Jessica's Blog

Since Robert won’t be checking my blog anymore to make sure it is all about PR happenings I’ve decided to post when I’m bored about things that amuse or irritate me.
Today… Trump’s gift registry
Would anyone else feel weird spending $8,500 on a bowl for him? It’s unlikely his marriage will last and I just think that if you’re Donald Trump you should buy everything on your gift registry yourself. Tell your guests to give to the needy (i.e. me). I know most of his guests have close to as much money as him, but it’s the principle of the thing.
Maybe I’m just bitter because I know no one’s going to be giving me a $8,500 handpainted bowl when I get married.

I need an internship for the spring! If you are in the Atlanta, Birmingham, Montgomery, or Columbus areas you should hire me. I had an internship with our a Athletic Department this semester and I loved it, but I would really like to gain more experience before I graduate. I am a very hard worker and am willing to do any task delegated to me, as long as its not unethical or involves cleaning a bathroom.
If your company needs an intern please send me your address so I can mail you my resumé, or even if you know someone who needs an intern.

I’m not going to go into how horrible I think the BCS is or how horrible I think all of the poll voters are because it is pretty much all I have thought about and talked about since Saturday. For one I hate Lee Corso now, I used to like him, but now not so much. He spent the whole season riding the Auburn horse, wearing our helmet, our jerseys, he was obsessed. Then after the SEC Championship game he acts like we lost by 40 points and are a subpar team. Apparently he forgot his own comment at the beginning of the week about how tough it is to beat the same team twice in one season, and he neglected to notice that his precious Trojans almost lost to UCLA.
What further bothers me is that Auburn has beat more ranked teams this season than USC and Oklahoma combined but this is still not good enough. Pre-season rankings are crap, poll voters are crap, and I’m bitter.
On a happy note- I found my calling at fan fare. After recording a 30 second game-day-esque tv spot I have decided I really do need to work for a sports network. I need to be the side-line commentator.
For now I have to work on Robert’s project from hell.

I found this article written in PR Week on Jeremy’s blog. I’m going to go ahead and admit that I haven’t read it. But I just like the principle of it. It’s an article that explains to corporations how to apologize publicly (i think).
The reason I am attracted to (the principle of) this article is that “sorry” goes a long way with me. The main reason I’m focusing on this is that my roommate’s dog destroys everything that I like, and not once has my roommate apologized. He as destroyed shoes, stuffed animals (they were presents from loved ones leave me alone), and yesterday he destroyed the photo of Kirk and I. One of my instructors had a nice copy of the picture printed up on a sturdy backing and she gave it to me. I had it in the front pocket of my bag and the dog went in got it and ate it. When I showed it to my roommate she was just like, “Oh.” That’s it! When her dog at my BCBG shoes she did the same thing!!! I made her apologize to me, saying, “Well can you at least say your sorry,” when the bastard ate my shoes.
Anyways venting yes, but PR Week thinks people should apologize too, so there.

I am back from Thanksgiving break, back from Cancun, basically back from the tiny week that held my sanity together.
We beat Alabama (yay), but somehow this hurt us? Apparently a win is only a win if you are trying to run up the score and impress the poll voters.
Here is my PR-ish portion of my blog:
When I woke up bright and early on Saturday morning to drive to Tuscaloosa, I turned on ESPN, because it is the only acceptable channel on Saturdays during the fall. What I saw shocked me. Fans throwing things at players, players punching fans, fans punching players, children crying, people trampled.
What a nightmare.
The NBA must now figure out what to do with these players, fans, and how to set up their areans to ensure safety. (I’m sure they have done all this by now, but Friday it seemed like a pressing issue.)
This is a truly terrible thing though. Basketball was one of the few sports where people were right there in the action, that will most likely change now. I’m trying to imagine how they can change the arenas. Will there be fences and gates separating the stands from the court, huge plexiglass walls?
It sucks that people are so belligerent that they can’t simply enjoy a game for what it is. What happened to the happy “I love you man” drunk? What happened to the classy player?

