Powerhouse Networking

This past Wednesday, I had the great opportunity of traveling to Milwaukee and meeting several public relations professionals. The event involved professionals in the public relations field, interviewing and being interviewed by fellow UW-Whitewater PR students. The event was located at the Hudson Business Lounge (@HudsonMKE). 

We first heard from Jeff Carrigan, founder and CMO of Big Shoes Network. Jeff talked about his website, but then gave us helpful facts about job searching, and an example of a college student who made a great impression on a hiring manager while interviewing.

My first interview was with Renee Vandlik(@rtv66). Renee is the owner of The Advocacy Difference, which serves Wisconsin non-profits. She asked me to describe myself, what I plan on doing when I graduate, and what I ultimately would like to do in public relations. Renee was really helpful because she pointed out some of my strong interview points, but said I need to work on a more precise personal strength statement.

During my second interview, with Chuck Weber, we focused more on my experience with public relations. He helped point out what sounded strong skills with organizations I have been involved in. He also taught me that it’s an important interview tip that when asked a question, give a complete statement, and then stop talking once I’ve said what has been asked, instead of lingering on.

My informational interview was with Sarah Kikkert (@Sarah_Kikkert). Sarah is the Communications & Social Media Coordinator at Wisconsin State Fair. We discussed a lot about media monitoring. I have only recently learned of the term, so Sarah talked to me about what media monitoring consists of, some different media monitoring programs such as Cision, and how she uses media monitoring in her position. 

Overall, I think the networking event was a great success, and it helped me immensely. The mock interviews made me realize I need to practice more than I thought, and how important it is to be completely prepared when interviewing for a position. A couple other things that the mock interviews taught me is to start focusing on giving a clear answer when asked what my strengths are, and that I need to not keep talking when I have made my point, or it can get me in trouble.  

Corporate Social Responsibility

I see corporate social responsibility as a company's responsibility of positively impacting the environment and the public. A company's efforts to do more than what is required of them shows how well they handle their social responsibility. A way that a company might show their following their responsibility is by spending money on positive change that does not affect or help the company.

Public relations is a great resource when a company wants to express to their audience how they are positively impacting the environment and public. PR will be able to communicate with a company's audience/consumers about the company's good-doings, and they are able to listen to the public's reaction. Harold Burson gave a speech at 18th IPRA World Conference about public relations responsibility to its corporation, and spoke how corporate conscious is the job description for public relations. 

Merck & Co. is a one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, with its headquarters located in New Jersey. The company also publishes a series of medical reference books, including the world's best-selling medical textbook, Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy. They were also recently ranked #8 on CR's 100 Best Corporate Citizens of 2013. 

Being a pharmaceutical company, Merck & Co. should be socially responsible. They work with many different compounds and chemicals that harm the environment, and should take opportunity of purchasing machines that reduce the pollution caused by these chemicals. They may also help provide developing countries with crucial, life-saving medicines. In the article, The Pharmaceutical Industry and Corporate Social Responsibility, Dr. Harvey discusses that the primary social responsibility of the pharmaceutical industry is discover and develop new drugs and vaccines. However, Merck & Co. does a poor job at being socially responsible.

Although Merck & Co. has made many donations, such as teaming up with UNICEF and donating its drug Mectizan, the company has also experienced poor publicity from being held responsible for 1/3 of the VOC emission pollution in the San Diego area. As a result, the company had to pay out $1.8 million, and install new machines that reduce emission pollution. More recently, the company had failed at their social responsibility, by failing to notify patients of serious side effects from taking the drug Fosamax. The company's internal emails were leaked that had not only shown evidence that they were hiding this information, but also poked fun at patients who would complained about side effects they were having. The case is currently undergoing. Now would be the best time for the company to start working on some publicity that shows them in a more positive light. Being ranked #8 on the Corporate Citizen's list may start to shed some positive light on the company, and show that they are making more of effort to be socially responsible. 

The PR Student

Started my first blog and joined Twitter all in one day? No one will believe me.

My name is Abbey and I'm currently a senior at UW-Whitewater. I will be graduating this December with a PR major, and can not wait to begin a career working with the public. I originally became a PR major because I wanted to have a career as an event coordinator. I quickly learned there is a lot more to PR than just throwing together an event, and I love it.

One of my favorite things about being a student is watching my writing change and grow throughout the years. When I come across one of my papers that I had written as a freshman, I cringe. But overall my journey with writing has been a satisfying struggle. Writing is a major factor in public relations, and I learned quickly that it is a very desirable skill that constantly needs work.

My experience with PR is starting to grow. I have recently put together my five year high school reunion, and that was a great experience. I coordinated a committee, spoke with many different vendors, managed the budget, and executed various details. It was a great learning experience, and it turned out really fun!

I'm hoping to have this semester be my next step into public relations. I plan to focus less time at work, and more time on gaining PR experience. I plan to do this by joining UW-Whitewater's PRSSA group, attending PR related events, and volunteering at different events as much as possible.

Can't wait to get started!