YouTube takes Marriage Proposals

One of my friends sent me this video the other day and I reacted way more than expected.  Maybe I was just having an emotional night as I sometimes have, but once you watch this video, I'm sure you will have a similar effect.

This woman thought they were just taking a family Christmas photo, but her boyfriend had a better idea!

I must admit, my eyes filled with tears after watching this adorable video.  Thanks to Social Media, this video was shared all over YouTube and went viral.  Without it, we probably never would have seen this adorable marriage proposal!

Marriage proposals are so special, whether they are simple or romantic, or elaborate and extravagant! They each have special significance for the couple and even those watching it happen.  Plus, they never seize to bring tears to my eyes.  This video reminds me of a marriage proposal that I was actually involved in: A flashmob for our friends, Alex and Joey!

Watch it here! (I'm the dancer in the pink shorts ;))

This marriage proposal was very emotional and exciting to be in because the couple is close to my family and the dance was choreographed by one of my favorite dance teachers, Lenora Nemetz.  I had a blast and I will never forget this flashmob experience.  Watching Joey join into the flashmob and seeing the look on Alex's face during the dance are images that will never leave my mind.  Plus, it stays pretty fresh considering I watch this video on YouTube every once in a while to relive the memory!

Alex and Joey are now happily married as of this summer.  Their video got 636,972 videos on YouTube and even made it on the Pittsburgh News! Isn't it amazing how vastly these videos travel all over the internet?  I am so glad I was asked to be apart of this flashmob and share this incredible moment with the couples' friends and family. :)

ONU Holiday Spectacular

Last year I worked backstage of The ONU Holiday Spectacular as a child wrangler, taking care of the children of the show: making sure they got on and off stage on time and didn't make too much trouble backstage... which was nearly impossible.  This year I was not casted in the show and did not wish to be a child wrangler again, so I got to see the show first-hand, as an audience member!

As the Ada Icon puts it, this show, consisting of 40 students and 16 children, "start(s) off the holiday season with festive carols, lavish sets, ballerinas, the ever-popular toy soldiers, the man in red himself, Santa Claus, and a few surprises at this year’s Holiday Spectacular. The holiday mystery centers on the misadventures of Trixel, a trouble-making elf who steals Santa’s magic compass prior to Christmas Eve. This sends Mrs. Claus and Pixel the elf on a journey to find the invaluable tool so that Santa can deliver his gifts. There is plenty of song, dance and humor along the way" (Steiner).

The show was extremely entertaining to watch and I enjoyed every second of it!  It was also nice to see all of my friends in the theatre department performing on stage.  I am very proud to be apart of this talented Theatre department here at Ohio Northern University.  They reminded me of the magic and happiness that performing brings to others.  Combine this with the Christmas spirit and it creates an overabundance of joy!

Seeing The Holiday Spectacular is a tradition for families around the Ada/Lima community every year, and I can definitely see why.  The show is filled with the Christmas energy magic and spirit, which everyone appreciates during the most wonderful time of the year!  If you did not get a chance to see it this year, I would definitely go next year!  Maybe then I will be up on that stage singing and dancing in the Holiday Spectacular. ;)

Measure What Matters Book Review

As you have probably noticed, I have been blogging once a week this semester about our assigned readings for Social Media Principals class.  This week, I have finally finished all all of the required reading for the class and could not be more thrilled!  All though I didn't mind some of the readings, most of them were hard to get through and consumed much of my time.  As the semester is dwindling down, I realized how much I learned from the four books we read for this class.  However, now that I am finished, it is nice to not have to worry about reading continuously until my eyes fall out of my head!

The last book that we finished, Measure What Matters, discusses the importance of relationships with the key audience of a company: building, managing and of course, measuring.  Measurement takes the totals of a company, analyzes what these totals mean, and use them to improve the practice.