I found this blog called A Socialite’s Life on accident the other day, and I love it. It’s like a daily dose of Us Weekly or Star magazine, but worse. I mean I feel a little bit more stupid every time I read it because I have to ask myself, I can’t really care about any of this can I? For example today’s topic is as follows

Blind Items: Who’s Shopping At Walmart?

Give a guess. I’ll email you if you’re right.

What starlet love bug who just broke up with her wacky man, was seen trying clothes on in Walmart?

What soft-spoken TV action star has friends really worried? His increasingly bizarre behavior while under the influence is finally affecting his performance on the set.

It really is funny stuff especially if you are weirdly interested in celebrities. From a PR standpoint it is a publicist’s nightmare. It digs up dirt, any dirt it can on celebrities and posts pictures of them doing stupid things. There was about a week’s worth of coverage about Tara Reid’s boob. Sometimes I think that the celebs secretly enjoy having all this stuff out there though. Because honestly, if Tara Reid’s top hadn’t fallen down and shown her breast for like 2 minutes straight, no one would have even remembered she was there. That is my last blog for the week. I am off to watch Auburn play Bama then going to Cancun. Enjoy my picture of Kirk!

So, this weekend did alot to make the worse two months ever, not so much the worst two months ever anymore. I HATE UGA. I have since I knew it was possible to hate something. They are AWFUL. That said, the beating we gave them this weekend brought more joy to my life than all good things that have happened to me this year combined. Another thing that added to this, besides the win, is that I met (and took a photo with) Kirk Herbstreicht (sp?). He is beautiful. He had on a bit more make-up than me, had bleached his teeth a little more, and appeared to have been to Mystic Tan, but was BEAUTIFUL. I will post the picture as soon as I get it on my computer!

I found this article on Jeremy’s blog. It outlines how Mazim is trying to market itself as a “Sophisticated Men’s” magazine. Um, have they ever read their magazine because I have and that’s not exactly how I would describe it. I believe I’ve referred to it in the past as soft-core porn… it’s like the Cinemax of Playboy. Let’s see I’ve decided to highlight just a few of their wonderfully “sophisticated” articles. First is one that interviews Sexy Coeds and includes a little blip on how to get girls to start a pillow fight…. This one is called dyke dolls And we’ll end with a joke.
They are also have a site for the endangered man as they feel threatened by the onslaught of metrosexuals.
Maxim really does not bother me, but please, your main demographic is 15-25 year olds; I don’t know a guy under 30 who I would even begin to describe as “sophisticated” or even “man.”

In this post from Corporate Engagement author Cook says that according to The Guardian there is a new generation emerging called “Generation Blah.”
This made me laugh just a little but then when I read the discription I got a little confused.

They are frankly dull and our only hope is that they will grow up to be something more interesting.

They are slaves to the free market and would never dream of doing anything as rebellious as punk.

They think that being successful is more important than being sexy, and believe the only way to win the game is to play it.

Is being sexy supposed to be more important than being successful? Or if you would rather be successful than sexy are you just “blah"? And how exactly can you win a game if you don’t play it? I mean I guess if you picked up a lottery ticket that someone dropped… but that’s not very “un-blah” now is it. Or maybe if you just cheated?
I personally think that people who have to try to be sexy are boring as are people who don’t participate in games.
I understand that I may be taking this out of context; I didn’t read the entire article about Generation Blah because I didn’t want to register for yet another online publication.

Sometime last week marked the beginning of the worst two weeks of my life this semester, or pretty much any semester I have ever had. Projects do not bother me, especially by-yourself-projects- because then I get everything my way- the way it should be. However, when I am faced with 3 different class projects that amount to 3 different HTML websites, an 8 minute radio feature story, 2 newsletters, a brochure, and 3 ads in addition to an entirely different media kit that will include everything for an entire campaign that I have to create. All assigned within the same week and all due within the same week in December. . . it truly is official: WORST TWO MONTHS EVER.
Because of this, my blogging may not be so chipper, so researched, or so worthwhile. Not that it ever really was in the first place, but you see what I am getting at.
I’m very sorry to be a whiner, but on my blog is the only place where I can say it and people won’t try to one-up me with the stuff they have due also.Besides, mine is worse everytime no matter what, because I say so.

I know we aren’t supposed to get all of our blogging done in one day, but I’m avoiding InDesign lessons and I figure if I blog instead I’m still doing work in Robert’s class so I’m not procrastinating. Right.

This is an interesting situation. This woman, who was a flight attendent for a very large airline (that I won’t name b/c my dad works for them and I don’t want to somehow get him fired) was fired over some semi-provacative pictures she posted of herself in her uniform on her blog. She’s actually getting a decent amount of press from this. Most of the people who comment on her blog are from Europe, which I don’t really understand but I think maybe the BBC is really into her story or something.
This is an interesting situation for the airline which is already looking at bankruptcy and is now getting negative publicity from this. I think one comment read, “Hope you take the wankers for all they’re worth” many others were similar.
Personally, I think the airline was within its rights. However, I believe a better way to have handled the situation would have been to issue a strong warning along with a threat of firing if the pictures were not removed. Then if she did not comply they would have looked a little less harsh. With the blog situation though you will only get the ex-employees side of the story which will most likely be skewed. And very few men are going to disagree with a gal with her top unbuttoned and her skirt hiked up.

I have a bit of a rant. I have noticed more and more lately that there is no accountability anymore. No one accepts fault for anything they do. Apparently when we mess up we should focus the blame on something outside ourselves, because we *gasp* would never actually make a mistake.
It is the fast food industry’s fault that people are overweight. Those schemers have tricked us into driving to their establishments, ordering a double cheese burger, super sizing the fries and coke we get with it, and then paying them.
If you are on a college campus you will not hear, “I got a D” you will hear “He GAVE me a D!” Conversely, people will always admit to getting an A on their own.
Children are not bad because their parents have not taught them right and wrong; they are bad because of television, video games, and music. I have a theory that some children are just evil… but that is for another day and time.
I admit that I have given plenty of excuses in my time and given my fair share of, “It’s not my fault,” but I don’t blame everything I do wrong on someone else, and if I do I plan to stop.
I would like everyone to remember that they are accountable for their actions, suing is annoying (i know, i’ve been sued twice), and people think more highly of you when you accept your mistakes and work to improve them rather than blaming them on someone else and continuing to make them.
With that, I have found a book that we all need to read. Please secure a copy for yourself and your loved ones.

JUST IN!!! Kerry called Bush to concede Ohio!!! I tried to stay up and watch them calling Ohio for Bush last night but was glad I didn’t this when I woke up this morning and it was still 269 to whatever. All’s well though. I used my W coozie today and I’m am pretty sure that is what did it…
Have a great victory day!

I think I may have an election problem. I was/am very excited for this election. It is the first Presidential election I have been old enough to vote in plus, it’s a very important election. However, I was just checking to make sure that I knew exactly where my election place was because I have to drive an hour and half back to GA to vote tomorrow morning, and the site that tells you this informed me that they don’t have me on file! I thought I might not be registered and I asked my mother about 4 times if she was sure I was and she said yes… so now I don’t know what to do. Can they register me on the spot tomorrow or something? I am very sad about this I want to vote… P. Diddy might kill me… I’m going to go drown my sorrows in studying for Robert’s test on Thursday.
:(

There have been a lot of posts about Dan Gillmore who received a pitch from a PR practioner about how corporations are taking steps to protect themselves against bloggers. Gillmore, needless to say, does not have the greatest view of PR people.
In Shel Holtz’s blog he comments about Gillmore’s blog and that while most PR professionals he knows are “intelligent, thoughtful professionals who behave ethically, do their homework and engage in multi-directional, symmetrical communications,” the outside perception of them is often quite negative.
He goes on to raise a great point

I wish we could keep people like the huckster who pitched Gillmor out of the business, but there are bastards and idiots in every line of work. Those working in public relations stand out because their efforts are designed to be visible. I don’t question that Gillmor hears a lot of stupidity from uninformed and low-rent PR people. I don’t doubt there are a lot of them out there. But can’t the profession do something to offset the impression they create that all PR people are like this?

