Greek Housing Goes Bust

SIUe is in its fourth year of transitioning into a Division 1 school which has brought many new amenities to our campus that previously had not been offered. One of the most exciting new ventures was the prospect of receiving Greek Housing in the fall of 2011. To my dismay, as well as my fellow Greek members, the board in charge of housing decided to scrap the project due to unforeseen costs. While I completely agree with their decision, I can’t help but think how this is not going to help further SIUe into a more legitimate university. Besides that, 77 Greek members from Alpha Kappa Lambda, Sigma Phi Epsilon and Phi Kappa Psi, are now hurrying to search for alternate housing in the Edwardsville area. I hope that within the next 10 to 20 years SIUe will be able to receive the funding necessary to make Greek Housing happen. With as much land as the university owns, building quality houses, that aren’t just remodels of existing structures, would completely legitimize SIUe as a true Division 1 school. I hope that my friends Danny and James will be able to find a great apartment or house to live in, in the fall. While I’m saddened by the fact that I won’t get to experience living in a fraternity house, I’m a bit relieved to be able to have my own quiet space in an apartment.

My Italian Summer

I am so excited for this upcoming summer because I am finally getting to travel to Italy! I have always been fascinated by European culture; but then again, who hasn’t? I decided this past semester that since I graduate in a year I have to study abroad this summer. I will be in Rome from mid May to late June studying at John Cabot University in the Trastevere neighborhood. I have absolutely no clue what to expect from this trip, but I hope it’s absolutely amazing.

I have been researching different places to go and see while overseas and the more I read and learn the more excited I become. I have been talking to my friend Kalie who is also going with me during the first summer sessions, about potential weekend travel locations. I’d really like to see Amsterdam and Paris but I don’t know if it will be fiscally feasible yet.

While I’m there I am planning on actually using this blog to chronicle various trips and places I go to with descriptions and photos for my family and friends to view back in the states. I just hope that I am able to pack lightly enough so I can actually bring back souvenirs!

Love and College: Does it Exist?

Over the course of my schooling at SIUe I have dated quite a lot of people. While I realize that may have come across as being promiscuous, I assure you I’m not.   What I’m trying to say is that even though I’ve dipped my big toe in a lot of swimming pools over the past three years, I have never had a relationship longer than three months.

Why is this? Is it my fear of commitment? Do I nitpick at people’s faults until it wears me down to the point that I don’t find that person attractive anymore? Eh, those could be the case; but, what I’m also wondering is if love really exists in college. I look at myself and realize I’m studying abroad this summer, I’m very active academically, socially and with my fraternity, and I’m graduating in a year with hopes of attending graduate school on the east coast. All these factors hinder me from starting up a relationship because I don’t have time.

I don’t want to jeopardize my future because I was smitten by someone. I’m afraid that if I were to take on a relationship during the school year (because mind you, those three month relationships I mentioned earlier, have all been in the summer) I wouldn’t know how to balance everything properly. So for myself, and probably many others, I don’t want to take that leap and look for love when I know my whole life is changing in a year.

On the other hand, you have those couples that get married right out of college and have been together since the first week when they met at the dorm mixer in the social lounge. I look at those couples and envy them at times because I wish I had that cliché moment in time when you meet “the one.” But then I realize that I have a lot of friends who have been together since freshman year and have undoubtedly broken up more than once because one of them wanted to “get the college experience” before he/she graduated. (Which I completely support and commend anyone for trying to do so.)

Maybe love at our age is hard to come by and it takes growing up and learning life lessons to add to the relationship to make it better. I’ll be patient because I know that if I play my cards right, I can get best of both worlds.

Time: Oh How It Flies

Today marks an exciting, yet nerve-racking point in my college career. I, Brian Donahoe, have finally registered for my senior year. It is crazy to think that four years ago, as a Junior in high school, I was beginning to really think about school and how I hoped I would be able to get in, let alone pass all four years. Worrying about passing undergrad seems so minuscule in comparison to getting into graduate school, or better yet, finding a job that suits my degree! Looking back at the progress I have made truly does give me a sense of accomplishment. Now, I will be the first to tell you, I am not a perfect student, I really struggled my first year…and a half. To look back and remember where I was as a person and a student and how I’ve matured and grown into a studious individual amazes me. At the rate I was going my freshman year it wouldn’t have surprised me if I would have been kicked out. But, once you realize that college isn’t a joke and needs to be taken seriously, you buckle down, and really put forth the effort to succeed. These past three years of school have flown by, and I cannot imagine how fast next year is going to come and go. Growing up is a scary concept. I’ve finally hit that point in my “young adulthood,” where I feel more level headed about what I want out of the next few years, than I ever have before. I am thrilled to finish my time here at SIUE and start a new chapter, whatever that may be. Life is unpredictable, so make the most out of it.

