JUNIOR YEAR IS OVER, HELLO SUMMER 2010!

I am SO GLAD this year is over. It went by really fast but it was one of my hardest years ever. I improved a lot this year with the way I did my school work and with my grades. I slacked a lot my freshman and sophomore so I took this Junior year as an opportunity to change my bad habits and focus on school. I accomplished a lot this year by completing a majority of my major courses, getting into Lambda Pi Eta communication honor society, and joining the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA). During the fall and spring semesters my life revolved around working at Love Culture and doing school work. I hardly had any down time to myself and when I did I used it for catching up on sleep or spending time with friends and family. Freshman and sophomore years were spent doing the whole cliche college thing of going out all the time and putting social events and outings before school work. This time around I set my priorities straight and got myself a part time job to save up some money and have my own money to spend (rather than asking my mom all the time) and focusing on school work since most of my courses were major courses, not gen-eds. I will be taking a summer course, persuasive speaking from May 24-July 1st. Next Monday the 17th, I wil be flying down to Atlanta, Georgia to visit my sister, brother in-law, and studly nephew for a week until the 24th. I deserve this vacation and definitely need it. My Junior year was verrrrrrrrrrry productive and now its time for me to relax. :) I hope everyone enjoys their summer and stays safe! Have fun in the sun and sip on some cool lemonade! Until next time...PEACE OUT!

-Karinna :)

Do you think this class has been helpful in both completing your degree and the real world?

I think that this public relations writing class has been very helpful for my future completeion of a degree in communication studies as well as my future career in PR. I learned so much about writing deliverables (press release, pitches, ANR & PSA, measurement reports, etc.) which are skills I will need when I work for a PR agency later on. The information that was taught during this course was very helpful with giving me a better understanding of what public relations is and what work is actually involved. There was more detail given during the lectures about PR and I now have a better sense of what I should expect when working in PR after I graduate. I also learned how to write a cover letter and resume which are both essential to applying for a job. Overall, this course I feel was beneficial to me in learning the in and outs of public relations.

What have you learned from your experience working on your group projects?

My group project for Little Kids Rock non-profit organization was the most stressful project I have ever worked on in my whole MSU college career thus far. I am NOT a fan of group projects at all, especially in school. I do not like group projects because you never know the work methods of those involved in the project and if it will mesh with your working methods. Everyone has a different schedule and you need to work around that. It is also difficult and frusterating to have to give detailed directions to people on what exactly it is they need to do, its just more work on me to give that extra breath. With this project I have learned how to think outside of the box and come up with strategies in order to raise money. I created a donation jar that was decorated with the LKR pamphlet. I approached students on campus that I knew personally and those that I did not know to give any amount of donation. There were faculty at MSU that also made simple donations to the jar. I would have never approached people that I did not know but I told myself that its for a good cause and the worst I could get is a "No" or "I don't have any money on me". I also recieved donations from employees at my job at Love Culture. I was able to raise over $120.00 by myself with that donation jar. I also learned how to write a press release (where I had to do my own research on the organization by reading fact sheets, pamphlet, website etc.), how to write an audio news release, and how to write up a measurement report. I also learned that being organized and working in a timely manner is also key to setting up a successful event. The event took place at the Alexus steakhouse and we raised over $254.00. Setting up and being at this event helped me to practice giving information to those who had questions about the organization. Although there was no media that covered the event in person, those who attended the event and had questions for me to answer was also a helpful way to practice for future media coverage that would approach me and ask about what the purpose of an event was. What I also learned from this project is that I needed to adapt to everyone elses work ethic and schedules. It was extremely stressful having to constantly call/text group members because not everyone is available when you try to contact them. I also learned how to put together a portfolio of the work that was done throughout the project. This will helped me in future PR projects on how to organize and make a portfolio that is presentable and professional. Overall, I was satisfied with the outcome of the event and the amount of donations that were made.

The Fundamentals of Professional Makeup Artistry

For the fall semester of 2010 I enrolled in an ARTX course called The Fundamentals of Professional Makeup Artistry. I have a strong interest in cosmetology specifically with Makeup artistry more than hairstyling. My fascination with makeup started when I was in 8th grade. I started using lip gloss and eye liner and I loved how it made my lips and eyes pop out more. Ever since then I would experiment with different kinds of makeup such as mascara, blush, eyeliner, lip liner, lipstick, lipglosses etc. Honestly, I spend more money on makeup products and tools than I do on clothes or shoes nowadays. I really want to get into makeup artistry and hopefully do PR for a cosmetic company. I have over 25 different makeup applicant brushes. One wouldn't think there would be that many brushes to use just for the face. Well, there is! I am really excited to take this course because my parents did not support the idea of me going to a cosmetology school over a university back when I was a senior in high school. They would never pay for such courses. Now that there is one available at Montclair State I am taking the opportunity to learn and expand my knowledge on makeup application. This course is relevant to what I want to do when working in the future after college.

Do you pay attention to opinion pieces in different media outlets?

I personally do not pay attention to opinion pieces in different media outlets because I do not care nor have any interest in what other people think. I am more interested in hearing the facts and information about something. The only time that I would care to read opinion pieces would be a review on a product that I would be interested in purchasing. I would read opinion pieces only for that purpose because it could either persuade me or not to purchase the product. I am interested to hear other people's experiences with a product before I go and spend my own money on it. Other than that, i do not care to read opinion pieces. I would just want to know who, what, where, when, why, and how when it comes to articles in magazines, newspapers, etc. rather than someones point of view on something.

