Can you see me...

I listened to The Script song, If you could see me now.... It gave me inspiration to write about my greatest person I look up to, my grandfather. Yes this is more personal, but I feel that I need to write about this man that made me who I am today.

I wonder on a daily basis if he can see me and if he's telling his friends up in heaven that I am his child, his grace that he made something more than just that grandchild. I wonder if he would be proud of me? Or would he be upset that I didn't take the opportunities that I gave up to take on chances with other things...

Do you think that when someone so close is taken away that watch over you? He told me before he left "I will follow you wherever you go and leave a white feather" and he does. Well I think he does. I hope I have made him proud, yes there are some days I lay in bed and I am lazy but others I work till I feel dead and cant move anymore. Guess that's what he taught me - work heard.

Some day's I loose my faith in life and I cant see any inspiration to do this degree because I feel that it is too challenging and my marks are dropping but then I think - did he raise a dropout or did he raise a little girl that grew up before her time and made sure I take every opportunity with two hands and smiling! I wish I could see him for ten minutes and just hear what he thinks and has to say, just one hug and a smile.

Funny, every little girl has a man they look up to and he was my idol, my shining knight in armour and he was taken away when I was only six years old. Yes this has nothing to do with my public relations career in your eyes, but to me, he's the man that made me become this student that wants to be something more than just that girl, the girl that got her degree. I want to be known as Rosemary, the girl that probably annoyed her lecturers with questions and challenges but made my mark and made something for my class!

I feel that people are taken away from the youngsters too quickly, yes it is God's way (I say yes too much!) but what if we can't handle it. They gone, we can't show them what we have achieved we look up and speak to them through prey and hope they looking down and saying "well done Rose" but we will never know.

Never take for granted the person you look up to, they can leave so quickly and you will never get the opportunity to thank them and hold them again. That's one thing I regret - never saying goodbye because at seven years of age I was arguing over a girlfriend I thought he had, it was never worth the loss of love I missed out when he passed away.

Graduation you beauty...

SO, it was graduation last week - yes I am late I know! It was an awesome feeling being all grown up and graduating for the first time! I felt like a kid with my friends and my huge gown! The feeling of responsibility but at the same time, feeling like you have no care in the world but not to trip on the stairs on the stage! And that is exactly what I nearly did - trip on the stage! Was hilarious I will admit, but I saved myself with grace (excuse the pun) and graciously walked up getting wacked by the woman with the stick and putting my hood (which is not a hood) on my shoulders!

It's funny to see how everyone congratulates you on this achievement that I got last year already, and I will admit as much as I did not want to attend that event I did and I loved every minute - ok the first hour and a half, the rest got a bit too tiring for me to handle!

It was the first time having all the girlfriends back in the group again and having our fun and laughs together about who is wearing what and what we have been up to! I don't think I would have managed without them for the last three years. Yes we fight and through tantrums but in the end we all close and rely on each other to survive the big scary world of PR!

Enough about that though, graduation, yes, it was funny to see the families go crazy with cheers and tears at their children and the outfits of some! Scary choices I will admit, ball gowns, shoeless and some dressed to the nines with their suits! Graduation wasn't what I thought it would be. I didn't want to attend because I felt it was another thing that had lost its meaning and was a social event. Boy was I wrong! Like I said before, the feeling was amazing and I will never regret going, I did want a hat though!

I will miss this next year, the crazy ambitions I had and the laughs about silly things. I will miss the fooling around with the girls and finishing my day at 12:00 in the day! That will probably never happen next year - or getting Friday's off!

In the end it all boils down to the fact that graduation was actually something that meant a lot to me when I really didn't think it would! Something that I wont be able to experience again - even if I graduate with my degree next year. Why? Well because it wont have my same friends, it will be only three of us, and we wont have the same mind set as this year was.

To think, this time last week I was getting ready for the excitement to hit and the feeling of graduating to set in, and now it has already passed! Next year's graduation just wont be the same with this team of cray cray's next to me!

The Power Ranger Girls

Are companies wasting their time with social media profiles?

Companies now a days rely on social media as a tool, well that's how I feel. Where ever you look "Like us on Facebook", "Follow us on Twitter" ------ BLA BLA BLA! Companies forgot that once you have liked them on Facebook or Twitter, that doesn't necessarily mean you will shop there or become there devoted fan?

On cnbc.com it stated that smaller companies tend to rely on social media too much and thus their company fails. Think about it, you pay for a profile, you boost your profile (you pay more) and then you have 62+ followers and they not even buying from you. That means a loss for you and your company.

There is an on-going perception that social media can hep you grow, I do not agree! Yes your company gains exposure but is it the right exposure? Many websites that write articles are speaking about how you can waste your time on social media and it will not get you anywhere. For example, http://www.lifehealthpro.com/2013/03/06/5-reasons-advisors-are-wasting-their-time-on-socia, this site speaks about how there is a non existent online market, or when a company choosing the wrong social media platform. What happens when you chose the wrong platform from the bandwagon?

