PR reality check

When I began my Corporate Communications and Public Relations in the fall, my idea of PR was vastly different from what it is now. What a HUGE change!

Back in September, when I first applied for the program, my image of public relations was more of being a diplomat between companies. Being the messenger between the company to the media or between two companies. Even now, I can still consider public relations to be the same thing, but my view is different. I had no idea it entailed communication plans, or courses like project management – which I am no big fan of.

I guess what I didn’t consider was the amount of business there is in public relations. How can not be?! If you’re going to work for a company, you need to have some knowledge of how it works. I can’t be more grateful for my Business class. Despite the quizzes, it’s taught me what I always wanted to know…like, what collateral means. J

Yes, I am guilty of thinking that PR was full of parties and events. It is true, it does have its events, but managing a budget, creating a critical path, securing a venue, and making sure that every single detail is attended to – this was not what I pictured.

One thing for sure, the realization that Facebook and twitter would be used in my future job was a pleasant surprise. Coming to Media Relations class was the best. Getting to talk about the latest viral video on Youtube, the top bad PR stories. It was just like going home and talking to my parents about what we saw on the news. Just being well informed about what’s going on in the world felt great, I didn’t feel ignorant of the world around me.

Of course, how can I forget the biggest of them all? TEAM WORK. There’s a difference between group assignments in University to group assignments in CCPR. There aren’t as many. You can divide the work and compile it when it’s done without ever having to really sit down and work together. Lastly, there aren’t as many group assignments, period. In CCPR however, it’s a whole other ball game. There are so many group assignment overlapping; it’s hard to keep them straight at times. Meeting up is a must. Pulling your weight is another must. Most important, realizing, as one of my instructors indicated – not everyone will like you, and you won’t like everyone, but the important part is to get through that, learn to work together to get the job done. I couldn’t agree more. Putting aside your pride, taking others opinions into account, respecting each person’s opinions, and trying not to stomp on toes…it all comes into play.

Though many rough lessons have been learned, its refreshing to know that what I learned in this program will be directly applied to my future job. And yes, I had tons of fun. I believe I’ve made some life long friends, which was worth everything. I want to say I wish all the luck to my peers, and to all the future CCPR students at Centennial College. It’s a lot of work, but its worth it for sure!!!

More sheep than people

Once upon a time, I visited New Zealand for a week. Though it was winter in NZ, it was still quite beautiful. One of the most active places in the world, NZ has so many sites to see! I only got to see 10%, I am going back, that’s for sure.

Top of my list?

Rotorua Geysures Park

The sulfur makes the park smell like rotten eggs, but you get to see hot water spray out of the ground at an alarming speed. You can cross a cute bridge over a bubbling pond, soak in naturally warm pools, and peer into holes in the ground filled with boiling mud. The park is beautiful, filled with flowers, and worth your time. Rumour has it, due to a minor earthquake in Rotorua back in the 90’s, some people were left with steam coming out of the ground in their backyards. 

Taken from http://goo.gl/e7YZJ

Agrodome Sheep show

Yes that’s right, sheep show. Who knew that learning about sheep could be so fun. The sheep show takes place indoors, in a lecture hall format. The seats face what appears to be a sheep farm. The highlights? Getting to bottle-feed lambs!!! How utterly adorable they were!

Taken from http://goo.gl/e7YZJ

What I remember most…

Sheep are like squirrels over there – you can find them in a local park. Flowers are everywhere, even in the winter months. Last but not least, I had the freshest and tastiest mutton I've ever eaten! yummm.

Taken from http://goo.gl/z1TBx

I can’t wait to go back and see the glow-in-the-dark cave worms in Waitomo! Or go zip lining! so many things to do, so little time...

Social media and real estate

Being the daughter of a real estate agent, I found this new app to be really useful.

Though I have no children yet, I am the type of person who while walking through a charming neighbourhood, can picture my future kids playing there. Then I find myself wondering what is the price of the houses in that neighbourhood. To my dismay I am left to wonder because I never look it up later. Here’s where the Curbed app comes into play.

The Corcoran Group, located in NYC, created their “Get Out Nearby” campaign based GPS location built into smartphones. Corcoran teamed up with the Curbed Network to and created an iPhone app, so that when people go to a location, they can open the real estate app and find out what’s on sale in that particular location.

Unlike before, when you had to go through listings one by one using a program only real estate agents had access to, this is a great alternative to time consuming, labor intensive process house hunting used to be. People simply don’t have time to spare. 

 Taken from http://goo.gl/UZouE

Becoming famous through social media

With the recent Rebecca Black controversy, I take a look at some other youngsters that have made their way to fame through the use of social media.

As most of us know Rebecca Black has become a huge Youtube sensation due to her popular song and music video “Friday”. Her talent is under a great debate by millions. Most had already submitted their criticism only to realize later that Rebecca is only 13, despite her grown up appearance.  My mother’s words come to mind: “See what happens when you dress too big for your boots!”  

Despite the disapproval of many, Rebecca has become incredibly famous. Her song is incredibly catchy, and I find myself singing “Friday, Friday, Friday” and “party, party, party” while walking down the hallway at school.

Anyways, here are two youngsters that have gained success through the use of social media, and have gone on to bigger and better things.

Number 1 – kevjumba! I love kevjumba. The American comedian is famous for his Youtube blogs. As of 2011, he is YouTube's ninth most subscribed comedian and twelfth most subscribed user overall. At the age of 21, Kevin Wu has captured the attention of several celebrities such as Jessica Alba, and has gone on to become a contestant on The Amazing Race with his dad. Check him out!

