Digital's just don't cut it....

    

    

    

Music I am loving...

I severely suggest you check out the following songs:

Midnight City - By M83  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX3k_QDnzHE
Lights Out, Words Gone - By Bombay Bicycle Club http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vglxk3JbHnQ
Everything Goes My Way - Metronomy  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9P2w_hq8YTk&ob=av2n

What NOT to do on a placement

Sit and play with your Rubix Cube whilst having an email open to send to someone in the agency who is waiting for the work you are meant to be doing!

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.