“I Wanna Wake Up In A City That Doesn’t Sleep….”

My city of choice may not have been the same as ol’ Blue Eyes; (AKA Frank Sinatra for you non-cultured kids.) Yet, I chose to believe that our fascination with the lights and sound of the city were the exact same. Some people marvel at the mere sight of wide open spaces and mountain ranges as far as the eye can see; and although I love those things too, these days it’s the city lights that leave me in a state of wonderment.

This is round #2 of living in Atlanta. The first season was full of first times: my first ‘real’ job, the first time I was really and truly independent with my time, the first time I felt like I was 100% in my ‘sweet spot.’ I must say, I enjoyed it.

For this season, who knows what is on the horizon. Who knows what God has in store. But with a view this pretty, I can’t help but be excited:

The Grand Finale

It’s been a fun and rewarding year in my Intro to PR class. I decided to share with you my Top Ten Take-Aways from the class through Utterli. Enjoy!

Top Ten List:

We Have A New Blogger Among Us…

My sweet friend, Anna Kelley, just started blogging…go welcome her!

Fiesta

Tonight was the night I’ve been awaiting all week. A night of non-stop celebration. Why you ask? Well for starters my sweet best friend crossed the threshold and entered her twenties. Along with her, were three others of my nearest and dearest. That alone was reason to celebrate. Since May is happily upon us, Cinco de Mayo was of course the party theme of choice.

Myself and my roommates were the hostesses of this blessed event, so we spent the day decorating, baking, and getting eveything ready to go. We’ve taken it upon ourselves to be the house that does these theme parties. Anyone and everyone is invited, and it’s always a good time had by all.

This specific party was laced with all things spanish we could think of. From sombreros, to chips and salsa, to pinatas—we tried to be as ‘authentic’ as possible. Couple that with some Funfetti cupcakes and a little Rock Band and you’ve got yourself a slammin’ party.

The End Is Near

Well, my sophomore year is winding down. Year-end in college terms means loads of stress, loads of fun, dangerously high amounts of caffeine in ones system, and very very little sleep. I would not have it any other way.

Seeing the end of another year is always bittersweet. I can’t believe it. This one really flew…although people tell me years keep on flying faster and faster as you get older. I find this very easily to believe. As a sort of wrap-up, I decided to share this past year with you via photos. Enjoy!

I celebrated another year of life.

I lived with these ladies.

Catalyst rocked it.

We carved Pun-Kins

We Christmas partied.

My nephew proved that he indeed could get cuter.

Spring fever erupted. So we played outside.

I’ve said it before…and I’ll say it again…I LOVE these crazy kids!

The Beauty And The Controversy

The Miss American Pageant has always fascinated me. Being the youngest of three rather ‘girly’ sisters, I was always around proms, cotillions, formals, weddings, ect. Since I do not have much time for TV these days, I missed this past Miss America Pageant. However, the next morning I was caught up to speed on what I had missed:

This was such a bold move made by Miss California’s Carrie Prejean. It turned out to work in her favor, as she placed 1st runner up. I must admit I’m proud of her. She made her opinion known in a tasteful way, trying not to offend anyone. She didn’t sugarcoat her beliefs or force them onto anyone. Prejean simply stood up and defended what she believed when she was asked about it. It’s an admirable quality.

She received mixed reviews on her response to Perez Hilton’s question. Despite the negative feedback, the Miss California USA team stands behind their leading lady:

“I am proud of Carrie Prejean’s beauty and placement at the 2009 MISS USA pageant. I support Carrie’s right to express her personal beliefs even if they do not coincide with my own. I believe the subject of gay marriage deserves a great deal more conversation in order to heal the divide it has created.”
-Keith Lewis; Co-Executive Director K2 Productions, MISS CALIFORNIA USA and MISS CALIFORNIA TEEN USA.

Newsflash: Actions Still Speak Louder Than Words

Seth Godin knows what he’s talking about in this post. What your kindergarten teacher taught you at age 5 still rings true. Now, this concept can and SHOULD be applied to all levels of life. Why do you think you learned it before you learned the art of leadership? The art of business? The art of relationships? Be it in your social or professional circles—your actions are what are left after everything else fades away.

Companies that understand this—understand much. You can talk all day about how your product will never fail or about how your customer service model is flawless….but it means little unless you have proof. Do you have satisfied customers? Do you have people outside of your team and your personal circles who believe in what you are doing? If you do, then you understand what a precious commodity that is. If you don’t, then it might be the key in bringing success to what you’re doing.

Mother Nature

This is what I oftentimes refer to my mom as. Take my word, no woman is more concerned with God’s creation than my sweet Bob. (Bob=what the fam calls my mom) She drives around with a sack of catfood in her trunk, on the off-chance that she should run into a little kitty down on their luck. Even as a young child growing up on a farm, she was ALWAYS bringing home little animals and adopting them as family pets. (This can become problematic when you live on a farm where cows are raised to later turn into hamburgers.) Little chicks, cats, dogs, you name it—Bob loves it. During my 20 years of life with her, I cannot think of a single time that we did not have an animal dependent on us.

May 1st—Bob will be celebrating another year of life. (She would kill me if she knew I released that information onto the World Wide Web) I thought it so appropriate that DisneyNature’s new movie was hitting theatres around the same time. No one would appreciate the story of God’s little creatures like Bob would. So in honor of Bob, the recent celebration of Earth Day, and my sheer fondness of Disney….I present to you, Earth:

“I Could Have Danced All Night…”

One of my all-time favorite movies has always been My Fair Lady. When I was a little 5-year-old, I use to dance around in my moms dresses and heels—pretending I could sing like my beloved Audrey Hepburn. She was my little idol.

My parents were kind enough encourage me in my singing endeavours, but my fame never left our living room. Little Hollie Steel has quite a different story. This 10-year-old sensation has captured hearts across the globe with her amazing, jaw-dropping, talent. Trust me, these next 5 minutes and 6 seconds of your life will not be spent in vain with Miss Hollie Steel:

Simply amazing. It’s hard to believe a voice like that can come out of such a tiny little girl. But it did. It’s hard to believe that a 10-year-old would have the courage to share her gift with the world. But she did. Shes an encouragement to us all, and I cannot wait to see how the rest of Hollie’s story unfolds.

We Have Ourselves A Crisis Situation…

These are words you never ever want to hear. Be it in your personal life, or your work environment. Unfortuantely, I do not have any saged advice as to what to do when these words are uttered within the context of your family or friend dynamics. But thanks to a class discussion with Professor Nixon, I can help you out when it comes to work life. Well actually, when it comes to PR work life.

There are 4 types of Crises:
1)Meteor
2)Breakdown
3)Predator
4)Lingering

The sparks of a Crisis are: -Environmental
-Technological
-Terroristic
-Criminal Misconduct
-Accidental

Benefits of Planning:
-Reduce stress
-Demonstrates Goodwill
-Flow of Information
-Involves Stakeholders
-Business Continuity

In your Crisis Communication Kit you must have 7 items:
1) List of members of crisis management team
2)Contact information for key officers
3) Facts sheet on company:each division, physical location, and each product offered
4) Profiles, bios, ect. for each key member in the company
5)Copies of logos, press release format, and scanned in signature of CEO on disk
6)Pre-written scripts answering key questions
7)Contact info

It is VERY important that you have this kit stored OFF-SITE.

The 4 stages of a crisis are:

Heroic—>Honeymoon—>Disillusionment—>Reconstruction

Understanding what a crisis is and how to tackle it is the first step in crisis management. You must prepare your entire team on how to handle a crisis if/when one ever arises. As the Boy Scout’s always say, “Always Be Prepared!”