Number 2 – Fourteen-year-old fashion blogger Tavi Gevinson. Due to her fashion blog “Style Rookie”, Tavi’s been in various front-row seats at Fashion Week runway shows. Conversing casually with famous Vogue editor, Anna Wintour, and socializing with top fashion designers. 

Lesson of the day? Remember when your parents said “wait till you get older” – well maybe these kids made the right decision by not waiting to get older before they pursued their dreams…and look at where they are now!

Post Love Everyone!

As my public relations program at Centennial College comes to a close, I look back on some of the things I've learned this year that I'm proud of. The biggest would probably be the social media campaign my group and I came up with for our social media and social networking project to affect change. Our baby is called "PostLove."

Our group entered in the "What's your Intent" competition held at school, and though we may not have won the competition (that included Mallika Chopra as one of the judges), we are still incredibly happy with the outcome. With the recent attacks on Rebecca Black, and headlines such as "Cyber bullies create then kill fake boyfriend in Facebook hoax," our group decided to make a campaign to targed cyber bullying. And so we did.

We created a twitter page. Our objective was to gain three followers on twitter every day, and much to our delight, we have been gaining three followers a day!

There really isn't a need to use the internet as way to maliciously attack another person/group, which can lead to emotional, physical and mental effects on the victim.

So join us on twitter @PostLove to combat cyber bullying and post love rather than hate! As we stated in our presentation "no matter where you are in the world, you can make a difference with a post!"

Fiji Islands...how I miss you so

A friend once told me that I should advertise for Fiji Islands. The people are so friendly, strangers say hi to you on the street. Coconut covered golf courses, white sandy beaches, hidden waterfalls…the list goes on. It's not my fault the place is amazing! 

After every time I travel, I tell myself I'm not going to travel again for another nine years. I hate planes with a passion. Whether it’s the smell of stale air, plane food, or washrooms, I greatly dislike the experience. However, every once in a while I get the travel bug...the need to visit somewhere new and exciting, that bug usually shows up mid-winter when its -20 degrees outside. Enough about this...let's talk about Fiji and how much I want to go back there!

When I was 14, I went on a trip to Fiji Islands, New Zealand and Melbourne (Australia). It took us five hours from Toronto to Los Angeles. Then another 13 hours from Los Angeles to Nadi, Fiji. We landed at night, and the airport in Nadi was no bigger than a large house. It was adorable. I had never seen so many stars before, or since. When you get out of the plane, there are no passageways to the airport from the plane itself, you just step out on to a porch…you could touch the jumbo plane you had just been on. 

 Nadi International Airport

I’ll give you two highlights on my trip. Number one was a resort I visited called The Fijian Resort, also referred to as Yanuca Resort. It’s located between Sigatoka and Nadi. The resort takes up a small island all on its own. To get to the hotel, you cross a small bridge by car. It’s absolutely beautiful. You walk down pathways to get to your room. Swimming pools are everywhere. You can go snorkeling, kayaking, lay on the white sandy beach, get a massage, eat at the restaurant – or just walk around like I did. It just oozes relaxation. 

Fijian Resort - Taken from http://goo.gl/zJD7q

The second highlight was visiting my great grandparents who lived on a tiny island called Taveuni. They owned a convenience store that was located right on the beach. The best part of Taveuni was visiting the hidden waterfalls in the rainforest called Tavoro falls, otherwise known as Bouma Falls. There are three falls in total. The water was crystal clear. It was like being in one of those perfect tropical pictures. 

Tavoro Falls #1 - Taken from http://goo.gl/b0ykG

The greatest part about Fiji is the feeling of an untouched tropical paradise. It had all the luxury with its numerous resorts, but without the commercial feeling. Like a hidden paradise only few know about. Fiji is located in the Pacific Ocean, not far from New Zealand. It takes a good sum of money to get there and back, particularly if you live in North America. If you have the ability to go, go! You won’t regret it.

Ewok tree houses?

My first blog ever! Do I like it? I’m not sure yet, but its definitely a challenge I accept. At this point you must be wondering…Tiny treks the World? What does this mean? Well ladies and gentlemen, “Tiny” refers to me (I am a vertically challenged young woman, as my friends would say). “Treks the World”, well this refers to...I have no idea, I thought it was catchy. I do know that I intend to blog about things in the world that I think are interesting. Such as, places I'd like to go, people, topics related to PR, and of courses things I stumble across I find humorous.

To start off, most of the places I’ve been to, I’ve been to visit family. No complaints of course, its best to do it that way, but the next time I travel…I don’t want to end up, yet again, wasting most of my trip visiting houses of relatives or family friends I have never met and shall probably never meet again out of sake of good etiquette. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather make use of every penny I spent to get there!

When I first thought of this blog, I recall a picture of a place I saw a few years ago that really got my interest. Its called Free Spirit Spheres. Located in Vancouver, Canada, Free Spirit Spheres are comfy tree houses that sleep up to four people. Created by Canadian carpenter Tom Chudleigh, these spheres are created with wood and fiberglass – they look like wooden globes hanging from trees. So cool. 

(images found here: http://goo.gl/DTTGL)

Whenever I look at them, it reminds me of tree houses made by the cute furry creatures (Ewoks i think is their name) in Return of the Jedi. It doesn’t hurt that it’s located in Vancouver…not far from the homeland, Toronto. Okay, it is a bit far, on the other side of our very wide country, but one day when I visit Vancouver, these Ewok-style tree houses are on my to do list!

For more info, here is their website http://www.freespiritspheres.com/

Unfortunately, children under 16 are not allowed…due to liability considerations. An overnight stay is about $135 + 12% tax. Not too different from your average hotel stay.

Well that concludes my first blog post! Hope you enjoyed it…if not, at least I hope you learned something new!