My little sister's fauxhawk

Although I tend to look like a plain jane on the outside, the truth is I believe there is no such thing as “normal” and I admire my friends who can pull off their individual style, like my friends Sarah and Kristin, or my little sister Becca - I wish I could rock a fauxhawk like her! The most common feedback I get from friends and coworkers is that I’m very creative, so I guess my originality can be found in my ideas and writing, not my outward appearance.

If you’re my friend on Facebook you probably saw a picture I uploaded from the Miranda Lambert concert on Saturday night. The woman sitting next to Mackenzie and I was wearing a bright orange t-shirt, with the sleeves cut down the middle, tied with some sort of silver sparkled cheap ribbon. To complete the look she wore pale pink press on nails and carried a baby blue heart-shaped wand in her hand (yes, she had a wand).

Orange shirt, minus the wand

As we waited  for the show to begin, we realized a country concert provided some interesting people watching. Mackenzie took a picture of a guy with a ponytail down to his butt, and we both agreed to only date guys with shorter hair than us. I took a picture of a girl wearing jean shorts 5 sizes too small and angel wings tattooed on her back. We both commented on the girl in front of us who had her cigarettes tucked into her cowboy boots. We decided we had everything we needed to write a great blog post entitled “The People of Miranda Lambert” and that we would do this for every concert we go to from now on.

When I woke up the next morning I decided I would go to the bookstore, read a little bit, then write my blog entry about the concert. I found what I wanted at Barnes & Noble, a copy of  “Normal Gets You Nowhere” by PR powerhouse Kelly Cutrone. You might recognize her as the woman who hired Lauren Conrad and Whitney Port to work for her fashion PR agency People’s Revolution on MTV’s show “The Hills.” She’s unique, talented, doesn’t give a f* about what other people think…and I love her for that.

After I read a few chapters of her book, I started to have second thoughts about what I was going to write about in my blog. Who am I to judge a person based on what they wear? I certainly don’t want to be considered average just because I wear Ralph Lauren button down shirts.

Kelly says in the first few pages what we hear all the time - it’s the freaks who change the world. However, she does advise that you need more than a daring personality to stand out in a valuable way, you also have to develop your talents. She writes, “if you’re going to get in the ring, babe, you better know how to box. The truth of the matter is, if you want to find success outside the norm, you really have to fine-tune your skills and become incredibly good at what you do…I’m really glad I’m allowed to wear all black and no makeup while working in the fashion industry, but I think the only reason I’m allowed to do that is because I tend to get the job done.”

Will the woman with the orange shirt and blue wand do something extraordinary to change this world? Maybe not. But I’m not going to be the one to judge a book by its cover. You may have seen some of my ideas around Atlanta over the past few years - although just by looking at me, it might surprise you that I thought of them.

Connect: Follow Kelly Cutrone on Twitter @peoplesrev

 He looks different without the Braves uniform, a baseball cap, and a navy jacket. For 2 decades – my entire life – that’s all we’ve really seen him wear. It’ll be strange next year to look into the Braves dugout and not see his familiar face and #6 jersey on the bench, but I feel fortunate to have been a part of the Braves office (family, as we often refer to ourselves around here) during the last year of his historical career.

Connect: Follow the Atlanta Braves on Twitter @Braves

The door guy

Amateurs.

Not more than 5 seconds after we entered the house, we were both screaming like little girls – or ghouls. There was something frightening around every corner and behind every curtain. The set details and graphics were so realistic that it felt like being in a horror movie, and the make-up and costumes on the live actors were incredible. I made Jason walk  in front of me because the actors jumping out at us were terrifying me. Then I made him walk behind me because I was afraid someone was going to come after me from behind. Tip: go with 3 people if you’re easily spooked like me.

