Working Towards A Mission

By Elizabeth Lemuz

Lately I have been thinking a lot about public relations. It might be because all of my classes this semester are public relations based or because I’m getting closer to graduation. It’s crazy to think how my mindset can go from thinking about my class work to thinking about what assignments I need to complete for the nonprofit that I get to work with.

Last semester, I had the opportunity to work with the nonprofit City House. City House is an organization that helps children and teens that have no resources because of different circumstances and can’t stand on their own. City House is based in Plano, Texas and helps children in this area, and now also kids from Frisco, Texas. 

    It’s encouraging to see an organization that is located in a suburban area that has a great mission set to achieve. In order to work towards their mission goal, there has to be awareness of what is occurring in our neighborhoods. City House is on board, like many other companies, when it comes to social media. City House has a Facebook page, a Twitter page as well as the City House home website page. Much of PR today is based on great social media presence. Times are changing and moving quickly to the new ideas that are helping achieve great PR.

The social media websites for City House are updated frequently and have content like its online newsletter, where news companies are talking about City House, fundraising events, and donations that are made to the organization. It’s a great way to show off what people are doing in the organization behind-the-scenes, but also to show how the community is coming together to provide support!

City House’s motto is “Protecting youth. Empowering change. Transforming lives.”, and social media websites are helping nonprofit organizations like this one reach out to a much larger community. These tools are helping the PR field, from what I have learned, to grow and expand. What I get to see now as a student learning about the PR field just excites me for what it will be like when I am actually out there doing the behind-the-scenes work.

Citations:

City House. Casa Herbalife Beneficiary. Sullivan Perkins. 2014. Web. http://www.cityhouse.org/about_us.shtml

Image City House logo. Casa Herbalife Beneficiary. Sullivan Perkins. 2014. Web. http://www.cityhouse.org/about_us.shtml

Public Relations is Growing

by Elizabeth Lemuz

Public Relations today is growing to become a popular career. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the “public relations specialists employment will grow 12 percent between 2012 and 2022”. With social media also increasing to become the new way for everything basically, it makes the PR field much more easier. It is easier to find information about a company or specific character with just a few clicks on the Internet. Much of what needs to be done to be a great PR professional has to do with having the new great ideas to reach the public.

There is an article in PR Daily that is gives 5 steps for great ideas in the PR field. The five steps include spotting trends, borrowing other brains (not literally), using a calendar, doing something out of the ordinary, and considering a stunt. All of these cover the PR field and everything else that might be a part of it.

Creativity is needed in this field because every day there is a new innovation out there and there needs to be someone who can show the public what the next best thing is. WIth how diverse this country is, there tends to be more exciting ideas today. I had never really thought about how important holidays are to planning events for clients. It goes hand in hand with being creative. If a client needs to release a new product within the next few weeks and Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, there is so much that can be assembled to have a successful launching. 

Then there is the idea of doing something out of the ordinary. No one really expects what they don’t know is coming. It’s great to hit the public with a surprise every once in a while, but with this, we should also be careful that we do our research to prevent mistakes. If an idea is launched to be seen as negative but it is planned in order to get more attention, that can also work as a stunt. It’s risky, but if the person behind the idea can stand by it and turn it back around the benefit them instead of hurting them, then they’ve won.

This is why PR is such a fun field to work in. There is always something new that can make PR continue to grow.

Citations:

“5 Ways to come up with great PR ideas.” PR Daily. Ragan Communications, 2015. Web. http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/17963.aspx

“Image Idea.” The Hacker News. Disqus, n.d. Web. http://thehackernews.com/2012/07/hack-server-man-behind-idea.html

“Public Relations Specialist.” U.S. News Money. U.S. News & World Report, 2015. Web. http://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/public-relations-specialist