Ali Seys, a junior Illinois State University PRSSA member, is the reigning Miss Illinois Valley who finds that her pageant life is very similar to the public relations world. Tell us about yourself. I am from Orion, Ill., which is a small town outside of the Quad Cities. I am also the youngest of four; I have two brothers and a sister. I also have a nephew who is 13 months old, and I love hanging out with him and watching him grow. I have played soccer since I was six, so after high school I went to Scott Community College to play soccer for two years. Now I am a junior at ISU majoring in public relations and minoring in agriculture. Did you grow up participating in pageants? No, I grew up on a farm so my childhood was quite opposite from the pageant life you see on shows like “Toddlers and Tiaras.” I had to beg my mom for two years to let me compete, and she finally let me enter my county fair’s pageant when I was 12. Now I compete in the Miss America System (Miss Illinois Organization). How long do you plan on participating in pageants? I am the reigning Miss Illinois Valley and will crown my successor at the end of March. Then I will be done for this competition year because of an awesome internship opportunity I have this summer. I have said that I am done competing multiple times and always come back so I am sure I will find myself competing again. How does your pageant experience tie in to public relations? For the interview phase of competition, I have to submit a resume and platform statement. Before the judges even meet me, they have read my resume, and I am sure they look me up online just like an employer would. I have to be very aware of my personal brand and pitch myself to the judges in the interview. Then, throughout my reign, I have to make sure I stick to my personal brand and promote it, along with the Miss Illinois and Miss America Organizations' brands. Why did you join ISU PRSSA? Once I transferred here, I wanted to get involved right away. Abby Brennan, historian, and Marrison Worthington, vice president, were teaching assistants in my COM 178 class. They encouraged everyone to join, and I thought it would be a perfect way to meet people and get involved in the public relations program here at ISU. How was your internship with Redbird Athletics last semester? It was great! I worked with a group of interns and graduate assistants that made it an awesome experience. I got to work with real clients and be actively involved with promotional events. My favorite event was working with the Special Olympics soccer team during an ISU soccer game. It was also really neat to be on the sideline for every football game. Are you looking into any internship opportunities for the summer? People always ask me what I am going to do with a public relations and agriculture degree. Lucky for me, it was not that hard to find a perfect match. This summer I will be a marketing and communications intern at Wyffels Hybrids. It is a small corporate seed corn company in Geneseo, Ill. I am really excited to have this opportunity and to join the Wyffels team. Questions composed by Analita Voss
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In addition to being a member of Illinois State University Public Relations Student Society of America, Joey Jiracek is part of another student facet of ISU’s School of Communication, the Promotion and Development team. What is the School of Communication Promotion and Development team? The School of Communication Promotions and Development Team consists of interns who plan all of the events for the School of Communication here at Illinois State University. Those events include Family Day, Homecoming tailgate, the Antique Show, COM Week and the Career Institute. Why did you want to join the SoC PD team? I attended some of the panels at COM Week last year and saw how well organized everything was, I then became interested in planning the events. It’s also a great way to network with communication professionals in the University. Since it’s through the SoC, I feel better connected to both the professors and students. I wanted to be able to leave ISU feeling that connection. Which events have you worked on so far? I’m actually doing something new this year. I’m working with Dr. Steve Hunt to send out email blasts to the Alumni Advisory Board, which is a group of about 40 SoC alumni. We send them monthly blasts in a newsletter format. I also help out with planning and setting up for the other events. What are you doing to prepare for COM Week? For COM Week, we all have our own panels to plan. I’m in charge of the Crisis Communication panel. Nothing is officially set yet, since it’s a new panel this year. Dr. Rebecca Hayes will probably moderate it since she teaches the crisis communication course. Overall, we’re trying to make the panels more interactive this year. We’ve received feedback from students saying that that’s what they would like to see during COM Week. Students are interested in having more time to ask questions and network with the professionals. What have you learned so far from being involved with SoC PD? So far, it’s been an opportunity to really hone in on responsibility and take charge on an assignment. With the email blasts, I have to generate the content and layout. I’m not a web designer, so it’s a lot of trial and error in figuring everything out and to plan for how long it takes to put something like that together. How will you use the SoC PD internship in your future? One of the reasons I was interested in joining the SoC PD team was because of the event planning aspect. I want to be involved in planning events in my future career, so I am glad to now have the background experience in that area. Overall, the internship allows me to take on responsibility and gain experience in networking with professionals. So far I have learned a lot