Life as a PR student

My film

2009-03-04T10:37:00.000-08:00

I have begun to work on my Entertainment Marketing project! I met with the producer of my film to get some background so I could get ready to go. The film I am working on is called Fiasco. It is a graduate student thesis film. They are in post production right now, but I have had the chance to read the script.

I am starting the project by getting some of the key artwork designed. The one-sheet (movie poster) will be my first project, and then I am going to take that to design things like the letterhead and stickers. Most of my design work will be done on Photoshop, which I am fairly familiar with, but I am sure I will get to know it really well by the end of the project.

Once I get the key art put together, I am actually going to start on the details of the campaign, starting with film festivals. I am super excited for this part because it will allow me to impliment some of the ideas I have begun forming. I know that I have a lot of work ahead of me, but I cannot wait to see my finished result.

That is all for now. Please let me know if you have any questions:)

:)Lauren

Entertainment Marketing

2009-02-18T08:26:00.000-08:00

I had my Entertainment Marketing class yesterday, and we got to pick our films for our big project. What is so cool about this class is that we get to actually work with film students at Dodge, and create an actual marketing campaign for their film.

We have three sections in the project. I will have to create a marketing campaign to market the film at a film festival, including making an actual festival media kit. I will then have to figure out a way to get a distributor for the film, and then market to consumers. This project really allows the students to be creative and take everything we have learned so far to create this final assignment.

The project requires a lot of design elements, as well as writing. Design is not necessarily my strong point, but I am excited to have the chance to improve my skills in this area. I am also looking forward to the creative side, and coming up with all of the ways to market the film.

It is really neat that Chapman gives us the chance to work with the film students, and help them figure out how to market their films. The collarboration between departments creates some amazing opportunities for us.

That is all for now! Feel free to post any questions you have!

:)Lauren

My Internship

2009-02-11T09:13:00.000-08:00

Hello again!!

I am currently interning at the City of Anaheim, in the External Affairs Office. This department essentially does all of the PR for the City, including media relations, special events and city publications. I work up in the Mayor's office, so I also get to interact with members of the City Council and the Mayor.

I actually get paid for this internship, which is awesome. I have worked there since May, so it has been almost a year. What I have loved most about working with the City is the diversity of jobs I get. Since Anaheim is the 10th largest city in California, there is a lot going on. Some of my bigger tasks have included writing for the City magazine (which gets sent out to all residents), updating the website, writing press releases, and helping with special events. I also got to organize the volunteers for both the Halloween Parade and Rose Parade, which was really fun.

In fact, yesterday I helped at an event called "Anaheim/OC Walk of Stars." We basically have our own version of the Hollywood Walk of Stars, where local businessmen, celebrities, and philanthropists are honored for their contributions to Anaheim and Orange County. Some of the honorees have included the Karcher Family, Gene Autry and the Righteous Brothers. The Walk of Stars is located at Disneyland, so I was there most of the day helping with our newest honoree. There are ten stars now, with more on the way.

I guess that is it for now. I will detail out more things I do as they come up. If you want to check out some of the things I have done, go to www.anaheim.net. You can find my department under City Administration>External Affairs>PIO. This outlines a lot of the programs and events I have worked on. A copy of the latest issue of the magazine is also on the main page, so you can check that out too!

:)Lauren

I am Back!!!!

2009-01-29T14:05:00.000-08:00

So I apologize for the length between blog posts. Last semester was crazy, so I was not very good at keeping the blog up to date. But, I wil be starting my last semester here at Chapman (ah!) so I figured it might me interesting to go through the job search process with me. Hopefully, by the time I graduate on May, I will have a job. *Crosses fingers* I am also taking one of our best classes, Entertainment Marketing this semester, so I am excited to share this experience with you all!

But first, let me wrap up last semester. I took what ended up being one of my favorite and most useful classes last semester, which was Public Relations Campaigns. This is the capstone for PR/AD majors, but you get to choose to do campaigns in either area. Since my interesting is in PR, that is what I went with.

