Public Relations Writing

Our public relations writing class definately helped me work toward my degree and helped me learn knowledge that will be useful in the real world.  I liked having actual client assignments so I now know whats its like to have to constantly write and then rewrite press releases, media alerts, radio releases, media lists, feature articles, etc.  The class really opened my eyes as to what my job in the future could be like.

Group Project Knowledge

From working in a group project I have learned that it's best to complete projects ahead of time.  My group hit several problems with completeling our assignments because we all had such busy schedules and we ended up missing our deadlines.  I think if we had planned out the specificatinos for each assignment more than a few days ahead of time then things would have run smoother.  It's definately hard to work on group projects at Montclair because so many people are commuters, have jobs, and other class obligations.  My group found it difficult to get the assignments divided up evenly and then meet with each other to bring the assignment together as a whole.

registration!

So today is the first day of registration for classes for Fall '10. I'm getting really nervous about it since I don't schedule until Thursday night and I would really like to take all the classes I need.  Last semester I had my schedule all planned out and then I went to register and only 1 class was still avalible. I had to run down to the communications deptartment and get special permission to take all my classes.  I ended up getting into all the classes I originally wanted with the exception of one but the situation was just so stressful!  I don't understand why all of the communcaition classes are scheduled with like 1 or 2 sections, all at the same time, and on the same days.  IF I actually get into my classes I'm going to be taking 5 classes on mondays which is going to be exhausting!  I guess I'm kind of to blame since I don't want to commute 5 days a week, need to take more of my core courses since I'll be abroad next year, and I picked up a minor starting next semester.  It's definately going to be hectic next semester.  Good luck registering everyone!

Group Work

I'm not sure if its just me but I don't like bring group projects in college.  I feel like everyone has such different schedules, opinions on assignments, and ways of writing that its difficult to achieve a good grade.  Back in high school and at my job now, I enjoyed doing group projects since everyone could get together and things can be accomplished alot quicker, but in college the atmosphere is entirely different and group projects have become a chore more than anything else.  I understand my professors thinking behind assigning group proects but its so hard for everyone to get thier schedules to mesh and since some people dont care about thier grade, others are left to pick up the slack.  After graduation I understand I'll be working in a group environment alot of the time and have group leaders but those people all are getting paid to do a good job and usually are working the same hours so the process is completely different.  Right now my group project for PR writing is going relatively smoothly but its difficult to tell what our grades will be when we are finished.  For now we are going to continue to divide the work up evenly and use eachother as a checks and balances system to catch errors.

Opinion Pieces

Generally when I'm flipping through the newspaper every morning I have to pass through the opinion section to reach the horoscope and crossword section and I have to admit that I generally do read what the crazy town people have to say.  Most of the time I think this section of my local newspaper, The Suburban Trends gets over looked since most of the opinions are about when people should be expected to bring in thier garbage cans off the street.  The section can get boring and be slightly annoying since the journalist wannabe's are generally old school but its interesting to read about what actual people in my town care about.  The rest of the paper is usually written either by staff members from who knows where or are just copied from major newpapers so I feel closer to home when reading the opinion section.  I don't think I've really looked at other outlets for opinion pieces...unless the section of magazines where readers write in to criticize or apprieciate articles written in previous editions; I read those everytime :)

I just wish I had TiVo !

I think ABC's fear of bad publicity definitely contributed to their decision to keep ABC programming available for its viewers until the contract dispute is solved with Cablevision.  ABC was expected to be blacked out for Cablevision customers beginning midnight Saturday night.  On Sunday morning I checked to see if ABC was blacked out and it technically wasn't blacked out, it was a screen filled with advice on how to get the channel back.  The screen alternated colors for the next few hours but kept the same message urging viewers to go online and email ABC executives and ask for their programming back.  As a Cablevision subscriber, I even recived an email that said, "Many of you just want WABC-7 back on your television. That's why we are working hard to get WABC-7 back on the air. You can help make a difference by visiting cablevision.com/abc and sending their executives an email expressing how you feel."  Then a few hours later I received another email saying how sorry Cablevision was that their contract dispute with ABC was effecting our regularly scheduled viewing so they were making all on demand movies free until midnight Sunday.  By this time at my house ABC had already resumed its programming and I was watching the Academy Awards as scheduled.  The mix up with ABC and Cablevision is ridiculous.  Cablevision is trying to start issues with everyone's contracts and refusing to pay anymore money but yet its customers bills keep increasing.  Where is all the money going that Cablevisions customers are paying monthly?  Cablevision is becoming a monopoly in my area and its upsetting that they can take away the channels i pay for and not leave me with any other options.  ABC definitely made its channel available for Cablevision customers to save themselves the bad publicity and continue to uphold their reputation as a caring family channel.  If anyone should be receiving bad publicity its Cablevision, not ABC.

I guess I had more fears than i thought!

When I first read this weeks blog topic I had no idea what to write but after thinking about it I realized I had quite a few fears...Starting to work in the media is definately starting to stress me out.  There are constant pressures from all sides of the equation to be creative, accurate, professional, and mulit-talented.  Working in the media industry versus many other professions is scarier since everything you do is on display, if you mess up its possible for people around the globe to get wind of it.  Another thing about the media industry that worries me is the constant need to be networking, I'm usually a shy person until I get to know someone so thats going to be something I have to work on when entering the work force.  PR is all about who you know so what happens if you don't know anyone?  Quite possibly the thing that worries me the most about the media industry is getting started and where exactly I will fit in.  Finding a job I'll enjoy in such a tough market seems virtually impossible.  many companies are cutting out thier personal PR professionals and outsourcing to huge PR firms.  I'm not relaly comfortable just being a number and working for one client then moving onto the next, I want to have a relationship with the company I'm working for.  Writing this all down ow makes me more nervous then ever becasue I guess I never really thought about my fears going into the industry and its alot to soak in.  Hopefully over the course of the next two years I'll be able to cope with some of these issues through knowledge and experience.