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.

What Are You Thankful For?

With the Thanksgiving holiday quickly approaching us, it is important to recognize and remember all or the things we are truly thankful for.  With out hectic schedules and stress levels and trying to fit way to many things in before Thanksgiving break, we sometimes forget to take a second to think about all of the wonderful things we should appreciate.

When I think of what I am thankful for, quite a few stick out to me the most.  I can't even begin to count how many there actually are, so I will give you the five that immediately come to mind:

1. Family: I know this is almost everyone's first answer to what they are thankful for, but this is because family is such an important aspect of our lives.  Family is the backbone of my stability. They are my main support system and caretakers.  Let's not forget about how much we secretly enjoy all of the holiday chaos and disfunction, mainly because we are spending it together as a family.  I am so fortunate to grow up with the privileges, laughs, memories and unconditional love that my family provides (disfunction and all) and I realize that I do not thank them enough for this.

2. Home Friends and School Friends: I emphasize the specific types of friends because I believe they are different and I am extremely thankful for both types of friends.  They say you make your best friends in college, which I also believe to be true, but I could never forget the best friends I grew up with who have also made a huge impact on my life.  I am thankful that I have made these friends in college that I will stay connected with for the rest of my life. Going home for thanksgiving break gives us time to appreciate the friends we have at college and the opportunity to catch up with old friends at home.

3. Breaks at Home: time to do whatever you want to do with whatever amount of time you have. Whether you have a ton of things planned or work to do over breaks, there is usually enough time to focus on yourself and do what you want to do.  My favorite time of any week, day or month is when I do not have to follow any specific schedule or fulfill anyone else's obligations.  Breaks give us the opportunity to sit on the couch and be lazy, or exercise, or eat a bunch of junk food without regrets, or plan activities we would never have the time or motivation to do in your regular weekly schedule. You finally have time to focus on you, which everyone needs once in a while.

4. Guilty Pleasures: because we can't forget about the freedom to binge watch Gossip Girl, indulge in a whole carton of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, listen to and belt out the entire soundtrack of Wicked, sleeping in late,  planning your dream wedding on Pinterest, pumpkin-spice lattes, excessive online shopping, or whatever other little pleasures you need in your life.

There is so much in this beautiful life to be thankful for.  Never take that for granted. :)

Measuring Relationships With Your Community

In terms of measurement in Public Relations, it is important to measure the effectiveness of your company as a whole, but it is especially important to measure relationships within your local community.  Chapter 9 if "Measure What Matters" talks about measuring relationships with your community.  This chapter includes six steps to measuring your relationships with your communities and neighbors:

Step 1: Agree upon Solid Measurable Goals That Are Tied to the Bottom Line

• Identify the problem you're trying to solve and what the organization will look like when you succeed

Step 2: Define Your Publics

• include all the various stakeholders that play a role in your success- there is no way to isolate your actions or your relationships.
• Who are you trying to influence?
• key stakeholders are anyone who can do your company harm or good.
• Good relationships help your organization but bad relationships threaten your reputation

Step 3: Who or What Are Your Benchmarks?

• Compare the strength of your community relations to other communities and peer organizations of similar size and reputation within the same community.

Step 4: Set Your Audience Priorities: Who and What Is Most Important to Measure?

• Prioritize your audiences or stakeholder groups, which may be types of influencers, other organizations, or even e-mail lists

Step 5: Choose Your Measurement Tools

• Relationship Surveys
• establish the existing level of trust and satisfaction with your stakeholders
• Local Media Analysis Is Critical
• listen to local conversations- scan them on a regular basis to see if your organization is becoming the topic of rumor or speculation

Step 6: Analyze the Data

• Determine whether or not your community messages are being communicated

PRSSA Firm Trips

Ohio Northern University has a nationally affiliated student-run firm dedicated to the study of Public Relations.  This firm is called PRSSA.  It is devoted to give students interested in the Public Relations and Communication fields a more hands-on, better understanding of what these careers actually entail.

For our Social Media Principals class, Hannah Peterson and I did had to do a video assignment.  Our subject was on PRSSA Firm trips.  Different chapters in PRSSA all get together for these occasions called "firm trips."  At least once a year, our PRSSA firm at Ohio Northers, True North, unites with other chapters for these exciting, informative firm trips.  I have never personally been on one of these trips, but I am looking forward to going in the future!  Hannah has actually been on quite a few of them and from what she tells me, PRSSA firm trips give nothing but great experiences in the Public Relations field.  To learn more about them, check out this awesome video we made!

YouTube Video: PRSSA Firm Trips

"Turn Down" Brands on Facebook for What?

Facebook now allows users to "turn down" annoying brands so that they will not overflow news feeds.  Users basically have the privilege to filter their news feeds, making content more relevant for users but even more difficult for brand marketers.

