Gopher Athletes Help to Make First Annual “Move It Day” a Hit
Great job, Bateman team! Below is a press release about the Move It MPLS campaign that our Bateman committee has been working on.
Move It MPLS hosted its first annual “Move It Day” at the North Minneapolis YMCA on February 29. The purpose of the day was to challenge kids from a low-income community to learn about nutrition, physical activity, and healthy living. More than 100 children aged four to 17 participated.
The children were divided into groups by age and then guided through five different stations. All groups began in the gym and listened to a motivational talk given by two Gopher football players, Anthony Jacobs and Brandon Kirksey. The speakers led the kids through an activity that simulated the effects of smoking, and stressed to them the importance in healthy living and responsible decision making.
Students were then led through four additional stations where they were able to make their own trail mix, play nutrition related games, and participate in team building challenges. Approximately ten athletes from the University of Minnesota track and field team, tennis team, and ultimate Frisbee club team also participated with students as they rotated through each station.
Rodger Ross, program manager at the YMCA, was beyond impressed with the day’s activities. “I have never seen these kids so excited and engaged in nutrition before. I can only hope that we can continue working with Move It MPLS to host more events like this.”
Move It MPLS is a team of students from the University of Minnesota who are working to raise awareness about childhood obesity in Minneapolis. The team formed in November, 2011 and is continuing to educate and empower Minneapolis citizens to make healthy lifestyle decisions.
This press release was written by Erika VanRiper (@Vanri010) and posted by Kelsey Darnall (@KelseyJDarnall).
The Bigger the Risk, The Bigger the Reward
Risk is a very familiar word to those in the marketing field. Just how far are marketers willing to go to stand apart from their competitors and stay ahead in the game? Take a look at two marketers who risk everything to win big. Both of these marketers have shown the world that they have what it takes to battle through the obstacles, take huge risks, and come out on top.
Russell Weiner, Chief Marketing Officer at Domino’s Pizza, showed the world that admitting to the negatives of your product can lead to a positive reaction. In 2009, an employee of Domino’s posted a video of themselves doing revolting things to Domino’s pizza on YouTube. The occurrence showed the power of social media, which quickly unraveled a brand, and gave consumers one more reason to get their pizza elsewhere. Weiner’s response was daring: a campaign that would begin with consumers, in vivid detail, describing how bad the pizza was and then to introduce the reformulated version. “We had to be open, honest and transparent,” states Weiner. “People said our pizza wasn’t good enough, so we changed everything about it.” His bold and risk-taking tactics paid off as Domino’s sales in the first quarter soared 14.3 percent. By admitting to the downfalls of Domino’s pizza in a marketing campaign, Weiner won back the trust and loyalty of its customers, while improving its product is still worthwhile. Russell Weiner shown himself to be a knight in shining armor in saving Domino’s brand, and thus has joined a legend of esteemed marketers.
James Moorhead did not only double the sales of Old Spice body wash within a six month period, but the 31-year-old brand manager for Proctor & Gamble’s Old Spice was also named Adweek Media’s “Marketer of the Year.” Moorhead is awarded for his supervision of the newly created Old Spice ads featuring Isaiah Mustafa, a formal NFL player, who wears only a towel and insists that his female viewers compare their boyfriends and husbands to him. Moorhead became a loyalist of the brand in three years of working as brand manager for Old Spice. If you truly believe in the value of your brand, likes Moorhead does, you will work harder to market it. Moorhead was a big believer in moving the brand into the social media spotlight by using YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook. This was a huge success and contributed to the brand popularity. Jason Bagley, one of the creative directors on the commercial advertisement project said, “You can probably imagine the type of faith and courage it takes for a large corporation to allow you the freedom to do all this.” Moorhead pulled off a near-perfect campaign, and showed us that a mixture of creativity, risk, and valor, can create great success.
These two marketers laid it all on the line to win over their consumers. They took big risks, and with that came reward. As their brands continue to flourish, the marketing world is left in awe of the task they accomplished. It’s marketers like Weiner and Moorhead who we learn from. They teach us that you can’t let others deter you from taking risks, especially when it may even be yourself who is standing in the way. Sometimes you just have to believe in your ideas, take a chance, and have a little faith!
This post was written by Manoel Reichel (@manoelthomas) and edited by Jens Heig (@JensRHeig) and Kelsey Darnall (@KelseyJDarnall).
How to Get that First Intership
Everyone is always looking for that “foot in the door”, that one opportunity that will help pave the beginning of his or her professional career, but how does one get that opportunity to get that internship, let alone stand out from the thousands of other students? As a freshman, I’ve personally asked myself these questions numerous times. Here is a list of things that I have found helpful in terms of getting a job or that first internship:
Network, network, network.
