The K Word

Deciding what to do with your life is extremely hard and narrowing down what section of public relations you want to work in. One of the sections in public relations is social media and there are many different ways you can become a social media professional. Large social media agencies are one of the ways to get into social media work. They are behind some of the largest and most effective social media campaigns for clients and brands. Now these large agencies aren’t the actual companies. The companies purchase contracts with the agency and you would be working on multiple accounts at once. Agency can be a really hard life to live and it isn’t for most people but if you love it, this is a field for you. Large social media companies also exist. These are brands that are their own social media outlets, some examples are Hootsuite or Buffer. Brands like these focus on tools that provide services, training and education for other organizations or individuals. This would require wri

Everyone has their thing when it comes to being entertained. Most people really enjoy music which don’t get me wrong I really love music, but I am a podcast person. Catch me on any long drive listening to as many podcasts as I can fit in. They keep my attention constantly and have some of the best information you can find. I wanted to share my top 3 favorite podcast with you all. Maybe you’ll even listen to one and it will become your favorite too. Don’t Blame Me with Meghan Rienks I love all of Meghan’s content. She is so down-to-earth and so funny she’ll keep you entertained for hours. Don’t Blame Me is an advice podcast focused on helping others. People can call in and explain their issues and Meghan gives her opinion on the issue. This can be so beyond interesting and will make you smile the whole time. Meghan brings on guests each episode to get different opinions and ideas and they are usually influencers we would all know like Ned from the Try Guys or Elle Mills. Th

Last Thursday, Feb. 21, I was able to attend the PRSSA club meeting where a speaker comes each week and talks about their experiences in the public relations field. Kevin Saghy was the speaker and he talked about his journey to make the Chicago Cubs the greatest social media in baseball history. Saghy was even able to bring his World Series ring with him, the highlight of my night. Saghy has a really interesting story following his eight years at the Cubs and what he did to create a brand for the company and how he is attempting to use the same formula for Ohio State Universities social media. If you are looking to read more on Saghy’s talk with PRSSA check out my live twitter stream, @karlyn_kirchens. I used the #SMspring19 to make it easier for you all to find it. Go Cubbies and Fly the W everyone.

Having a brand is essential for companies to connect to the world and to create something that people relate with. All major clothing brands have a brand that you associate them with or even a logo. J. Crews brand is office chic, Tommy Hilfiger is All-American attire and even McDonalds has a brand with the double golden arches and Ronald McDonald the clown. Having key pieces that create a personality for your company is what builds your brand. In Chapter 3 we discuss personal brands and what that really means. The book states, “Some form of personality that is unique and memorable about an individual can help bring forth a strong view towards his or her personal brand.” This is an important thing to think about because when you are applying for jobs, you truly are branding yourself. One of my favorite personal brands I saw was at a PRSSA National conference. A college student was handing out business cards and I noticed an ear of little-animated corn on the back of her card. Thi

This past week a Youtube by the name of Shane Dawson released a conspiracy video to his 20 million subscribers and one of the sections of the video was focused on Chuck E. Cheese’s pizza. The conspiracy was the company reuses uneaten pizza slices and makes them into a whole new pizza to save money with guests. This is seen from the uneven cuts of the pizza and the weird sizes of the slices. Shane Dawson went to an actual Chuck E. Cheese to get a pizza and see if this was a true statement. The pizza came out exactly like the pictures of the messed up pizza and it blew up the company’s social media. People are now all over social media discuss whether Chuck E. Cheese is lying about their pizza or not. This is a huge PR nightmare that Chuck E. Cheese needs to solve. How they chose to combat the video was constantly replying to tweets from people arguing the truth of Chuck E. Cheese pizza. Their replies were all denying that it wasn’t a true fact and all the pizzas were made fre

Becoming overwhelmed is inevitable in college. No matter how hard you plan ahead or what you do to stay caught up at one point you will be overwhelmed. All my classes are front-loaded so February is like exam month for me. I have endless papers due and a constant headache. Each year I promise next semester will be better and it never is. Now that I am closer to graduation and becoming an adult I am slowly learning to deal with college. Here are some of my favorite tricks to stay ahead and maybe, just maybe, beat being overwhelmed. Sleep This seems like such a basic concept, but getting enough sleep helps keep your brain functioning and focused on the tasks at hand. Not getting sleep at night can cause your brain to react as if you were drunk. Who wants to feel drunk while taking an exam? Making sure you balance out your time to get 7-8 hours of sleep each night will help your overall health. Map things out I am a very big advocate for paper agendas. I treat mine like it