You are stuck with the wrong target audience and the wrong mediums of advertising. I personally feel that social media can be used to advertise but to a certain extent, why go all out one a social platform when there are billions of ideas that one could use! Such as the wonderful print idea or a flash mob! Crowds love ideas that are exciting and different - I don't want to read about the same thing online over and over and about how this company can do this but that company can do better! Bo Ha! Everyone can say things online that won't come through or won't get taken the way it should.

Social media is a very tricky thing to tackle, but companies, like I have said, rely on social media platforms too much and think that traditional media is out the window and we should no longer focus on them. However you will find many individuals that do not agree and prefer old school to new. Social media is growing and some companies cannot keep up with the pressure, this is also another downfall with relying on social media!

Then some websites beg to differ that you not spending enough time on social media and loosing followers, I don't think so. An graph below show the statistics how much time companies spend on the social media platforms in the last couple of years. Scary that is how we revolve our world!

In short I feel that companies should use social media to gain followers and keep up with the trends but they (the companies) should also focus on the bookworms (me) and other people that do not feel the need to rely on the social pages of companies, because lets face it - not many companies reply to their social media pages anyways!

Social media might be something that is fascinating but companies should remember it could ruin them too!

Why does material things fill that gap?

It's funny, I went out with my mother and decided to buy a new laptop, I had one - but it was old and didn't want to communicate to well with me! So off we went and purchased a new laptop, not very cheap I might add, but hell it made me the happiest girl alive for those 20 minutes of carrying it around and installing all the new word documents etc.

I feel that this life is too materialistic, like we dote on the fact that "I have better than you"? Well that's at least how I feel. When last did you feel, "I don't need any fancy materialistic items to make me happy - I am healthy and I have loved ones" - you see we don't feel like that anymore, we see something and want it to make ourselves feel better and look good.

I can't say I don't do that either, cause I do. I got my laptop and bloated to the world that I had this amazing type of equipment that speaks to me and helps me do things when I don't have to do much - does that even make sense?

I guess, the world is no longer a place where children are children, we are brought up with the latest gadgets and the cell phone story from an age of 6 years old. That is pathetic! What is going to happen to the children in twenty years time - my children - I wont let them become another robot in society.

Life is too technical, and even I get confused by all these gadgets and things. What happened to just buying a radio that does simple things - NO, now you get something that plays from Bluetooth and when you walk past it switches on! Seriously, I don't want that, I want the good old radio.

I think I might be old fashioned but everything is passing us too quickly without us realising that we getting older and we still don't know what half of Cape Town looks like in life because we can Google the image instead. STOP AND SMELL THE ROSES. Life is getting shorter and we need to see what life is giving us and what we can get out of it - besides materialistic things.

Where did we go, and when did we come back programmed to be a robot and buy things we probably don't need but want for status material.

My life - flashing by...

I have just realized that this will be my last Easter holiday weekend, well a school holiday version of it! I am actually growing up and can no longer use "oh I have next year to decide" it is all this year, here and now! MY LAST YEAR OF STUDYING! I feel that I should be grateful in one way, I will earn a salary, be a working girl and finally be moving into the wild industry I have always longed to be in! 

My one problem that I am feeling at the moment is that.... I am not grasping all my college work - some subjects are crazy awesome and others are going no where slowly. This is a problem, because I get told that Btech level is super scary - which it is, but also I should be at a level to understand and get high marks, which I feel is impossible sometimes.

Another scary thought to the growing up - will I get a job one day (next year)! This is scary... I feel that your last year should be memorable, and I fully understand a Btech level can not be all fun and games! 

I suppose all of this feels like a roller coaster ride sometimes. And everywhere I look are quiz's that say "are you in the right field", "Is PR for you" and I wonder "well is it?", but then I think who is a quiz to judge me about what career to go in? So what you get a low mark for that one test - we can't get everything we want, right? Life is too short to stress about things that are beyond your control, well that's what I have learnt, and only this year! 

I feel that because it is my last year I want to take on all that I can do, and make sure it is perfect before I can't rely on marks to get me through life anymore. I take on extra college work and assistant jobs to make sure that I am not just another PR student that walked the journey of the degree... BUT a student that showed their full potential and helped where I could. I want to be remembered for being a good PR student, and one that was never difficult or lazy to work with.

I must admit I am feeling a bit emotional with realizing that I will no longer be a student and see my friends everyday from November. It's a sad thought... 

http://weheartit.com/entry/56322964/via/carina_tiedemann

HootSuite or Tweetdeck? You decide....

