Tag: Uncategorized

I think this is a great idea!

A presentation, uploaded to Slideshare, gives you the opportunity to share who you are with potential employers. I have an online resume, but I’m very tempted to try something like this – just for fun. If I do, I’ll share it with you.

Exhibit A: J Ben Sykes
Ben works in Web design and does interactive stuff, so this resume suits that to a T. Gorgeous design. I love it (he has a military background, too… so it helps to tell his story.)

| View | Upload your own

Exhibit B: Hypothetical. The storyline is a little sappy and veers a little too personal for my taste, but I think the design is nice and this definitely has potential.

| View | Upload your own

Exhibit C: Cameron Ungar. Cameron’s is a great example. The red text on blue background is hard to read, but the flow works, I think.

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The fog in Oregon can be debilitating. It frequently grounds planes at our local airport and has a palpable thickness that makes you want to curl up with a good book by the fireplace.

Winter term felt much like a thick blanket of fog. Sometimes, a term is just like that. I think it was a combination of my dad’s health crisis and growing sense that one way or another, I have to reduce the work load in my life.

It finally feels like it’s lifting.

I’m started to get excited about the upcoming term, which will be full of new challenges (my favorite kind!). It’s also likely to be my last term teaching full-time. So I’m determined to enjoy it.

I’m doing a little spring cleaning of my desk and closets, working out more and focusing on my family. I can see the sun breaking through!

What do you do when you’re feeling in a fog? Any great tips?

With Web 2.0, it seems you only have to ask and you shall receive. There’s a service for everything!

At Gramlee, you can buy “words” and have professional grammar editors check your work. For a high-profile or high-stakes piece, I can see how it might be worth a try. The Gramlee grammar blog is here.

Of course Grammar Girl is the queen of grammar tips. With her weekly podcast, you can brush up and be entertained. And this week’s episode is on which vs. that. This is a very very common error in papers I grade… maybe you should listen to it. hint. hint.

The point, of course, is that resources abound and if you’re having trouble, take advantage of them! I frequently check my AP style via the Web when my styleguide isn’t handy.

Want to make fun of others – I mean, learn from others’ mistakes? Here are some of my favorite bad grammar blogs:
GrammarBlog
The Blog of Unnecessary Quotation Marks

See also:
Bad Grammar on a Blog is Like Dirty Toilets in a Restaurant

This is the first term we’ve created e-portfolios for Advanced PR Writing. I think with a few revisions, this will be a great way for students to present their final work.

But overall, the students did a great job. These are the best of the bunch:

Patrick Boye
Eileen Chang
Lisa Poplawski
Emily Tormey

© Ann Cutting/Corbis

This is the final day of finals week of Winter term 2008.

The last few days I’ve been out of town helping at my parents’ house in Henderson, Nev. following my dad’s 5-way heart bypass surgery. No an ideal place to be trying to finish grading for 60+ students, but you do what you have to do.

I want to offer a few tips for preserving your sanity (students) and not making your instructors cranky as you wrap up your term.

1. Follow Directions: Each assignment sheet provides instructions on how to succeed; formatting requirements, length,etc. Just follow the directions – knowing is half the battle.

2. Try the Technology: In some classes, you’re trying new technology (GarageBand, Audacity, SlideShare, etc.). Try it out immediately, so you can make adjustments well before the deadline.

3. Test the Technology: Once you’ve created a file (particularly an audio file), test it. Make sure that’s the length you think it is, that it looks the way you think it should and it works the way it’s meant to.

4. Ask for Clarification: If you don’t understand the assignment or the requirements, ask for clarification. Ideally not an hour or two before the deadline.

5. Think Ahead: Asking for an extension the day of a deadline is not looked upon fondly. If you have a genuine reason that you need a couple of extra days, and it’s possible for me to grant an extension, I will. But you have to ask well in advance. (disclaimer: We’re a deadline-driven industry and many instructors won’t give any extra time. Better to meet the deadline to begin with!)

