natalie

I just got done reading about the Pennsylvania teen accused for shooting his girlfriends parents.  David Ludwig, 18 and his 14-year-old girlfriend, Kara Beth Borden, were arrested in Indiana after a police chase ended after they crashed into a tree.

It is said that Ludwig and Borden’s parents got in an argument about them dating because of their age difference.  The argument ended with two shots when accused gunman Ludwig shot them both in the head. Ludwig then called for Borden and they took off in a red Jetta.  It is unknown if Borden was kidnapped or if she went willing. 

Borden and Ludwig were supposals secretly dating because her parents did not approve of Ludwig because of his age. It was rumored that part of their secret dating was done over a blog. (The plot thickens)  Investigators can now research the blog for more details of their relationship.  Was the events premeditated or was it a spur of the moment thing?

It is amazing how much blogs are affecting the lives of people.  More and more people are using them and for a variety of reasons.  I do find it odd how people would feel comfortable publishing their deep thoughts about their life on the internet.  That is how stalkers begin.  But in this cause of Borden’s supposed blog it is going to possibly help out investigators in the case.  The question is: is the blog going to help Borden? It might be damaging to her because it could prove if she went willing or not.

 Obesity in America has been a problem for many years, but it is now becoming an issue for more and more people.  Being overweight or obese is the cause for at least 300,000 deaths a year. The upsetting part of that is the percentage is only getting higher every year and the death rate is only increasing.  Not only is this upsetting for the obese but it also affects all Americans because the healthcare cost for obese adult Americans exceeds $100 billion every year.  What is causing these people to be obese and is it a disease or is it a personal responsibility? 

Obesity is thought to be caused by many different factors such as psychological, genetic and most important environmental factors.  Or is obesity cause by the media?  You can not turn on the TV or open a magazine with out seeing a skinning size 2 model with a perfect body. Probably only 3% of Americans have a figure even close to they and most of them are still no happy with their body.  It seems to be an on going struggle.

Our lives are also cluttered with fast food and junk food that is bad for our bodies.  The worst part is that the things that are bad for you are also the quickest and easier so obtain. Is there anything the media can do to help prevent obesity?  Should the government enforce a “fat tax?”

I am currently waiting to get my car serviced at the dealership and I was looking around and thinking about all of the PR or lack of PR around the dealership.  I wonder what kind of thought process they went though while planning the layout if any at all.

All in all it is set up like any other dealership.  Up front are all the cars and the salesmen and in the back there is the service department.  When you look around all you see and read is information and pamphlets on buying a new or used car.  There is nothing talking about the types of services you can have done once you buy a car. The only thing that talks about the types of services is a posting of customer satisfaction and even there its only one page out of eight posted on a back wall.

Wouldn’t it be a smart idea to publicize and post your services?  That would encourage people to get there car serviced here after they buy it and continue there on after.  And discourage them from taking it to a random place to get their oil change and etc.

This is what I could do.  I would post/advertise their services in the waiting room and in the front of the dealership.  In the front of the dealership to catch the eye of potential buyers and then in the waiting room to better inform people who already service their cares here. I would also give incentives to service your car here.  Then the dealership could possibly bring up their profit in not only the service department but people might be more persuaded to buy a car where there is an excellent service department.

I have recently noticed how bad customer relations have gotten at local stores and establishments.  I don’t know how many times I have gotten the employee who doesn’t want to be there and doesn’t care if you buy something from them or not.  Or better yet the employee who is on a personal call the whole time you are there and makes it seem like a chore to help you or check you out.

Another customer relations problem I come across a lot is lack of professionalism.  For example today I went to rent a movie and the lady checking everyone out called every customer “little one.”  Calling people, I guess you could say “names” is not very professional at all.  It is also bad when employees are communicating with each other about personal issues or problems while helping a customer.  Employees’ appearances are also another common problem.

Managers need to train their employees to communicate better with customers.  They need to give employees incentives to want to help the customer and want to make them feel more important.  Managers also need to set rules and guide lines that need to be follow at all times.  If rules are broken there needs to be some form of punishment so the employee is less likely to do it again. There also should be a dress code and employees should be encouraged to maintain a healthy lifestyle. These seem like very simple things that one would assume managers are already doing but a lot of times this is not the case.

We all enjoy watching the lives of celebrities but where should we draw the line between their private and public life?  I have noticed lately that the media regularly over extends themselves into the private lives of celebrities. 

A good example of a celebrity that strives to keep her personal life separate from her career is Julia Roberts.   Julia Roberts is repeatedly voted America’s favorite actress and is regarded as one of the greatest actresses of our time.  Unlike many actresses, Julia is able to be both a serious actress and the girl next door.  However the media makes that harder for her then she would like by invading her personal life. Not only do the media sometimes invade her private life, it also heightens the expectations of the public for her. She is able to separate her personal and private life in a classy and dignified way.            

Roberts’s or any celebrity’s biggest struggle is balancing fame with their private lives.  Some stars let fame and media lead their life.  Is media a necessary evil?  It is vital for the publicity aspect to publicize a new movie or for entertainment when Roberts or whoever the celebrity may be agrees. Actors must have a professional relationship with the media.  It is part of the job.