With the Grammy’s comes drama every single year. This year the drama was centered around Cardi B winning 2018 rap album of the year. 5 months ago Mac Miller died of a drug overdose at the age of 26. He was nominated for 2018 rap album of the year for his final studio album, Swimming. The Recording Academy invited Mac Miller’s parents to the Grammys to accept his award should he win. Miller’s album seemed as if it would win and his Mom attended the awards. After the award was given to Cardi, Miller’s ex Ariana Grande began tweeting profanities and angry words at the Recording Academy. She used Twitter to share her distaste with inviting Miller’s mother to the event only to grieve more for her son after he didn’t win. This caused an even bigger uproar when Twitter users thought Ariana was bashing Cardi B for winning the award. Ariana then deleted her tweets and apologized to Cardi B and congratulating her on the win. Social media is such a great source to see what is happeni

What really is social media? It is something the public is constantly using every day and yet we still don’t quite understand what social media is. In Chapter 1 of Social Media in Strategic Communication we dive into the basics of social media. Karen Fredberg shares that she believes social media is more than just communicating messages designed by professionals to audiences. Unlike traditional media, users get to be more active with their presence and give them increased empowerment. This evolution in media has caused businesses to break down the barriers and interact with the users in a way they hadn’t before social media. Karen Fredberg loose definition of social media as, “provides a personalized, online networked hub of information, dialogue, and relationship management. These new communication technology tools allow individual users and organizations to engage with, reach, persuade, and target key audiences more effectively across multiple platforms…” I think looking at

“I miss everything about Chicago, except January and February.” - Gary Cole Gary Cole would be unhappy to know that February in Chicago was amazing. This past week I was given the chance to go to Chicago for two days and tour public relations firms and businesses around the city. Ohio Northern PRSSA gives the club members a chance each spring semester to go on a firm trip. Firm trips are a short adventure to a new city to see how the public relations field really looks like. It is hard to really know what we are getting into when we are stuck in a very small town in very small Ada. The members of PRSSA somehow find a way to pack so much education and fun into 48 hours. That is why each year we all continue to attend. I want to share my experience on the first day in Chicago. The first day started out at 5:45 a.m. I am not a morning person. All 19 of us had to pile into three different vans and drive the four hours to Chicago. This is always one of my favorite pa

Instagram is one of my favorite platforms to use. In Chapter 11 Guy Kawasaki explains way you can use his tips to grow your own personal social media. Personal social media accounts are a live look into the best moments of your life and can be seen by almost anyone. Instagram is all about great pictures and witty captions according to Guy Kawasaki. If you can stick to five to ten word captions then you are golden. Kawasaki also suggests jumping onto popular hashtags. Using hashtags gives people a chance to find photos and accounts easier. That can mean more like, followers and engagement to your account.  Kawasaki also thinks it is important to use filters to make photos look better. He recommends just using the Instagram provided filters but I recommend using VSCO app because of the variety of editing it allows. VSCO gives anyone a chance to create a higher quality photo to post. This app could be new since Kawasaki published his book. Something I really take advantage of i

Bid day is a great day for all sororities on campus. The day is full of excitement and welcoming new sisters into our home. Each year it seems as if the event keeps getting bigger and better creating a positive atmosphere to bring in new members. Sunday Feb 3 was Alpha Xi Deltas bid day and it was 90’s themed. A 90’s themed bid day gave the entire sisterhood a chance to let loose and bring out some old trends we have not seen in a while. Scrunchies were everywhere along with red lipstick and high top converse. For spring bid day we were lucky to invite five new girls to join our chapter and we have never been more excited.  Getting ready for bid day required hours of planning, decoration creating and putting glitter on absolutely everything including people. People are always confused on what actually happens during bid day. I am here to share our exciting day with you all. Once the new member get to our house the sisterhood welcomes them all in with delicious food. This bid

This past week I was given the chance to talk to one of the multimedia journalism professors Greg Phipps. We were able to have a conversation on the changes in media since he began his journey in television and video. I really enjoyed getting to learn about his life and what he has learned. Go give the interview a listen. https://soundcloud.com/karlyn-kirchens/greg-phipps-interview