During the past four months, I have been working as a writer and social media manager at Written Impact and I am really enjoying it. I have learned so much about agency life, different styles of marketing writing, creativity, small business, non-profits and more. I have also been able to bring my experiences in public relations and social media to the table and offer my insight to clients.

Written Impact Thank You Happy Hour Photo

I’m continuing to blog about work, social media, marketing, public relations, business and life on the Written Impact blog, so please take the time to check it out.

I have only been able to get to where I am today because of all my friends, family, bosses, co-workers, professors, mentors, etc., who have helped support and encourage me. I loved celebrating with many of you last Wednesday at our Written Impact Thank You Happy Hour. Thank you to all who attended and who have supported me in many different ways.

Photo credit: Otterbein College

Do not get me wrong, my time at Otterbein College has been amazing (see this older post). I had wonderful personal experiences, figured out who I was, made terrific friends and set goals for the future. I had great academic experiences, discovered a love for world literature and learned to consider my life on paper through the personal essay. I had pre-professional opportunities that changed my life, from internships to being a leader in Otterbein’s Public Relations Student Society of America chapter and forming relationships with my mentors.

But I have piles of books scattered around my room that I have been dying to read and have not yet had the chance to because frankly, I have been reading the same crappy public relationships text books over and over again that all say the same thing. None of which have addressed new media, by the way.

I have written papers I have completely made up out of thin air to meet deadlines. I have worked to get the best grade possible and not to learn the most about what interest me. I learned to write what I know professors want to read rather than what I truly believe. There were life lessons in these moments, but let’s face it…there was not a whole lot of “learning” happening in those moments and I am not particularly proud of them.

Newton D. Baker, a former Mayor of Cleveland, said, “The man who graduates today and stops learning tomorrow is uneducated the day after.” I believe the education process is not a four year journey with a start and end date, but a process of continuing to build a base of knowledge.

I cannot wait to graduate so I learn again. I want to read more books that interest me and write more blog posts. I want to live an academic life after I graduate and forever more. So let’s graduate already, I’m ready to learn.

I walked in Relay For Life this weekend in honor of mom.

In honor of Mother’s Day, I wanted to share a little bit about my mom. She is the smartest woman I know who has the potential to do anything – and what she chose to do was give selflessly as a mother and wife, in addition to working and volunteering. I admire her so much and wanted to share a few little gems mom has taught me over the years. Some of them are direct quotes and others are paraphrasing a lesson she taught me, as she is someone who practices her faith in action more often than words.

Be kind to yourself. My mom told me that one yesterday. It is something that is difficult for both of us as we are the type to scrutinize about the details or obsess about what we should have done differently. When I go to my mom for advice or in a time of need, she reminds me to take care of myself – something that can often be forgotten in the midst of a bad situation or busy day.

Read often. A funny quirk about mom is she can never tell you what she read. Even before she started getting old (just kidding, mom), she has always forgotten book titles and authors, but she reads more than anyone I know. Sometimes she reads “fluff,” sometimes novels, sometimes magazines, sometimes classics – the lesson is just to read as much as you can. I think having her nose in a book all the time is what made her so smart!

Your sister is the best friend you will ever have. My sister and I are two very different people and my mom always had to deal with us fighting. No matter how different we are, I will always remember her reminding me that my sister is my best friend. I have other wonderful friends, but I only have one sister.

Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8). When I think about my mom, this bible verse pops into my head. She is someone who believes in granting justice and showing kindness towards all – and she does so humbly, driven by her faith.

I love you mom and I’m sorry that you gave birth to me and all you get is this stupid blog post.

• Gina Bericchia
• Hannah DeMilta
• Rachel Esterline
• Walker Evans
• John Henderson
• Katelin Mantey
• Leah Moon
• Jeff Niesel
• Rebecca Odell
• Crystal Olig
• Nate Riggs
• Evan Roberts
• Kelsey Sommers
• Ryan Squire
• Mikinzie Stuart
• Rocky VanBrimmer
• Heather Whaling

Attending PRSSA Chapters’ Blogs:

• Kent State
• Ohio University
• Otterbein College

Click here to see my (first ever!) guest video post on Gen Y Journey, “Collaborating Across Generations for Better Social Networking.”

Creator of Gen Y Journey: Tyler Durbin

If you haven’t connected with Tyler yet, you definitely should. He’s an enthusiastic Gen-Yer who has successfully developed a blog that is a model for young people to use for guidance when they are making decisions and embarking on their professional career. Tyler’s passion, knowledge and willingness to help others learn makes him a leader I look up to.