What scares you most about working in the media?

What scares me the most about working in the media would be feeling intimidated by the workload and not being able to succeed in finishing any given projects in regards to the media. I have an extrovert personality and anyone you ask could tell you that but if it would come to talking to people in the media I would get nervous and a little anxious. I would get nervous and anxious because I would not want to say anything wrong or make any mistakes with my work . I feel like if I make one mistake then thats the end of my project or opportunity to gain publicity for something in the media. I am scared that my writing skills are not up to standard to working in PR. I would love to improve in my writing skills.

*Las Vegas, The City of Sin*

I have been to Las Vegas, Nevada over 5 times within the past 3 years. A majority of my mom and dad's family friends' live over there. My best friend, Michelle Mendoza also lives in Las Vegas, so whenever I come to visit we go out to the strip to the clubs. A few weeks ago I got the news from my mom that the house my parents have been trying to close on was finally theirs. My dad is living in Las Vegas right now because his work situation is better over there than it is here on the East Coast. Both of my parents are happy and excited about the new house they just bought. My dad moved into the house 2 weeks ago. I saw the house over the summer when I went in June-July. Its in the suburbs of Las Vegas, away from the crazy, bright, Las Vegas Blvd. area. My parents bought the house because they plan on retiring in the West Coast. It would be perfect for them because time goes by EXTREMELY slow over there. Compared to the East Coast living where its very fast paced and time flies by quickly, Las Vegas days feel like forever until the sun finally sets. Drivers over there literally go 25 mph whereas drivers here in New Jersey would go 30-35 mph. I would never be able to live there! I love the fast paced living and I am always on the go. Las Vegas is a great place to retire because its a more relaxed environment and it does not get as cold. You would think that Las Vegas would be fast paced like New York because of the major entertainment of casinos, night life, tourist spots, etc. is ongoing 24/7. No, outside of the Las Vegas Strip, life is beyond relaxing and people take their time over there. Everyone just seems more calm and less stressed out than they do in the East Coast. I would only go to Las Vegas for vacation, never to permanantly live there. It does seem like an awesome place for PR job opportunities because of all the entertainment and numerous events that go on at the hotels on the strip.

Nestle Crunch PR strategy

I do not think that Nestle's attempt to gain publicity through a 1-800 number was an affective route to go. The person who called the number had trouble getting through because it was busy and finally got through 15 minutes later. This person was probably giving it the benefit of the doubt and stuck it out to wait around for 15 minutes. I know if I were to call that number and it was busy, I would not redial and wait 15 minutes just to get through to an automated menu with options. I would be too impatient for that and my interest in finding out what this phone call is all about would have been lost just by hearing a busy ring. The person who called this number mentioned that the options for the automated menu were crazy and clever. Both good descriptions of the menu options. I don't think this PR strategy was affective because it is making the audience/public use much effort just to find out the information about Nestle. Why not try to gain publicity into a food magazine, or food radio talk show? Those ways would be more affective because the circulation of information given out on a magazine or radio would be numerous, compared to trying to reach out to people by telling them to dial a 1-800 number.

Fashion Designing Opportunity

As an employee at Love Culture clothing store at Willowbrook Mall for over 9 months, I really have gotten into fashion. Love Culture is a similar store to Forever 21 with clothes for women ranging from 18-40 years old. This store has a funky style to it with a variety of clothes from casual, formal, seasonal, night life-esque styles along with shoes and accessories. The original visual merchandiser, Rasheeda Bynum quit working at Love Culture back in February. She had an amazing sense of style that was different and appealing. I added her on the social networking website, Facebook and did not realize that she was a fashion designer within the making of her own clothing line. I found this out when looking at some of her photo albums with models posing with clothes she has designed herself. The name of her fashion line is "Sianii Masai". Interesting and catchy name. I think it would definitely work once it enters the fashion world. On one of her Facebook status' she made an announcement saying that she was looking for anyone who is majoring in the arts (fashion, public relations, graphic designing areas preferably). I was definitely interested in this opportunity! I sent her a personal message on Facebook because I did not have her telephone number to text her at. I told her I was a public relations concentration in communication studies and was definitely interested in doing any work for her especially in PR. I got a response back from her the day after telling me that she would get me in the scene if I was serious about it. There is going to be a meeting at the end of this month for those who are interested in her project. I believe that with her talents and unique fashion sense, that she will succeed in her upcoming fashion line. I hope to be one that will work for her and help publicize her line once it is on the go. I can't wait!

Bad Pitch Blog Site

I visited badpitch.blogspot.com and the design of the blog seemed to be pretty dull. The set-up of the website was not very appealing to me when glancing at it. Once I got into reading some of the entries posted by the blogger, I somewhat found an interest in it. The feedback and comments that the blogger makes about topics related to public relations were entertaining to read. While, the blogger expressed his own opinion on various topics I got a sense of some helpful tips on how to handle being involved in public relations. Not much else to say about the website except that I should not have "judged a book by its cover" by just looking at the dull design of the website and basing my decision on that to read it or not.