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!