A butterfly's journey

Yesterday, I walked in a goofy gown with over 2,000 people across a stage and blew a kiss to the camera connected to the big screen at the Thomas and Mack. Graduation has ended my 4 1/2 years at UNLV… what now?

I understand the process of getting a degree, the next step should be going into the field I’ve acquired my knowledge in. Although, I haven’t started applying to jobs yet. I feel discouraged to try in this bad economy and competitive job market. I don’t doubt I’d be good in advertising and public relations, I know I will. I’m wondering if I should enter the job market now, or go to grad school. Should I take off a year and travel the world? Should I get up and move to a new state? What should I do?

Exploring the options of graduate school makes me feel like I just graduated high school. I’m back at phase one, what should I major in? Law school or MBA… the 2 years for a MBA is looking a lot better than a 3 year law degree. Then there is the option of applying for jobs ’til my fingers hurt from typing applications. And finally, there is the option of traveling.

A successful man that works at Imagine Marketing told me enjoy my life a little before entering my career because once I do, I will not have enough time to take off and travel the world. I want to pack my bags at the thought of never being able to do it again… but even though I do not have a career here, I still have  job, friends and family. I would love to get up and live in Italy for a year if it weren’t for those things keeping me here.

There is plenty to do besides travel. Now that my week is no longer packed with school and work, I will focus on editing my poetry and submitting queries to poetry publishing companies in between job applications, mock interviews, and studying for the GMATs.  I don’t see myself being any less busy this next year.

So I leave my question unanswered at the moment. I’ve realized this week that graduation is intimidating because it has opened the doors to many options, but it is also exciting. I get to venture out and explore new career options while spending more time on the hobbies I love.

Twilight Series: New Moon opened this weekend and I was one of many who packed into a crowded theater to see it.

I was pleased with the production and must say the movie was intriguing and exciting until the end. I wanted to interview excited fans about the movie before and after so Las Vegans who saw the movie could relate to them or hear other perspectives.

In my youtube video below, I interviewed people before the movie on their expectations. After the movie, I asked people if it met their expectations.

New Moon Interviews

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It is from two completely different point of views when you talk to people who have read the books compared to people who have only seen the movie. In my video, Angela Semana has read all the books so she already knew who she was rooting for in the movie.

The reason I asked all my interviewees if they are team Jacob or Edward is because the movie concludes with who she chooses to be with. The two interviews that were following the movie were from people who never read the books. Therefore, they got the full experience of the thrill and surprise the plot had to offer and shared their opinion on it afterwards.

For a more in depth movie review, click here.

No other city has more culture, excitement or good entertainment than New York, New York.

I experienced the excitement first hand last August. I recorded some memories in my New York album. These pictures show a few examples of the beautiful cultural and activities New York has to offer.

My most memorable experience was seeing the Little Mermaid on Broadway. Click here to see my favorite song performed in the Little Mermaid on Broadway.

While in New York, I went to China Town and Little Italy. I ate dinner with my sister at a true Italian restaurant and it was quite an experience. We also had the experience of shopping from street vendors in China Town.

Most of my pictures were taken from the Circle Line boat I went on early in the morning. My favorite shot is the first picture on this blog because it shows the city surrounded by water. Other scenes the caught my camera’s eye included older churches and buildings. I have lived in the west my whole life where older buildings are few; therefore, I found the older architecture intriguing.

I picked this album of photos because I wanted to give people a taste of New York because there is something for everyone. New York is the part of America that represents unity between cultures; it is the true melting pot. I think it is important to visit it at least once in your life time and I want to encourage others to visit it for themselves.

Imagine you’re browsing the web looking for a cool site to learn about space/astronomy and you come across the website above. This website alone could make you click away and never Google space again.

The name of this website is Space is the Place. This site is poorly designed for multiple reasons. The first thing I noticed is it doesn’t have any headlines, organized text or a central focus. The main content section is overcrowded with unconstrained text and it blurs together.

The navigation on this page is confusing. There are no widgets on the top or sides of the page which makes it hard to find what you are looking for on the site. The links are unorganized and spread out throughout the paragraph. The about section is poorly written and at the top of the web page inside an unnecessary frameset. The about section should be on a separate page, but there are no additional pages to this site.

