Networking, Networking, and more Networking!!

                On November 13, 2013, I was able to experience an event that allowed to me network with several different professionals and get interviewing practice.  Over ninety students attended The Hudson Business Lounge in Milwaukee where they were allowed to network and meet over forty-five professionals.

                There was such a great turn out that the time frame got broken down into two different sections.  The section I attended started off with Jeff Carrigan, founder of Big Shoes Network, giving a speech explaining what this company has to offer college students.  After his insightful speech, everyone was broken down to meet with a professional to do two mock interviews then one informational interview.

                The first gentleman that interviewed me was Juan Paz, Jr. I was very nervous at this interview which he could tell.  He asked me several questions then gave me feedback for my answers and overall interview.  He told me to just relax and make myself stand out.  He can see that I’m passionate about what I do and want to do and that I need to show the interviewer that passion.

                The second interview was held by Hannah Thulin which was held the same way as my first interview.  After she questioned me, she gave feedback to me.  She also said that I’m very good at interviewing and she can tell that I love what I’m going to school for.  She did say that I need to relate my stories that I share back to how that make me who I am.  Totally makes sense to me and was very helpful information that I’ll work on for my next interview.

                The third interview was more laid back.  I sat down and talked with Kirsten Kozik.  We actually had classes together my freshman year so it was nice to catch up with her.  I was able to ask for a lot of advice on the dos and don’ts during college and after college.  We just chatted as if we knew each other on a very close friendship level.  She said that I need to keep my head high and go for what I want.  I will need to start at the bottom but not to give up and keep working.  I really enjoyed talking with Kirsten.

                Overall, the whole networking experience was amazing! I learned so much that I will remember and carry on to after college.  I have connected with many people on LinkedIn and have e-mailed them all.  I was glad that Ann Knabe, my PR professor, created this networking event and allowed her students to attend.

                Job well done! J

Steve Staedler’s Advice and Teachings

On Monday, October 14, I had the pleasure of learning about B2B PR, Cision Point, and PR strategy with SnapOn from Steve Staedler. 

Steve Staedler is currently the senior account executive/public relations at LePoidevin Marketing.   LePoidevin is a small B2B agency.  Steve handles the public relations side of things with another woman there.  Between the two of them, they create press releases for their clients, upload them to Cision, and get the ‘ink’ their clients are looking for.

Cision Point is an online website that allows one to build media relations and contacts through.  It does require having an account with them that is paid yearly for usually by the company one works for.

Steve uses Cision every day at his job.  He searches several different outlets such as print, broadcast, internet and other groups to find the right outlet for the press release to be sent to.  Cision also allows one to monitor all magazines and releases to tell them who has done what with it within a month timeframe.  

Key points about Cision:

•  It’s used to dig deep, depending how deep one wants to go.  
• It’s ideally software that is designed to make a public relations coordinator’s life easier. 
• It’s an online news room to get news releases out faster.
• When using Cision, the goal is to get the editor to choose that news release versus others which gives the client their ‘ink’.

      In a small B2B agency, everyone has to be able to work together and with the same clients at the same time.  They have to get along and know it all to be able to help out when needed.  Each person has to document their time in detail of what they worked on and for how long in order to get paid for the correct amount of actual work being done.

      Steve talked a lot about what Cision is, his B2B agency, and an example of a case study he is working on for SnapOn, but he also gave advice and side notes about his job.  He said that 80 percent of his job is writing and you need to know how to write well and enjoy doing it.  He also travels for his job which make it interesting and a change of pace sometimes.

      Listening to Steve speak to us about his job and what he does, gave me an idea of what it would be like to work in a B2B agency.  I honestly never thought about the difference or knew what Cision was.  I thoroughly enjoyed listening and learning from Steve Staedler. 

Inspiration from Amy Paul

My first impression of Amy Paul was that she was going to come in and give a boring speech about how experience after college, like I have heard from many other people.  Needless to say, I was not looking forward to it all that much.  As soon as she started and her tone of voice along with presentation, I was very intrigued as to what she had to say.

Amy has a very interesting background and I’m not even sure where to start.  It goes as far back as to being in college rather than just after graduation.  Amy went to UW-Whitewater for 6 years due to not starting off as public relations major in the beginning.  She graduated from UW-Whitewater in 2011 where she then had a job at Bottom Line Marketingand Public Relations as the PR Assistant.  Amy then got a new job to try something different at Milwaukee County Executive Office as their PR Assistant.  She was there for about a year before starting her now current job at Ascedia as the Interactive Account Coordinator. Each of her jobs taught her new skills and tasks which she was able to carry on to the next job and make her a better employee.

Before graduating, Amy already had a lot of experience due to the four different internships she had.  She was an intern at Children’s Hospital ofWisconsin working on fundraising and special events, an intern at Qdoba MexicanGrill as the brand ambassador, an intern at UWW University Development Office as a student assistant, and an intern at Milwaukee Admirals as a communications intern and street team member.  Amy was also an active member of PRSSA on campus throughout her college years.  Throughout all Amy’s years of experiences, she made sure she stayed connected with each past employer, networks, professors and any other important people she met along her journey. 

Amy’s Advice for College Students:

·         Start early by finding an internship and getting out there to meet other networks

·         Maintain connections with old networks and past internships

·         Keep personal social media clean and professional

·         Join groups on campus and stay involved to learn more

·         MOST IMPORTANTLY…Don’t give up and have fun!

Listening to Amy Paul was very inspiring to me and gave me a lot insight of how the outside world works after college.  She gave lots of helpful hints on what to do now while in college so we don’t wish we would have done once it’s too late after college.  I plan to stay connected with Amy and hopefully have an amazing story to tell a couple years after I’m out of college.

~~~Amy Paul has now given me a reason to dreamer bigger and make my dream come true.~~~

My Favorite Quotes

“We’ll figure it out, we always do!” –My Mom

Live. Laugh. Love. Life.

It’s important to put a lot of years to your life, but equally important to put a lot of life to each year.

Distance makes the heart grow founder.

“The past can hurt, but the way I see it, you can either run from it or learn from it.” -Rafiki #TheLionKing

A tiger doesn’t lose sleep over the opinion of sheep.

***For more, check out my Facebook page under my photo album ‘Quotes’

Dream Writing

When I write, I just write.  I do not focus so much on the grammar, spelling or the exact wording of it.  I just write and see what ends up on the paper.  Writing for me is a way of mediation and relaxation.  I use to write in a journal every night when I was in high school.  It helped me get through the hard times and let out my emotions I seemed to keep bundled up inside.  Today, I do not so much journal every day but I do still randomly write about my day or my feelings at the time.  This blog may bring back my journal ways.  I will be able to blog about whatever I wish and whenever I wish.  Doing this, it will help me relieve some stress, practice more writing, get better at my writing and share my dreams, ideas, passions, stories, etc.

Being a journalism broadcast major and a public relations minor at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, I find many similarities between the two but yet I can’t figure out what I want to do exactly after I graduate.  How to mend the two into the perfect job for me.  My dream has always been to be a news reporter and eventually the lead anchor for a large network but now I want to be an event planner.  I just can’t decide where I want to start now.  I thought I had it all planned out but now public relations event planning really interests me.  I have many decisions to make before graduation, but I think my classes this fall semester will help me figure it out and clear up my complicated dream a little more.

To get to know a little more about me, check out my Facebook page, follow me on Twitter, or follow my Pinterest.