UWW PR Alumni

This week I was given a list of Youtube videos of interviews with PR professionals of all different sorts.  These pros were UWW graduates. I have to say they were pretty interesting to watch!  My favorite was the interview with Rick Daniels, the Greek Leadership Advisor on campus. You can watch the video here!

I love that video because it's easy for us as students to connect what he does to our lives.  I'm not greek myself, but I know people who are, and who were able to say "Oh Rick, I love that guy!"  I mean, he's also really informative and has great advice. 

"Keep your backgrounder! Keep all of your press releases, media alerts, media assignments, things like that. You want to be able to pull on those materials when you get into the PR field." - Rick Daniels

Thanks, Rick.  I'm not going to lie, I probably would have deleted all my stuff after college, but I definitely see where having your old proofread examples is great to have around.

Another video I thought was pretty cool was Lynette Hulgan's.  She's very excited the entire time, which definitely makes this type of video more interesting to watch.  I did get a little distracted by the background music... but oh well.  The coolest part of the interview was Ms. Hulgan's story of working through the ranks.  She traced her background for the audience, and told us how she got to where she was today.  She also was able to link her past experiences to how she does her job (in the business she owns) nowadays.  Inspiring!

The last video I would like to mention today is Jennifer Dooley.  She also owns her own business, and spoke a lot about what it took to get this far.  The best gem of information from the interview was definitely her advice on networking and its importance.  She says:

"It truly is in PR a who you know world. And the fact that the more people you know whether it's in the media or government or through orgs and professionals in the community, it definitely helps you get your job done in an efficient and better manner, and really be great at your job."

All invaluable advice in these videos, I would suggest to check out these three if you already haven't!

As always, feel free to leave a comment or contact me at Johnscw25@uww.edu with any questions.  Have a great night and see you next week.

-Casey

AP Style: A PR Practitioner's Friend

The AP Stylebook is one of the most important tools in a PR professional's toolbox.  While social media is obviously a great way to get a message out, journalists won't always print your tweets. 

One thing I've noticed everyone saying about AP style is that it significantly improves your chances of getting your information printed.  It's easier to copy verbatim, or it's more articulate and easier to re-write for those journalists who won't just copy word-for-word.  If a news release is printed in very casual writing, a journalist might not even take you seriously.  AP style is the industry standard, and thus releases written in AP style are the most professional way.  Now, not only will the reporter actually look at the information, but they are more inclined to use it in their writing.

An article I think describes the importance of AP Style best is "The AP Style Stickler" by Sandra Young.

So grab yourself an AP Stylebook online or your local bookstore (they're pretty cheap).  Otherwise, check out the iPod app.  Unfortunately Android market doesn't have one yet.

Want to learn more about AP style in general?  Visit this short post about the basics.

The PR Student

Hello all, and welcome to my little blog!

My name is Casey Johns, and I'm a third year Public Relations student at the University of Wisconsin - Whitewater.

I guess it would be nice for my audience to know more about me.  Well, lets get a couple fun facts out there:

-I'm a nerd.

              Computers, electronics, programming, etc.  It's all fun, and               I know at least a little about all of 'em.

-I'm a Packer fan(everyone caught the season opener against the               saints right? Cobb's the man!)

-Video Games

              Who doesn't enjoy some Call of Duty in their free time?

-Music

              I love music.  I'll listen to a wide range from Tool and                        Disturbed to Jack Johnson, and everything in between.

-Outdoors

              Big fan of paintballing (woodsball, none of that sissy                         speedball stuff), fishing, and snowmobiling.

And that sums it up for my general hobbies.  More often than not, I can be found in my apartment listening to music and playing some games with my roommate.  So if that's your thing, we can be good friends.

Currently, I'm enrolled in the PR Tactics I class, which is tied for the most interesting class I've taken here.  It's nice, because Professor Knabe is forcing us to get out there and learn ALL the social media outlets, which is not only extremely useful but also fun.  This is exactly why I'm here.  In the future, I hope to do a little of what our professor does.  How COOL would it be to work for the government? Handling some of their press releases, being the information outlet, that sounds like the life to me!  It may not sound like everyone's cup of tea, but that is definitely a future I could live with.

And that's me.  Feel free to drop me a comment below or email at Johnscw25@uww.edu!

-Casey