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.

Response to Kevin Smith article

After reading this article I think that Southwest Airlines handled the situation in the most professional manner possible. They supposedly apologized to Kevin Smith even though he claimed that he didn't. Who knows if he was lying or not. The article said that Southwest has had the lowest rate of customer complaints until Kevin Smiths situation. I think it is ridiculous that Kevin thought that he was kicked off the plane because of an airline employee disliking his movies. Why would anyone want to waste time taking a customer off the plane for that reason? He must have been a hazard to the flight since he is obese. I think the airlines responded the best they could to Kevin Smiths issue. They stated the "customer of size policy" and the dangers of having an overweight person on board next to someone who isn't overweight. It does not matter if Kevin Smith was able to "buckle the seatbelt" because if him being overweight causes discomfort to anyone sitting next to him then that is a problem. Southwest apologized and backed their company up with their passenger safety information on overweight customers. Kevin Smith will just be one less passenger flying Southwest Airlines from now on.

-K.C.