Unfortunately, these PR people she is talking about, that are truly good at what they do, probably are busy with clients and don’t have time to sit down and create a campaign to make their profession seem less sketchy. Like Holtz says, “Part of the problem is that practitioners are busy representing their clients; they can’t bill anybody to do PR for the PR profession.”
On a completely different note… this relates back to one of my earlier posts. *Pitching*
Perhaps if this guy had done a smidge of research before he sent out this press release, he would have noticed that he was sending it to a blogger not the best person to receive the message.

Because we are studying crisis communication in my PR Writing class I thought this was a good topic to write about. The Big Blog Company gives insight into how effective a blog is in during a PR crisis. According to them “The blog’s role in crisis communications is:
1. to disseminate the facts, staying ahead of the news cycle
2. to project a company’s message
3. and to combat error and quash rumours
The media may be reporting only the negatives about your organization and ignoring any press releases you send out, but you can update your blogs with the facts of the crisis and keep your publics informed.
One great example they give of this is when the Dixie Chicks made a negative remark about the President. They were being blasted in the media, but through blogs that supported them, their album stayed on the best-selling lists.
Through blogs “The company can become the leader of the news on the crisis and its communications instead of becoming a flustered, sweating and evasive victim of the hounding media.”

Tonight I was working on an assignment for my Survey Research Methods class. We have to call residents of Lee County and ask them questions for this study about their views on Auburn. Well, it’s hard to get people to do it in the first place so when I get someone to take it I am thrilled. However, this one man who took it made me really sad. I was asking him about a program that Auburn does called “Ask Aubie” (I would go into the details but they’re irrelevant), and he said, “Yeah I’ve heard of it, but it’s just some PR crap the University is doing..” and then when I asked him about something else he referred to it negatively as some sort of “PR thing” also.
Maybe I am still young and naive about PR, but I really don’t want people to think of my job as b.s. PR people are not bad people!!!.
Even if what Auburn is doing is just for PR, it’s still a good thing. They are still contributing to the community. I think this man was probably just bitter…
I still “believe in Auburn and love it.”

In this post by Kevin Dugan he talks about how many PR people are pitching ideas and posting news releases on people’s blogs. This was something that I hadn’t really even thought about. Because blogging is a new idea to me I’m still warming up to it and learning what all a person can accomplish with it.
What Dugan says is very interesting though. When we, as public relations practitioners, send out a news release and it is terrible it will usually just get thrown away or deleted. However, were we to send it to a blogger or even post it as a comment it is open for riducule. How terrible would it feel to have your means of publicity turned against you? PR people need to practice caution in what they send out to blogs so that what they think is positive press doesn’t end up making their company look stupid and getting them fired.

It was called to our attention in class last week that a certain someone who I may have insulted in an earlier blog has been viewing all of the blogs from our Style and Design classes. He said something along the lines of that we all seem to be engaged, not liking blogging, and blonde. I felt compelled to respond.
First, only one person in my class is engaged and we are all seniors so proposals are likely. I know it seems weird to non-southerners that we tend to get married young, but there is this thing called “living in sin” that we try to avoid. Second, it’s not that we don’t like to blog…. it’s just that unless you are really into blogging, or it affects your business or maybe you just really like compter-type things, it’s not something you are going to devote a lot of time to. Lastly, I can think of only 3 blondes in my class of about 14 people- and I’m one of them, so back off! Just kidding.