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!