The layout is inconsistent on this site and it does not have enough contrasting colors. The text is light blue on a blue background and these non- contrasting colors make it hard to read.

The graphics are poorly placed on the website, they are centralized with text below or above which leaves empty space around it instead of text.  The main picture can be seen as a religious mockery since the guy is posing in the clouds and appears god-like.

The guy that made this site could have saved time and made a blog with a well designed theme that was already made. The entries seem to be blog posts and so it would have been easy to make it a blog on wordpress.com.

When I first started as the advertising and public relations intern at the UNLV Newman Center, I couldn’t look at our website for more than five seconds without getting bored.  Although our website is now under construction by a designer, I started a blog through wordpress.com to promote our events during my internship.

Comparing the layout I picked for my blog to the main Newman website is an example of good design vs. poor design.

Newman.unlv.edu is the main website for the church and it has red, gray and white as its main colors. The main problem is the layout. The events are listed down at the bottom of the widget section and the office hours are at the top. The website should draw people to come by advertising what events it has to offer.

Another problem with the current website is the main space is poorly utilized. There should be a picture to draw people into the text, but there is not one picture on the website. All there is in the main space is text and there is so much it blurs together. There are no headlines to distinguish the information from each other.

I like the use of the color red on the current site because it stands out and it is one of the UNLV school color. I also like the drop down menu for the about page.

The blog I created for the Catholic Newman Center is centered on being informative and user friendly. The layout I chose has three columns available on the main page so it can show three blogs at the top at the same time. It displays the colors white and red.

The widgets are located at the bottom of the site in three columns as well. The widgets include an about blurb, categories, Newman links, and recent news. This allows users to quickly navigate to what topic they want to read about within the site. It is important to have categories with this layout because the main page only shows three blogs at a time, the rest are archived.

One thing I would like to add on the page is having a drop down menu for the page options at the top of the page. I would also like a category tab there.

I’m excited to see how our current home site will be redesigned. There will be a link to the blog I created to the new site.

Google can make you happy or sad

Google can be more than your resume; it can be your image on the web. You can create the person you want to be. Presenting all your good qualities and hiding the bad.

One way you can hide your personal life from future employers is to create a face name, something besides you legal name. Although your friends won’t be able to find you as easily, you can always find them.

A face name or façade is a good idea even if your personal life doesn’t include getting “plastered” on the weekend and advertising it on your Facebook. One reason is that if you have friends that do, it can destroy your image for prospect employers.

Jachelle explains in her blog that we should use the grandma rule in posting pictures and other messages on our social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace. This is important even if you do place your Facebook under a facade. There is always the chance your name will like to your face name and if you are examined under a microscope, you don’t want the future employer to think you are irresponsible or a lush. Avoid posting any pictures of you drinking or in skimpy clothing because most grandmas would not approve.

Besides hiding your personal life from Google, you definitely don’t want to hide your professional life. Creating a professional blog or web portfolio can help in the area of journalism.  Starting your portfolio include signing up for a blog according to this article. Promoting the blog through social networking sites is the second step. Third is finding professional contacts or your target market on these social networking sites. Finally, linking a professional web site with a portfolio of your works or campaigns you’ve completed so prospect employers can see what you have to offer.

This weekend, I went to see Couple’s Retreat. This movie was hilarious, but besides the laughs, it left a deep message for all married couples… Marriage takes work… but if you’re willing to go through counseling, you can move from the dark tunnel heading to divorce and head into the light.

The movie starts off with the every day scenes of four couples, all friends. One of the couples, Cynthia and Jason, are considering divorce and beg the other three to come with them on a couple’s retreat on a tropical island resort because they can not afford to go by themselves. They persuade the other couples to come by saying they don’t have to participate in the couple’s counseling and they can just enjoy a vacation.

What the couple’s find in counseling is there are emotions they hide from each other and this causes the hardships they are experiencing. One of the couples, Dave and Ronnie (Vince Vaughn and Malin Akerman) have a seemingly happy marriage, but when they are forced into either going to counseling or getting kicked off the island, they go. What they find in counseling is  they are just fighting their way through marriage and life and not enjoying each other like they should.