Ok, now keep fast forwarding, que the organ music, and picture this. We’re in the middle of the house, Jason’s recorder is on the ground, and I’m literally on my hands and knees in the dark trying to find the batteries that flew out of the recorder and fell under a vent. What a scene. Someone – or something – had REALLY scared us. Luckily it was a shallow vent, so we were able to save the batteries, but the recorder was broken. I guess it was scared to death. (Bad joke?) Unfortunately any evidence of our lack of bravery is gone, but we definitely got what we came for – a good scare, some laughs, and a great kick-off to the Halloween season. Not to mention a Halloween themed default picture for Facebook. Double score.

Side note: 13 Nights of Halloween starts on ABC Family on October 19th, and I’m already looking forward to watching my favorite Halloween movie Hocus Pocus for the millionth time. I just love this time of the year.

Connect: Follow Jason’s morning show and 94.9 The Bull on Twitter @JasonKristen, Netherworld Haunted House @hauntedatlanta and ABC Family @ABCFamily

Luckily I found some good reading this morning thanks to a tweet by my good friend Kelli (@kellimartin) about the discovery that the infamous King Tut probably died of Malaria. “It’s science like this that blows my mind. http://nyti.ms/c2BdKn“

But what really blows my mind is that King Tut died in 1324 B.C. and pictures of his preserved body are still being published in the NY Times in 2010. It’s not that I don’t find this newsworthy, I just wonder how someone would feel if they knew that they’d be remembered forever, and what if someone could have told the 19-year-old King before he died. What would you do differently if you knew?

…It’s 11am, and no one is here. Time to make some history of my own with Comcast.

What I know, is that I have a lot to learn. Here is where I’ll write about the ups, downs and unexpected turns of adjusting to the ”real world.”

(And thank you to the “unsecured network” user, obviously located in a nearby apartment, providing us with internet connection until Comcast decides they have time to pencil us into their calendar.)

I’ve decided I need to get better at keeping up with my blog posts now that I’ve graduated and it is no longer a requirement for class. I haven’t decided if I want this to be a personal blog or if I want to write about topics related to public relations – maybe I’ll just incorporate both. Format decisions to come later; for now I’ll keep this re-introduction to my blog casual.

I started my first internship at 360 Media in Atlanta just 2 days after the graduation ceremony – what a great introduction to the “real world” of public relations! I was lucky to be assigned to work closely with Michelle all summer, I’ll miss her – and everyone else at 360. Check out a press release I wrote for the Atlanta Arts Festival.

Currently, I’m a week into my 2nd internship. This fall I’ll be working as an intern in the public relations department at the Georgia Aquarium, and after my first week I absolutely love it already and I think it was a smart decision to do another internship. This week we had Miley Cyrus at the aquarium shooting scenes for her upcoming movie “Love Song” written by Nicholas Sparks. I had a blast and I cannot believe I got the opportunity to work with Disney and award winning crew members! People magazine  reported rumors that we all witnessed on set. Having insider knowledge = cool (in my book, at least).

I plan to write about my internship experiences – from 360 and the Georgia Aquarium-  in more detail on a later date, so expect some “summer catch-up” posts!

1. “Black or White” (Adam Lambert): The famous Michael Jackson lyrics say “it don’t matter if your black or white.” Well, in public relations R.A.C.E. matters (the acronym, that is). R – research; A – action; C – Communication; E – Evaluation. These are the four key elements of the public relations process.

2. “This One’s For The Girls” (Kendall Beard): During the beginning of the semester we learned about the history of PR and how it’s evolving and changing. One way it’s changing is that it is becoming  a female dominated profession. Communication is vital to the profession, and women are naturally better communicators than men. As if we didn’t know that already :) Men, don’t be discouraged by this, male PR practitioners are successful too.

3. “True Colors” (Anoop Dessai): PR practitioners are held to ethical standards. We are responsible for the best interest of the public, and that means we must provide them with accurate information. While we are advocates for our clients, it’s also in both our and the clients best interest to be open and honest in order to gain and keep the public’s trust.

4. “Give Me Just One Reason” (Kristin McNamara): We learned many reasons why research is important in PR. Here are a few of them: To achieve credibility with management, define audiences,  formulate strategy,  prevent crises, sway public opinion, gain publicity, measure success.

