#prmasters

As far as growing in my chosen profession, I believe that learning how to properly write a script for a PSA was extremely helpful. I have written scripts before, but they were always for a theatre format. Learning how to write a proper script for video format was very eye opening. I can’t wait until I can use these skills in my profession. 

My initial goal for the Online Media Room class was to learn how to create a meaningful, strong and consistent web presence. I wanted to be able to produce effective corporate communication pieces using my asset creation and web design skills. Honestly, when I started this degree I wasn’t even sure what these skills required and now I can do it! On a personal level, I will always rely on sites such as WIX or Squarespace. On a professional level, I’ll be able to intelligently communicate ideas about design, content marketing, user experience and style with colleagues or vendors I work with.

 Creating the capstone video snapshot was challenging. This assignment combined technical and creative skills. Recording the narration was a life lesson in patience all on its own. Learning how to create and deliver an effective presentation is important to me and will be very useful in my career. I’ve had the opportunity to watch many colleagues’ presentations and I’m inspired to challenge myself to grow in this particular area.

I’ve also realized this month that my passion lies in content creation and design. The tools available for this are abundant and intuitive. Creating SPARS’ Online Media Room was incredibly rewarding. I enjoyed combining content to create a brand experience mindful of voice, tone and style. I enjoyed thinking about fonts, color palates and layout. Finally, learning how to create a social media press release expanded my public relations abilities even further.

With the exception of another classmate leaving our cohort, I loved this month!  Now, it’s up to my classmate Jennymar Torres and I to support each other through the last month of the program and graduation. We’ve inspired each other through our required assignments and critiques. Our relationship has shown me that it is truly possible to bond through online education.

I can’t believe it’s the end of month ten! It was an extremely busy month at work and it's been challenging. To be honest, this course was more complex than I had anticipated. I’ve learned so much and was even inspired to take a closer look at my writing skills.

My favorite assignment in this course was expanding my media contact list. This task required me to step outside the media market I’m familiar with and research national and local breaking news outlets. It required research and reaching out for help. Fortunately, my childhood friend, Amy Riemer, is Principal and Founder of Riemer Communications. She was generous with her time and shared some of her industry insight and experiences with me. I suddenly remembered the story of when she was managing press relations for the 2014 Food Safety Annual Summit where hundreds of attendees got food poisoning! Can you imagine handling that? I now have an even higher respect for her skills and we had a good laugh reminiscing while incorporating my new perspective. I also enjoyed learning about identity verses image in corporate branding and communication. Contemplating perception is always fascinating to me.

As a public relations professional, the most valuable skill I’ve learned is the ability to craft an effective crisis communication plan. I've learned about the components of a good plan and important items to consider for the future. The message that was most impactful on me was the importance of creating an open dialogue with your audience. I’ve learned that effective social media communication is about audience engagement and conversation. Creating great content is important but not enough to achieve engagement.

I will be a more well-rounded public relations strategist because of the knowledge I’ve acquired this month. I am now able to examine situations for potential negative consequences and intelligently discuss crisis management. I am able to recommend online reputation management strategies and resources. I can talk about constituent groups, stakeholders, and address how each requires customized messaging for a local or national media market. It’s been a rewarding class!

My initial goal for this month was to learn how to plan, promote and execute a successful event. I feel I’ve definitely accomplished that. This month was exciting particularly because of the new technical skills I’ve acquired. I created my first educational webinar using Keynote and learned new slide design concepts. I also used the Go to Training platform for the first time as a presenter and created new multimedia pages for my website. Not being a digital native, I’m extremely pleased with my progress. Learning about crowdfunding and how to launch a successful fundraising campaign was also very useful. These skills are so valuable and I’m looking forward to using them in the future to help others.

 What’s really affected me this month is the realization that technology is making content delivery and presentation fairly easy and cost-effective. For example, I used a site called Proposify to create an event proposal for a SPARS event at the 2017 AES Convention. This event is a three-hour networking mixer open to students and aspiring engineers at Avatar Studios in New York City. Proposify was easy to use, easy to share and looked extremely professional. The concept I keep returning to is that technology is creating tools that are getting faster, easier and more intuitive every day. However, coming up with an idea or creating content is still a creative process. Our unique human perspectives, creativity and thought processes are still extremely valuable.

 My classmates have been so supportive and we’ve really bonded. Their work has inspired me and I love the fact that we can all receive an assignment and express our thoughts in completely different creative ways. I found this month empowering and I’m excited about the future.