The climax in the movie begins when the couples travel to the single’s resort, Eden East, to rescue the 20 year old girlfriend of what of their friends.  On the way over, Cynthia and Jason get in a fight and the couples split up. Chaos happens as Joey and his wife urgently seek to cheat on each other and then run into each other at the single’s resort.

I enjoyed this movie because it had a distinctive beginning, middle and end. There was no unnecessary scenes leading up to the climax and end of the movie. There was plenty of comedy in the movie, but also serious fights between the married couples and friends. They were great moments of truth and allows the audience to relate to these confrontations.

Resources: How to write a movie review.

Soon I will need to create an advertising portfolio online for my future boss to examine. Originally knowing little about making a website, I have always had a passion for visual placement and photography.  I want my portfolio online to be easy to navigate but visually appealing. After browsing the web for examples, I found an few inspiring websites.

Creative

This layout is my favorite advertising portfolio online. The design is easy to read and navigate through. The links to the resume, portfolio and other options is visible but not crowded together or too busy. Besides the layout design, the print advertisements I reviewed were amazing. They had a great copy message along with a creative image.

Get noticed

I liked this online advertising portfolio because the main screen is creative and draws you in. It makes your want to explore the rest of the site because you want to discover why this firm or copywriter can help your company get noticed. The site does a good job of quenching the curiosity. In the portfolio section, it has print examples, logos, websites, and different types of advertisements.

Simple portfolio

I liked this online portfolio because it is simple. The black and white theme makes the pictures stand out as the only color on the page. The necessary links are on the top of the page for easy navigation.  The first image is a creative advertisement the author made for a previous campaign.  This shows the capabilities of the artist and impresses the browser immediately because it is the first photo on the page.

The purpose of public relations is to "create a buzz" for a company or product

This week I interviewed Jon Bastian, a public relations professional who owns his own business. He started Las vegas Public Relations Company in 2001 as a sole proprietor to handle individual projects for individuals, small companies and non-profit organizations.

Below is the questions I asked Bastian along with his answers. Bastian brings incite and good advice for students and professionals going into public relations and advertising.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

I enjoy the variety of different projects I get to write about, learn about, and experience. I get the opportunity to “be in their shoes” for awhile. I also get the opportunity to tell their story, communicate their purpose or tell about their product or event so that it appeals to the public in a manner that makes the pubic want to participate, purchase, own or experience.

How do you use social media in your area of work?

I haven’t tackled the electronic networks like twitter, facebook, myspace, linked in, tagged, YouTube, —-the jury is still out. I am learning about a developing program that allows me to post news releases on the network with exceptionally strong spider web and SEO technology that will get widespread exposure for virtually no cost. I am also learning to use mass e-mail programs that respect spam issues and allows recipients to opt-in to receive my messages.  I am in training for a newly evolved e-mail internet program, an integrated internet marketing solutions program, that combines video, voice, message/graphics, list scrubbing, opt-in, opt-out, auto responder. text messaging technologies powered by a constant contact-type mail program.

Do you use social networking sites to drive business to yourself? If not, how do businesses find you and how do you market your services to them?

I SHOULD use my website for driving business, BUT it’s not up to date. I was sharing it with my wife, we work some things together. I have not been using social networking sites; I should. I get work from word of mouth, networking handing out cards, referrals. I have not fully worked on getting new business; I have other sources of income, so I don’t have to totally rely on the PR side.

Which software and sites, including social networking sites, do you use in promoting your clients?

I provide them information to post on their own web sites.  These social networking sites are not proven to be necessarily the proven channel to promote retail products–these sites are like pop psychology word-of-mouth underground “cool sites” for the hip and cool, so the risk is monumental regarding an announcement or product promotion with these avenues.  Clothes, music, “cool stuff”?  when mainstream starts to utilize these avenues, they become saturated with “uncool” products.  MacDonalds on twitter, facebook, myspace, tagged?  How cool is that? As for facebook, twitter, myspace, YouTube–actually, the jury is still out–and there are other internet technologies, with powerful SEO technologies–that can be used.  For my purposes, I can use PR Newswire, MarketWire, which are the preferred tools of the PR and marketing profession that connect with professional publications and communications.

