My Mastery Journal

For the Final Project and Thesis class, I initially outlined a few key objectives that I was aiming to accomplish. These objectives were to: create a detailed public relations (PR) plan that demonstrates extensive knowledge and understanding of all facets of a media plan, show understanding of concepts related to the PR Master's Degree Program and prepare for graduation, and to develop a portfolio piece to show to potential employers and clients. The course material met every one of these objectives by allowing us to compile all our program material into a cohesive and detailed PR plan. This single plan can be used to demonstrate extensive knowledge of a complex media plan, display an understanding of concepts with the PR program, and work as a written portfolio piece. In addition, many of the multimedia projects done in conjunction with the plan can be utilized as additional portfolio pieces.

Throughout the course, we learned best practices for compiling content within a media plan and proper APA formatting techniques when working on our thesis paper. In addition, we covered various public relations theories and research methodologies and applied this knowledge on behalf of our capstone clients. We also learned to evaluate websites and social media platforms in relation to best practices for PR professionals that includes content evaluation, site aesthetics, site architecture and general optimization principles.

The three original objectives that I had for the Online Media Room class were to: Understand how to create a strong web presence to leverage opportunities in the web space that support PR messages, manage assets and integrate them with existing platforms, and have a firm understanding of webpages and webpage technology. The class met each of the these objectives by introducing us to new platforms to share and aggregate user-generated content, cross-promoting and integrating all online mediums (website, social media, YouTube, etc.) together, and requiring students to integrate website best-practices when creating new channels for distribution on our websites.

Throughout the course, we covered a wealth of information related to the online media room, inbound marketing, content strategy and aggregating content. I learned how to apply the online media room best practices to various client projects in a manner that is consistent with my target audience, outline the various PR objectives, strategies and tactics related to the organizations missions, build a content strategy to implement and execute, and aggregate various forms of content to disseminate across online channels. Additionally, I learned how to effectively analyze and evaluate online media rooms and websites for best practices, audience messaging, content strategy, and engagement. I also learned of various new platforms used to collect and distribute content, such as Paper.li, Atavist, and Medium.

During my initial course of Mastery, I outlined three specific goals and created a set of expectations for Reputation Management Strategies course. The goals were to "'develop strategies for monitoring, responding, and repairing changes in reputation', 'understand how to leverage social media metrics and web analytics to effectively design campaigns to address needs', and to 'learn to address social threats'" (Moss, 2016). Alongside these goals, I presumed that the course would provide a better understanding of how to monitor and respond to changes in reputation, especially situations that required reputation repair. Additionally, I expected that the course would provide me with a valuable set of principles that could easily be translated into applicable strategies that could be applied to my client organization and other future client projects.

Throughout the course, there were 3 specific pieces of information that I found particularly beneficial. The first piece of helpful information was defining the difference between corporate identity and image, as well as how the two work together to establish a brand's corporate reputation (Full Sail University, n.d.). Understanding any gaps that exist between these two ideals is the foundational principle for managing reputation amongst a brand's constituent groups (Full Sail University, n.d.). The second piece of information was the importance of keywords in affecting search engine results. By using effective keyword research to build your search engine plan, you can find those keywords that will give you the greatest return on investment by being the most relevant, driving profitability for your business and creating desired results (Booth, 2014). This knowledge of keyword research can be applied when building new sites, optimizing results for existing sites and managing reputation in relation to negative press. The third bit of information was the importance of using dark websites for crisis response efforts. By having a prebuilt dark site that can quickly be turned on in the event of an emergency, brands can quickly gain control of messaging and information (Bell, n.d.). Ultimately, dark websites can be a "critical tool in the toolbox that enable you to manage a crisis successfully" (Bell, n.d.).

In my career as a Public Relations Professional, I will be able to apply many of the principles I learned in the Reputation Management Strategies course. The course prepared me for my public relations career by providing many foundational tools in reputation management practices. By applying these foundational principals to everyday situations, I am able to craft solutions for a range of client projects in reputation management, crisis communication and social media engagement. The broad range of skills gained throughout the course that can be applied in future public relations career positions include: tactics for social media response and engagement, building a crisis communications plan, managing online reputation with SEO and overall reputation management for brands.