However, they must also avoid the paparazzi because when it comes down to invading a celebrity’s personal life to take one bad picture when they are looking a little under the weather it’s gone to far.  Celebrities just like us can have a rough day.  They may be worth millions more than us but they still want a somewhat normal life.

No one wants to feel alone in the world and this causes the recent fads of personal PR to become more and more popular. Social networks are formed at many sites such as Facebook, Myspace, Live Journals and many others.  One of the main purposes of all of these sites is to create a profile that will give you positive (sometimes negative) PR about yourself.  You can post your thoughts, pictures and as scary as it is your friends can even post their thoughts. Then you either make new friends, let old friends get to know you better or even sadly enough meet a significant other.

From my personal experience with Facebook, I have learned that these sites can be addictive and you constantly want to check other people’s profiles and update your profile. It’s a never ending cycle.  I only have an account on Facebook but many people have numerous accounts on these various sites.  I would imagine they waste a good part if their day with these sites.

It is sad that personal selling/PR has came down to this.  However, I feel many people just see it as an easy way to make new friends and keep in touch with the old.  But is this type of social networking taking over our lives and taking time away from doing face-to-face networking?  I wonder if they are even a benefit to our lives or are they just a waste of time?

I also read in Friday’s USA Today about the recent allegations against some of the Minnesota Vikings players.  The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that two boats were chartered by the Viking’s defensive back Fred Smoot and possibly other players. There are accusations of lewd acts possibly involving strippers and prostitution.  Even if the accusations are not true this is still a big job for Viking’s PR department.

I currently am working on a crisis planning project in one of my classes which caused this article to catch my eye even though it didn’t yet mention what actions are going to be taken in the PR department.  But I started thinking about their possible actions.

If the accusations are true then the Vikings need to make a press conference that is honest to their publics.  This conference would tell their publics exactly what happen and what steps they are taking to prevent this from happening again.  Their biggest step is to punish the people involved which would most likely be suspension from the team.  This may hurt their season but there isn’t much else you can do.

If the accusations are false then the Vikings should still hold a press conference that tells its publics and the media what really happened.  Then explain how this misunderstanding happened.

I am in PR Survey and Research this semester and we just started working on our big survey project last week. We conducted a survey in my intro class but we didn’t go into the details of all that survey and research entails and how important they are to PR. So when we did the surveys in Intro to PR I just thought of them as a pain in the butt. However, now I am learning how important it is to get feedback from people that are significant to your organization.

We have learned about the different types of surveys such as telephone, mail-in and on-site surveys. But they all have their disadvantages. Examples would be that you never know if the participant is being completely honest, what their motivation is and their ability to answer the questions. This means you are going to come across a lot of people who just don’t care and are going to answer anything just to get it over with. Will we ever know if our results are accurate?

Although surveys have their faults they also have their advantages. They are an easy way to gather data such as opinions, attitudes, perceptions and behaviors of a specific group of people. And in find this data if helps us answer the questions about social phenomena’s and understanding social phenomena’s make is easy to establish good PR and help mend bad PR.

So do we just cancel out the disadvantages of surveys with all the benefits? I feel that they can be very useful but can we trust them?

Last week I learned exactly how important networking is and how easy it is. I have talked in earlier post about my trip to Montreal with my step father, his salesmen, customers and all of their wives. Well while I was there I made lots of friends and just had fun with everyone. Now anytime my parents hang out with the people from the trip they always ask about me and see how I am doing.

One of the friends I made, Paula, was talking with my mom about school the other day and she asked about where I was interning. Well turns out she works for an agency that that does the exact type of pr that I am interested in and is going to help me out in getting an internship there. I am still in the looking phase of finding my internship but I was amazed by how much my little networking could do.

The definition of networking according to dictionary.com is”to interact or engage in informal communication with others for mutual assistance or support.” I think a lot of times people don’t realize how easy networking can be. Really all you have to do is make friends. Maybe it will just be another friendship or maybe it could be a friendship and someone that could help you out later on.

You can also network from the comfort of your home with blogs. Making comments on postings and allowing others to comment on yours is a way of communicating with other and networking. There is now no excuse not to have any networks.

Get excited!! Today marks the first day of The Global PR Blog Week 2.0. Professionals from all around the world including Argentina, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Romania, Spain, United Kingdom and the United States will be participating. They will be discussing how new technology advances will be changing the way public relations and business communicates. This event will be held all week (September 19 to September 23).

Being a student I think this is a great opportunity to get our names out there. PR Blog Week is a very easy way to network. We don’t even have to leave our little bubble of Auburn University. Not only is PR Blog Week good for networking but also for learning more on what’s going on in the PR and Business world. We all will be out there in the real world in the next few months and knowing what the latest is in the PR and Business will be very helpful.

The Press Release stated that the topics this week would consist of “latest breakthroughs in online technology:
Challenges of corporate blogging
Blog relations
Education for the New PR
Types of corporate blogs
Tools, trends, and practices (including blog monitoring, podcasting, wikis, and online media rooms)
Customer generated marketing
Transparency & ethics
Mainstream media and citizen journalism”

PR Blog Week is free and I encourage everyone to participate by asking questions and making comments. This is something that doesn’t happen every week. I think that everyone should take advantage of such a great opportunity.