This book teaches us to measure for multiple benefits:

• Data driven decision making saves time and money
• Helps allocate budget and staff
• Gain a better understanding of the competition
• Strategic planning
• Measurement gets everyone to agree on desired outcome
• Measurement reveals strengths and weaknesses
• Measurement gives you reason to say no

Throughout the book, we learned about the importance of measurement in order to create or maintain a successful organization.  Although there was some valuable information in this book, I believe much of it was very repetitive and annoying to read.  However, I believe it was a good required reading for our Social Media Principals class because it was very relatable in terms of Public Relations.  If you are interested in the Public Relations field, I would most likely recommend this book.  I must warn you, though, the tedious and repetitive text is a struggle to get through.

Giving Thanks to Grandmothers

This Thanksgiving, I was able to give thanks in the best way I knew how: by celebrating my grandmother's life.

My grandmother, Ruthann Vrahas (or "Nana," as her grandchildren call her), passed away in the beginning of September.  Because my grandmother donated her body to science studies (like the saint that she was), she did not receiver a proper burial.  As a family, we decided Nana still needed a proper ceremony to celebrate her life.  Because many of her grandchildren are in college, it was decided to have a memorial service for Nana when everyone was easily available: Thanksgiving weekend.

Even though the service was terribly sad, I am grateful that I got to spend my holiday this way.  The service made me realize what a wonderful woman my grandmother was and how she brought all of us together as a family.  I was even given the privilege to sing one of her favorite songs, "Feed the Birds" from Mary Poppins, one of Nana's favorite movies that we always watched together when I was little.

The service was very meaningful to me.  We sang some of her favorite songs and My Uncle and Aunt, children of Nana, presented eulogies that triggered tears, laughter, and incredible memories of a woman that made such a great impact on my life.  We were holding in our goodbyes for a few months now, so I am glad we got the official chance to wish Nana peace.

Nana was always the reason the whole family got together: siblings, cousins, parents, aunts and uncles; Nana always had that power of bringing everyone closer.  She is the reason we have all of these memories of all the times we shared.  (And I must say, we have some pretty great ones.)  Like Nana always does, she brought the whole family together once again this Thanksgiving.  Although Nana was not physically there, she was still there in spirit to bring back all of the wonderful memories we shared as a family and to watch over us as we make many more memories together.

Rest easy, Nana. I love you.

Inside Scoop on the AMA's

Everyone is talking about the American Music Awards that were shown this past Sunday, November 23, on ABC.  Unfortunately, I was not home to watch the awards show, but thankfully I had the great big World Wide Web to fill me in!

ABC Showed all of the top performances from the night as well as the winners on the channel's website. So I really didn't miss anything!

In case you missed it, here's what I think about the AMA's top performances:
The sweet and beautiful Selena Gomez gave a dramatic performance of her song by actually tearing up at the end.  Missing J-Biebs much?

The stunning Ariana Grande blew audiences away with her acoustic rendition of her hit song, "Problem."  I must say, that girl has some pipes.

Lorde seemed to have no problem keeping up her strange, unique image.  From what I got out of the performance, the theme of the song "Yellow Flicker Beat" is Lorde's refusal to conform.  She even ends the performance with the dramatic smearing of her dark-colored lipstick on stage... who knows what this means?
P.S.  Can we please stop filming Taylor Swift dancing in the audience? Just... no.

Charli XCX is a rather new performer in the spotlight, but she seemed to have no problem on the big AMA stage.  Her performance was energetic, fun and edgy.  I was especially impressed with her onstage costume change from a sweet, poofy dress in her song, "Boom Clap" to her edgy, tight little number in "Break the Rules."  Also, lets not forget the smashing of the guitar at the end... that was pretty hard-core.

Next was Sam Smith with A$AP Rocky: "I'm Not the Only One."  On every awards show I have seen with Sam Smith performing, he has done nothing but stand on stage and sing into a microphone, which is completely okay because his voice is a show in itself.  I have never heard of A$AP Rocky, but he was a great addition to the already-great song.


