helpful class

I think this class has been very helpful! It's been great learning how to write press releases and media alerts, and everything for that matter. I want to get into journalism later on I think, and so learning all these writing techniques have been extremely helpful and beneficial, especially when thinking about my future career. It's all been interesting and I just want to learn more!

group projects experience

Lately with this project I have learned that things DO NOT go according to plan. As much as that bothers me, you gotta go with the flow right? You have to do what you can, when you can, and hope all goes well. We've been doing a of waiting, waiting for approval, permission, information, and details. i can't stand that either! overall the experience has been good, i've learned that it takes a lot of time and effort to pull of a little fundraiser, i cant even imagine what it would be like to pull off something huge!

opinion pieces in the media

I love reading the opinion pieces in the media! I want to go into the media later on, and I want to be one of those writers who voices their opinion, no matter what people will think or say. The media these days is either always controversial, or completely one sided, and I think it's amazing when someone goes against the tide, or against the norm, and adds some color of those black and white pages in the newspaper. That's why I love reading opinion pieces! I find it fascinating when I read someone's writing with a completely different view or opinion on something, and I applaud them, because sometimes it's hard. But I read them, because I want to be them someday. I have opinions- we all do, and i cant stand it when people just don't voice their opinion because it might be different.

I especially like reading different opinions when it comes to clothes, electronics, and books and movies especially. I want to know what people think so I don't waste my time!

Group Project

Personally, I hate group projects. I don't know if anyone feels the same way as I do, but I'd much rather just do something myself. It's faster, easier, and I don't have to worry about someone messing up my grade. But in this case, I am SO pumped!
It's been awesome just getting together and bouncing off ideas with my group members, and talking with Lauren, the PR director for Starlight. This seems so legit- it's my first big project and I'm excited... but also slightly terrified. I'm scared that things won't work out, we wont raise enough money and we'll have to wind up having a lemonade stand or something outside of Montclair. I'm sure it'll come together.. but also I'm nervous about our time crunch. I would have liked if we started this earlier, so we'd have more time to work on our fundraiser. It seems a little rushed with the plan we want to do, but I'm confident it'll come together!

By far, coolest group project EVER.

What scares me about the Media

What scares me most about the media... hmm..
Well, for me, a couple things scare me. I don't like messing up. I love doing well on an assignment and having it be right. If I work hard, usually it pays off. But with the media, I feel like there are so many tough critics out there, who just don't have a positive word to ever come out of their mouth. I can handle criticism well, but I'm not sure how much will be enough for me to get discouraged. There's always going to be somebody out there who doesn't agree with me, who thinks my writing is crap, and for a perfectionist with her writing, it's not something I'm going to want to hear all the time. I know I'll learn- it's all part of the experience, but just failure as a whole scares me. If people don't like my work, that scares me.

Another fear is that since the media is such a competitive industry, I have these fears that I just won't stand out, and won't be good enough compared to everyone else. It's so cut-throat, and that's not my personality to be overly aggressive and have the "do whatever it takes" attitude to win it. I can stand up for myself but because of the competitive nature of this job, it scares me that I'll get trampled. But not enough for me to not love what I'll be doing! That's why I've been realizing that I like the atmosphere of a non-profit organization or something of the sort better than a large PR firm. But honestly, fears or no fears, I'll be walking into wherever I end up with my head held high, confident, and ready to do the best I can.

snow day!

I have a love/hate relationship with snow. I feel like I say that about a lot of things, but with snow, I really mean it. I think that if it's going to be bitterly cold outside, it might as well snow so at least the place can look pretty as we're freezing our asses off. But really, deep down, I just want summer. I'm a summer kind of girl for sure, and snow just depresses me because it reminds me that warm weather is no where near what so ever. But when snow comes, I love it. I love waking up and walking down my stairs to see my street completely covered in white. And my backyard is absolutely beautiful when it snows, since it's all woods basically, the trees get covered, and it's just too amazing for words.

This year, I LOVED the snow. I mean, come on, Montclair closed 3 times this semester, so what's not to love about that? That never happens, so I decided to take advantage of this 4 day weekend we were given thanks for Mother Nature.

For the first time....ever... in my life... in my whole 20 years of living... I made my first snowman.

For the record, it was not just me. My sister Liz and I, while helping our dad shovel the driveway, we realized we never had a childhood because neither of us built any snowmen. I have 2 older brothers too, and they never built snowmen. They were all about making forts and pelting each other with snowballs. So I never had that childhood memory of making a cool snowman outside your house that everyone stops to look at... UNTIL THIS WEEKEND.