Tips:

You want to your fans to interrupt their friends on social media to tell them about you. Social media can get people to sell your product for you. (via Kyle Lacy)

A creative idea for a small business or nonprofit running a social media contest is to offer a guest post spot for their business as a prize on your blog. (via Heather Whaling)

Proactive crisis communications means already having your own brand established and addressing potential concerns to counteract what special interest groups or critics are saying. (via Barbara Paynter)

If your job is social media monitoring – don’t drown in the data. Signal out what is important and relevant. (via Phil Gomes)

You have to have trust and let go in social media. You can’t control your brand. If you try to take the language of the board room (the way your company talks about the brand) into the “living room” (the way people actually talk about your brand in the social media space), you’ll sound like a robot. You have to adjust to how people are talking about you in the social media space to be relevant and searchable. (via Phil Gomes)

There is no one-size fits all when it comes to using social media for media relations. Each journalist will have personal usage and preferences. (via Misty Fry)

89% of journalists are using blogs or story research. Be a resource and make their job easier. (via Misty Fry)

If a blogger is writing a product review or about your company, don’t give them suggested key words or content. Let them write in their own voice. Established bloggers want deeper relationships than product reviews and giveaways. (via Allison Peltz)

Bloggers are consumers first – make your pitch relevant and think about how your company relates to their audience. Customize each and every pitch. (via Allison Peltz)

Tools:

Advanced twitter search. Great for finding tweets within a certain location.

Heather Whaling’s presentation. Great resources for small businesses.

“Socialize” news. Use pitchengine or presskit’n.

Use TurnSocial to maximize the opportunity to engage your website traffic.

Use HowSociable? for brand visibility metrics.

Takeaways:

One thing that was interesting to me throughout the conference was how different presenters had varying takes on similar topics. This reinforced for me the idea is that there is no one right way to do things on social media – much depends on personal philosophy and your brand. It is important to attend conferences like YouToo with an open mind and ask how your brand could be better by listening to the advice of those who have achieved some level of success using social tools. It’s also great to be updated – “change or die.”

One of the best things about attending YouToo was getting to connect with Rebecca Odell, who I had heard wonderful things about and connected with on social media, but had not yet met in person. It’s refreshing when someone’s online persona is as genuine as their one offline. Rebecca did a fabulous job promoting this conference via social media (which is how I found out about it) and she was sweet for introducing me to people she knew at the conference. I’m looking forward to seeing her again at a conference for communication students and pros this weekend in Columbus, #ocpartners.

If you attended YouToo, I’d love to hear what your takeaways were. Also, please correct me if any of my paraphrasing misrepresents the speakers – I was taking notes as fast as I could, but I know there might be some discrepancies.

Kaitlin M. Smith

Today I interviewed one of my best friends, Kaitlin M. Smith, a public relations student who is working and living in Columbus, Ohio and will graduate from Otterbein College with a degree in organizational communications with minors in public relations and art in June.

Kaitlin is incredibly modest and would never tell you quite how great she is, so I will. She is smart, funny and even a little sassy once you get to know her! She is one of the most observant people I know and very thorough in all she does. She likes to work behind the scenes and is currently working hard to help plan OC Partners Conference.  She has a big heart, enjoys doing things for others and loves people for who they are without judgment. Here are some of her thoughts about her world…

What is an experience or situation that taught you something about you as a person? What did you discover or learn?

My first internship experience at Big Brothers Big Sisters. I was given the chance to work independently and that gave me the opportunity to learn who I was as an individual because I was used to always playing the role of a big sister, girlfriend, friend, student or daughter and this was the first time I thought about what I wanted as a person. It was just all me, working with good people I had never met before and enjoying using the skills I learned while working for a good cause. They provided me with the opportunity to achieve a lot and accomplish a lot. I was going through a break-up at the time and it was hard, but my experience gave me the confidence to stand up for myself and do what was best for me.

What is one challenge you are facing as a Gen Y student about to graduate? How do you plan to overcome it?

I guess I’m still trying to figure out my purpose in life. I have an idea of what I want to do with my degree, but I am still unsure where life will take me outside the comfort of college. I’m pretty independent, but losing the comfort of Otterbein will be a bit of a challenge.

Gen Y has a lot of choices and it is hard to figure out whether I should stay versatile or focus on one specialization. I overcome challenges with the support of my friends, family and mentors, but I try to take things day by day.

What are you passionate about? What sparked that passion and how do you live to help grow your passion?

