This week in class we learned how to use Adobe Premiere Pro. I haven't really done anything with video editing before except with the iMovie for apple. There were so many different tools and ways to edit video clips/video. Although all the different tools were overwhelming I liked how you had a lot of different options. We had a sub on Tuesday who had been using Adobe Premiere Pro for over 20 years! He helped making learning how to work the system easier and more exciting! Overall I enjoyed getting to learn another program and I am excited to see what project we will be doing next week.
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After spring break we were given two weeks to write a feature story. I did not know before this assignment that PR professionals wrote feature stories so I found that very interesting. This assignment helped me pick up on how features were formatted to have shorter paragraphs as well as different types of features and ledes you can write. I would like to know more about how different features have different effects on readers. I also would like to write a few more features to feel fully comfortable. Knowing how to write a feature will help me be able to write more concisely and help add to the variety of different pieces I can write. I believe this skill set will help me be able to write more efficiently and help me stand apart from other PR professionals who may not have experience writing these kinds of pieces.
This week in class we worked with Canva, an online application that lets you create designs quickly and efficiently. This week we had part of Tuesday and all of Thursday to complete three social media designs for a brand/organization. I created a banner for Twitter, a profile picture, and post on Instagram for the organization EMI. This assignment was to be created in a shorter time than we usually have for designs, but Croom pointed out that these pieces were temporary and should be easy and less intricate to create. When using Canva, I enjoyed how user-friendly it was. Canva was much simpler to use than Adobe In Design and Adobe Photoshop because there were so many fewer tools and a variety of designs options created for you already. I also liked that Canva had many different text designs/layouts to choose from instead of having to create your own. I think Canva is a great tool to use for design pieces that are going to be used temporarily and will not be seen for an extended period. Canva is also easy to use for less intricate designs, but I think Adobe In Design and Adobe Photoshop would be useful for print pieces and more intricate designs that may be looked at for a longer period. I think both design applications are great tools to have but be used for at different times when creating PR pieces. The past two weeks have been filled with anything and everything about direct mailers. On Tuesday, February 28th we had guest speaker Mark Morvant, senior fellow of Dunham College come to class and talk about the residential colleges being built. From Morvant, I learned a lot about the vision and purpose of the residential colleges which helped me when designing my direct mailers. From Thursday, March 2nd to Thursday, March 9th in class we worked on two direct mailers. Each direct mailer was supposed to be targeted to a particular public so for my first one I targeted Freshman who didn't join greek life but still wanted a community and exclusivity. My design included renderings of the outside of both residential colleges and I focused on my call to action and what this place could offer the student. For the second direct mailer, I designed it for a parent/parents who went to OU and wanted their child to be involved along with leaving a legacy at OU. For this design, I focused more on putting multiple renderings of what the residential colleges would look like because parents often want to see where their money is going. Of all the assignments we have had in PR Publications I think this was the hardest one for me. I struggled with coming up with a design that I thought looked good and filled up all the necessary space without looking awkward. Overall, I think both designs turned out well it just took me longer to create something I was happy with. I am excited to see what is in store after a much-needed Spring Break! This week was the week before Spring Break which is much needed and a long time coming. In PR writing my assignment for the week was to write a position paper. When I first read that this was the assignment I was genuinely surprised. I did not know position papers were a thing you wrote in the PR world. I guess you learn something new every day. I was excited to write a position paper, and I learned the basics from the video we were told to watch and the lecture. After having learned everything, I believed I was prepared to dive in. My prior knowledge of Tipton Children's Home from past assignments was helpful but researching information on the Oklahoma state-run foster program was harder than anticipated. Finding a reputable source and the information I needed to support my 3 points was time-consuming but required for my paper. Overall, I think the paper went well, and my three counterarguments to my position were viable. My three counterarguments were pairing with a foster family enables a traditional family living, adoption, and full-time care. I quickly was able to refute these arguments and provide support to why Tipton Home was the best option. I think learning how to write a position paper will better equip when I am a PR professional adding to my knowledge on different PR writing pieces. I would still like to do a few more examples of various organizations to gain more experience. I believe this skill set will help me be more efficient in my PR writing. Overall, I enjoyed this assignment and look forward to whats to come after Spring Break. This week Croom assigned us some homework to do outside of class. Our assignment was to go tour a student housing option and pretend we were interested in living there since the entire class knew where we would be living next year. Croom's idea was that we would be doing marketing research for our new design project, a direct mailer for OU residential colleges. I chose to go tour the VUE Apartments off of Imhoff Road. I was hesitant and nervous to go tour this apartment complex because I am not exactly the type of person to step outside of my comfort zone especially when I am by myself but I reluctantly made myself go. When I arrived at the apartment complex I said my name was Emma and wrote down a fake email which kind of made this assignment more fun. A girl around my age gave me a tour of the grounds which included a model apartment, the pool, their workout room, their 4th floor lounge, their top floor deck and their courtyard. The girl who gave me a tour was friendly but I felt that she was kind of awkward and didn't do a great job of "selling" the place to me. The space was nice, modern, and sleek and she mentioned it was mostly upperclassmen and graduate students who lived there. She told me the prices for a 2 person and 4 person apartment came in at $950 per room for the 2 person and $700 per room for the 4 person. The apartment had stainless steel appliances in the kitchen, fully furnished, included a a smart T.V and a washer and dryer. For that high of a price thought I was immediately turned off. The VUE offered good amenities and rooms but for the price I thought it wasn't worth it. If the girl who gave me a tour was more enthusiastic and persuasive about the place my thoughts could have possibly been swayed. Overall I think they needed to offer a discount for students to make the place more appealing to college students. At the end of the tour they gave me a folder with the layout of rooms and the amenities they offered. Their presentation of the materials they gave was nice and gave off a sleek design to go with the style of their apartments. I found this assignment a fun way to gain insight on ways to entice people to choose your student housing instead of the many other options to choose from. This week in PR writing I was asked to create a fact sheet and backgrounder that could go in media kit. These two documents would also accompany a new release and possibly some promotional items in the PR business world. I wrote my fact sheet and backgrounder over Tipton Children's Home and all my previous work has been done for the same organization as well. I like that we are doing all our PR writing pieces over the same organization. I can pick up now how to format a fact sheet and backgrounder with much more ease and as the weeks have gone by I can pick out the most important information much easier as well. I would still like to do a few more examples on fact sheets and backgrounders that are for a different organization or a problem an organization is facing. When creating a media kit as a Public Relations professional it is essential to know how to write a fact sheet and backgrounder. I believe having these skill sets will help me become more efficient and prepared for the everyday work I will face in my future career. Learning so many important PR writing elements and pieces excites me and helps me feel more prepared for my future.
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Amanda HuseI am a recent graduate from the University of Oklahoma. I majored in Public Relations with a minor in Nonprofit. I am an authentic, philanthropic and proficient person who has technological and communications skills that will help me efficiently communicate with different publics. Archives
March 2018
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