02.03.08
So, We Disappeared for a While…
Hello On the PRowl readers!
Maria and I have been traveling, celebrating holidays, starting new jobs and beginning new semesters–we have been busy bees here in Boston.
I started my first job at SHIFT Communications on January 22, and I have been thoroughly enjoying learning the ropes and figuring out new things. I’ve been meeting great people and I’m looking forward to building a career at SHIFT.
Just wanted to throw a quick update on here–it’s Superbowl Sunday, so I need to get ready to cheer on my Patriots!
12.11.07
Transitions
The paper that Maria mentioned in her most recent post marks a big transition for me. This really is the end of college and the start of a life in the “real” world of public relations. I plan to start working near the end of January, so I have a month and a half to attempt the metamorphosis that occurs when student becomes professional.
I practically live on the Web, so I’m not going anywhere. I just feel that today, writing this paper, I am truly seeing within myself how much my life is about to change. I am experiencing a departure from Amanda playing the role of student to become Amanda, the Future as Chris Brogan so wonderfully calls me.
PR students of the Web, I hope that you feel as empowered as I do when you are on the cusp of graduation. I feel excited and ready to tackle a million and one new things, with a great group of friends who are cheering me on. This is a huge transition in life, and I am proud and happy to share it with all the friends of On the PRowl.
PR pros- please keep giving us your esteemed advice.
PR students- please keep using this blog as a forum to discuss issues and ask questions.
Professor Quigley- please grade us well.
I leave you with a haiku:
“We are On the PRowl/ Real world students with a voice/ Here we shall be heard”
11.27.07
How Did YOU Deal With It?
I finish school in about three weeks. I am at once astounded, scared and excited beyond belief. I feel like everything in my life is changing or about to change.
To my new-kids-on-the-real-world-block friends like Yianni Garcia, Sandy Kalik and Alison Driscoll, and to anyone else who’s fresh in the marketing and communications biz, how did you make sense of all the changes that happened in your life when you finished school and started a job?
What’s the best advice you have for someone who’s about to graduate and enter the field?
11.18.07
Amanda’s Story: How Did I End Up Here?
I could go on for days, but here’s my abbreviated story:
I was one of those incoming freshman at Boston University who decided to be an English major. (Feel free to make a face at your computer screen and/or laugh.) I knew I liked writing, and there had been a few books here and there that I enjoyed, so obviously English was the perfect major for me. Or so I thought, until I remembered that a big part of going to college is to get a job when you leave. Alarming. As soon as I could, I switched over to the College of Communication.
I joined COM during the fall of my sophomore year. I knew I didn’t want to be a journalist and I certainly had no interest in film or television, so I was left with a advertising or public relations. I didn’t REALLY know what PR was, so I figured advertising was a good choice.
That spring, I took a class called Writing for Mass Communication with Michael Dowding. Life changing. I learned so much about public relations and about my own strengths as a communicator, and I also gained one of the best friends I’ve ever had in my life. Michael wisely took me aside one day and told me that I HAD to change my major to public relations. I was made for it- it would be ridiculous of me not to go into this field. I figured, “What do I have to lose?” so I switched. Why not, right?
During my junior year, I worked as a public relations and publicity intern for the Brain Tumor Society in Watertown, which was a moving experience. My supervisors Dawn Grenier and Josselyn Salter were amazing, and I got the first taste of truly contributing to a real-life cause in communications. I decided I really liked this PR stuff, and worked at Cone, Inc. over the summer in the Brand Marketing Group on some exciting accounts. At Cone I met a bunch of smart, savvy professionals like Amelia Ott, Jen Newberg and Amy Russ, who helped me to develop my PR skills and confirm for me that I had made the right career choice for myself.
I’ve always wanted to do something with my life that would get people talking, change the way people think, give people something to think about… For me, public relations and social media combine everything I love to do–I thrive on inspiring conversation and influencing public opinion. PR 2.0 is absolutely an exciting, creative and gratifying field, and I’m proud to be a new kid on this block.
So, to echo what Maria said, that is me. A girl inspired by people who wants to inspire publics. As my good friend Chris Brogan put it at Jeff Pulver’s recent real-time social networking event in Boston, I guess I kind of am “the future.“
11.12.07
How I found PR and other stories – Maria
For our first post, Amanda and I decided to write about how/why we decided to study PR at BU and where we hope our new found knowledge will lead us. So, this is my story.
I stumbled upon PR while doing volunteer work in southern India the winter between sophomore and junior year (I took two years off from college to travel). At that time, I only had a vague, Hollywood induced idea of what PR entailed. I’m sure I had heard the term before, but probably couldn’t have define it. While staying in Auroville, I became involved in the planning and running of a UNESCO sponsored conference — Youth for Human Unity. It was love at first sight. I began asking people, “what is this called and how can I do it for the rest of my life?” The resounding response was Public Relations. That is when I began looking for a program to transfer to (I attended Vassar College for my first two years). I found BU, applied, was accepted, and am now finishing my third semester in the public relations program (I graduate in May).
For as long as I can remember I have known that my purpose in life is to make a difference in the global community. Until recently I wasn’t sure how I was going to accomplish this as it seemed to me that a lot of PR had to do with consumer goods. I thought I would have to work for a non-profit, or find an agency that takes on non-profit clients. For reasons that I can’t explain, this didn’t seem like it would be enough for me. Then I discovered new media. Again, it was love at first sight.
My intentions for after graduation is to find a position in which I will be furthering social causes via my PR and new media skills. Hopefully, I will find this position before graduation *hint hint* At this time, agency work looks very appealing as I love fast-paced environments and multi-tasking.
So, that is me. Tales of my journey in pursuit of saving the world (and finding a job) to follow.
