Anything you can do I can do better!

My title is Public Relations Coordinator for the College of Architecture + The Arts: that is supposed to mean I manage the PR for all of the College... right?

Yeah, thats what I thought!

Well being that, I am but a student I obviously don't make major decisions or direct anyone. In the beginning I was told what to do, but now I pretty much come up with the ideas and have them approved, and there are occasions when I have to make some decisions.

Well one part of the College isn't asking for help, unlike every other school. As a matter of fact, after I made a facebook and added pictures for their album, I got yelled at because the names THEY gave me were "incorrect".

Well after the first event that I publiced, the turn out was like no other before. The Dean complimented me and bragged to everyone that this is all because of his new PR Coordinator who is only a student!

The next day, I get an email request assistance from that one part of the College.

It happens, so just move on!

Today could not have been any worse! First of all I had to come in because today we planned on mailing out all the invites for Loners not Losers.
First thing I do, re-check the list for errors in spelling, addresses & etc. The list went up to 237, so by the time I finished my eyes were ready to pop out.

If anyone has ever made a mail merge, you know what I mean when I say it is the BIGGEST pain! I don’t ever want to do it again. I probably spent up to 4 hours proofing and then editing each mail merge, but its ok because the printer arrived two hours late.

We then, after using up all the stamps we had bought specifically for my count of 237, my boss ask me “Where are all the VIP’s?”

The VERY first list she had given me was a list of about 50 names, and I completely forgot about it.

Yes, she yelled… who wouldn’t? But at the end when I felt like a complete failure she simply said to me “It happens!”

To be or not to be?

Today in my Principals of Public Relations class we covered Writing for Public Relations. The writing a PR person handles is press releases, memos, newsletters and speeches and much more.

Working for the College, I have had to learn Writing for Public Relations first hand. The ideal way to be learning all this is exactly what I am going through.

The first tip I can give that each professor cannot stress enough is: keep it simple! Forget flourishing each word with one or two fancy adjectives.
Today in class gave the perfect example:

Few would remember William Shakespeare if he had written sentences such as “Should I act upon the urgings that I feel or remain passive and thus cease to exist?” Shakespeare’s writing has stood the test of centuries because of a sentence such as “To be or not to be?”

Today the Dean asked me to write him a speech for graduation. I honestly was flabbergasted. He wants me, a student, to write a speech for the Dean of the College of Architecture + The Arts? I must be doing something right. I guess having the advantage of a fresh lesson in what I am supposed to do before I do it helps!

Everyone makes mistakes

It's incredible how many times you can check and recheck something, and there will always be another mistake! Right now I'm in the middle of a huge project at work. My job is fill 600 seats for an event the College is hosting on November 19. It is the premiere of a 20-minute music video composed by the School of Music and FIU Theatre in response to the Virginia Tech tragedy with a message for the future.My main goal is reach out to mainly students, but we are inviting a number of Miami City Officials and of course FIU faculty and administration.So back to my topic: A flyer was created by, well lets just keep the name anonymous (but know that this is a salary-paid employee). The first draft had, of course, a number of mistakes. He went back and corrected them. Second draft; I went to Photoshop myself and made the corrections. I send it back to make sure everything is accurate, I get the approval and off I go sending e-vites to over 200 people.Apparently, we misspelled the name of our special guest: the Chancellor of the State University System of Florida!

Well luckily fixed the name along with two other corrections that needed to be made, before we sent it to the printers to get flyers and invitations made.

I guess the saying “Everyone makes mistakes” applies to professionals as well!

Before

After

PR Coordinator AND Student Assistant

How can that make sense? A Public Relations Coordinator who also assists? Without a definition for the title of my job, I remain undoubtedly committed to coordinating all public-related issues and goals for FIU College of Architecture + The Arts.

As lucky as I am to have such an opportunity, I find myself in a salary-paid position without the salary. Although I don't get the money, I get the experience that will eventually lead to the money in the future.

We have four schools and a museum in the College:

School of Architecture
School of Art + Art History
School of Music
School of Theatre, Dance + Speech Communication
The Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum

Recently established, the College of Architecture is probably the College in FIU with the MOST events per semester. Events including lectures, exhibitions, performances, productions, concerts, debates and most recently noted: video premieres. (We will get more in debt with this in a later Blog)

Who handles the publicity for these events? Myself! A third-year student majoring in Public Relations. It might sound a little crazy, but honestly there is no better person. Not me in particular, but a student. A young individual who is knowledgeable of the latest and most effective communication: