Integrated Communication in the Digital Age

Integrated Communications uses several methods of communication to transmit a consistent and affective message. In the digital age of media, Integrated Communications now has a new wave of media to discover and use accordingly. Clients are now faced with the challenge of fitting and molding their messages into the 24/7 spectrum of digital media.

The evolution of wireless internet is a key compound to consider in the digital age of Integrated Communications. What started out as small internet ‘hotspots’ has expanded across cities as ‘wireless internet clouds’ in epic proportion. The revolution of wireless internet has made it possible to access information anywhere on laptops, cell phones, iPods and other portable media devices. People now can access the world by the swipe of a finger in the palm of their hands. To create an effective Integrated Communications campaign in the digital age, agencies should discover and create innovative ways to harness and use this medium of information.

As a result of the 24/7 availability of information, people are now the ‘gatekeepers’ to their own information. With this in mind, it is also important to consider who people are trusting as their source of information. The average person most likely does not choose to receive his/her information from one source. Instead, they might watch it on television, read an article online and then read opinions on the topic through various blogs they follow. To have an affective Integrated Communications campaign, a client should attempt to cover a ‘solid’ amount of digital informational media. Traditional media will only cover a portion the media spectrum that is being used in today’s society. In the digital age, the public is now becoming part of the media because of their ability to contribute to the informational world. People like to know that their opinions can be heard and could possible influence others.

In order to stand out among the clutter of the digital world, clients need to stay one step ahead of the information cycle. They need to have an online presence and reputation in the digital world in order to survive. Reputations can fall in a matter of seconds in the digital age, but this can be prevented or repaired by building supporters and a strong respectful presence in the digital world.

The digital age is a 24/7 world, where seconds matter and old news is counted in minutes. The rate of information is now traveling faster then ever and people become impatient and will turn to other sources when they are forced to wait. The good news for Integrated Communications is that now there is a whole other ballpark to play in. The key to implementing a successful Integrated Communications campaign in the digital age will call for creativity, a fast informational turn-around, and the ability to reach the masses without overpowering the message. With these key skills in mind clients can succeed in conquering and harnesses the masses in the digital age.

PR and The Real World

Sometimes I feel like I am ready to conquer the 'real world' and then there is that moment that knocks me down and makes me realize that I have much to learn before I can spread my wings.  As a college I live in the 'college bubble' which sits happily outside of the 'real world', but like any bubble once its popped there is no going back.  

Last Friday I was able to get a glimpse of the 'real world' by attending PR Real World in Atlanta.  While I was there I was able to network with other public relations students and gain valuable insight from professionals in the industry.  After attending a similar conference in New York, I learned not to look at the title of a conference session, but to look at who is speaking.  One of the most interesting sessions I attended was on 'How to Seal the Deal', which was put on by the HR directors of two amazing public relations agencies, Ketchum and Porter Novelli.  Both directors gave great insight into what to do and what they look for in cover letters, resumes and interviews.  It was one of those surreal moments when you realize that the person on the other side of the email that could change your life forever, is human.  Both ladies where extremely down to earth and helped to uncover several myths and fears that fellow students and I had about the application process.

The majority of the speakers at PR Real World, did not know what they wanted to do after graduation and were not ready to jump into the real world either.  This made me feel ten times better about my approaching graduation date.  I also realized that the real world of public relations a) no two days are every alike and b) is extremely competitive.  A few speakers I found hard to talk to because they were light years ahead of me in terms of experience and appeared almost intimidating.  

Overall though I thought the experience was beneficial in terms of finding out how to take the next step and what I need to do to improve and make myself marketable to this competitive and fast-paced industry.  

*I also learned that Nine West makes more then one brown, light plaid, suit :)

The Heart of the Matter!

Heart disease is the number one killer of women in America.  The month of February is American Heart Month and all month long organizations attempt spread the word about how to prevent this horrible disease.   

This semester I am doing an internship at Putnam General Hospital and last Friday I was able to assist with the women's Go Red Campaign for the Ladies of the Landing at Reynolds Plantation.  For the event we gave out promotional items with the hospital's logo on them.  One of the items was a prescription bottle that we filled with M&M's and I created a label that mimicked a prescription from 'Dr Sweet Heart.'  The labels also included a heart fact.  I also assisted the with the table decorations and door prizes.  