References

Bell, S. (n.d.) Dark websites for crisis response. Retrieved from http://www.mowerpr.com/reputation-management/our-experience/dark-websites-for-crisis-response/

Booth, D. (2014). Keywords: The Foundation of SEO. SEO Foundations [Video Lesson]. Retrieved from https://www.lynda.com/Analytics-tutorials/Why-you-need-keyword-research-plan/187858/366380-4.html

Full Sail University. (Foley, C.). (n.d.). Reputation Management Strategies. Defining Reputation, Lesson 1.1. [Video Lesson]. Retrieved from https://online.fullsail.edu/class_sections/8652/modules/39526/activities/287809

Full Sail University. (Foley, C.). (n.d.). Reputation Management Strategies. Reputation Management, Lesson 1.2. [Video Lesson]. Retrieved from https://online.fullsail.edu/class_sections/8652/modules/39526/activities/287799

The original objectives I outlined for the course were to: Understand how to leverage events to boost PR efforts and drive support or generate awareness for clients, understand the role of PR to enhance events, and master how the role of digital and real-world efforts work together to enhance the total PR package. Throughout the class, we covered the difference between marketing events and using events as marketing tools, pitched and hosted an online event structured as a tool to market our Capstone Client, and created strategic event plans for our Capstone project.

From the course content, we learned how to pitch and promote online and off-line events, effectively execute research, targeting, and positioning related to event production, and best practices for building budgets, promotional plans, and post-event evaluations. We also talked about best practices for crowdfunding campaigns, as well as how to successfully evaluate crowdfunding campaigns. Overall, we learned how to apply all of these resources to create various campaign strategies and achieve a range of goals for our Capstone Client and any future clients.

For the class 'Media Relations', I identified three key learning objectives for the course. These were to: Understand the changing role of the journalist, leverage opportunities with the media community and how to engage media to achieve desired results, and to learn to engage media in a professional manner. Through the course materials, I met each of these objectives by discussing the various types of journalists and their roles in the changing media environment, pitching various story angles, writing targeted pitches and understanding how to properly prepare when working with media in a variety of situations that include press conferences, crises, interviews, etc.

Throughout the course, we reviewed various resources related to understanding media professionals and their roles within the media environment, how to engage with these professionals to achieve public relations goals and how to leverage subject matter to represent the client/company's overall mission. We then applied these skills to our Capstone Client project by crafting targeted media lists, writing targeted pitches to our media list, preparing talking points for news conferences, and developing a successful media kit.

I had three original objectives outlined for my class, "Market and Consumer Research Analysis." These objectives were to: Be able to identify audiences by analyzing various resources, determine appropriate campaign mixes to fit various audiences, and understand how to retrieve demographic and industry data. The course met these objectives by completing a detailed market analysis for our Capstone Client that included defining the target audience, target audience of competitors and consumer habits related to the target market. Additionally, we experimented with a mixture of primary and secondary research tools that included evaluating for quality and significance of the research.

Throughout the course, we covered a wealth of resources used to identify client markets, competition and consumers, and used this information to find and develop research that supports ideas for campaign ideas and best practices related to clients. We then used these skills by applying them to our Capstone Client projects. This included identifying the target audience for our client and their competition and researching consumer habits related to the specific audience. This included a mixture of secondary and primary research initiatives from focus groups to survey's and public data available. We also covered how to examine the data within a professional context that included judging potential weaknesses within a study and the relative significance of data in a study. Finally, we were able to craft a detail integrated marketing communications plan related to our Capstone project use to specifically target our audience.

I had three original objectives outlined for my class "Social Media Metrics and ROI." These objectives were to: Understand how to accurately track, report and analyze a variety of media metrics, understand how to create reports and compile analytics to track performance used to judge campaign metrics, and to become Google Adwords Certified. The class met each of these objectives by: analyzing public relations campaigns for return on investment, using google analytics to track and monitor website analytics, and evaluating online channels for analytics and applying them to PR campaigns.

From the course content, I learned how to use a variety of valuable tools and resources related to tracking and measuring organizational goals. This included methods for evaluating the relative success of communication strategies, tactics, and campaigns within public relations campaigns and delivering reports to company teams and monitoring Google analytics reporting to determine how visitors interact with a particular website. We learned how to apply these analytics reports to make changes to our website and better structure pages. Additionally, we analyzed SEO and learned how to optimize our site for search engines and keywords.

For the class ‘Innovative Public Relations Tools & Resources’, I identified three key tasks to focus on. These were to: analyze popular media tools and how to leverage each for customized PR campaigns, define differences in social media platforms, and to gain a working knowledge of HTML5. Through the course materials, I met each of these objectives by: analyzing traditional practices and applying them to new media, examining user behaviors and social network relationships, evaluating social media platforms for functionality and engagement, and examining and applying the use of HTML5. 

