Practice Creativity

In the last week or so I’ve found myself in a number of conversations that ultimately turned into a ping-pong match of idea-swapping and action-suggesting (just made that word up). I’ve always been an avid brainstormer. I love the struggle of finding creative solutions. Several ideas I discussed with TJ were actually implemented a few days later by an organization we’re a part of when it reached out to its volunteers to gain some feedback. I can’t lie, I loved seeing that email show up in my inbox working the public relations strategies I had suggested.

I think I could get addicted to this creativity stuff. New media promotes it. The people behind the golden wall are afraid of it. Our education system has forgotten about it. But the work world demands it.

Then, I think to myself: “How do I become one of those people who has the right idea at the right time?” Waiting for the ever-elusive “inspiration” in crunch time just won’t work. The people I know whom I considered most creative are not creative just sporadically or occasionally–they are habitually and predictably brilliant.

So this is what I came up with: I’m going to practice. You can’t have creativity without creating something. It’s the fundamental action. Solve problems. Write down those crazy ideas that usually flit away to neverland. Put them to use for free for someone who is willing to hear you out. Listen, really listen, to the most creative teachers, speakers, planners, and leaders I know. Creative people surround themselves with other creative people; it’s sort of a way to keep inspiration near by. What it comes down to is truly engaging the mind then acting in some way. What you come up with might surprise you.

Give Your Blog Some Personality

I’ve been checking out fellow COMM student Cheryl Harrison’s blog. She’s a student at Capital University with apparently more time than the average person (or at least more energy)–she’s the superwoman of students who work, intern, study, and volunteer time. All that, and she’s probably going to be one of the most sought after graduates for the field of PR here pretty soon. Here’s some things I’ve learned from her blog:

1) Don’t be afraid to include your personality on your blog. Keeping things professional does not mean sacrificing your natural creativity or taking on a non-human voice. Read anything on Cheryl’s blog, and you won’t be able to avoid noticing her sarcasm and wit.

2) Paying for a personal domain and a graphic designer is a worthy investment. Cheryl is a student, but her blog looks very professional and not at all cheap. It’s an impressive bit to show potential employers–far more interesting to look at than a traditional resume (even if you splurge on the “quality” paper).

3) Her resume is listed as a page on the blog. I think this is brilliant! Anyone who stumbles on the blog can check out her qualifications. She could get (and probably has already gotten) internship and job offers she might never think to apply for just because her experience is available to whoever wants to know.

Very cool blog…inspiring me to revamp this one in the near future…

Web Stratgey Time-Budget

Beth Kanter wrote a great post about how organizations should budget their time for online strategizing and reaching out to publics. See my thoughts about the balance between email, blogging and other social media activities in this comment.

A Little PR Practice for this Newbie

Saturday night I was able to represent Mocha Club at CMT’s Jason Aldean and Lady Antebellum concert at Littlejohn Colliseum here in Clemson, SC. I’ve mentioned it a lot lately, but Mocha Club is a program that is redefining “the coffee break,” asking members to give up the cost of 2 mochas a month to support different projects in Africa. Lady Antebellum is one of the celebrity sponsors of the organization.

I was officially the PR rep for the evening–I was responsible for pitching the program, answering questions and running the product table. Hundreds of people stopped by the table or at least slowed down to glance at the pictures and displays. At the end of the night, we had 5 new members sign up (which the MC director told me was actually pretty good since their usual circuit is more acoustic/coffee shop music rather than country). But I found myself wishing I could measure the amount of exposure the table had generated.

My thought was that the large display could have featured a website with a specific URL to let the MC staff know if it had led people to later check out the organization on their own. I would have also had informational stickers or hand-outs to give to everyone who was interested. A lot of people considered joining or said they’d think about it later. It would have been nice to put something in their hands to help them recall later, something that also had a specific URL to designate it was the source of their search for information. Also, the online sign ups should ask the question, “When did you first hear about Mocha Club?”

The concerts are a great tool because they get the name out there and (hopefully) get people thinking. The band spends a few minutes letting people know why they support MC and where the table. The number of people who stopped by after the band talked was a lot higher than before. So, I also learned to never underestimate the power of celebrity endorsement!

