In Cowboy Country

My father would be appalled...

...his daughter, that he raised so carefully to be a Washington Redskins fan, in Dallas, Texas--enemy territory.

Turns out Dallas isn't such a bad place to be, though, especially if you're in the advertising industry. I came to realize at the AAF student conference last fall, that a lot of great talent comes out of Southern Methodist University, and today I had an opportunity to explore some of the local gardens of advertising creativity.

Moroch is everything I anticipated and more. I, once again, felt that exciting rush of adrenaline as we walked through the expansive agency. The size is overwhelming but that atmosp

here sparks that competitive determination that's in the recipe for any great advertising effort.

Duncan/Day's office was beautiful and filled (well, not so "filled" on a late Friday afternoon) with the kind of people who have that relaxed and confident air about them--the kind of people I would kill to do some concepting with. Creativity was seeping through the walls, as I looked around and imagined myself working in a small agency similar to their's.

And a trip to see Rebecca from Rebecca Hackl Events veered us away from our traditional advertising path. She gave us new insights from an industry so different yet so similar to the communication field in countless ways.

All-in-all, the DC Networks 2011 Career Quest was a success. I am so grateful to be part of an organization of individuals who continue to inspire me everyday. Our ambitions got us to Dallas--I'm excited to learn of the future adventures that I know these young professionals will pursue.

With that, I'm off to explore this sun-kissed city a little longer. If anyone out there has recommendations for food, drink, nightlife or Saturday activities, please connect with me and let me know! @LNNS

Learning to conquer the media... socially.

Today was a great day for public relations!

I spent today at a great conference titled "Mastering the Changing Media" hosted by the Public Relations Society of America's Southwest Missouri Chapter. I learned so much! It's nice being a college student and having such incredible opportunities available.

The presentations given by Gary McCormick, Libby Bender, and Jeff Risley were so progressively minded and informative. As a college student so interested in social media right now, I couldn't have been more excited.

How can a person not be excited about social media? It's shaping the way we communicate in so many ways. And it's shaping fast. I can't understand people who dismiss it as a fad. It is certainly not a fad. Facebook has 300 million active users. Twitter users are expected to exceed 50 million by the end of this year. I certainly don't know that many people... not yet at least. Think of how many opportunities to build relationships that is.

I'm double majoring in both Advertising and Public Relations but this semester has definitely shown me that Public Relations is more up my alley. Talking to strangers? Building relationships with people? Those are probably my favorite hobbies.

Later in the evening, DC Networks (Drury's student chapter of the Association for Women in Communications) hosted our annual Extreme Networking Event. It was another successful evening of great conversation and helpful tips from professionals in the communications world. The mock-interview sessions were great and make me feel a bit better about my internship search (shameless plug: anyone looking for an intern??). Even with the intense rain, we had a pretty good turn out and I certainly am thankful that the professionals were willing to offer their time and knowledge.

I'm so excited to be studying Public Relations. I really don't think there could be a better time than now to be in the field.



Oh, and I got the recommendation to download the Flock web browser... which is going to do one of two things: keep me up to date and constantly informed of the social media world, or prevent me from ever efficiently completing an assignment for the rest of my college career. Okay... probably both.

Regardless, it's still the coolest web browser ever. Just saying.




Peace&Hiccups

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