Dr. Lipman was the speaker at the event.  His lecture was very informative on how to prevent heart disease and stroke by changing certain aspects of your lifestyle.  Not only was I able to help put this event together, but it also was an educational opportunity in terms of learning how to eat and live a healthier lifestyle, which is something that is hard to do in a 'college lifestyle.'  

I was glad to be a part of this event because heart disease runs in my family.  My grandfather passed away from a heart attack at the age of 34 in the parking lot of the grocery store.  It is important for people to know how to change their lifestyle in terms of food and exercise to help prevent these situations from happening.  For more information on heart disease and how you can take steps to prevent it go to americanheart.org

You are what you tweet!!

Social media is the new horizon of news, and networking. It is fastly becoming the 'it' way to find out what is happening in the world. Part of me enjoys the fact that I can follow people and find out what the population thinks and says about current topics, but about 20% is still scared to commit 'too much' of myself to the social media world.

This week our assignment for PR Campaigns was the 'Twitter Challenge' where we had to tweet a total of 35 times in a week and find 25 new PR professionals or businesses to follow. After doing this challenge I can easily see why people are addicted to tweeting. Twitter is the one place where people can go and interact with others without the time delay of email or the clutterness of facebook and myspace. For those that are on the go it provides the perfect balance of news highlights and updates on friends. You could say that it is like Facebook- Lite.

Twitter is what you make of it. I think people are attracked to it because they can control what the see and hear by who they follow. It is completely personal and I would venture to say that no two twitter feeds are alike.

My twitter feed consists of classmates, pr professionals, pr agencies and organizations, news networks, sports teams and a couple of celebs.  Over the course of this challenge I have come to realize the value of of follow pr professionals and agencies.  The majority of them tweet interesting and valuable tips or articles about my field of study.  I have found that they also post job openings and internships!  

Before this challenge I would tweet whenever I remembered to or whenever the thought crossed my mind and then I would spend a hour or two seeing what I had missed since I last updated. Now that am following more people in the public relation field I am starting to understand the value of twitter in terms of networking.

Twitter is a valuable resource that has now become a part of my daily 'email check' time. I think that this challenge would have been eaiser for me if I had internet access on my phone. My days are so busy that I rarely get a chance to sit at a computer during the course of day. For my next phone I think I will consider paying the extra money to have access to the internet and to be connected with the world all the time and not just when I have a chance.

 Follow me @mariannamiller on twitter!! 

PR in action!!!

This semester I was on a team with Lyric and Andreato do PR for The Colonnade, our student newspaper at Georgia College. Lyric talks about the fundraising of for The Colonnade and Andrea discussed the behind the scenes work that goes on from creating the invitations to making the center pieces. This video is about the finish product and the work that goes on at the event. Our theme for the event was Black, White and READ all over. We were given a budget of $30 for the decoration, gifts, and dessert. We used our creativity and made the center pieces out of newspaper, with paper flowers and boats. To incorporate the black, white and red theme we asked all the guests to wear those colors to the events. For a fun activity at a low cost we decided to have a cake walk using headlines from the newspaper instead of numbers on the floor. As a team we made the cakes and decorated them with things that were relevant to The Colonnade. We had a great turn out of 50 people give or take. The event turned out to be a success and I am glad that I was able to work with these amazing girls to pull of this and everything else we did this semester!

Creating a Memory in PR

Last Tuesday my PR Admin. class created a beautiful and memorable night for the Relay For Life Kick-off.  The theme for the event was 'Celebrate A Memory' which was based off of the American Cancer Society's theme for the year, 'Celebrating another Birthday.'   The planning for the event was a long process that required attention to detail, meaning and creativity. 