6. Offer a Solution: If you’re stuck, your technology is not cooperating and you’re at your wits’ end, it’s ok to let me know that. At the same time, offer me a solution. Ex: Slideshare is not uploading my audio file for the slidecast. I may need a couple of extra hours. If I’m not able to make it work by 9 pm, I’ll send you separate files of the audio and slideshow and you’ll have it in your email box by the end of the day.

Some of this is too little, too late for my Winter term students. But maybe provides some food for thought going forward.

Other tips?

Spring term (start date: March 31), I’m teaching the capstone PR course, PR Campaigns at our Senior Experience program in Portland. I’m looking forward to it… mostly.

Normally, I work with nonprofit organizations based local to our Eugene campus at the University of Oregon, in lovely Lane County. The nonprofits vary in what they need from the basics of a PR program, to fundraising and donor communication to internal communication. And the students usually do a stellar job.

Next term, the class client will be the PR major itself because we’re hoping to host a strategic conference either this fall or next spring that connects professional with academics (and vice versa). So the whole course will be around event management.

I gotta tell you, I’m logistically challenged…

The best lesson I’ve learned from event management experience is to schedule a massage the day after a big event. Thanks, Marilyn!

I’ve found a few good resources, though, to get started. So I thought I’d share:

• This will be our coursebook. I’ve looked through most of it, and while it’s not mindblowing, it has some great information just to keep you on track. Everything from how to choose a site (complete with lists of questions/details to include in an RFP) to tips on how to set up a room and even some checklists and sample agreements.

• The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has a free event planning booklet you can download here.

I am positive that this will be an adventure. If you have ideas about what you’d like to see at a conference (speakers, breakout sessions, etc.) or have any event planning tips, please share!

Uploaded by robynejay

Howcast is a video sharing site (think: YouTube), with tons of how-to videos. Everything from how to make green beer (very timely) tohow to handle the terrible twos (also very timely! ugh.) to how to wake up early when you absolutely have to.

This one is on how to write a cover letter – basic, but a good place to start:

I’m busy.

All professors are busy. All professionals are busy…well, most, anyway.

Whether it’s for a scholarship or for a new job, you’re ultimately asking me for a favor, to take time out of my schedule to write a letter of reference or to answer some questions over the phone about a position you’re after.

When I feel prepared, I don’t mind doing it. When I don’t, it’s awkward. So, with the high-season approaching for the job search, here are my tips for asking me to be a reference and for helping me help you.

1) Please ask if I’m comfortable being on your reference list or comfortable writing a letter of recommendation. There are some triggers that will result in an enthusiastic “yes!” from me:

• Be a good student. Get good grades, be diligent and responsible. Come to class, do your best work, etc. etc. I rarely say no, but I will if I’m not comfortable with your performance in class. Or I’ll be honest about what I can say and let you make the decision about whether to include me. Just being in my class, doesn’t entitle you to a reference.
• Help me get to know you. There are students who never say more than a dozen words to me all term. Take the time to chat, come by office hours and talk about what you want to do after graduation. I know things (and people) and can probably offer some insight.

2) If I say, yes, please let me know that you’ve begun sending resumes. The very worst calls are the ones I get from prospective employers and I didn’t realize that I was listed as a reference. There have been times where I had a hard time answering the manager’s questions about a former student.

3) Tell me which jobs you’re applying for. I’m in PR, I know how to answer questions in a way that is targeted to the information a manager needs, and highlights the your strengths appropriately. If I don’t know what jobs you’re applying for, I can’t speak to the position’s specific requirements.

• A quick email will give me the heads up that I might be getting a call.
• Send me the link to the job post, or forward it to me in an email.
• If you know the company is looking for a particular skill set, tell me. I can feature that in the reference call.

4) Give me the tools I need to be your ambassador. Despite the fact that we’ve talked about (even at length) your career goals and ambitions, I have a lot of students. On top of students, I have several clients. And the cherry on top of all that? I have a toddler. I’m surprised I remember to wear matching shoes and where I parked my car. I will not remember every nuance of every discussion we’ve had.