Marketing With a Twist

When writing these blogs, I always look for an article or topic that makes me think; or can benefit me in the long run by reading it. While perusing the web, I stumbled upon an article titled ,” 10 Things Fashion Can Teach Us About Marketing.” In case you haven’t already noticed, I’m really intrigued by all things Fashion PR. Being that I want to pursue a career in the field after graduation, I try to soak up as much knowledge as time permits. The article uses basic fashion analogies to compare to mistakes that marketing firms (or PR firms, depending on how you look at it) should avoid. One of the first points that the bloggers discusses is the fact that the whole package matters. When referring to fashion, she points out that a pair of bad shoes can ruin an entire outfit. The same can be said for marketing. Take social media for instance, if a company ran website or blog links to outdated media sources, the whole campaign could flop. Linking up to the latest social media trends (ie: Twitter, Facebook and various blogs) can really make your marketing firm soar. She then discusses details in reference to accessories making or breaking an outfit. The same principle can be spun to represent marketing.

When you’re putting yourself together, details matter. Combining just the right accessory with a smashing outfit can make a big difference. In marketing, the little things can make a huge impression on your customers. Small niceties, extra special customer care, a highly intuitive ordering process – spit and polishing all these little pieces of your business is well worth the effort.

I’m obviously not going to detail all the points, but the article is really useful on giving some tips about information that could potentially be really beneficial to me in the future. I’d definitely recommend this article to anyone interested in expanding their knowledge in the marketing/PR field.

“Pre-Adulthood” In Today’s Male

In my free time, like most young adults, I like to peruse Facebook. While creeping on some of my friend’s pages, I came across an article from the Wall Street Journal pertaining to women and men in today’s society. It highlights the fact that since the early 90′s men have been on a decline in terms of their maturity checkpoints. With women graduating college with their undergraduate degrees at a faster rate then men, they are progressively passing their male counterparts in not only GPA’S but the career force as well. The article highlights the movie “Knocked Up” as epitomizing this transition from men being mature career driven individuals to pot smoking, cartoon watching, unemployed slobs. With society and culture changing, it is no surprise that men are finding it even harder to find their place in the world. Societal roles are no longer evident. It used to be that men would go to school, graduate, find a job, and start a family. Now, with women competing for male jobs, along with male gender roles being adapted, men are in a state of limbo, almost. This pre-adulthood is a significant change in culture that for whatever reason has been on a growing incline. It will be interesting to see how this new found period in a male’s life will affect women and children in our society in the next couple of decades. Maybe this period is a newfound time of growth which will ultimately benefit men. But, in my opinion, I feel that men should not buy into this whole partying and living off of parental support post college. At the age of 23 or 24 (however old one is when they graduate from school) one should man up and take responsibility.

Fashion PR and Social Media

“The role of PR is to communicate a select message, we continue to do that but the channels have changed. To stay relevant publicists must understand their place in a community; it’s not a simple sender/receiver model anymore. If anything the role of a publicist has been heightened because there’s so much more to monitor. We use digital media and technology to help us widen our reach and communicate more effectively.”

In an article posted by Crosby, a blogger for PR Couture, he interviewed Rachna Shah, Senior Vice President of Public Relations for KCD. KCD is a fashion PR and production agency for some of the world’s top designers, including Gucci, Marc Jacobs and the Victoria Secret Fashion Show. They recently launched their new website which gives tidbits of information about upcoming events and products, as well as teaming up with well known fashion bloggers to make their messages more visible to the public. Shah states that they are constantly trying to figure out new ways to utilize technology to come up with fun and different ways to enhance fashion projects. There is obviously a rather complex process on their part into how they choose the bloggers. They look at Twitter updates and how many people they are exposed to, as well as the blogger’s content within their blogs.

“If we have a product announcement or event we would turn to bloggers covering fashion news, if we’re looking to enlist a brand ambassador or influencer we may seek out a personal style blogger,” said Shah.

I think that for a company who represents some very notable brands, this move is going to really help gain more visibility for their company along with promoting positive relationships with media and bloggers.

 

Groupon and the Superbowl

As many of you probably saw, considering half of the country tuned in to the superbowl this past Sunday, Groupon had some surprisingly funny yet semi offensive advertisements. Groupon, for those of you who are not familiar with the company, is a website that highlights various deals within cities across the country. For example. individuals are able to purchase a hot air balloon ride for half the cost, or dine at a Vietnamese restaurant for only 15 dollars. The website is great, and so are the deals; but, the commercials aired Sunday have stirred up quite some heated discussions. Conan O’Brien remarked on the commercials on his late night show last night. There were two commercials that aired and the one I saw was actually quite funny. The ad that everyone is talking about starts off by discussing the Tibetan people’s strife and declining culture. Now, whether this is true or not, it obviously offended a lot of people. So, thinking in terms of PR, was it the right move for Groupon to air this “controversial” commercial? In my opinion, I think not only was the commercial funny, but it caught me off guard, in a good way. It grabbed the viewer’s attention, included various emotions within the 30 second time frame, and got their name out to the public in ways they probably weren’t expecting. Though it has stirred up some trouble for them, the long term effect that is has had on their business is undoubtedly going to be positive. As they say, all press is good press, regardless of the connotation behind it.

Social Media and its Effects on Communication

One would assume that social media has completely revolutionized the way humans interact with each other, which I would agree with. Applications like Facebook, Twitter and Skype, have allowed globalization to occur between businesses and relationships to form between lovers that previously may have not been possible. While there are many positive outcomes to having so many outlets to express ones emotions and thoughts, there are also some negative setbacks that have occurred because of new age technology.