We planned this event with no budget for a 100 plus people.  To create some money to work with each member of the class decided to donate 5 dollars.  We were also able to get a 100 grant from The GIVE Center.  Thanks to Brooke and her connections we were able to get 90% of the food donated to the event.  The only portion of the food that was not donated were the cupcakes.  We had planned on getting those donated by another class, but that fell through when the day of the event we only received 24 of the 100 needed cupcakes for the event.  We ended up having to purchase the cupcakes last minute which ended up working out just as well.  The 'cupcake crisis' was a learning experience on how communication between parties should be constant especially when donations and volunteer efforts are being made.  The best way to learn how to handle a crisis is by experience.  

Besides the food, the decorations were impeccable and brought the event to life.  A big thanks goes to the decoration committee for painting boxes and banners, and tying a million ribbons!  We decided to go with a purple, black, and white theme to honor the the colors of Relay For Life and to make a classy event.  The venue looked amazing fully decorated especially with the staff (our class) dressed in purple, black and white.  

The best part of the event (in my opinion) was the slide show.  A special thanks goes to Keri and Andrea for putting together a very moving and touching slide show!  To expand the slideshow concept to the decor we decided to put poster-sized pictures of the cancer survivors on the wall.  Thanks to a donation of time and resources from my dad we were able to give the survivors these pictures so they can remember and celebrate a memory.

Through all of these donations of time, resources and money we were able to pull together this wonderful evening for cancer survivors and those involved with Relay For Life.  This event was rewarding and I hope that I will get to work on another event that is just as rewarding in the future.  

A Fighter for Now a Survivor in the Future

In this world there are fighters and destroyers.  There are the people that lift you up and those that bring you down.  There are survivors and those who all too easily admit defeat.  From the first time I met April I knew that she was not later of those groups, she is the fighter, the lifter and most important of all the survivor. 

            “Right now I am a cancer fighter and in the future I will be a survivor,” said April McMillan.  Last January, April found what all women hope to never find, a lump on her breast.  When she first discovered it a million thoughts went through her mind of what it could be.  Of course cancer was on the list, but at the time she convinced herself that it was a cystic fibrosis that is caused from drinking too much caffeine.  “At that time in my life I was drinking three cups of coffee a day” said April “when you are a music major you tend to drink a lot of coffee.”

            Finally in July, two weeks after two of her grandparents passed away (only 38 days apart from each other) she broke down and went to the doctor.  “After my grandparents died I realized that I probably needed to get myself checked out to make sure everything was okay,” said April.  The lump had grown significantly since her discovery in January and the week before the doctor’s appointment it was causing her great pain.

            After the doctor took one look at the lump, she immediately referred her to a surgeon.  The surgeon did a series of tests, commentating that he did not like the look of it.  “I think he has seen this so many times that he knew what it was right there, but still he told me to wait for the results to be positive,” said April.  After waiting two long days April received her test results back from the doctor, only to find out that it was what she had been fearing all along.  “In the back of my mind I knew what is was, but being in that reality and hearing the doctor say it was shocking and scary,” said April.

            April was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer.  Since her diagnosis April has undergone chemo treatment and radiation that so far has worked successful in shrinking the tumor.   “The cancer had spread to little parts all over body,” said April,“I only wish that I had gone to the doctor when I first felt the lump then this could have been caught earlier.”

            Since the discovery of her cancer, April has made it a point to do everything in her power to influence women, especially young women the importance of getting a monthly exam.  “I do not want anyone else to go through this,” said April, “I want people to learn from my mistakes.”

            April is not the only person who has fought cancer in her family.  Her grandmother, Jeneane Vinson also had breast cancer and has attended Relay For Life every year since.  April’s great-grandmother also had ovarian cancer.  Allow there is a history of cancer in her family, April’s cancer is not hereditary. 

            April is a senior Music Ed major at Georgia College, she plans to graduate in May and continue her education by going for her masters at GCSU in music education.  Her goal for the future is to teach music to middle school students. Having grown-up in Milledgeville she attend Georgia Military College in seventh grade where she first learned how to play the flute.  “I have always enjoyed music every since I was little,” said April.  Besides having played her flute for a decade, she also can play and variety of other instruments and sing.  She is currently blogging about her experiences on http://aprilee2010.blogspot.com.   

            “Cancer is one of those things that you never know what is going to happen or how you are going to come out of it,” said April, “Sometimes I think God puts you in certain situations in life so that you can have the chance to influence others.”