Nonprofit work is my passion, as far as my career goes, but I also love sports! I have felt fulfilled by the nonprofit work I have done with the Mid-Ohio Foodbank, kids and community leadership. I try to stay aware of nonprofit causes and would like to do more volunteer work. I’m also passionate about and appreciate creativity.

“Appreciative Inquiry,” is something I’m becoming passionate about that I’m learning in class. It’s focusing on the positive in what you do and focusing on your strengths rather than on the problem.  I have been trying to focus on the positive more in all situations of my life.

If you could be anyone else for a day, who would you be and why?

I would love to be a sports community relations professional. It doesn’t matter who or for what team, but that would encourage both my passion for sports and nonprofits and working with the community. I played lots of sports in high school and that would probably be my dream job. I like how sports can bond a community.

Fail Whale (cc license: michperu)

1. Optimism Clouds Judgment – I want to think the best of people and companies. I want to be trusting and positive. Of course it makes life better to have positive attitude, but I have learned to proceed with caution and do my research before I get excited because of my own ignorance.
2. Cleanliness is Next to Godliness – I lost something kind of important. I am typically organized, but when my schedule got crazy, I slacked and now I do not know which way is up.
3. Just Get Over It – I let things stew when I am upset. I replay situations over and over again in my head. But sometimes you just have to get over it. I like to talk things out and not let them build up, but some things are better left unsaid. It has taken me a million “fails” to learn this.
4. If You’re In, You’re In – If you care about something or are passionate about it, you will be involved in it. I have failed when I have tried to avoid projects I care about. When you are passionate about something, you feel like you are doing the work for yourself anyway and find time for everything.

I’m curious – when was a time you learned from failing?

Hannah DeMilta

This is a guest post written by Hannah DeMilta.

It can be tough enough keeping up with your own blog that the thought of writing for someone else seems out of the question. However, I would argue there are some great reasons for writing a guest blog post. I find that it’s especially relevant to students but many of the same rules apply to professionals and other bloggers as well.

• Get published: Get your work out there. Being published is great especially if multiple people are willing to feature your writing. It builds your credibility when you are published on more than just your personal blog. Students take the opportunity to build your online portfolio and link back to your guest posts from your personal blog.

• Try a new topic: If you write a niche specific blog, writing a guest post might be your opportunity to break away from your normally covered topics. Perhaps you are a famous foodie blogger but you are also extremely passionate about racecars. Write a guest post for a racing blog instead of betraying your loyal readers with out of place content.

• Reach a different audience: This can be a huge opportunity depending whose blog you are writing for. You have the potential to reach out to a new group within your market or perhaps outside of it. Take the opportunity to gain new readership for your own blog by writing a compelling piece for someone else. Be sure you can include a link back to you.

• Have others promote you: I know personally I have trouble promoting my own work at times. I’ll tweet or share my posts once or twice but I always worry about being obnoxious. Let someone else do the promoting for you. It not only takes some pressure off of you, but also builds your credibility by having someone recommend you.

• Pay a small favor: Writing for someone else (especially for free) can pay off in the long run. Bloggers need constant content so sometimes a guest post can be considered a favor. Don’t make the mistake of expecting some type of return. Write because you want to, but remember nice favors for others pay off in the end. It’s just good blogger karma!

If you are interested in writing a guest post on my blog, just drop me an email. I cover a variety of topics and I’m always interested in what others have to share.

Network with Columbus Professionals – Fellow communication students keep telling me about how they hope to move to Columbus after they graduate. PaRtners Conference is their chance to meet potential future colleagues including upcoming graduates, panelist, presenters and other Columbus professionals.

Get social – Network with other students and professionals during our lunchtime “challenge.” Bring business cards, resumes and be an impressive student others will want to get to know. After the conference is over, head to The Old Bag of Nails in uptown Westerville. Have a good time and simply hang out.

Professional development – Many of the speakers have taught me something invaluable. I have also learned a lot from some of the other students attending. We are hosting phenomenal speakers and panelists you will have the opportunity to meet. Ask insightful questions and have an open mind. You’ll definitely learn something.

Our conference is primarily for communication and public relations students, but we have approximately forty professionals already confirmed for this year’s conference. If you are young professional looking to learn more and network, or if you are a professional from the Columbus area interested in getting to know students and hang out with some awesome people, please register. We’d love to have you as well.

See you at PaRtners Conference at Otterbein College and at The Old Bag of Nails.

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Register by April 1 for a discount: http://centralohiopartners.eventbrite.com/