It's been a while....

And by gum it has. I literally have no idea where the past few (or six) months have gone! My last post was during the midst of dissertation, since then a lot has changed. I've graduated with a 2.1, had an awesome summer and am working and living in London, everything has turned out rather rosy!

I am currently second in command at new brands division of Dawbell PR. It is going well.
Really enjoying the vast amount of responsibility and the ability to be creative and have an impact on how our different brands campaigns run.

Think the blog is going to take a more creative turn over the next few months so stay tuned...

Is Social Media like Garlic Bread...Is it really the Future for Everyone?

Due to being a bit busy with final year I have found it increasingly difficult to keep my blog regulary updated and have unfortuntely let it fall by the way side. Hark No! Social media fantatics cry! Having a blog is a commitment, a hobby, something to come home too and treat like one of the family, an important part of your personal and working life that you must treasure.

Much like Twitter. Who in the morning, wakes up and checks both their Twitter and Facebook accounts even before getting out of bed? I do for one, it has become a habit, and being a bit of a creature of habit I have placed it firmly within my morning routine and continually check it at regular intervals throughout the day.

It is these sorts of social media orientated habits that many organisations are increasingly relying on as part of their social media strategies. Everywhere companies turn they are being instructed to jump on the social media bandwagon and 'get with the times'. But is social media really for everyone? Granted it has many positives and is a fantastic way of reaching out to a lot of publics, but I can't help feeling that it is not always the best choice for every kind of organisation.

For instance a large amount of the people that frequent the Twitter realm (latest figures I have found are about 190 million) are predominately media orientated. I am not saying there are not millions of people that aren't but if I were to do a survey amongst my friends (all fine upstanding young professionals might I add) very few of them would admit to using anything more than Facebook. This would mean a brand that might want to target my friends and those like them, may find that a social media campaign to not necessarily be such a good idea.
Don't get me wrong I love a good retweet as much as Wossy, but I just feel it is important to remember what works and what doesn't.

As I am increasing my knowledge of ever changing PR, I am also gaining my own values and beliefs. As a PR professional I see myself, upon graduation, dedicated to providing my clients and accounts with the most effective and worthwhile service I can offer, through whatever mediums work best for the individuals in question. By leading clients to think that social media will rocket their brands to the top of the twitter trending charts is misleading and to be misleading to the client is not what I as a PR set out to do.

What is the point of following the crowd, if it is better to do something to stand out from it?

Graduate Schemes..How can you stand out from the crowd?

October in final year, dissertation is starting to roll, communication audit is gaining pace and then there is portfolio (not to mention that trying to get a 1st is likely to cause health problems..Oh great!).
It doesn't sound much when down on paper but believe me it is extremely stressful and finding enough hours in the day is becoming a skill that is definitely going to help later in life! To add to the stresses of final year there is also the 'what next' to consider...So what next?
There are graduate schemes galore from the large PR agencies, but competition is steep.. with PR being an ever increasing sector it is gaining popularity at a dramatic pace and many PR graduates will find themselves pitted against the likes of Oxbridge and even Boston University graduates.

With this in mind action is required. I feel that having a specialist area is important in making a person stand out in interviews and so whilst keeping an eye on all areas of PR I will be looking at crisis communications as my area of speciality, so much so that I will be covering the topic in my dissertation.

I will also be up-ing my online presence in an attempt (hopefully not a futile one) to increase my chances of potential future employees seeing what I am capable of and hopefully cause a spark of interest around my own personal brand.

Whilst this is a good start I will also need to come up with some new and creative ideas to make me stand out from the crowd...

Back to 'School'

With placement finished and a jam packed summer had, this is the point where every final year student realises that they should have begun reading and planning for the D-word, as well as putting some serious thought into where they will head once graduating.

With the constant reminders on how hard it is to get a job in any industry it has got me into a bit of a tiz as to whether I should begin with applying to graduate schemes now, as I had previously intended to take some time out and do some teaching in beautiful foreign lands among other constructive activities (for a comical example of how not to spend a gap year check this out- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKFjWR7X5dU). I am aware that once you are in the rat race it is incredibly hard to 'duck' back out again..but with the economic climate as it is, is it wise to jump on board as soon as possible (pending actually being offered a grad role!)? Any thoughts from both in and out of the PR sector would be great.

Newbies to PR...don't take it to heart

I was recently trying to create a PR opportunity by arranging for an editor of several local papers (who and which shall remain nameless) to visit a care home within their local area.


The aim of this was to create relationships within the media local to the area and give them an insight into what life in a care home is really like.

When enquiring what the news hook was for this visit I explained that it was really just to meet and greet…I was promptly replied to with an email that was rude, sarcastic and pretty disheartening…needless to say I will not be contacting this 'ruthless, hard-bitten and crucial story hunting' journalist again.

Glad I'm acquiring a thick skin all part of being a PR I hear...

Top Tips to make the transition of student to professional easy

Having been a student for four years prior to my work placement I found that I had a deep rooted student mentality. Whilst this is not necessarily a bad thing it is perhaps not the best way to fit into to a corporate environment.


So thought I would put some tips together for those of you who are looking into placements for the coming year:

1. Dress code - Make sure you find out what kind of a dress code the office is that you are going into. It looks more professional to be dressed to smart than slightly scruffy

2. Take notes whenever possible - Always keep a pad and paper in hand, it not only helps you to understand and looks like your paying attention (even when you aren't sure what they are talking about) but will pay dividends when needing to look back over what you have done for those reflective essays!