about working on a team with other leaders and what it means to collaborate to make an event successful. All of the skills I am developing can be useful in a variety of careers. What would you say to students interested in joining the SoC PD team? I would tell them that it’s a really great experience. For people who are looking for an internship, it opens so many doors for you. You’re the face of the SoC and we have to represent the school well. We have a lot to live up to, but it’s a really great experience to test those skills. Questions composed by Cassidy Obis In addition to being a member of Illinois State University’s PRSSA Chapter, senior Madeline Zenz serves as the social media manager for The Vidette, ISU’s student newspaper. What do you do as the social media manager for The Vidette? I oversee all of our social media sites with another social media manager. Every day, I promote our stories via social media while also sharing other relevant content. I also help oversee The Vidette’s blog. This year, we have a really great team of bloggers, and I have been impressed with their work. If you haven’t checked out the blog, you should! There’s something for everyone to read, from sex and dating to lifestyle and even entertainment. Additionally, I work closely with the marketing department to promote events and contests on our social media sites. Finally, each week I compile the content for the social media page in The ‘Bird, our weekend edition published on Thursdays. This is one of my favorite duties because I get to choose the pet of the week, tweets of the week and other favorite content sent in by our readers. What made you interested in this position? The current Editor-in-Chief Kristi Demonbreun announced the position opening in one of my communication classes last year. It sounded like a great opportunity to supplement my public relations degree. I talked to a few people I knew who previously held positions with The Vidette, and they told me how awesome it was to work there. I also contacted the previous social media manager to get a sense of what the job would entail before I even applied. What is the greatest thing you will take away from working at The Vidette? I was just telling a friend the other day that working at The Vidette was the best decision I have made in my four years here. I’m a strong believer that you get what you put into things. I think it’s really important when you see the need for something in your organization, consult your boss about it and then just do it. It shows initiative and also helps you build an awesome portfolio. How has PRSSA helped enhance your skills as social media manager? I actually talked about PRSSA quite a bit in my interview for this position. Not only does PRSSA help you network with a group of individuals that share common interests, but it also allows you to gain practical experience that can be applied to any job. How would you encourage others to get involved with The Vidette? I would encourage others to talk to people you know that work in the office. Networking is huge. If you don’t know anyone personally, I would encourage you to stop in the office. We love new faces, and everyone there is really friendly. Even if there are not open positions at the time, there are always things you can do to get involved. How will this position prepare you for jobs post-graduation? I have learned so much, not only about social media, but also about advertising, marketing and communication in general. This position has definitely made me more confident in applying for jobs in the field. Questions composed by Ali Seys While being an exchange student may have dissuaded some students from getting involved, Ellie Matthews has embraced PRSSA and all the opportunities it offers. Read on to learn more about this native Australian and Illinois State University PRSSA member. What year in school are you? I am actually between being a junior and a senior. Here in the United States, you call them courses and back at home we call them units. A public relations major in Australia would usually take four units a semester and graduate in three years. Since courses in the United States are broken down differently, I still have a few units left to take when I arrive back in Australia next semester. What committee are you a part of in PRSSA? I am in PRi. I am currently doing work with Her Campus, and I really enjoy that. Do you have any internships? No, not right now. I came here to study and to enjoy college in America. When I go back home to finish my degree, I will be a part-time student because only a couple of my units are offered in the first semester, and I will take the last two during the second semester. When I get back, I plan to buckle down and start applying for internships and get involved by gaining work experience. Right now I just want to focus on my grade point average, and then when I have time, start getting more involved so I can get a job. What type of public relations are you interested in? I haven’t really narrowed it down yet. I suppose when I graduate I’d like to gain experience in both nonprofit and agency, then possibly work my way up to corporate one day. I am interested in campaign planning as well as crisis communication, and in agency public relations you get to experience both of those things. I’d like to try a bit of everything. However, there are definitely certain things that interest me, like media relations. I am double majoring in broadcast journalism. So, I really haven’t narrowed it down yet. Do you have any plans after graduation? Any specific companies you want to work for? I really don’t have any plans yet. I think I’m just going to see where life takes me. I’m hoping that I can get an internship that eventually leads to a full-time job. I also might start applying to nonprofit organizations and agencies after I have had