Happy Halloween

Yes, I was a Vampire. And yes, it is cliché, but I was a pirate for about six years in a row and I thought it was a time for a change. Happy Halloween, my friends!

Messages - Good or Bad?

For this week's homework each student was prompted to choose a company and explain whether their motto is good or bad. I decided to choose Publix. Their message is:

"Where shopping is a pleasure."

This message implies so much happiness and joy that comes along with a shopping experience. Usually, people associate the act of shopping with adjectives like tedious and time consuming, but pleasure is such a great adjective to use here. Pleasure is such a powerful word that shopping is assumed to actually be enjoyable.

This is a great message because the positivity of it should attract shoppers. Although Publix's prices may be less affordable than other supermarkets, the message is totally nonobjective and appeals to all publics; college students, mothers, fathers, restaurant owners, etc.

The Importance of Comments (TOW #2)

Comments are an essential part of blogging for a number of reasons. First of all, if people are commenting on your blog, it means that they are actually reading it, and they actually care enough to give you feedback. If I come across a blog that has a catchy title or interesting pictures, I'm going to stay a while and probably read the content. If I'm interested in the text, I will share my thoughts. Also, comments bring traffic to your blog. The more hits, the better. If you have a following, your blog will be higher up on the Google search engine...and who doesn't want to be famous?

Leaving blog comments are an effective way of establishing a relationship with someone. One word of advice I would give to people about leaving comments is to just be smart about what you say. Don't be overly critical, be knowledgeable in your field, and don't be self-incriminating. Also, this may be of some use:

http://bit.ly/aZYoRM

My Dream Job (TOW #1)

I'm going to keep this one simple and sweet. My dream job in the field of public relations is to be Lauren Conrad. Many of you know her as one of the leading ladies from the MTV hit show, The Hills.

She's had the opportunity to intern for Teen Vogue and travel to Paris not once, but twice. Conrad does fashion event planning and she's even developed her own fashion line known as LC. She is also the official spokesperson for "mark," the fashion line created by Avon which is geared towards young woman.

Lauren Conrad...an actress, an author, a fashion icon. What more could a girl ask for?

The History of Public Relations

As I Google searched the history of public relations, I stumbled upon a very interesting .pdf file entitled "Mini-Me" History: Public Relations from the Dawn of Civilization. Don Bates, the author of this paper, stated that "professional public relations has always gone hand in hand with civilizations" and that "much of recorded history can be interpreted as the practice of public relations."

With that in mind, I found it interesting that Bates discussed fear along with the power of persuasion in ancient civilizations. He goes on to say that the methods of persuasion have changed and that it became less grounded in force, and focused more on the power of words. Although, with the invention of writing, Public Relations took off.

Ancient Egyptians used their temples, tombs, and art to portray to the public the importance of priest, nobles, and scribes. Meanwhile, other civilizations such as Babylonia, Assyria, and Persia "used poems and other writings to promote their prowess in battle and politics." Don't even forget about the Bible! We have Ancient Israel to thank for that! The Bible has been shaping the public's mind for thousands of years.

With just a simple click of the mouse, it's amazing to see how far back the origins of Public Relations goes.