An article , posted on PR News Online, discussed how face to face conversations and gestures like handwritten notes are being put on the back burner. While E-Mail is faster, in terms of delivery and execution, than a handwritten note, there is still, and always will be, something much more personal and heart-felt about a handwritten thank you/apology/or congratulations card. That being said, E-Mail, Phone Conversations and Texts, just to name a few, have completely made face to face conversations rare. In the article it stated that by meeting with a client or customer or fan face to face and just getting to know them for 10 minutes helps not only business, but the rapport one’s company, etc… hold with the public.

I feel that as a PR Professional (In Training) it is of dire importance to realize that while making good use of social media is very important in our field, taking the time to still get personal with clients, friends, and loved ones can make all the difference on a lot of levels.

Blog Comments

10) Kalie McBride

Do the Small Decisions Make Big Impacts on our Lives?

April 11, 2011

First off, thanks for referencing my blog!  I completely understand where you come from when you say try not to pass up the chance to get to know someone for reasons that are in the future. My cousin Paige and i were talking about this subject a couple months ago and she reminded me that if I keep making excuses as to why I’m not involved, who knows when I’ll “be ready” to get involved in a serious relationship. Good blog entry!

9) Jenna Matzer

Changing Times

April 4, 2011

It is so weird you wrote about this topic because my dad, who was a journalism major in school, was just talking about how journalism is a dying field nowadays. it’s actually kind of sad that it’s on such a decline; but, it’s interesting to see how a new form of writing and news reporting is on the rise. Blogging has taken over for reporting on a lot of various subject. In terms of Fashion PR, fashion bloggers are being hired to report on new trends and even discuss fashions shows in real time.

8 ) Robin Merritt

Java. Cafe. Kopi. Kava. Koffie. Coffee.

March 30, 2011

I agree with your opinion about the fact that people need to realize that coffee, no matter where it came from, can still be high end depending on the bean. But, at the same time, I have to say that the coffee shop in Clayton has smart marketers. They realize that where their shop is located has a high level of affluent people who, as terrible as this sounds, are known to be racists towards certain minorities. If in fact the general population of that area looks down upon Mexicans, then in order to sell what they need to sell of the Mexican beans, the store almost has to market it to where the customers won’t impede from buying it because of individuals’ own personal views.

7) Hailee Rummerfield

Facebook more popular than Google?

March 30, 2011

I’m surprised that Facebook actually surpassed Google in the number of views! While I completely agree with your opinion on companies creating Twitters and Facebooks, I have to say that I am actually getting progressively more agitated with companies trying to befriend me on either of those sites. I join social media sites because they provide an element of fun in my life that I otherwise would probably have to be active to achieve. haha. But in all honesty, when businesses start adding you and blowing up your newsfeed with promotional garbage and e-mails, Facebook loses it’s initial concept of connecting people together, not businesses.

6) Jenna Matzer’s Blog

Twitter: A Celebrity Publicity Free-For-All

March 28, 2011

Like we talked about in class, I feel that celebrities really need to watch what they say in order to protect current jobs they have. Gilbert Godfried for instance got fired from his job for writing what he did on his Twitter. Obviously a lot of what celebrities write could be construed at publicity stunts, but at the same time, where should the line be drawn. They are in the public eye. They need to be aware that what they say affects so many people. Good Blog!

5) Jillian Chard’s Blog

The Kardashian Clan: The Most Famous Family in Hollywood?

Feb 27, 2011

Hey Jilly! I loved your article. I couldn’t agree more about your opinion of the Kardashians. I realize that their show is probably not 100% reality, but nonetheless, they come across as a down to earth, humorous family and they’ve capitalized on that.

4) Jenna Matzer’s Blog

Social Media Today

Feb 23, 2011

I really enjoy reading the postsecret books and I’m actually excited to look up the twitter postsecret because all of their “secrets” are so intriguing. Twitter has become this whole new application then when it first started and the multitude of uses it has accrued is astonishing.

3) KeriLynn’s Thierer’s Blog

Let’s Stumble

Feb 16, 2011

I LOVE stumbleupon! I stumble nightly. I have found the most interesting websites from stumbling. Lots of good recipes and videos that I probably would have never found previously. I don’t know how it could correlate to PR, but regardless it’s entertaining

2) Jenna Matzer’s Blog

Bieber Fever

Feb 14, 2011

I enjoyed the fact that you went from subtly insulting Justin Beiber to actually praising him for “reaching his dreams.” I think you made a good point about what he conveys to young teenagers. I just wish he would cut his hair.

1) Hailee’s Blog

High Fashion Branding

Feb 14, 2011:

I think the idea of collaborating two different genres together is very smart. Not only does it promote the main product (like the bottle of wine you posted) but it also promotes the designer that the brand collaborated with. I think a common thing nowadays is musicians branching out and creating their own line of make-up, alcohol and clothing. Obviously some do not do well, but a lot have prospered and do very well in regards to sales.