Black Friday is probably the biggest shopping event in the United States. Held right after Thanksgiving it kicks off the holiday shopping season. Retailers slash prices and cause havoc with their door buster specials. The recession took a toll on the cash retailers brought in last year, and so this season they're pulling out all the stops and using new ways to reach customers. With the popularity of social networks, retailers have found a new avenue to promote their sales and make consumers aware of their brands. By following retailers like Sears on Twitter or becoming a fan of Macy's on facebook- customers had a first hand look on what the deals would be and even receive special promotion codes to use for further discounts. Good Morning America reported that there has been a boom in this type of promotion. Some stores were even open at midnight or as early as 4am. Companies are hoping their efforts to communicate with their public through these social mediums will boost visits and purchases at the stores. Hundreds of Canadians flock over the border and line ups seemed to have started since 2am this morning at some stores. Maybe in spite of on going recession, retailers will see a boost in sales.
For a recent assignment I had to conduct an information review. The task was to interview a PR professional and gather some insight on the profession. The biggest advice my interviewee gave me was to network! network! network!.The whole idea of networking or "metworking" kind of throws me off. Being that I'm a student I haven't had a whole lot of actual on the job experience. Many of my classmates have already gained PR experience through part-time jobs or volunteering. Our placements begin in the middle of February and although I have some possible contacts, nothing is 100%. I'm eager to learn about the wonderful world of networking but need some tips and advice. Anyone want to help?
As mentioned earlier, I tuned in to the American Music Awards on Sunday night. I don't remember what I started doing but I missed the Adam Lambert performance. Out of all the performances, I missed the most outrageous one. He kissed a man, simulated oral sex and had men on leashes. In the news today, everyone is talking about how controversial this was. MSNBC.com has reported that ABC (the network that aired the show) has received over 1500 calls complaining about this performance. This is your typical PR showbiz issue. Celebrities do something crazy and their poor PR people have to scramble around to fix it. Adam has not been apologetic about this statement but the network will probably release an apology or a statement that might fall along these lines. "We apologize to anyone who might have been offended by Mr. Lambert's performance, but his opinions or views do not represent that of the network". I remember Adam from American Idol and this performance doesn't surprise me. You could always tell he was going to be an extravagant performer and push the envelope. People shouldn't be too surprised. Madonna had men on leashes during her Confessions Tour and that concert aired nationally on NBC. Maybe the man on man kiss was a little shocking to some people but he is openly gay and shouldn't be ashamed of it. ABC will probably keep getting complaints and Adam will keep getting backlash. As long as theirs awards show, PR people will be needed. So thanks for keeping us employed you crazy famous people!
I just realized that I have about 4 entries but I haven't even introduced myself. I apologize for my rudeness. My name is Lily, short for Liliana, Reyes. I am 21 years old and in my second year of the Public Relations program at Conestoga College. Being in second year means I am expected to graduate in April 2010.When I began the program, I was hoping I would become the next Samantha Jones (Sex and the City). She was powerful, had prominent clients, threw exclusive parties and lived an overall fabulous life. However, on my day of orientation I was quickly told this program was not designed to make me in to the next Sam Jones. I soon realized that the profession of Public Relations was much more than what was portrayed on this classic HBO show.PR has so many different elements, it's fascinating. If you're an excellent writer you can specialize in that but if you're better at presentations then there is also a place for you. Plus for those of us with a mild case of ADD, the variety is comforting. You can do PR work for a fast paced agency or work for a non profit corporation. Don't mean to sound cliche but the possibilities are endless.So, now it has come to this. I know I really like this program and can see myself in this profession but April is fast approaching and I'm getting a bit scared. I'm still debating if I should continue with school and get my degree or if I should just go on a job hunt. I don't have much time to decide but whatever it is I know that I belong in the PR world. I no longer want to be the next Sam Jones, I just want to be the best at being me.
Instead of working on countless assignments, I've decided to take a break and watch the AMA's (American Music Awards). Everyone seems to be behaving lately which means their publicists are probably relieved. However, it's only 10:08pm right now so there is still time for someone to pull a Kanye.The performances are pretty good. Lady Gaga is always ridiculous but she's an eccentric and it's fantastic.Jenny from the Block had her comeback performance. I'm liking this new song and even though she was clearly lip syncing she had some hot moves. Sadly, miss Lopez fell smack on her famous behind during the number. BUT I think we should all take some cues from her because although that looked like it hurt, she got right back up, did a little solo number and strapped on some Christian Louboutins (hence the song title).So the point: Next time we're feeling down, get put down or fall on our butts, we should just get up and proceed with style and confidence.
About 2 years ago my friend Faith insisted I read a book called Twilight. I never read it at that moment but soon enough she convinced other girls at our workplace to begin reading it. Needless to say, most of them also fell in love with Edward and wished the men around them took examples from this smoldering Vampire. Finally, I gave in and borrowed Faith's copy. I had to see what the fuss was about. Faith is a Twilight fanatic and her copy has little sticky tags stuck all over her favourite quotes. It was quite embarrassing walking around with it.Maybe I'm bitter but to be honest I found nothing too spectacular about this novel. It was poorly written and Bella Swan is such a dull leading lady. She's way too needy and has no personality.However, I must say the marketing/communications team behind Twilight are geniuses. Who would've guessed that a stay at home mom whose never had experience with writing before would be behind this "phenomenon". There is now official vampire mania going on in our society. Two new shows on primetime are about vampires, Nordstrom has a vampire/gothic inspired fashion line for pre-teens and you too can have the vampire look by visiting www.twilightbeauty.com. The sequel to this saga is set to come out on Thurs. night and fans are eagerly waiting. I bet some are even sleeping outside of the movie theater already.I wonder how long this Twilight craze is going to last. I can't even say it will go away when the readers reach puberty because I know plenty of girls over 20 who also long for a 132 year old Edward in their lives. One piece of advice of I do have for the Twilight team: There is such thing as overexposure.
Yesterday, while at work we were called in for a very long and extremely dull meeting about a new scheduling system. The new system can be accessed from home. It will give us the ability to look over our schedules and put in any time-off requests from home. The idea seems useful but I have to say I was quiet disappointed with the way the meeting was delivered. When meetings are held they should be informative and enforce the benefits. Being drilled with key messages in Issues Management has made me realize how important they are in conveying messages to publics. The person holding the meeting was not at all prepared and any dreaded questions were just answered with: "I don't know how that's going to work".
Some people in the meeting were a little disappointed with the change. Anytime they would express this, the lady holding this meeting just said, "Hey, don't shoot the messenger".
I'm sorry but that’s not very professional or convinces your staff to get on board. I understand that since they are launching it soon they wanted to let us know about it immediately, but they should know more about it themselves before presenting it. Considering, I work in a customer service oriented company you would think the people up in high divisions would have a little more class, confidence and professionalism when presenting something new to their staff. It's called effective internal communications people ;)
