Just a quick update post to reintroduce myself to my blog. While interning from August to December 2008, the White House had a strict “no blogging” policy.  I did not want to disobey my country and thus have had a long break from my blog.

I am currently living in Huntsville, Al where I work for AkinsCrisp Public Strategies. I am an Assistant Account Executive and work on many different projects for our diverse clients in Huntsville, Oak Ridge, Tenn., Nashville, Tenn. and also in Washington, D.C.

I moved to Huntsville this past January after I completed an internship at the White House. I interned in the Office of Strategic Initiatives from August 2008 – December 2008.  I loved living in Washington, D.C. and exploring the city. It was an inspiring place to live. Equally as inspiring was entering the Eisenhower Executive Office Building every morning of my internship. Many do not realize, but the EEOB is located directly next door to the White House and a sidewalk connects the historic building to the West Wing.   My role in the office was to research, follow and analyze several political blogs and create a daily blog report about my findings. It was incredible to take what I had learned about social media at Auburn University and use that at my internship at the White House.

Through my past work experience at Auburn University, in Washington, D.C. and now in Huntsville, I know that I want to continue to expand my career in communications. It has become clear that I have a love for research, communications and writing.

I hope that you will follow my blog as I continue to write about my experiences and career in the field of communications.  It will be interesting, as I have no idea what each post will bring and what will come with the click of a mouse.

Due to strict regulations at my current internship at The White House, I will not be blogging from August to December.

It is intriguing to think that your resume can make or break your chances of landing the perfect job. On one page lists all of your work and experience from the past four years of college and much more. Building the perfect resume has consumed my life since high school and now that I am one month away from my college graduation, it has become an obsession.

In my Style and Design class at Auburn University, my final project is to create a digital resume. Thus I am learning how to write html and build my own personal Web site. On my Web site, I will list my resume and provide work samples. My digital resume will serve as a means for me to show off my personality through my Web site. And hopefully catch the eye of a future employer.

 Rohit Bhargava, Senior Vice President, Digital Strategy & Marketing for Ogilvy and founder of their 360 Digital Influence team, spoke to my class this past week about showcasing one’s personality within a resume. He advised to focus on what you’re passionate about and make them apparent in your resume. He mentioned that one of his colleagues loves ketchup and in result has created a blog devoted to ketchup. Now condiments might not be my thing, but I think that it is wonderful to embrace your own personal passions. In my digital resume, I hope to display my love for service and my goal of one day working for a non-profit organization.

In my position working for Auburn University’s Office of Communications and Marketing, I have gained great experience working with social media. Currently I have been doing video logging for a series of interviews conducted while the office was abroad in Africa. Auburn University’s fisheries department is globally recognized and has extended projects in Uganda, and this partnership makes a great human-interest story.  Many team members from the office had the opportunity to make the once in a lifetime trip to Uganda and conduct interviews and photograph the fish farms.

Upon their return, I have had the daunting task of transcribe the video interviews. (let’s be honest, typing out every word from an interview is not an intern’s dream come true, but someone needs to do it) Even though, my ear has become pretty good and I have learned to decisive the most unusual accents.

And the interviews are extremely interesting! Auburn University has contributed vastly to the fish farm industry in Africa and I cannot begin to imagine what life would be like living on a fish farm in the middle of Uganda. Wow, this is wonderful public relations for Auburn University.

Once the video logging is complete, the interviews will be editted and combined to create a short promotionl video. The video will be posted on the Auburn University homepage and also uploaded toYouTube.  Video is an effective means of showing Auburn University’s publics and the community what the university is doing in the global scene. I can imagine that many will be amazed that Auburn University has partnered with Uganda’s Department of Fisheries to help improve the quality of life. And social media has made this possible.

As I continue to follow the current presidential candidates, I have decided to research each candidate’s stance (or lack of) towards blogs and bloggers.  Blogging is an important aspect of my life and shapes the way I communicate, so I believe it is vital to know what the future president thinks about this emerging topic. After a simple google search, I discovered several Web sites and news articles discussing my topic of interest.