Blog Action a little late…

So, I missed Blog Action Day, and I’m really bummed about it. Therefore, I have decided any day is a good day for some blog action, and this year’s topic, poverty, is something that could use one more post (even if it’s late!).

Here are my thoughts: As we United States inhabitants are now unable to peel our eyes away from CNN and the gloom-and-doom economy news it provides, I have been struck by the sheer numbers of people who honestly think we have it bad. Here, “bad economy” might mean people don’t eat out three times in a week. In Haiti, “bad economy” means people don’t eat at all. If you have any of these things…

…you are outright wealthy compared to most of the world. Not to mention that if you own a car, you are among the 7% of people in the world who do. We have no right to complain.

Now, I’m not claiming that poverty doesn’t exist in America–that would be an absurd statement. But I will go out on a limb here and say that more Americans are in a position to help the truly needy than are not. Helping doesn’t mean solving the issue of world hunger single-handedly. It simply means doing what we can—and maybe admitting to ourselves that giving up a cheeseburger this week so that a child could go to school doesn’t even really qualify as sacrificial.

So, here are some of my favorite ways to get involved ending poverty, here and around the world:

The Mocha Club : The cost of two mochas a month can give 7 Africans clean water for a year.

Kiva : Loan money (any amount you can, no matter how small) to entrepreneurs in small villages around the world.

Feed the Children : Buying this bag feeds a child school lunch for a year–which helps keep them going.

Confessions of an Ex-Perfectionist

Responsibility is not dependent upon perfection.

Success and significance are not one and the same.

For 19 or so years of my life I’ve weighed these beliefs. After two and a half years of college and several jobs and internships I’ve come to the conclusion that there is no glory in perfect scores or performance gained by failing at relationships.

I am a Clemson junior enrolled in five classes this semester. My heart is in two of them. In the other three, though I know I’m subconsciously picking up on valuable information, most of the time I feel like I’m wasting otherwise better-spent time. Lately I’ve been finding myself wanting to forsake homework and testing perfection for the sake of doing something significant with my time. Thus, this past Friday I drove to Anderson with some friends and played in the rain with the children of low-income families in a run-down apartment complex. I should’ve been writing an essay for my French class. So irresponsible yet so exhilarating. It was better than an A.

Perry Noble asked this question today: “Who do you most admire and for what quality?” Do you spend more of your time trying to be like that, or going through the motions of what will lend the the generic title of “success” ? Significance far outweighs it. The question I’ve been asking myself is: In what ways is my life and work significant beyond myself, and how is it exactly that I can tell?

Any thoughts?

Cluetrain Manifesto–Was this really written 9 years ago??

Some thoughts from the Cluetrain Manifesto–brilliant stuff, really.

A conversation cannot be faked—people instinctively know when they’re in a real conversation and when they’re being worked over, whether audibly or on a screen.

People “in the market” know more useful and accurate information about products—the good, the bad, and the ugly—than the companies that produce and market them.

A sense of humor and authenticity should be companions. And companies that don’t have them are severely out of touch with the people they need to support them.

“Most marketing programs are based on the fear that the market might see what’s really going on inside the company.” Wow, I can’t paraphrase that one. 

Beth’s Blog–So much good information!

I’ve been reading Beth’s Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media a lot lately. This blog by Beth Kanter, a blogger, consultant, and social media guru, has provided me with a lot of practical resources for learning more about spinning all this new media stuff towards more than just making a profit for a PR firm. The site always includes a lot of links to outside resources and examples of PR campaigns done in the nonprofit/activist circuit. Beth has rececntly had some great posts on relationship building through social media networking and twitter etiquette. Check it out!

The Who, What, and Why of Blogging for Nonprofits

See my comment on Beth Kanter’s blog post about the in’s and out’s of utilizing blogs for nonprofit organizations.

Guth and Marsh Chapter 9

PR plans exist to maintain a relationship or to effect some change in a relationship with a public or group of publics.

A strategically planned event can bridge gaps with multiple publics at once.

News releases should pitch relevance; they should also reflect an understanding of the objectivity by which journalists are required to live.

PR tactics come in many, many forms. Creativity is welcome. Strategy is needed.