What are a few of the clients you represent?

Clients and types of clients I have worked with include Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, Southern Nevada Chapter of the American Red Cross, Annual Spring and Fall Home Show, Annual Sportsmans Show, Desert Toyota, Desert Audi, Desert VW, Total Automotive and Marketing Solutions, Kettle Korn, Hair Stylist, Charles Gruwell  Design, CLEO Design, The LandCrafter Landscape Design, window treatments company, rebath company, Outdoor BBQ Company, Medical Society, Medical Care Foundation, WorldMediTours medical treatment overseas, non-profit associations like Women in Communications, Las Vegas Advertising Federation, Lili Claire Foundation, UNLV Catholic Newman Center, Nevada Broadcasters Association, Kiwanis Club of Las Vegas, Red Cross Annual Golf Benedfit Tournament, Nevada Woman Magazine.

Pick one of the clients you represent as an example to share with us what message and strategies you provide for them.

Home Show–develop annual “hot spot” topic relevant to current home owner desires and fantasies–then explain how consumer can get it.  Appeal to TV news shows to have them come to morning opening of show and feature on TV for the morning segment of TV coverage.  Other special events, dinners, award shows are basic routine explain, feature, promote and excite. Coordinate with newsprint for articles, news briefs.

What would you suggest for college students going into your field?

Learn how to write 5 Ws and H; learn the difference between a news press release and a feature press release.  Learn story forms llikke innterview, vignette, product pitch, “tell a story” approach. Learn to ask the critical questions, “what’s the big idea–why is it important? and in advertising writing, explain the benefit as you discuss the product or event.  Ask yourself the “What’s So” and ask if the response is a “So What.”  If the respondent says “So What,” you have lost them.  Learn to relate to your reader, always know your reader, define your reader–you must write TO and FOR them, not for yourself.  Relate to your reader–relate one person at a time and you will communicate better. Learn to be a patient listener, learn to be an inquisitive listener, learn to be quiet after you ask a question or probe them–ask open ended questions, not dead-end yes or no response questions–first job is to get information, so you must inquire, probe, think, ask how is that important?  Also, do your research on subject so you are knowledgeable and can ask “what’s next” questions.  What’s the impact, what are the consequences?  Show interest in your subjects.  Intern and work with the pros and get real life experience.

Is there anything else you would like to tell me that I did not ask?

Read, read newspapers, books, magazines.  find a leader/mentor/professional guide.  Not just on the internet, get real paper and real magazines. As a communications major, intern/learn something about broadcast–getting something onto the air, and then go the studio and get a studio experience. Learn about studio production for film/digital and audio. Be sure you find someone to admire and learn how they got where they got; study other people and get heroes and learn to be a hero and a become person someone else may want to mentor with.  History and psychology are good companion subjects to study along with communications.  Learn music. take a business course, learn economics.  Learn a foreign language.  Tools of the trade for communications majors–social science, language, business, literature–learn the world.

In order to be successful in social media, 5 basic steps are a must.

1.Create a blog: In an online society, it is said you won’t be remembered unless you have a blog. People want to know who you are and where you come from. A blog is not only a profile, but a collage of your ideas. It tells people where you have been and where you are headed. Blogs can be a website about a company or topic as well.  Most blogs have an about page that explains the purpose of the organization or blog. Blogs are more interactive than websites because you have 2 way communication. This allows readers to have a part in the message if they wish to.

2. Create a twitter account: Create a professional image and only tweet professional information related to what you blog about or the field you are interested in. Start searching for other professionals that share your interest and can offer you useful links and information.

3. Create a Facebook: Facebook is very useful for building a strong network for organizations and  individuals.

4. Promote your blog: After you create a network on Twitter and Facebook, you can send out a link to your blog and get more readers.

5. Network: After you create a blog, you belong to a online community of bloggers, you can network with them by leaving them comments and then linking your blog on their page. This will increase your strength in Google searches the more you are linked on other web pages.

Resources:

Why blogs are #1 in social media