Picture this: cars driving up and down my street seeing me, 20 years old, with my 24 year old sister, rolling the snow all around my front yard, completely destroying it basically, to make a snowman, But come on, these boys down the street from us who were about 15 years old were making a snowman too, and we had to show them up. We were in our 20's! We're supposed to be pro's. Needless to say, our snowmen (well technically one's a girl) rocked. Best time ever. And I finally got my (not so childhood) memory of making a snowman!

Picture below :) We should totally win a prize.

can you tell summer was on our minds?

PR strategy

Facebook is the way to go to get attention or get the word out about something. Seeing a random number as someone's facebook status telling them to call automatically strikes curiosity, and it's most likely guaranteed that people will respond and call. Curoisity killed the cat- but in this case, it did wonders with Nestle. It definitely says something if a company can reach its customers on their level by using facebook, and showing a sense of humor is enticing and attractive. It draws people in, and if someone is entertained, they'll spread the word out, and you'll reach a wider audience. So I thought this idea was genius. Sure, it didn't get people running to the stores to buy a Nestle Crunch Bar, but next time I see one on the shelf, I'll remember that time they made me laugh by their hotline, and most likely, I'd buy their product. Getting laughs sells. People appreciate it when a big, high-end comany comes down to their level, meets them where they're at, like facebook, and takes the time to make them laugh. Definitely a great marketing strategy.

Nice going, Southwest

What was Southwest Airlines thinking?! I always felt so bad for people who couldn't go on roller coasters because the metal bar in front didnt cover them exactly the way that it should. But an airplane? When he fits perfectly fine in the seat? That is not okay. Especially someone like Kevin Smith, who is a world famous actor/director/comedian. You know that if you do something to him, like, oh I dont know, make him get off the plane, people are going to hear about it. He's a celebrity, and not morbidly obese, so why? What was the Southwest PR people thinking? Removing anyone from the plane is just bad news bears, it'll ruin the profits! If I was on the heftier side I wouldnt even try going to Southwest just in case of the chance they'd make me get off. The PR really needs to do some damage control
Sure, they apologized to Kevin Smith, but is that really enough? I feel like there needs to be much more recompense, not only for Kevin Smith, but for all Southwest flyers. If I was a frequent buyer of southwest, I'd feel hurt- much like Kevin Smith did.
Way to go, Southwest. Hating on heavier people is not the way to go.

Publicity Stunts

When I think of a big publicity stunt, I think of Joaquin Phoenix. I'm really hoping it was a publicity stunt and he wasn't serious when he went on Lettermen completely stoned. There I saw an actor that was so desperate to get some attention that he had to make a complete ass of himself. He hadn't been in the spot light, what with Lindsay Lohan and Brittany Spears hogging all the attention. And now, He probably got what he wanted: whenever I think of a hot mess, I think Joaquin Phoenix. People are still buzzing about him, hence the point of a publicity stunt. He acted crazy and stoned (which he probably wasnt acting but oh well) and completely made a fool of himself. But he got attention, he made a scene, made headlines and covers and jokes. Publicity stunt? I hope so. I'd hate to think Joaquin really is that messed up now. I was once a fan!

Stunts

I don't know about you, but I thought those stunts were hysterical! My favorite was the Taco Bell publicity stunt. Come on, purchasing the Liberty Bell so it'd be called The Taco Liberty Bell?! Genius. It's comical, and that's why it worked. It was something so crazy, like purchasing a national landmark just because it fits with your company name is absurd, but very much attention grabbing. And it caught on! It's very hard not to trust the media, thinking they'll never lead you astray. So I think it's a good idea getting the media involved. People even started calling the National Historic Park of Philadelphia complaining. It's hysterical! And it got Taco Bell's name out there for sure. To get your name big in the media, you have to do something big, and they really did, which was why it was so successful! Really good idea... it even has me thinking about going to Taco Bell... maybe.

What I thought was stupid was how Burger King tried to copy Taco Bell, with something less creative and effective. Basically it blew up in their face. By inventing a "left handed burger" sure it sounds cute, but it's not crazy enough. I dont think it was worth it, because all they caused was uproar when people would come in trying to order a left handed burger. But I guess it'd still be considered a success? I mean, they did get more customers, but it didnt measure up to Taco Bell's. So they just look like copy cats to me. I feel like to get publicity, and if you want to pull a stunt, you gotta go big or go home.

