial because it draws attention to the show even more, but this one is drawing the line. It's embarrassing and not to mention uncomfortable to watch it. Originally this show premiered in Europe and did really well, however that's because they can get away with a lot more over seas which I think writers tend to forget when they want to premiere stuff here in America. We are a very censored nation compared to a lot of other places.

Besides the fact that many viewers think this show is stupid and inappropriate and many parents are trying to get it banned from television, it's not just them who want nothing to do with this show. Even advertisers who bought out spots during commercial breaks are pulling out because they are embarrassed to associate their product with Skins. Some of these companies consist of ProActive, Taco Bell, GM, etc. Perez Hilton even joked on his gossip site that no one is even advertising anymore and they can only play previews for Teen Mom 2 so many times.