some more experience and internships. At my home university, public relations majors usually start off at a nonprofit organization, gaining work experience that turns into being hired as a full-time employee. There is an agriculture agency based in a small town near Perth, called Esther Price Promotions, and it focuses on agricultural events. I may look into Breast Cancer WA, which is a nonprofit organization. Why did you choose to come to America to study abroad? I have always been fascinated by America. Ever since I was a little girl, the movies made America look so fun and different. I applied to study abroad in 2011, and it took two years to plan and apply. I wanted to study as well because not everyone gets to have this kind of experience. I could have come here as just a tourist, but I wanted more out of it. I love getting that “behind-the-scenes” experience. When I was in high school, I studied abroad in Japan, where a group of peers and I stayed with a host family and went to school there where I studied Japanese. It gave me such a cultural learning experience, and that is very special. Questions composed by Ashley Funderburk Have you ever created a YouTube channel? Mateo Aguirre, a junior public relations major, did. That is where he discusses everything from his first apartment to Miley Cyrus. What made you decide to start your own YouTube channel? I’m very interested in visual design, so I thought it would be a great way to not only practice my video editing skills, but also work on my public-speaking skills. I started the channel at the beginning of this year, and I already have around 400 subscribers. It is nice to see people commenting on my videos and get feedback from the viewers. What kinds of videos do you make? It is difficult to specifically categorize the videos I make. They are about anything really. I wanted to share with others my experiences working with videos and media, and YouTube is a great way to express myself. Your channel’s name, Mateo Spateo, is unique. Is there a story behind it? There is! I am a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity, which is a music-social fraternity. I was very involved with music in high school, and I wanted to continue to stay involved when I came to Illinois State University. My big brother in the fraternity is named Spencer, and for a big and little brother project we wanted to make t-shirts. The shirts we ended up making had a combination of each of our names on the back, which were Matencer and Spateo. Spateo just stuck with me. Tell me about your experience interning for Griffin Hammond, who is a documentary filmmaker and ISU alumnus. Working with Hammond gave me a lot of valuable experience within the YouTube community. He has his own channel called “Indy Mogul” with almost 700,000 followers. This summer, he was working on a documentary project about Sriracha hot sauce. I was able to help him organize a lot of logistical components, such as film festival entries and interviews. It was a great experience to work under someone who is so talented. The documentary is due to come out soon, and I’m very excited to see the final product. Where do you see yourself after graduation? I definitely picture myself moving out to the west coast and getting into the public relations industry. I am hoping to work in agency public relations or maybe doing something in the entertainment field. My dream job would be to work for YouTube in California. Whether it is working behind-the-scenes or making videos, it is something that I can see myself doing in the future. Check out Mateo’s YouTube channel at: www.youtube.com/user/MrSpateoHead Questions composed by Lily Nedland Frank Hopper, a junior Illinois State University PRSSA member, is the co-founder of the website The Millenico Agenda, a news and politics site targeted at millennials. What is the purpose behind your newly launched website, The Millenico Agenda? My co-founder Jessie Garber and I are both very interested in news and politics. We were interested in educating our generation to becoming informed electorates, and to make decisions and speak intelligently about those decisions. We thought about why and how we get our news. One of the things we noticed was that the important news is often in the middle of the story. It’s not breaking news anymore; it’s the middle of the story. We wanted to do something where we organize the facts in a way that is easier to access and understand. Where did the name for the website come from? To break it down, “Millenico” comes from our generation – the “millennials” – combined with “politico” (political) and “agenda,” as in the news agenda. Who is the website’s target audience? Our website is designed for twenty-somethings, or “millennials.” It’s gotten pretty big since we launched on Oct. 11 of this year. We want to inform millennials about our nation’s current political agenda and spark political conversation among them. We launched at a good time because of the government shutdown. We posted about Syria as well. It was sort of a test post, but we were confident in the material. After that, we started posting about the government shutdown, Obamacare and the debt ceiling. We’ve started reaching out to College Democrats and Republicans at other universities and asking them to spread the word. How did you prepare for the website launch? On Tuesday, Oct. 8 I texted Jessie the idea for the website. We met up after the meeting that night. We worked until about 3 a.m. then didn’t touch it for a couple days. Finally, we finished it up and launched that Friday. What are your goals for the website? One goal is to reach all 50 states before my birthday, Dec. 2. We want it to be big, but it’s dependent on our own social circles right now. Our overall goal is a future with a civically engaged and informed electorate. Also, right now our blog is very apolitical. We aim to have it as unbiased as can be. We’d eventually like to put some opinion on the site, though not necessarily ours. I envision having red and blue sections, with two guest bloggers writing on the same issue, and posting them side-by-side. Do you have any influences for your website? Jessie and I both really like The Huffington Post. I am also a fan of the BBC. If you ever need basic information on a topic, you can usually find it on the BBC. Check out The Millenico Agenda at http://www.millenicoagenda.com. Questions composed by Cassidy Obis
