Black Tie Lounge

I had lunch with a consultant that I look up to and we got into a conversation about marketing and creating a brand. He mentioned that I should take a look at a PBS special entitled The Persuaders. I just viewed 3 of the videos and the biggest thing that this is confirming to me is that there is a lot of bull behind marketing. What I'm saying is that the emotional focus of marketing is not always successful for the majority of products. A lot of the concepts in advertising maybe entertaining and may even be noteworthy but they do not sell the product. Let's remember, these concepts are successful for certain brands and not so for others. Everyone has a concept and a gimmic but how often do they work? Advertising and PR agencies are run by 6 holding companies. Long story short much of advertising is b.s. I say that with conviction with only 3 months of real advertising experience. The real issue is do marketers really sift through the information to find out what it really says ...

A paper that I contributed to was accepted to be presented at the National Communication Association's annual conference with the prospect of being published. The topic was on the Black Church as a model for public relations practice. Here's the catch, I built the foundation for the paper but decided to hand over the topic to be modified by my former advisor. He was really excited about the paper I wrote while in graduate school and suggested that I take the topic further and submit it for publishing. I was gung ho about it at first but within months after graduating I realized that I had zero desire to even put the energy into continuing the paper to fit the feedback from the review committee. I went ahead and let my former advisor take the reigns and do to it what he wants. I have since focused on other writing projects. As much as I am committed to being a life long learner, knowing myself and how much I do not miss graduate school, I thought it would be best to invest time...

I have about 60 million thoughts in my head but here is one. While on duty at the youth center waiting for the kids to show up to our Saturday session I caught an interview on C-Span's Washington Journal with Michelle Alexander ,former ACLU Director of Racial Justice. I never turn to C-Span and I'm not even sure why I tuned in, but she was showcasing her new book The New Jim Crow , which she argues that mass incarceration in the form of the War on Drugs has replaced Jim Crow just as Jim Crow replaced slavery in the past. The War on Drugs has disproporationately targeted young black males in the inner city, labeled them as felons and subsequently denied them the right to vote, access to education, employment, housing, and public benefits. The issue here is that ridiculous mass proportions of black males, which constitute much of the prision populations, are incarcerated have hardly any record of violence but are instead labeled a felon because of marijuanna possession. She draws...

I'm having flash backs of when I was submitting essays for internship applications. I got word form DCPS that I made it to the next round for the job opportunity I applied for. Now I'm crafting an essay on why I want to work for them. Sound familiar? As much as I was striving to get back to the city, ever since my last rejection note from a PR agency I really wanted to work for, my heart toward the DC area has changed. This is in part due to the fact that I found a job that matches my personal and professional interests and that I have the ability to get paid twice as much as I would at any agency. An agency is not the only way to go, so now I'm not going to be so narrow minded. So the question is why do I want to work for DCPS... It's several hours later and I finished my writing test about a half hour before they wanted it. I feel good. I'll let you know how things go. We'll see.

I found this on one of my buddy's AIM profile. Check out Clients from Hell .

I've been playing Donny Hathaway's Someday We'll All Be Free throughout the evening. I'm in that sorta mood where I'm reminding myself how bomb I really am. I'm reminding myself how my dreams are right around the corner and how I haven't knocked the hustle out completely. I have a few new developments on the job front. I have an interview at Weber Shandwick in NYC. I got a call from an ad agency I interviewed with previously and they have an opening on one of their account teams. The product deals with women's sexual health. Yes there was a serious smirk on my face. I also found a job with DC Public Schools which is completely up my alley. We'll see what comes of what. I figured that I am entitled to see how each interview goes. Here's something to chew on if you need motivation .

So in the midst of defending framing as an ethical way to practice public relations, I'm still attempting to answer the same question. I'm in the middle of studying for comprehensive exams which will be the roughest test I've taken so far. Can you believe I'm using my spring break to do this. Right now I'm in the "do what I gotta do" mode so it will get done. Last Thursday I went to the Mosaic Career Fair hosted by the American Advertising Federation and USA Today. If I haven't shared this let me give an update. Last December I did a job shadow at Arnold Worldwide. As you should know, I worked with The Bahamas last summer, which is one of Arnold's clients. I was not interested in advertising and honestly I can't think of my motivations for asking to do a job shadow. I believe it was along the lines of career exploration and I know that they do some integrated PR in their campaigns. Oh, well. I did the job shadow, met some really cool people, an...

CSR

The course that I thought was so riveting is now becoming less of such. This is probably because the questions I ask people just give blank stares as if I'm speaking Chinese, African what have you. I think it is more of a self-confidence thing. I have a high need for feedback and when people don't say anything I start thinking something is wrong with me. Silence makes me nervous for some reason. If that last sentence was a lead to an article I would have gotten absolutely no coverage. So glad I can have a forum where my writing is not being judged. My question today is does PR add value to society? Should it seek to help make society fully functional? We can see now that the consequences of a corporate culture of greed and self interest is finally bearing bitter fruit for so many industries. So now the public is demanding that CSR be the very core of business. But beyond that should PR seek an orientation to make society fully functional? This was the argument in class tonight....

