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.