Analita Voss, a junior Illinois State University PRSSA member, keeps her own blog as a way to express her thoughts and to improve her writing skills. Why did you start your own blog? As a public relations major, I knew writing was essential. I wanted a way to work on my writing skills, so I started my own blog. I’m a much better writer than I was before, and I attribute that to my blogging. Some posts take me a day to write, and some I work on for a couple weeks. I work on a post for however long it takes, so I can truly express what I want to say. What do you blog about? I don’t have a specific niche that I write about. I blog about anything I feel that needs to be blogged about. It’s a way for me to express my opinion. Why did you choose public relations as a career path? My freshman year I actually wanted to be an athletic trainer. A few days before my registration date, I was talking to alumni to get their opinions on college in general. One of them told me that I would probably change my major several times throughout my college career. I realized then that I needed to figure out what I want to do. I started researching different career paths and even took career assessments. That’s how I first learned about PR. I love to write, so I started to look more into the field. The more I read about it, the more I fell in love. I switched to the public relations major and have not regretted it! What’s the next step on your professional path? I landed an internship for the spring semester at the David Davis Mansion. My major project will be the Annual Glorious Garden Festival’s Garden Walk. I’m pretty much in charge of planning the Garden Walk, which is the mansion’s largest fundraiser. Where do you see yourself in the future? Having worked at COUNTRY Financial, I am familiar with a corporate environment. But I am definitely open to other areas and am very open-minded. Agency PR sounds very interesting to me, so I’m hoping that through PRSSA and the agency tour opportunities I can get a better idea of the profession. (Visit www.analitaisms.wordpress.com to check out Analita’s blog!) Questions composed by Cassidy Obis Phil Kawabata, a senior Illinois State University PRSSA member, has found his niche using social media for local businesses. How did you start the Twitter account for Chasers Bar in downtown Bloomington? I started it almost two years ago to help cater to Illinois State students. We weren’t usually open during the week, and students would go to Champaign, so we expanded our hours to include Mondays and used Twitter to promote it. My boss didn’t really know anything about social media, so once he realized the number of people I was able to reach, he was very impressed and onboard with it. Everyone should go follow @_ChasersBar! How do you use Twitter to attract new followers and customers? When I started it, there were already two or three accounts that people had started and left, so I made sure to go and follow everyone I knew that had a Twitter. When I started out, there were two or three hundred followers. I would promote our new Monday Night Chasers hours and after our first Monday night opening, our followership increased to eight or nine hundred. We also use it for some promotions, which have helped us grow. On New Year’s we rewarded our followers with VIP treatment. A couple Fridays ago, we had DJ Flipside come, and that was a big hit. We would tweet at him and his music group, and they would retweet us. People saw that, and it drew in alumni and even people from the Chicago area. They came to Chasers because they saw DJ Flipside tweet at or retweet us. We can’t rely on just ISU for business, so Twitter has really expanded us. What have you learned by being an admin for the Country Financial Facebook page? I have learned the way a business benefits from public relations. The job has helped me learn ways to show my progress: the analytics of it and how tangible I am. When I started out, my boss laid out what marketing does or what advertising does, and I was kind of in the middle doing it all, plus social media. What classes at ISU have benefited you the most for these jobs? Definitely the visual classes. Visual Communication (COM 240) and Web Design (COM 366) have been really helpful and helped me understand how to make a post targeted at a specific audience. They showed me the design aspect you want to think about before sending something out. A photo, for example, engages more people than a sentence would. Most of my social media knowledge has also come from using it or reading blogs about it. I especially find pr.alltop.com very helpful. What is your advice for other public relations majors at ISU? Learn how to do EVERYTHING. PR is such a broad field that you can do anything. You can go into PR, marketing, advertising, sales or even start your own business. Learn everything- from designing websites to photography to graphic design. It helps diversify you, and when you have those skills, then employers only need to enhance them instead of teaching you. Questions composed by Ali Seys |
AboutPRecisely PR is the blog of the Illinois State University Chapter of the PRSSA. We write about Chapter events, the public relations industry, member profiles, and more. Archives
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