It’s crazy how all the hype these days has a lot to do with gaining a larger network. One of the keys to success is networking a ridiculous amount, yet people still don’t seem to do it. Some people still have not realized that the people you meet may not necessarily be the ones offering you a job, but those same people may know people who can. The bigger your network is, the more opportunities you may be offered.
Going along this same idea, you must also go outside of your comfort zone and walk up to professionals at job and internship fairs and introduce yourself. You must understand that you have to put yourself out there and become well-known in order to become successful.
Post fair.
Hypothetically speaking, let’s say you did it – you went to a internship or job fair and you found the perfect internship. What you do in the next 24 hours will be the determining factor in whether you get called in for an interview or just get passed on like the rest. Marketing yourself goes beyond going to a fair, handing the representative a copy of your resume, and hoping they’ll call you back. You have to keep in mind that at least 200 other students did the same thing. 200 people, maybe 4 spots, what makes you different?
So here’s something you can do to stand out – email them. It’s as simple as that. Hopefully you had asked for a business card after you handed them your resume. The day after the fair send them an email using the address provided on their business card saying something like: “Hello, I spoke to you yesterday regarding the internship you have posted. I’m very interested and would love to get more information” so on so forth. It’s also important to make them remember you. Bring up something you two had discussed at the fair. I would even attach an additional copy of your resume just so they are forced to look at yours rather than search through their large stacks of other resumes.
Set up informational meetings.
If you didn’t attend any internship or job fair, another option you have to stand out from hundreds of cyber resumes is setting up informational meetings with professionals. Informational meetings are a great way to network and learn a little bit more about a specific company or the industry. These types of interactions are extremely helpful if you don’t know anyone who works in the agency or business that you want to get into. It’s pretty obvious that everyone loves talking about him or herself, and no matter how busy someone is I’ve found that most professionals have an hour or so to get coffee with a student.
The most important thing to keep in mind when it comes to informational meetings is that it is NOT an interview. Don’t go into the meeting expecting to get a job offer, or to even talk about yourself. This meeting is about talking to the professional and asking them about how they got in the industry, their experiences, etc. If they do ask you about yourself, you should definitely answer, but don’t always expect that too happen.
A way to get in touch with these professionals is by cold emailing. Basically this means finding the directory and sending out an email introducing yourself, and asking for a time to meet. This may seem intimidating, but it definitely pays off.
These are just a couple of suggestions and things to think about as you start applying and looking over applications for summer internships and jobs! Good luck to all of my fellow PRSSA members who are younger like myself and looking to get their foot in the door.
This post was written by Mohamed Sakallah (@msakallah5) and edited/posted by Kelsey Darnall (@KelseyJDarnall).
The Next Big Thing: Red Frog Events
For you lucky members heading to Chicago in December prepare yourself to tour Red Frog Events, a local event planning company that’s starting to boom in the Chicago area! For those of you hoping to network and possibly gain a job out of this trip expect to put all your skills out on the table. They receive around 2,000 resumes EACH MONTH! Once someone is accepted into the company they are fortunate enough to call themselves one of the “Frog Army” members and become part of the office family.
Red Frog puts on events like the Warrior Dash, The Great Urban Race scavenger hunt, Beach Palooza and Red Frog Bar Crawl! Check out Red Frog’s website (linked above) and make sure to follow them on Twitter at @RedFrogEvents before you arrive in Chicago. Have questions ready for Red Frog and make sure you bring your ‘A GAME!’
This post was written and edited by Kelsey Darnall ( KelseyJDarnall).
5 Resume Tips from Jon Pushkin, APR
Last Thursday I took a trip to Denver and sat down with Jon Pushkin from Pushkin PR for a helpful informational interview. After talking about the Denver PR market, and different companies in the area, we talked about resumes and portfolios. Jon sees multiple resumes come across his desk on a weekly basis. Here’s 5 tips from Jon on how to make your own resume and cover letter stand out among the many:
1. Do your homework: Before sending a company or a professional your cover letter do your homework and check out their website, blog or any social media they are on. Find a way to connect instead of sending a general cover letter that you send out to everyone. Saying something along the lines of, “I’m interested in this client of yours because it’s similar to the work I’ve done on so and so..” will make your cover letter much more personal.
2. Talk about your extracurricular activities: Your resume should include more than just what school you went to, what your major was and when you plan on graduating. Any outside activities (like a sorority or fraternity, PRSSA, volunteer work) makes your resume stand out more. If you’ve traveled abroad make sure this is also included on your resume and talk about your oversea experiences.
3. Show how you’ve actually been active: If you are in any of the activities I mentioned above show what you’ve done and how this applies to the line of work you’d like to get in to. Just because you have a membership in PRSSA doesn’t mean you are more qualified then someone who isn’t a member. Explain how these organizations have benefited you and explain what you’ve done in them and what you’ve learned from them.