As a PR Poppie we need to use social media daily, but with this comes many management applications such as HootSuite and Tweetdeck. BUT which one do you decide to use depends on the working ability, the look and of course the hear say of this application! So here goes which one do we prefer?

Tweetdeck:

• Not Ipad compatible - well it wasn't on my Ipad at least?
• You can only connect to your Facebook or Twitter - no more, no less! 
• The social management features are quite limited.
• I do like that I see everything popping up in the different columns though! That was a big plus in my books when I first stared using Tweetdeck.
• It's user friendly, when I first started, I found my way around 'the place' quite well and they even friendly! 

HootSuite:

• Has a colour scheme and a large management menu on the side too for easy viewing and fast access to your accounts.
• HoutSuite is integrated with many social media applications such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and the list goes on! So for PR poppies we could use this to manage our social and business life! 
• Has extra features - like the analytical report - haven't tried this and sounds a bit complicated but in the working world it's a plus! 

However one cannot say which one is better and which one to choose! BUT! if you are a student Tweetdeck is easier and faster to use, but when it comes to be being a big girl and a PR poppie maybe Hootsuite is a plus to get used to and try to master! 

I will admit, I'm not too clued up on either of these awesome applications, however what I have tried has worked well with me and seems easy enough to master, but maybe I am old fashioned and like to manage my own accounts or see things individually! 

https://www.google.co.za/search?hl=en&q=tweetdeck+vs+hootsuite&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.44697112,d.d2k&biw=1024&bih=677&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=YPhbUcOpPImP7Aa7koCgBw#imgrc=jLhqClO3HzurPM%3A%3BpTA6bSjajPI6dM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252F4.bp.blogspot.com%252F-DPGN75t-IpY%252FURVG1UG0voI%252FAAAAAAAAAOE%252FzRp4TesJGVI%252Fs1600%252Fhootsuite-vs-tweetdeck.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fcaitylewsocialmedia.blogspot.com%252F2013%252F02%252Fhoootsuite-vs-tweetdeck.html%3B434%3B208

Public Relations versus the World

Going Up in the World....

I never pictured my life being a public relations practitioner one day, I don't really know what I wanted to become. There is always the basics: a vet, a doctor, a fire fighter? No one really says, "I want to be a public relations practitioner when I grow up" or a publicist do they? 

I wonder why we have such a broad industry, however we never get the credit we deserve. In school you never get taught about public relations? Marketing yes, but never public relations. The only time you see it is in the movies when its glitz and glam, but not the hard working industry that we are, well at least that's how I feel. 

Public Relations was given to me as a gift one could say, I was given a bursary to study anything I wanted and wham! Public Relations it was. It's funny I was never an A student in high school, but as soon as I got into this field it was as if I wanted to achieve everything and gain all the knowledge I could about this 'life' I would move on to one day.

Public Relations is so much more than what movies portray, it's about making the 'people' feel better, more important - not us, the workers! We here to make you look good, and yet our name goes to shame! It annoys me when teenagers chose this field to make a career on without thinking, who thought law, social psychology and film where involved in this - not many, not me! 

What I am trying to get at, without babbling, is that our industry is not at the level it should be. We work so hard and try to make it 'ours' however we never really get the attention we deserve. Schools should be advertising it when you have career day, more colleges should offer it and lastly companies should be more open about public relations. 

Well that's how I feel about it at least. Public Relations is a talent that one has, a people's person job that does not make things sparkle but stand out to the world. Yes overseas public relations is huge but in Cape Town it can be just as big as overseas, if not bigger! 

Where did our souls go..

Funny, when I was younger for fun I was told to read by my grandmother. She was a strict lady, who believed old school was the way to bring grandchildren up. I must admit I am truly thankful for her bringing me up to be a bookworm.

I feel that the generations now, not that I am that old, tend to rely on everything digital and social. Like reading books online, or being attached to Facebook every two minutes to see who's poked you or tagged you in a picture. Don't get me wrong, I love my social media, however I feel that this has changed our social needs, it's taken away our souls... Communication has died...

When last have you opened a book, smelt the pages of a brand new book? (Sounds weird, but to me that's the most amazing smell - a new book!)

Everything has changed, and I know things change with time, but it's scary to think that our communication is so advanced now, can you imagine it in 15 years time. I suppose I am old school, I prefer speaking to someone face to face than having to BBM them or facebook them?

Then I think to myself, social media is our day to day habit. What would we do without it? When we bored or sitting on the bus or train we constantly use our social media pages! I'm not trying to contradict myself, I just feel that social media should not be so important in our lives. And also that the younger generation should not be so involved with social media, they growing up too quickly for their time because of social media and the Internet.

One could probably blabber on about how it changes our lives for the worst or the better, but I feel that the quality of life has changed due to social media, and the fact that we rely on the Internet and social media platforms way too much!!