In an article published today in The Washington Times, journalist Stephen Dinan discusses John McCain’s outreach efforts to bloggers. McCain, who has had little success with talk radio, has experienced luck with conservative bloggers.  

“McCain has treated bloggers similar to other reporters, including repeatedly inviting them to travel on the campaign bus with the press,” said Matt Lewis, who blogs at TownHall.com.  McCain also invited bloggers to biweekly conference calls, where they had the opportunity to discuss policy with the presidential candidate.  It is actions like this that have set McCain apart from Obama and Clinton.

Obama was recently asked while traveling on his campaign plan whether or not he read blogs. Obama answered that he doesn’t read blogs. Not a smart answer. Obama is missing many potential voters by not attending to the growing blogosphere.  Clinton on the other hand has made more of an effort to reach out to the blogging community.

Clinton has also invited bloggers onto regular press briefing calls with traditional reporters.   And her blogger, Peter Daou, pitches ideas to bloggers in the same way press secretaries pitch stories to reporters.

Bloggers play an important role in shaping opinion and I believe the presidential candidates must address these opinion leaders.  Blogs are not going to go away and refusing to acknowledge or take full advantage of this emerging means of communications is asking for trouble from voters.

This past week, I gained some of the best career experience from one of the worst life experiences.   

I currently work in Auburn University’s Office of Communications and Marketing as the student editor of the weekly online student digest, This Week @AU. My position includes deciding what articles should run and then editing those articles for the digest.  This Week @AU has included articles about upcoming student events, campus activities and administrative announcements. The tone has been generally positive and informative. I think I can remember only one time we had to run a letter from Dean Johnny Green this past fall addressing poor student conduct  after the Tigers lost a football game.  No other time did This Week @AU deliver negative news. 

On Tuesday, March 4 around 9 p.m., Auburn University freshman Lauren Burk was found murdered off campus.  Then 20 minutes later her car was found burning on campus. The next morning when I entered Auburn’s Office of Communications and Marketing, I could not have imagined what I was about to experience. Students, parents, the local police department, national news reporters and local news reporters were just a few of the publics calling the office, trying to get information. 

I sat down at my desk and observed coworkers give statements and respond to the crisis. Never had I observed a crisis management plan in action.The Office of Communications and Marketing  responded to the crisis by emailing the student body via This Week @AU and by also making constant updates to the Auburn University home page with current news releases.  

I spent the day observing my coworkers and analyzing the actions that were made. Because of what I observed in the office that day, I believe I have become more prepared to deal  with a crisis.  Auburn University acted quickly and informed its publics of the crisis via email and the AU home page.  The internet has become the fastest means of communication, and in a crisis situation, speed is of the essence.   

As I continue on my journey in learning more about social media, one fact has remained a constant along the way. I have learned that communication is the core value of social media. If valued communication is not present within your Web site, blog or social networking site, than it has failed to bring value into the client’s life.

This ultimatum was emphasized when I attended the Edelman Digital Bootcamp this past weekend. At the day long conference, I learned how to incorporate social media into a public relations campaign. And then somehow over the course of the nine hour bootcamp, I began to view social media in a new light.

I began to truly understand that at the core of any online technology used, valued communication must exist. For too long, I became mesmerized, or as Phil Gomes stated, “seduced” by social media. In my eyes, Web sites, blogs and so many other online devices became alluring distractions. Social media became my guilty pleasure. After wasting hours on twitter, reading gossip blogs or facebook, I would question, how have I benefited? Did I experience valued communication?

So I began to ponder how I could increase valued communication in my own life. I needed to reevaluate how I currently used social media, so I could better understand how I could assist a client’s needs in using social media. And then I committed social suicide in a college setting. I deactivated my facebook account. This social networking site, that at one time had increased valued communication in my life, was now an unneeded distraction. That is not to say that others (more like millions) may find value in this form of communication, but currently I do not. I have become seduced by the advertisements, games, gossip, groups and pictures and need to detoxify. I need to experience valued communication. But social media is not to blame for the lack of valued communication in my online life. I am the one to blame. Social media is powerful, and “with great power comes great responsibility.”