The structure of the class is really cool. Everyone gets put into a group of five, and you choose a client. They have to be in an Orange County area non-profit area, but other than that you can choose any client you want. Our group chose the Laguna Playhouse, a theater located in Laguna Beach. The goal of the project is to create an entire PR campaign for the company, start to finish.

We started by interviewing the media director of the Playhouse, and got a good sense for where the company was lacking and where they could use extra help. Then we started step-by-step with the campaign. We had assignments due each week, some group and some individual. We went from research, to themes, goals, strategies and tactics, media strategies and evaluation. Our group created media tools like press release, brochures and newsletters that the Playhouse could actually use if they wanted.

The project ended with our group creating a 50-page book compiling all of the work we had done, and a thirty minute presentation. We were lucky enough to have our client there at our presentation, so it was like we were really pitching our campaign! In addition, our group is actually going down to the Playhouse to do our presentation for the marketing team of the Playhouse soon.

This was not another class assignment, I felt like I learned so much about what a PR campaign is, and how to pitch to a client. Some of our ideas may even be implimented, which is really exciting. I now have this beautiful book to show for my portfolio, and the experience to talk about.

That is why I love Chapman. It is so hands on and class projects are actually applicable to real life situations. Let me know if you have any questions or want to know more about this class or others. I will go into my “get a job when I graduate” strategy in the next post.

Thanks for reading:)

Case Studies

2008-04-08T14:29:00.000-07:00

I am in PR Case Studies right now, which is basically the class leading up to the capstone (senior thesis) for PR/AD majors. In the class we analyze PR cases in relation to different areas of PR. We have studied things like community relations, special publics, emergency PR and public affairs. It is has been really helpful to look at the different areas of PR and see what it entails. The cases are great for showing how these types of PR are implemented.

As part of the class, we each have to present a case on something that has happened in the last few years. My case is studying the community relations program for the San Diego Padres. I am interested in going into community relations so it has been a great learning experience for me. I actually interviewed one of the community relations directors at the Padres, which gave me some really good insight into the field. That is what is so great about the PR major, you often do projects and presentations that allow you to research an area that you actually interested in.

I am presenting my case in two weeks, so I have to give a twenty minute presentation with a power point. By this time in college, power point presentations are easy because we do them a lot. Public speaking is definitely a skill you pick up fast as a PR major.

I am sure you are all in the midst of picking schools right now, its a crazy and exciting time of the year. If I can help to answer any questions or give any more insight please let me know. Good luck with your decision-making!!!!!

:)Lauren

Class Speaker

2008-04-02T15:36:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has been a while. Midterms and Spring Break have made these past few weeks a little crazy. I finally got through midterms and things have slowed down a little bit.

We had a really interesting speaker in our Writing for PR class on Monday. His name is Reed Dickens and he was the former assistant Press Secretary for President Bush. He was assistant Press Secretary before he was thirty. He has some really interesting insight into the world of communications. Dickens explained his idea that everyone finds out everything eventually so you are better off telling the truth from the beginning. He also talked about crisis communications and how it is always important to be transparent and timely when dealing with a crisis situation.

This is just one example of the amazing speakers we get a chance to hear at Chapman. They give out great advice and are a great resource when learning about PR. We have a lot of awesome speakers like Reed Dickens that come in all the time. Its one thing I have found really useful by going to Chapman.

:)

Fun stuff to do at Chapman...outside of the Film School (gasp)

2008-03-07T08:28:00.000-08:00

Hey there!

So I decided to spend today talking about fun stuff to do at Chapman in general, not just at the film school. If you have read my info, you can tell that I am way too involved in school..haha. But I guess it makes me a good source for knowing great ways to get involved.

So on Tuesday night, my sorority, Alpha Phi, held our Spring philanthropy event. It's called Mr. University and is basically a male beauty pageant. Different organizations on campus sponsor guys to compete in the event, so its gets fairly competitive. We had eleven contestants this year, and they were amazing! They compete in the normal stuff, swim wear, talent and formal wear. The talents are definitely the best part. I was a back-up dancer in my contestant's talent....it was so much fun! My contestant totally ended up winning too which was sooo awesome! I am not sure how much money we raised yet, but I am hoping it was more than last year (which was about $12,000) All proceeds go to Orange County Make-a-Wish.