Tim Tebow

Wooo Superbowl is coming up this Sunday! ....Honestly, I couldn't care less. Football isn't one of my favorite sports. I know the basic concepts, but ask me anything about it and I couldn't tell you. I don't follow the game, I follow my team, the Giants. Born and raised Giants fan, the superbowl only interests me when they're playing. However, something this year caught my inerest, that I have been following, and I can honestly say that I'm looking forward to the Superbowl; not for the game itself, but for the commercials. Actually, one particular commercial. Florida quarterback, Tim Tebow and his mother are going to be aired on a pro life commercial during the game, and it's raised a lot of controversy. I was suprised to hear that sports announcers were furious when they heard this commercial was being aired. Personally, I don't see a problem. A commercial is a commercial: you paid for the slot (2.5 million dollars or something ridiculous like that) so you get the time. People have even petitioned to get it off the time table during the superbowl. Come on, people. Is this really a big deal? You don't like the commercial or what it represents? Change the channel. If I have a problem with drinking, will I petition to get all the beer comercials off the air for that time? Of course not.
But it's more than that; not only do people think it shouldnt be aired, sports casters are saying that if Tim Tebow goes through with this add, it's jeopardizing his career, because he's so lcose to being drafted. So let me ge tthis straight: because he's standing up for something he believes in and supports, he's getting looked down upon?
It's even more than just something he believes him, but affects him directly. When his mother was pregnant with him, doctors advised her to terminate the pregnancy because of a life threatening illness. She didnt. Tim Tebow was born, happy and healthy. Maybe thats why he wants to do this commercial, despite the fact that sports men are saying how this is a stupid move on his part, that could ruin his career. (which infuriates me) But I think he knows that there are some things more important. If his mom didn't give him life in the first place, he wouldnt even have the opportunity to play football at all. Tim Tebow states, "I know some people won't agree with it, but I think they can at least respect that I stand up for what I believe and that I’m never shy about it. I don’t feel very preachy about it, but I do stand up for what I believe. Unfortunately in today’s society, not many athletes seem to do that. I always stand for something.”

If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything. Thatta boy, Tim Tebow.

Twitter needs to go

I feel that Twitter is completely overrated. It's a website that is specifically used for letting people know what you are doing at all times of every day? Come on. Don't we have anything better to do? According to the article, "Has Twitter Peaked" I think that Andrew Lipsmen, an analyst at comScore puts it best when he said, "Maybe twitter was a victim of its own success".
I either hear that people love twitter and have been using it from the beginning, or people like me, who think it's ridiculous and can't stand all the hype about it. It blows my mind at the popularity, honestly. There were 2.6 million visitors at the beginning of January 2009 to 17 million by the end of April. That rise is crazy! Over 17 million people have a twitter to just let people know what they're doing, or what they're thinking.
With celebrities, I can understand, I mean, okay, famous people, it'd be cool to know what they're up to or when new cd's are coming out. Personally, I'd make a Twitter just to follow Taylor Swift, but i'm a borderline stalker so that's different. But my sister? I don't care what she's doing, and probably no one else does either.
I can understand what Mark Logan, a VP of a company out in Kansas said: "I don't know whether Twitter itself has peaked, but my own usage of Twitter is definitely in a slump." Twitter got so big so fast with many people, so it can turn into a frenzy that people don't want to be part of. That's partially my reason for not having one, that's why people are deleting their facebook as well. It's turning into something huge, and some people just don't want to get caught up, so they limit their activity, or they deactivate their account.
Honestly, I can see why everyone loves Twitter, or why everyone has it. But I just think we need to find something better to do with our time.

It's Meee

Hey hey I'm Mary- 20 years old, and a sophomore at Montclair State. I'm a pretty cool person if I do say so myself. Nah just kidding but I'm a pretty outgoing person, I love meeting new people and striking up conversations. I commute to Montclair, about a 40-45 minute drive every day which can be extremely annoying, but sadly I'm used to it by now. I go to school full time, and work 5 days a week as well as a nanny so you could say I'm usually pretty busy. I also am really involved in the Newman Catholic Center on campus so I'll travel up there a couple times a week too. So basically, my gas bills are higher than my tuition at this point. But it's worth it! In my free time, when I have free time, I love hanging out with my friends and just relaxing since I don't really get to do that too much. I used to dance all the time, but stopped my senior year in high school but I'm starting to dance again- it makes me really happy! I should really go to some sort of rehab for my addiction to chocolate and junk food, I should exercise more than I do (but who has time?!) and I should really get focused and get out of summer mode and hit the books! But... it's all a working progress :) All in all, I'm a pretty laid back person, living life for sure!