Iggy Azalea "wowed" the audience with an entertaining-as-usual performance. The buff male dancers doing pull-ups and push-ups in "Beg for It" was the perfect treat of the night. ;)

Mary J. Blidge still has it!  She may be older, but that doesn't stop that power house of a voice!

Magic! Performed with Wyclef Jean to get the audience dancing on their feet to the chill, Jamacian-style song, "Rude."

All of the girls around the world were most likely screaming for the charming, breath taking performance from the boys of One Direction.  Those British boys have it all going for them... Mmmm ;)

Fergie shows her "L.A. Love" in her high energy performance with YG.  Fergie deals will a small costume malfunction at the end, but deals with it like a pro.  But hey, this is why we watch award shows: to see all of the crazy things (a.k.a. malfunctions) that happen on stage!

The energy continues to skyrocket with Pitbull and Ne-Yo's "Fireball" and "Time of Lives."  Talk about a global dance party!

Imagine Dragons end the night with a performance of "I Bet My Life."  This is the first time the band performs this song live on television, and what a great way to do it!  They were definitely a good closing act and representation of American Music.

I love how there are national award ceremonies dedicated to celebrate the arts, such as music, television, and film.  And how lucky are we to live in a country that puts such a high emphasis on the entertainment industry... and in a country where we can catch up on everything we missed on the internet!  Thank goodness for all of our sources of entertainment!

Be sure to check out (or rewatch) all of these amazing performances here:
2014 American Music Awards

How to Deal with Black Friday Madness

Here's one idea: just don't do it.

Black Friday Shopping has changed over the years and to be frank, i think it is kind of pointless. Unless you are looking for major electronics at places such as Walmart, Radio Shack, Best Buy, etc., you have better chances of getting everything you want and more at the same "Black Friday" prices by shopping earlier in the week.

Last year, I could not wait until Black Friday to go shopping and I knew that I would not be able to handle all of the madness and chaos that this American Tradition brings.  So, I decided to go shopping earlier in the week... on a Tuesday.

I remember that two of my favorite stores, Express and American Eagle, had the same deals the entire week of Thanksgiving as the stores had on Black Friday.  So if you are shopping for clothes and accessories on Black Friday, why wait for overwhelming crowds when all of the good stuff will be gone anyway?

Also, even if the same deals are not out before Black Friday, the deals are usually significantly better than dealing with the stressful crowds and never-ending checkout lines on Black Friday.  Personally, I would rather spend a little extra money than get run over by a bunch of angry, pushy shoppers.

I must admit, going Black Friday shopping and seeing all of the crazy, maniac shoppers can be a pretty entertaining experience.  If I do go Black Friday shopping, it is usually just for the late-night Starbucks (because coffee is always better at night) and people-watching with friends and family.

My advise: do not underestimate Cyber Monday.  Many of the deals are the same or better than on Black Friday, plus you never have to change out of those comfy PJ's or leave your couch!  If you are not one to online shop, GO SHOPPING DURING THE WEEK! believe me you will thank me for it later. ;)

Trust Issues

Chapter 11 of "Measure What Matters" deals with the company reputation and how to measure crises.  A very important aspect of this chapter is trust.  If you earn the trust of your costumers, your reputation will benefit in return.

Reputation is a major deal to customers.  When I think of popular companies, I think of Amazon.com, Apple, Coca-Cola, and Walt Disney: all brands with extraordinary reputations.  These are the top companies that came to my mind while reading this chapter.

I trust these companies, not only because they are able to transcend in their industries, but because they have gained the trust in their customers.  They are all customer-focused and use social media wisely.  For example, how many times have you seen other brands bash on Apple without Apple being able to respond with better products and stronger customer responses?  Crises are easier to handle once a strong business-customer relationship is built.

As Katie Paine puts it, "Trust is the key to building and defending your reputation," (170) and I could not agree more.  According to the book, trust depends on competence, integrity and dependability/reliability.  If customers can find all of these attributes in your company, hopefully this means your company's trust is earned.