I am also really excited about an event coming up that is hosted by Associated Students (our student government). Its an etiquette dinner with Alumni. AS hires a "Etiquette expert" to come in and teach the proper ways to eat, especially at a nice dinner. Since I am a Chapman Ambassador, I have a lot of dinners where I am sitting with donors or important guests, so I am excited to brush up on my manners! We also get a free dinner, which is always a plus for a "starving college student." AS has also invited Alumni to host tables, so this allows students to network too. There is a Public Relations person coming, so I am super excited. I will let you know how it goes!

By the way, I mentioned in my last post that I was waiting to hear back from a new internship. Well, I am still waiting....unfortunately. This tends to happen with internships. Sometimes it all happens really fast, and others its a slow process. I think the place I am applying it waiting to get in more applications. It was the first time I had to send in writing samples though, it was intense. It was almost like applying to a real job....which is good I guess will be good experience for later. Hopefully I will get called for a interview at least, and in the near future....

Well that is it for now. But please comment if you have any questions!!!! I am here for you all, so I am more than happy to help. Or if there is something you want to hear more about, I can do that too.

Talk you soon,
Lauren

PRSSA Oscar Party

2008-02-25T15:34:00.000-08:00

I have been a member of the Public Relations Student Society of American (PRSSA) since my freshmen year. I had some great opportunities learning all about the industry through speakers and networking events.

Last night we hosted our second annual Oscar party. Its really fun because we get to watch the show in our huge 500 seat theater. Everyone gets all dressed up and its like we have our own little Oscar event at our school. There is a raffle for movie packs and food places. We all vote on who we think the big winners will be. This year we decided to also screened student films. It was really awesome to see our film student's work, and have them recongnized.

Our film school is great for events like this. It gives me, a PR/Ad major, opportunities I wouldn't get at other places. I will talk more about PRSSA later....it has been sooo awesome!

I am also applying for another internship at the moment...because my one with the Arsenal is almost up. Keep your fingers crossed for me! I will keep you updated....

Lauren

Why every Chapman student needs a Disneyland Annual Pass

2008-02-15T17:38:00.000-08:00

I went to Disneyland last weekend, and I decided it had to be the next topic for my blog.....

Chapman, if you didn't know, is located about fifteen minutes from Disneyland. I have had a annual pass since I was a freshman, and it has been the best decision I have ever made. Having Disneyland so close is truly a blessing in disguise.

Disneyland has turned into the place that I go when I need to relieve stress. College can get hectic at times, so its always a good idea to have some sort of outlet. I can go to Disneyland, pretend to be a kid again, and forget about life for a few hours. I really don't think you can do that anywhere else, it really is the Happiest Place on Earth! With the annual pass, I can go for a couple hours, and not feel like I wasted money. I have literally gone to Disneyland, ridden one ride, and then left. Amazing!

A lot of Chapman students work at the parks too, so its always fun seeing people performing or working on rides. You literally can't go to Disneyland without recongnizing at least one Chapman student.

So basically Disneyland is a huge perk of Chapman, and I don't what I will do if I move away from this area. I will miss the Disney magic so much! In fact, all this talking about D-land makes me want to go right now...maybe I will!! (See....so cool..I can just go!!!)

Hi!!

2008-02-06T09:06:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my blog!

It's the second week of Spring semester, so things have been a little hectic with new classes and such. I am taking 12 units this semester, but it is all upper division credit so its going to be a lot of work.

Here are the classes I am taking:
Writing for Public Relations
Case Studies in Public Relations
Internet Communication
Historian's Craft

I have also been busy with my internship. I currently interning at the Anaheim Arsenal. They are a part of the Developmental League of the NBA (kind of like a minor league team). I work in their front office, as well as at games. I have done a lot of work with their media relations area, and learned all about the world of PR in sports. Recently I have been the emcee at games, which means I get to run all of the promotional games during time-outs and breaks. Its a lot of fun being out on the court and getting the crowd involved. Its a lot of work though too, I have had three games in the last four days. I have gained an immense amount of knowledge on the sports world, and I hope this will help me when I need a job after college. Internships are all about networking.