PR Development Night

On Wednesday, November 13, my fellow PR majors and I took a trip to downtown Milwaukee to partake in the UW-Whitewater PR development event. The event was at the Hudson Business Lounge in Milwaukee's historic Third Ward. The Hudson Business Lounge is a super trendy place, unlike any that I have been before. The event started at 6:00 p.m. and I wasn't quite sure what to thank. I was a little nervous all day because I was going to be one-on-one with professionals in the field that I would like to pursue myself.

The event kicked off with Jeff Carrigan ,the founder Big Shoes Network, saying a few words about applying for jobs. Big  Shoes Network is a website that provides job and internship opportunities to college graduates. The site primarily posts jobs in the fields of public relations, advertising, and marketing. They also stay pretty local providing jobs in Wisconsin and Illinois. It really is a great and helpful site for students entering the work force. 

Carrigan only had fifteen minutes to speak so he focused on what should students should do when applying for jobs. Carrigan provided great advice and gave us 5 C's to remember. These C's are competence,connections, character, chemistry, and c-suite. All of the C's came with great information and I know feel a little bit better about the interview process. Carrigan told great personal stories, and I know feel that I have a better edge on knowing what to do.

The next part of the event was the speed interview. Forty-five professionals came to the event. The majority of the professionals were in the field of public relations, so it was great to see what they expect of the students who are the future of public relations. Another perk to these professionals were that they were Whitewater alumni. War Hawks have to stay together! So of course they want to do whatever they can do see the younger  classes succeed. 

My fist interview was with Jenna Dubrick. Jenna works in the field of hospitality for the Marcus Hotels, specializing in events and social media.  She was very welcoming and easy to talk to. Our interview went pretty well, she just told me to work on emphasizing my strengths and highlight my unique skills.  Dubrick was really helpful with everything and she gave me great insights on another career opportunity that I have not thought that much about. 

My next interview was with Karren Jeske from Standard Process. Jeske is a communication manager at Standard Process. Jeske's interview did not go as smoothly as my first with Dubrick. It was not bad at all, but she asked a couple hard questions and then I got a little nervous. She did give me great feedback though and gave me great advice on how to fix the problems that I struggled with. 

My last interview was with Steve Staedler. If you follow my blog or are in my PR Tactics II class this name might sound a bit familiar. Staedler is a senior account executive in public relations at LePoidevin Marketing. This interview was suppose to my informational interview in which I asked Staedler questions about his job and in the industry. It did not turn out that way, but he gave me great advice on what I can do to make my writing better, and on how to improve different outlets that I am pursuing. He made the "interview" environment more relaxed, and it was much easier for me to ask him questions about the field.

The PR Development event was a huge success and I am very glad I got the opportunity to attend.  Having an interview is at times a nerve racking process and I feel that all of the professionals made it a joyful experience. I learned a lot about myself and what I need to improve to be more successful in the field of public relations. 

Here are some of my classmates enjoying the event!

Steve Staedler

On Monday,  Steve Staedler came and talked to my public relations tactics II class. Steve is a public relations executive at LePoidevin Marketing, which is located in Brookfield, Wisconsin. Some of his daily jobs are writing news releases,writing speeches, writing copies for advertisements, and some social media. LePoidevin Marketing is a B2B company, so Steve only deals with companies and not private consumers. Some of the businesses that Steve works with are Snap On, Spindles, and businesses that deal with animal health.

Before Steve go to where he is now, he carried many jobs working in the fields of public relations and journalism. After graduating from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with a degree in mass communications in 1998. Before getting his executive position at LePoidevin Marketing he worked for Community Newspapers Inc. and then the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Steve has also worked in special affairs for the United States Air force making him an expert in media relations, community relations, publication design, and editing. 

During his lecture Steve taught the class about Cision Point. Cision Point is an online company that helps companies build their databases. For a couple thousand dollars Cision Point allows companies to see lists of available media that their companies would benefit from. From these sources of media companies can send news releases about their clients in hopes that the media outlet will publish their news release. This company is very beneficial to public relations practitioners. 

Steve also brought a case study for the class to go over in groups. I really like when guest speakers prepare some kind of in-class activity. From this case study the class can apply what they have learned to a real life situation. 

I really enjoyed Steve Staedler. I thought that he was very relatable and he has had a lot of experience in the field of public relations. I liked how he brought actual examples of the work that he does. From the examples the class can see the end result of a PR plan that Steve had for one of his clients. Steve is a great example of how someone can start at a low paying job at a newspaper and end as an executive at a marking company. 

Amy Paul

Last Wednesday in my public relations tactics II class Amy Paul, a Whitewater graduate, came to speak about her experiences thus far in the field of public relations. Amy graduated for Whitewater in 2010 with a major in public relations. While she was at Whitewater she was a part of PRSSA . While she was in PRSSA she was the chapters secretary, professional development chair,and the editor of the PRSSA insight. She even went to the national convention in Washington D.C.  From PRSSA she had many leadership roles and real world experience.

After she left Whitewater her first job was at the Milwaukee County Executive Office. At the Milwaukee County Executive Office she managed their social media site and managed all of the pr for the county. I think it is great that she took on such a hands on role coming right out of college. Many people might be more timid when having to deal with so many important responsibilities right out of college.

Her next job was at Bottom Line Marketing and Public Relations, and Bottom line Paul managed the website design, different marketing projects, and assisted all of the accounts. She had a lot of hand on experiences dealing with many different accounts. She now works at Ascedia where she is the only person with a public relations background and the interactive account manager. She works with social media, website design, redesign, and digital marketing. Before the real world Amy also had a handful of internships where she got lots of first hand experiences. Some include the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, Qdoba Mexican Grill, and the Milwaukee Admirals.

What I took most out of Amy's presentation was her advice that she gave the class. She told us to start our job/ internships early, act professionally at all times, not to be afraid to ask questions, and always ask you employer for more responsibility. She told us to remember that our past employers will be our future references so it is good to maintain a good relationship with them.

She also gave the class great advice on networking,professional courtesies, and social media. Amy Paul is a great role-model for anyone who plans on or is studying the field of public relations. With all of her own experiences she has given me great insight on what to expect in the field of public relations.

PR student

Hi my name is Caitlin Welsh and I am a senior at the University of Wisconsin- Whitewater. When I started at Whitewater my goal was to be in the field of marketing. I wanted to be a CEO of my own marketing corporation, but as time passed on I decided that marketing wasn't for me. When I was contemplating my career choice a friend of mine suggested public relations. They told me how it was similar to marketing but more oriented towards the public. After I researched the field I realized that working in public relations is something that I would be good at and love at the same time. I would get to work with a company and their publics together.

I have now been studying public relations for the last year and a half. Everyday I learn something new and it gets me exciting for what my future will hold! For example my public relations tactics class has me tweeting. I have never used Twitter before, so it should be challenging and new at the same time!

Some of the things that I look forward to learning this year are how to develop and the understanding of the role of social media and how public relation practitioners use social media. This will be really interesting for me because other than Facebook, I do not know a lot about how social media works. I know how great it is in public relations, but I am not really skilled on how to coincide the two.
I also look forward to learning how to demonstrate the ability to edit verbal and and visual information appropriate to public relations needs. In my past classes I have learned the different strategies and tactics, but I am interested in learning which work better in different situations.
I have never blogged before, so bare with me if it is not up to par. I look forward in sharing my public relations endeavors over the span of this semester!