3. Get feedback - This is vital for your development during your placement. Although it is a daunting prospect it is so very important. It not only helps you get recognition for all of the things you are doing right but also will give you the chance to chat about your weaker areas, and how to improve them. The best way of doing this is to set up a series of development meetings with your managers, outline points that you wish to develop and give them the opportunity to give you some of their own. This will help you to work towards specific aims thus helping you to get the most out of your placement

4. Don't email/interact with those above you in the same way you do your friends - This is a common mistake, and one that I have made several times. The most comical being when I gave an enthusiastic shake of my fist in a one to one with the comms director...this later resulted in my manager asking me why I shook my my fist at the director...So word of warning, body language is an important thing to gauge!


5. Try to get involved in meetings - Any contribution is better than no contribution. Even though at times it is frightening that you may say the wrong thing, it shows you are interested and paying attention, employers love it

6. If you have to stay late as you have a bit of work you could do with finishing - Do it. Don't think “oh I’ll come in early to do it”. Just stay that little bit longer and get it done. Even if you think that no one has noticed, karma ensures that it pays off in the end...believe me


7. Ask questions - Yes its annoying, yes you don't want to seem like you don't understand but how are you ever meant to know if you don't ask?


8. Don't spend all day emailing your friends - Regular checks are carried out by large companies to check that you are not wasting precious working hours being an email socialite. No matter how you delete your emails they can always be found again

9. Check, recheck and check your work again - It may seem obvious but it is so easy to miss a comma here, skip a word there. If it makes it easier, close the work down and come back to it a bit later, it saves a lot of embarrassment when your managers check your work and point out some extremely obvious mistakes


10. Always offer to help - If there is a small task up for grabs offer to do it, it shows that you are keen and eager to help. It gives employers a sense of reliability in you, which is not a bad thing in the slightest


11. And last but by no means least, do not moan about your job via social media sites - The internet is a dangerous place, once something is uploaded it never disappears. We have all heard stories of people being sacked due to their facebook status, it happens, just don't let it happen to you




So there we go a quick top tip guide to making the transition of student to professional, it's not easy but play the game, stick to the tips and you will not go far wrong.

Zebra Management Wants Naive Young Women for Faux Fame and Fortune

Have you been wondering down Oxford Street or that area and been approached by a young woman/man with a camera who asks to take your picture? Have they then told you that you are great looking and have the idea look for some of the modelling/acting/music videos they are involved in...before taking your details and giving you the Zebra Management agency business card.

During the following week you receive a phone call from a lovely sounding Zebra Management rep who tells you that you take a great picture and would like to organise a photo shoot with you and put you on their books all at no cost to you! NO COST I hear you say... they then tell you that to get a portfolio up on Zebra website that you need to have a professional photoshoot. This then causes you to ask where is the hidden cost, won't you have to pay for the shoot. The 'lovely' rep puts you on hold before coming back and telling you that because you are so likely to get work their boss has said that they will pay for part of the shoot. You can't believe it, this is the kind of thing that you have always dreamed of happening..

You go along to the shoot, a mardy italian girl does your make up and straightens your hair a bit. You are then asked to get into your three outfits that you were instructed to bring with you and spend a couple of hours prancing around a rather professional looking studio called The L*ght R**ms.

Excited, enthusiatic and feeling more like Kate Moss than Chris Moyles, you head back to the reception where you are greeted by the studios manager who's smile can only suggest a massive payout is coming her way, greets you and takes you into a side room to show you your amazing pictures. Once again you are told how incredibly photogentic you are and that you really are truely natural in front of the camera, honestly all of this flattery is working wonders!
Having looked through all of the photos (all 100 of them) and been told you look fantastic in 99.9% of them, the woman turns to you and says "So if you by this package you get all of these for just £300"...

Hold on a minute.

£300?

I thought this was being paid mainly by Zebra Management? "Oh no they paid for your hair and make up, so which package do you want, you want to make sure you can show future castings that you are versitile so the more the better"

Whats the cheapest package? "Well if you want to show all of your outfits and I really recommend you do £250, you can pay in installments of £75 a month if its easier"

Feeling bullied, forced and at risk of jepodising any future fame opportunities you begrudingly pay the first installment.

Your pictures are given to you on a copied DVD in a plastic case, you ask if they give you any print copies to which you are told "you can print them out at home"...So what does my money by me? "The rights to your pictures and some fantastic shots that are bound to get you loads of work!"

Upon returning home you panic about spending such a large amount of money and forward your pictures to the agency who in turn load them up to your own personal profile, and when I say them I mean three...

You begin applying to the jobs that appear on the Zebra website full of excitement about the prospects that lie ahead, as well as the determination to earn back that ridiculous amount of money you have just spent.

Weeks go by and still no one has replied to your applications, contact with the agency trails off as they no longer seem very interested in helping you achieve your dreams of stardom, and slowly but surely you begin to realise, you've been had.

How are companies like this allowed to get away with it, their argument would be that you don't have to pay the money, but when in the situation you suddenly feel very under pressure and at the age of 20 or so you are still very impressionable.

Recently one of my house mates was got with this scam and although I warned her of the financial costs she felt that if she found herself in the above situation she would be able to say no. She didn't, and as a result she has found herself in quite an uncomfortable financial position without any 'modelling' work to cover the bill.

I wonder if there are any agencies out there that come up against prejudices due to cowboy agencies such as the one mentioned?

Either way if you get approached by a representative from Zebra Management...Run, run like the wind!

This is all my person opinion and financially ruining experience by the way, so if you value your bank balance take note.