According to Advertising Age,
"People will be able to see which of their friends or the brands they follow accounted for the most posts in their news feeds each week, Facebook said Friday. What's more, the company also introduced a way for people to dial down the number of posts they see from a given friend or brand, as opposed to completely hiding them."

Users have the power to "turn down" users and brands so that only the most relevant news appears on their news feed.  In other works, brands have to compete even more to get noticed on the web, as if that wasn't already difficult enough.  On the bright side, brands will be more challenged to post only relevant and important content to keep the customer's interest.

This breakdown from Facebook shows you what to expect:
http://vimeo.com/111122883

What do you think of this change to Facebook user's news feeds?

How to Use Numbers to Get Closer to Your Customers

Chapter 6 of "Measure What Matters" explains "how to use numbers to get closer to your customers."  This chapter talks about the slightly different techniques of listening to the marketplace and listening to customers and being able to respond appropriately.

According to the book, when listening to your marketplace, "the important thing is not how much you're getting, but if you're getting what matters to your business.  And, what matters to your business is what customers in your market are talking about" (100).  It is relatively easy to figure out what your marketplace is talking about by searching keywords and seeing how people come across your site.

"Measure What Matters" gives us a few ways to do this:

• Set up and Refine Your Search Strings:
• This can be done by setting up Google Alerts to search for those keywords and monitor results.  You should also set up alerts for competitors' names and brands to see how your company compares.
• Review and Track the Results
• Many mentions of your name may be irrelevant and need to be discarded.  Set up an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of the important results.
• Verify Which Outlets Matter
• After a few months you will discover that some channels and outlets mention you or your products or marketplace frequently.  Pay particular attention to the posts, channels, outlets and writers with the most comments.
• Determine What the Market Thinks of You and Your Competition: What Are Your Market Hot Buttons?
• Study the "hot buttons" to determine what issues are the biggest concern.  How does your business rank in comparison to your competitors?
• Determine How You Are Positioned in the Marketplace versus the Competition, and Use That Knowledge to Gain Advantage
• It does not matter what the market thinks of your brand or product, but what it likes and dislikes of the competition.

As it is important to pay attention to the marketplace, it is equally important to listen, learn and respond to customers.  Listen to social media conversations to see what your customers like and dislike and provide insight into people's relationship to your brand.  This will tell you what is working well for your brand and what needs improvement.

• Turning Feelings into Numbers and Metrics
• After collecting and categorizing information from social media, you need to quantify the data.  Percentages are key.  Use data from competitors, as well as your own data overtime, to benchmark your efforts.

All About That... Body Image

Have you heard the new smash hit on the radio by Meghan Trainor titled, "All About That Bass?" Well in case you have been hiding under a rock the past few months, you definitely need to check out this song:

I must admit this is an extremely catchy song and I was loved it the first time I heard it, but after I really listened to the lyrics, I began to see it as kind of offensive.  I enjoy the underlying message of the song: teaching girls with curves to be comfortable with their bodies.  I do not, however, appreciate how the lyrics depict and even look down upon slimmer body types by calling them "skinny bitches."

It is understandable that more girls are self-conscience about being "fat" than there are people concerned with being "skinny," but that doesn't mean skinnier people should be patronized for having a certain body type.  I know many naturally thin people who have a terrible time trying to gain weight to look more curvy, or more attractive to the opposite sex.  These people are just as self-conscience, or more self-conscience, about their bodies as bigger people.  Why must society put some people down in order to please others?

So, I searched the web to see if anyone else felt this way about Meghan Trainor's popular song.  I came across this cover video, written and sung by Natty Valencia.  She noticed that the original song, despite being seemingly body positive, is pretty objectifying and skinny-shaming.  So, she decided to make her own version directed to every body type, and it's pretty awesome if you ask me.

Check it out!

Safety on Halloween

Stay Safe Worldwide, a non-profit organization, paired up with Fed Ex in a press release titled, "Halloween Should Be Fun, Not Dangerous" to raise awareness on public safety while trick-or-treating on Halloween.  According to PRNewswire, children are twice as likely to be hit by a car and killed on Halloween than on any other day of the year.

"On Halloween, more children are on the street after dark than normal, and they are so excited that they may run out into the street without looking," said Kate Carr, president and CEO of Safe Kids Worldwide. "We're asking drivers to take extra care and slow down on neighborhood roads. And, of course, it's very important that drivers put down mobile devices to avoid distraction" (PRNewswire).

Stay Safe and Fed Ex released a list of safety tips for kids and drivers to educate motorists and child pedestrians and create safer communities.  Stay Safe also offers tips throughout the year, at www.safekids.org and on its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/safekidsworldwide.  They also made this promotional video directed towards drivers, children and their parents on Halloween:

Safe Kids Worldwide and Fed Ex found ways to stand out from the typical Halloween conversations and address key issues that might be forgotten when everyone is distracted by tricks and treats. These outstanding news releases prove that these organizations make the best efforts to build relationships with its customers and supporters.