4. Show that you have interest in the world around you: Include information about what news you read and from what news outlets you get your news from. If you can’t include it in your resume because it doesn’t fit anywhere include this information on your cover letter. Jon said it’s a rare occurrence to find a young professional that shows that they stay up-to-date on news, but it’s appreciated when he does see it. Whether you watch CNN every night, or have a subscription to the New York Times, talk about it.
5. Have an easily accessed portfolio: Many of us in PRSSA know the importance of a portfolio. It’s beneficial to take to interviews and it shows the work you’ve done. But, when sending out a cover letter or a resume online, you can’t show your tangible portfolio. So, create one online. Your online portfolio can either be a link to a PDF file, or to your blog, or to an actual website of your own. Either way, show off what you’ve done so far in your PR field.
This post was written by Kelsey Darnall (@KelseyJDarnall). These tips were given by Jon Pushkin (@Jon_Pushkin).
A Day In The Life of a Former PRSSA Member
I recently interviewed Lindsey Jablonic, a former PRSSA student and now a successful graduate from the School of Journalism and Mass Communications. Lindsey went into a unique career field and I hope you all find this interview beneficial!
During your time in PRSSA, what executive positions did you hold?
I was Director of Event Planning my senior year.
What valuable experience did you take in because you held an executive position in PRSSA?
I learned to delegate and how to ask for help. I like doing things my way because that way I know it’s done right, and by delegating tasks to committee members it not only alleviated a lot of my stress but also taught me that I can’t do everything by myself- it’s perfectly okay to ask for help and to be helped. This is so important when you get out of college, because you learn even more after college, and it’s what pays your bills. If you’re struggling at work and you need help, it is so important to be able to ask for it, because you don’t get what you don’t ask for!
Since graduating, what have you found the “real working world” to be like?
The real word is challenging, rewarding, fast pasted and has a lot more free time than college. And you have a lot more money, which isn’t bad.
Where are you currently working? Do you enjoy the company?
I work for Cintas Corporation, the largest uniform provider in the country. The company is fantastic! The culture is really what makes the company a joy to work for, and it’s also what sets us apart from our competitors. They take good care of me as well.
What is your position there?
I’m a uniform sales representative.
On a day-to-day basis, what do you tend to do for them?
Life as an outside sales rep isn’t for everyone, but I love it! I call on both current customers and look for new business. I’m only in the office ten or so hours a week, and during that time I have meetings and “phone block”, which is where you make as many phone calls as you can during four hour time blocks to set up your appointment schedule. The rest of the week I go on appointments with prospects or current customers and find their needs, wants and provide them with a Cintas solution. Yes, I sell pants, shirts, floor mats, toilet paper, soap, etc. but they’re using it, so they may as well get it from me! My job essentially is to go out every day, meet with as many people as I can, get them to like me, and show them how I can help their business. Then of course selling the products and services, making sure they’re installed properly and on time and that their weekly service is set up for success.
Has any of your experiences from PRSSA assisted you at your current employer?
I’m sure the correct answer would be “yes” but honestly, no. I had every intention of going into sales out of college, but also liked PR. I knew PR wasn’t for me, but it was fun, the people were great and I liked planning fun trips to keep me busy. I went a 13 week training program at Cintas for them to mold me into exactly the rep they wanted me to be.
If you had to give any advice to a senior student in PRSSA about graduation and working in the real world, what advice would you give?
Be prepared to work your butt off, especially in your first year. Put in the hours, ask questions, and get your career off the ground. At Cintas there is definitely a work hard, play hard mentality. You work hard during the week, meet your numbers, and enjoy your weekends. No more studying at night, or wasting your time in the library on the weekend when you should be acting your age! But more importantly, and especially in a corporate setting, it is really easy to get caught up in the corporate BS and the day to day stuff you need to do. Don’t forget who you are, what you like and what your goals are. You’d be surprised at how much you can change after you leave campus. Know who you are and stick to it, because a lot of the time it’s what makes people like you and how you get to the top!
If you’d like to get in contact with Lindsey, or have any other questions you can follow her on Twitter @Linds_Jablo. This interview was conducted by Kelsey Darnall (@KelseyJDarnall).
PRSSA’s Philanthropy Efforts
This year our Philanthropy Committee is putting its efforts towards UNICEF, along with a few other clients, and we wanted to share with you a little bit more about what UNICEF is and why we are excited to be working with them.
To start off, for those people who do not know what UNICEF is, it’s an organization that helps protect the health and rights of children. According to the UNICEF website UNICEF believes that nurturing and caring for children are the cornerstones of human progress. Its goal is to work with others to overcome the obstacles that poverty, violence, disease and discrimination place in a child’s path.