This past week, I was one of the many unfortunate individuals to catch the flu. Despite my efforts to consistently wash my hands and wear multiple layers of clothing while outside, I still became a victim to influenza.  So as I began my battle against the virus, I wondered what I would do with my free time while bedridden. 

This was a little bit of a problem because I do not have a television in my bedroom. When I lived at home with my parents, I was not allowed to have one in my bedroom, and the rule somehow followed me into my college life.  Many may wonder how I manage during that restless period between entering bed and falling asleep, but somehow I manage without a TV.

Do not feel sorry for me yet because I have been fortunate to own a MacBook Pro since entering college four years ago.  Thus my no TV dilemma was solved, so I thought.  I selected my favorite dvd, gently pushed it into my computer and waited for the dvd icon to appear on my desktop. No such luck. My computer made a noise, as if desperately trying to read the dvd, then out of desperation, spit out my dvd.

Onto the Web I went, searching for an answer to my computer’s ailment. After one google search, I found many Apple and Mac user forums explaining that my problem is not unusual for older Mac computers. It seems that my hard drive was wearing out. Now not only was I concerned with the state of my health but also the state of my computer’s dying hard drive.

There is a happy ending to my dilemma. I discovered that I could now rent a movie through iTunes and download it into my iTunes account. Though my computer’s hard drive might have caught the flu as well, I was able to rest easy and rent “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” on iTunes for $2.99. As I rested in bed and enjoyed a great classic, I was once again reminded that even during sickness, social media continues to prevail and offer endless opportunities to seek and find answers. 

This past week I became apart of the social networking and micro-blogging service, Twitter and a new world was presented to me.  I thought I had seen it all with AIM, iChat and Facebook, but I was wrong and outdated.

Twitter allows its users to be in constant conversation with other Twitter users and also have the ability to follow what others users are talking about as well. Unlike Facebook, there are no interrupting advertisements or unnecessary applications; Twitter is all about the conversation.

I personally have enjoyed using Twitter to follow the conversations of individuals in the public relations industry.  I may not understand all of the content in their Twitter conversations, but I am learning a lot. I am learning to be observant and only “tweet in” on conversations when I can contribute to the conversation and not take away from it.  I want my Twitter reputation to be professional; I can use my Facebook account for social plannings and college fun.

In a recent class talk with Jim Long (via Skype), he described social media as the great equalizer. Twitter has the ability to create conversations between CEOs and college students, allowing all to contribute their thoughts and ideas. With Twitter, conversations that might have only been possibly through professional connections are happening daily.  Even though I might not be ready to jump into a professional Twitter conversation, I have greatly benefited by the exposure to great conversation.
 

In today’s society, it is vital to be prepared for unknown emergency situations. In an instant, weather can change and acts of terror can occur.  As a child, I was taught to listen for sirens and never talk to strangers to ensure my safety.  Unfortunately, the mind of a seven-year-old cannot foresee the dangers of an ever-changing world. 

On Feb. 5, a tornado wrecked through Jackson, Tenn. and caused severe damage to Union University.  In response, Union University acted quickly to inform students, faculty and the surrounding community of rescue efforts.  Union University launched the blog UURecovery.com, an official site for recovery information on Union University.

On the blog, daily posts are made to inform students about volunteer opportunities, on-campus housing repairs, health service hours, rescheduling classes and much more.  The site is updated around the clock and extremely useful in getting breaking news to students.

Auburn University has also implemented a fast means to inform students about emergency situations through the AU Alert service.  Students can sign up for AU Alert to receive a phone call, text message or e-mail alert when an emergency situation occurs on-campus.  

Social media is truly changing how we prepare for emergency situations. I find comfort in the fact that my university will call me if an emergency arises and that I can stop listening for sirens, just my cell phone ring.