5. “Remember The Time” (Kris Allen): Timeliness is important in PR for two reasons. First, waiting too long to reply to an issue or crisis is neglectful, and in the Domino’s Pizza case it caused their image to be damaged online. Second,we learned that deadlines are important and must always be met. Check the deadline of the specific publication you are writing to, and make sure you get your press kit there on time if you hope to get something published – and remember to write in AP style!

6. “Mad World” (Adam Lambert): It’s a mad world out there; job competition is fierce, especially in today’s economy. Join clubs like PRSSA (Public Relations Student Society of America), SOCS (Society of Communication Scholars), or Prestige to set yourself apart from other applicants competing for the same job.

7. “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” (Allison Iraheta): We learned through the Domino’s and Smarties examples in class that monitoring social media is important. YouTube vidoes spead to millions in just days, and sites like Twitter and Facebook allow for free expression. If you don’t constantly search the internet you’ll miss what people are saying about your brand, client or company.

8. “Everything I do” (Anoop Dessai): Hold onto things you do that are PR related and organize them into a portfolio. Pictures, press relases, feature stories taht have been published should go into your portfolio. You can also include things that you did in a PR class -  the books you make for PR Research and PR Campaigns. By the time you graduate you should have at least a small portfolio to show future employers of what you are capable, and some employers will ask for a writing sample or two.

9. “The Way You Look Tonight” (Kris Allen): When you go for a job or internship interview it’s important to look nice, clean and polished. The way you dress is a reflection of you, and you want to present yourself in a way that is professional and also tells employers that you really care about the position. A business suit is usually appropriate.

10. “Get Ready” (Danny Gokey):The best thing you can do to prepare yourself for the a career in PR is to get experience. Do an intership and/or a PR related job while you’re still in school. Internships will get you ready for your career, and it’s a requirement for PR majors at Georgia Southern!

Thanks for listening/reading, now remember to vote for Adam Lambert!

Anyways, below are some pictures I took at the Aquarium. I couldn’t pick just one so I  made a slide show with some of my favorites:

Trey had already been to the Aquarium once, so he was my tour guide. The first exhibit he took me to was the Ocean Voyager – and this was definitely on my favorites list. The HUGE tank had  three whale sharks, a hammerhead shark, a giant manta ray, giant grouper fish, a sand shark, and so much more. The whale sharks are the biggest fish in the world – they are enormous!

Some of my other favorites were the Southern Sea Otters, and the Asian Small Clawed Otters (they could entertain you for hours.) But the best part about the Georgia Aquarium was getting to touch baby stingrays, baby sharks, and sea anemones.

Now this wouldn’t be a personal post if I didn’t include a flashback…

FLASHBACK! Trey and I about 2 years ago

Meet the girls:

• Chrissie Miller, Fasion Designer
• Lara Meiland Shaw, Couture Wedding Dress Designer
• Faythallegra Coleman, Filmmaker
• Dani Stahl, Style Director Nylon Magazine

 According to the press release by Edelman and Unilever “20 somthings” today are more powerful and independant than ever, and therefore have a lot more on their plate. These stories about the four real life girls in the video series will “relate and inspire” today’s generation of young adults.

This is a smart parntnership by Dove, as GOSSIP GIRL is one of the most popular tv shows today. Girls accross the nation watch this show, and Dove products are intended for girls.  “The Dove mission is to make women feel more beautiful every day by challenging today’s stereotypical view of beauty and inspiring women to take great care of themselves.” 

The new Dove go fresh Burst products are promised to provide that extra burst of energy that every woman can use in the morning. If you’d like to find out more information about the Dove go fresh collection visit the GOSSIPGIRL website, where you’ll find links, advertisements, and all the information you could possibly want about the new products.

In PR the right partnership can make a difference. Do they compliment each other? Are they reaching the same target audience? This one is right on the mark.

“For us, it’s about launching [the new collection] in a way that stays true to our brand,” said Stacie Bright, senior communications and marketing manager for Unilever, which owns Dove. Full story here.

Catch GOSSIP GIRLS Monday’s on The CW @ 8:00 p.m. ET.