PRSSA has decided to help the UNICEF group on our campus by putting out “Trick or Treat” boxes for coins and change at fraternities, sororities and other places around campus to help raise money for UNICEF. We are hoping to get official UNICEF boxes, but if that doesn’t happen in time, we will get creative and decorate our own shoe boxes. We are looking forward to visiting the multiple fraternities and sororities durring their dinner hours to talk about what our goals are for this coin drive and to officially ask for their help. We are planning to distribute the Trick or Treat boxes on Monday, October 24th.
From there we will see what kinds of opportunities we have for our UNICEF boxes. Either we will be leaving the boxes in their houses or we will take them with us. After Halloween we will be picking the boxes back up are hoping for good results so that we can better assist UNICEF and their efforts.
This post was written by Heather Johnson (@HeatherJ_PR) and edited by Kelsey J Darnall (@KelseyJDarnall)
Happy Homecoming Week!!
The Week is Finally Here — Happy Homecoming!
What are your plans for homecoming this weekend? Going to the game? Hopefully the Gophers can pull of a “W” against Nebraska, but that’s another story in itself! This year’s theme is “All that Glitters is Gold”… yet ironically the entire Greek system isn’t allowed to use actual glitter in any of their activities..
Anyways – U of M’s homecoming started all the way back in 1914 and our first official theme was “Back to Campus” to celebrate the University. Our themes throughout the 1900’s were anything from “Roman” to “Crusader” to “Hog-Tie Iowa.” Talk about old school!
Interestingly enough our homecomings have been put on hold due to national issues. From 1918-1920 the University held off homecoming celebrations due to WWII. Then again from 1970-1975 homecoming activities were strained because of the Vietnam war. The University actually stopped having a homecoming queen during these years because of the feminist movement! Lucky enough we’re all able to still celebrate homecoming although the U.S. has a lot going on overseas.
I’m sure you’re all familiar with our homecoming parade.. But our floats didn’t always look like they do today. Even more old school..
Alpha Phi’s 1923 Homecoming Parade Float
I hope everyone has a great weekend this homecoming and don’t forget what homecoming is all about: celebrating the University of Minnesota! GO GOPHS!
This post was written and edited by Kelsey Darnall (@KelseyJDarnall).
So What’s Fusion Up To?
As most of you PRSSA members already know our Fusion board is taking on big clients this year and all 3 of our Account Executives are excited about what’s to come this year. Here’s a snapshot of their clients… If you’d like to get involved in any of these clients feel free to hop on board with the committee and talk to the lead account executive your interest!
Homegrown Lacrosse, founded in 2004 by four Twin Cities natives, is a nonprofit organization focused on promoting the sport of lacrosse in the state of Minnesota. Homegrown’s mission is to build a community that inspires and empowers youth to excel in life and lacrosse. To accomplish these goals the organization uses a wide-variety of service and fee-based programming that is designed to develop character, build self-confidence and instill a sense of community.
Tim Holtz (@Tim_Holtz1) is the lead account executive for HomeGrown Lacrosse.
Underthink It
Underthink It is understated, modern-fit apparel that is meant to take the decision-making out of your clothing selection. The line is known for its sheer simplicity. From a day at the beach to a casual night out, the Underthink Itis always the easy, obvious choice for the occasion.
We are working with Kathy Bodnar this year to help her launch her brand new business, Underthink It. The group working on Underthink It will strive to bring as much publicity to Kathy’s company as possible, and we intend on alerting appropriate local media outlets about Underthink It and also the story behind Kathy’s brand.
Liz Welle (@LWelle11) is the lead account executive for Underthink It.
Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE)
SAVE is one of the nation’s first organizations dedicated to the prevention of suicide. It is also a co-founding member of the National Council for Suicide Prevention. SAVE is based on the foundation and belief that suicide should no longer be considered a hidden or taboo topic, and that through raising awareness and educating the public, SAVE can save lives. PRSSA has big plans for SAVE. We want to help SAVE get its blog site up and running, enhance its Facebook and Twitter outreach, promote its various events with media relations, and set up an event at the organization featuring a lecture and book reading by grief specialist and award-winning book author Rita Goldhammer.
Shannah Henderson (@shannahend) is the lead account executive for SAVE.
This post was written by Tim Holtz, Liz Welle, and Shannah Henderson and was edited by Kelsey Darnall (@KelseyJDarnall).
Welcome to the New Take!
Welcome to the University of Minnesota PRSSA’s new blog, The New Take! Our PRSSA chapter has decided that we should break free from our other blog and start a fresh new one! This is the first blog post for the Willard Thompson Chapter that will eventually be integrated into our website, mnprssa.org.
The New Take 