• Send me your resume. A complete resume with explanations of particular jobs, internships and responsibilities is useful. It doesn’t have to be the resume you’re sending to employers or schools. It could even be a spiritual resume.
• Send me your transcripts. This might be more useful for a graduate school or a scholarship application. It certainly never hurts.
• One student created a folder with all the information I would need to respond to her request. She has now set the bar for awesome in this category.

I love seeing students succeed. I want you to find your dream job, get into the best schools and win the most prestigious awards. It reflects well on the school and on me, being associated with such talent! Help me do a good job for you!

More tips here. And here. Also check out Careers category from Alltop for lots more general tips about the job hunt.

Any others? What’s worked for you (as a student)? And what do you appreciate (as an educator or professional)?

Here’s a few posts that I found interesting this week. Enjoy!

The Art of Email Writing and How it Can Make or Break Your Business (Freelance Switch): A nice refresher about email writing and email etiquette. I wonder if it would be rude if I sent this to a couple of my clients.

Boldface in Cyberspace, It’s a Woman’s Domain (NYTimes): A new Web site for women, by some of the strongest women in media, publishing, writing and entertainment. Looks like fun!

Graco Blog is Fantastic (Community Guy): I love the Graco blog. It’s a great example for consumer-oriented companies who are thinking about blogging. (Great job, Converseon!)

Typos are a Big, Hairy Problem (Bad Pitch Blog): Oh lord, this is funny. Leave a comment with a one-line response to this ad.

Nine Best Story Lines for Marketing (How to Change the World): So clear! I love the concept of storytelling and I talk about it a lot. But it’s hard to do well. (note, this is actually an old post that I read over the summer, but it resurfaced today so I thought I’d add it).

Twitter for Health (Spare Change): Nedra pulls together lots of ways Twitter is being used for good.

Elections are About Emotional Connections (MWW StraightTalk): Blogger is a Hillary fan, but talks honestly about the problems with her campaign relative to Barack’s.

Five Blogging Rules to Make a Great First Impression (PROBlogger): AND… since many of you are interested in building your blog traffic, this post may help you with the long term commitment by starting with the first impression.

Three students picked up on the link to the article last week on Generation Y. It was a pretty negative article, and I’m not surprised at the response from some of my students.

Two colleagues and I are embarking on a study looking at just this issue. Draft title: Relationship Management, Ethics, and Organizational Culture for the Millennial Generation of Agency Practitioners

In short, we’re looking at how firms build relationships with their young agency practitioners (and if they are effective), how young practitioners make ethical decisions and how they fit (or don’t) with organizational culture.

Considering the research and business press material I’ve read so far, it’ll be interesting to see how young PRos line up with the information about GenY as a generation. I’m nearly through Generation Me , which takes a pretty negative view suggesting that GenY’ers are “more confident, assertive, entitled – and more miserable than ever before.”

I’m beginning to wonder if our young PRos will defy the stereotypes of GenY.

I know my students are ambitious. And don’t get me wrong, I’ve had (and have) students that fit the “GenY” descriptions – negative and positive – to a “t.” But generally they best students don’t fit the negative aspects of their generation. They are ambitious, but they have a sense of what their first years in an agency or corporate environment will be like. They are confident, but not obnoxiously so (or without reason). They work hard for good grades and understand why when they earn one that’s less than an A (even better, they work to do better the next time). And don’t seem miserable.

But the data shows that these students may be an exception, rather than the rule. We’ll see how our PRos line up with the data. In the meantime, three of my best student bloggers – and I have a lot of great bloggers this term! – have sounded off about the GenY stereotypes. Read them here:

Thoughts of a Generation Y Graduating Senior (Eileen Chang)
Blogging is the New Staff Picnic (Lee Magner)
Should I Be Embarrassed? Gen Y in My Defense (Lisa Poplawski)