 The course covered a range of new media platforms and how we could use those for our personal and professional goals. We focused on the value of creating a strong personal brand across social media platforms, which included crafting a personal brand video that allowed us to highlight our unique brand story. We took this a step further by evaluating the individual social media platforms for performance, analytics, and overall functionality. Additionally, we identified how people interact with these platforms uniquely and how best to structure content to engage with a very particular audience. We then used this to apply it to a larger communications plan by acting in the role of a COMM Organizer by developing a social media playbook, building a content release schedule, and using a social media scheduler. 

The objectives I outlined for this course were to: understand complex legal and ethical issues that surround media professionals and how to handle these issues, be able to apply knowledge in the context of current and future trends, and understand law related to podcasts. Throughout the class, we analyzed multiple cases that surrounded complex legal issues and pushed ethical boundaries. We encountered communications issues that can happen with defamatory material, the right to privacy, freedom of speech limitations, fair use and intellectual property issues that can arise. These discussions allowed us to examine the multiple ways of assessing each of these individual situations and understand how a reasonable solution can come in many forms. We were provided with the tools necessary to apply these concepts to current media trends and adapt them to the changing technological landscape. Additionally, I partnered these concepts with lessons from Lynda and learned more about applying these concepts to podcasting. Overall, the class exceeded my expectations in the amount of material we covered, as well as all the information I was able to glean from the material.

We covered so much valuable information throughout the length of the course. Most helpful to me were the lessons that including analyzing various judicial opinions. While these opinions are often lengthy and difficult to read, we were provided the tools to understand what exactly we were reading. Additionally, these opinions allow us to get inside the minds of the court’s decisions and understand why a particular decision was made. This understanding is the greatest asset when applying it to your work as a communications professional. These lessons encouraged you to think above and beyond, analyzing what was legally acceptable in some situations but also ethically compromising and because of that, they were also my favorite assignments. In particular, the Week One Intrusion Case Analysis stands out as creating the most chatter because no two people would handle the situation exactly the same and it was interesting to see the various responses. 

The three original objectives that I outlined for my course "Writing for Interactive Media" were: Master the elements associated with narrative storytelling, develop habits for thinking critically to identify stories and build upon my writing and grammar skills. Through the course lessons, I met these objectives by exploring and analyzing different approaches to narrative storytelling, analyzing the relationships between stories and audiences and by finding newsworthy topics to develop narratives and practice my writing skills.

We focused on developing both our own personal narrative as well as comprehensive knowledge of crafting informational non-narratives. There was a focus on advanced publication elements and standard story structure that included leads, headlines, transitions, quotes and nut graphs. We also covered interviewing, quotes and proper attribution. Additionally, we practiced reviewing, critiquing, and analyzing the writing of others. The largest lesson I took from the class was to continuously "make stuff". We were always encouraged to continuously reach outside of our box for ideas, to practice our writing skills (by writing more) and to repeat that process repeatedly to truly advance ourselves. We created good foundational habits that included proper research, note taking, and outlining that we can apply to future projects.

I had three original objectives outlined for my class “Public Relations in a Digital World.” These objectives were to: Establish the foundation for understanding PR in the business environment, establish the framework for planning, distributing and monitoring PR plans, and to understand the role of PR with the impact of the digital age. The class met each of these objectives by establishing a foundational knowledge of PR, brands and the marketing mix, analyzing the persuasive techniques and PR principles of established brands, examining the process and functions within the PR strategy, and analyzing the ever-evolving marketplace in regards to social platforms and new technologies.

Throughout the course, we covered a plethora of valuable information. This included understanding the changing landscape of public relations centered around an open communications strategy that combines traditional methods and social media strategies. We focused on the importance of defining your target audience and how to establish your personal brand as a PR professional, specific to content creation in the digital space. Additionally, I learned about the importance of fielding social commentary and real-time communication in the digital space, the importance of PR in the marketing mix and understanding digital platforms in regards to PR strategy, how to identify various PR practices and persuasion strategies, and the art of drafting engaging messages with press releases and public service announcements.

Shawn Achor talks about “The Happiness Advantage”

"Normal is merely average... if we study what is merely average we will remain merely average.

"Only 25% of job successes are predicted by IQ, 75% of job success are predicted by your optimism levels, your social support network and your ability to see stress as a challenge instead of a threat"

How gorgeous is this? 

My Mastery Journey Timeline