I'm closer and closer to graduation. Closer and closer to a full time job. Closer and closer to deadlines. One in particular is in two soon to be one day from now. I'm applying to Ruder Finn's Executive Training Program . I'm a little nervous about being another intern and in NYC at that. Dear readers if any of you know someone that has a cheap room to rent that is a decent living arrangement, please talk to me. I'm not only applying to Ruder Finn but Weber Shandwick and Golin Harris' summer program as well. All those applications are due by Friday. It is funny how ideas do not come to me until hours before they are due. I'm not a procrastinator but it seems like I have to work extra hard if I start really early. I don't know what it is. To my future agency employers, please don't hold this against me. I get things done and I perform under pressure. I had to lay down Ogilvy's internship program because of time. I'm no where close to finishi...

What is worst: having power and not knowing how to use it; or not having power at all? Don't they both amount to the same thing: unused power? I think the first is worst because the person with power is crippled by the fact that they know what they have and can find no way to put it to use. I'm experiencing yet another soul searching moment as I begin a career in PR. I don't want to sell myself short in any way but I can't help but admit to fear in applying for jobs. Just my luck the nation is experiencing economic challenges making it harder for people to find jobs and even harder for those with jobs to keep them. In light of all the news, I'm not afraid. I'm confident that my experiences demonstrate that I bring value to an organization. Still I'm struggling with the fact that after two internships and solid assistantship positions, which I have taken the lead in, I may have to start out as an intern. To be honest, I'm not thrilled about the fact that ...

I've been in Jersey for the past couple of days catching up with old friends and considering my options for possibly making moves up this way. I can say that I'm a bit nervous about landing a good job here considering the harsh economic times but I am excited to go after the opportunity. On Friday, I attended a career development workshop hosted by THE LAGRANT FOUNDATION and Ruder Finn. The practitioners at Ruder Finn were helpful, and it was nice to meet the more people in the travel and economic development practice. This practice is one reason that I am attracted to Ruder Finn. Walking around 5th Ave and looking at the scenery so characteristic of NYC made me feel at home. I hope there is an opportunity this way. Thinking about all of this makes me want to work even harder in school and not slack off. It is really good to be here. I fly to Charlotte and then drive back to Blacksburg tommorrow. I'm flying out tommorrow primarily because I don't want to be on the road ...

Tommorrow is my first night to attend a class in PR Theory! I'm excited but I feel like I have to shine because PR is my area of study. That and plus my advisor is teaching it. I've gone through the readings and this is what I think. The first article takes a look at perspectives on PR history. I finally realized that this article is not an overview of PR history but some different views of its history. I understand that Hiebert's perspective outlines how PR is seen as a way to reinforce democracy. The safety of democracy depends on people making sound judgements and these judgements come from information which is supplied by PR efforts. I genuinely agree with this. The focus here is PR as a way to get information to the public. In a large way this is one aspect of public relations. I think this perspective describes journalism more than public relations because it does not take into account the relationship and on going communication with a specialized audience or stakehol...

I'm having trouble. If someone asks me why I want to do something I take a step back and internalize it for awhile. Right now I'm working on internship applications and the first question that was asked was why am I interested in public relations. Can you believe, I have been studying this field for over 5 years and now I am having trouble articulating what should come so natural. Trust, I struggled with this for a bit because I know my purpose extends beyond PR. Still so much of my purpose is in PR. Why? Because it is stretching me and all the skill I'm gaining, I can use to benefit others in the grander scheme of life. So one reason I know I'd like to go into PR and no other area of business is the variety. I will loose my mind if I am doing the same thing for too long. Knowing that I have a variety of tasks to do that are diverse in nature keeps me on my toes but allows me to feel accomplished when I complete it. It is a work style thing. I will end up gaining so man...

It has been awhile since I have written. At first I was so addictive to blogging but as I became more and more nervous about my writing style and being more politically conscious, I have definitely fallen back. Why? I don't know. I go through phases where I try to be one thing and then I move on to another. Earlier this year, I tried to write for the CT. Hence my latest blogpost. That didn't fly over and it was mostly due to a miscommunication by the staff. Oh well, I can find other places to get my writing out. Why this concern with publishing? Well, this is my last year of graduate school and for now I am trying to get a job at a PR agency. Which agency you ask? I'm not sure. They all look the same as far as I can see. Really, I want an organization that is ok with the fact that I do not know fully what I want to do. I like PR because it provides me with the variety I need and communication is a strength of mine. Either PR or teaching. I've been doing quite a bit of s...

This blogging thing is much easier than I thought. I just learned how to add videos and make a blog list. I think I am on my way. My flight to the Bahamas is one day away. I'm getting excited. My apartment is all packed up. I'm in Stafford, and I'm ready for the 4th of July festivities. So you all can catch up and learn about the Lagrant Foundation , check out this video that they played at the awards reception. You can find it on my video bar. Also check out the Big Tent. As you can see I'm a big proponent for diversity in public relations . I don't know why. Maybe it is a combination of my passion for social causes and me wanting to see more people that look like me succeed. I want to see more people that look like me succeed in this field. It's more than just a black and white thing. Empirical research would show you how practitioners of color are few and far between. Things are getting better but for the trends in PR do not reflect back on to the industry. I...