During my time in India, I decided to write an essay a day. Here's the first one: a collection of poems.cane chair, how much weight do you hold? your skill is long forgotten yet upholds the test of infinity pineapple, how do I cut you? you tend to be cut one way where I am from, I need to learn your way here. you have more seeds. affection, are you worth showing in this place? One type seems alright, the others seem out of place. why do you sit in silence if i walk into a space? i see you observing me, but I do the same. why does a salad have little lettuce here? maybe I have judged what a salad should be, more pepper, less lettuce. depends on the time of year. fans, why do you turn on when someone is knowingly there? you cater the needs of others before yourself. Turn on when you please churches, why are you the tallest buildings? your values seem to uphold a city, towering above the rest. straws, why are some of you plastic and the others paper? you do the same job with drastically varying effects. people, how to do you know how much time to spend at a place? you wait until you know, an internal sensor, unteachable. but you were seen, which is what matters to you. speaker, do you like what you play? your owner dictates your input and your output. your choice is belittling. feet, why are you so dirty in this place? you carry with you a historical nature men, why do you wear pants? don’t you know you can wear shorts, too. couples, why do you like cafes? you hold hands here, but not outside the doors of a business of leisure. pictures, what are your intentions? you’re overused, to document what should be absorbed. ivy, why to you grow on and grow up? you cling to what you need to, but take off. good for you. you know how to climb when the rest can’t. world, how have you become my classroom, my consistency? maybe because I am the last one here, the last one out. loneliness, why do people fear you? it’s public image, judgement, but don’t you know it’s a good thing.
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I’ll admit it: the world of consulting never appealed to a young professional destined toward a career in public relations and communications. After all, why would a tech and communications major ever fall into the world of cubicles, accounting, and number crunching? Well my philosophy and vision of a big-four accounting firm did not align with reality. When I heard of a “sophomore rock-star” trip to New York City, I was inclined to hear of the details (particularly with the idea of expenses being paid, as a broke college student). But yet, my peers, rave and rant over consulting firms with international relationships. And being completely honest, EY had not been on my radar remotely. I decided to go. So a quick Greyhound trip from Syracuse to New York City (who am I kidding, greyhound never seems to be the easiest way to travel, between the random stops and traffic). I love New York, really like no other place. You feel as if you part of a conglomerate of energized, intelligent professionals all trying to make some difference in a sea of people. We arrived at our hotel, grabbed a few bites of that good 1 a.m. NYC food from a random little restaurant, and braced ourselves for a day filled with consulting. We visited Microsoft first. While I believe Microsoft is an incredibly innovative organization, I do not see myself (at least at this stage in my young, professional career) going toward the software side of technology, which covers a large portion of what they do. Ernest Young, a firm with headquarters in London, England, has an international basis, including NYC. We ascended 23 floors to a conference room in the heart of Times Square. The officialness of the room made us feel important, name cards, food galore, and the essence of an official atmosphere. We met with a partner of the firm, who offered constructive feedback. “Based on you posture, I would have thought you were not even interested in me,” he told on person in our group. You start to realize that the moment you walk into a room, you are being analyzed by how you interact, engage, and present yourself. You are constantly on an interview. “We hire smart, nice people.” I was reluctant to see this. Don’t most places do the same? I started to realize being a consultant means you interact with clients on a consistent basis, travel frequently, and have to possess superb communication skills, all of which I would have never imagined. And then the moment happened: I remembered how NYC makes me feel, and how I want to feel everyday. I want to feel as if I am making a difference, solving a problem, and creating solutions to help people who can’t find them themselves. And I realized consulting does this. On the flip side, I also think this caused an internal crisis.
I had my life somewhat figured out prior to entering college. I was going to be an investigative reporter, uncovering corruption, talking to people, and traveling the world. Then I shifted toward a career path of public relations. And now, I have options. I have options, which is a blessing and quite a curse as they say. Regardless, I know I have a passion to learn and grow. Your willingness to learn and never stop growing sets you apart. Willing to help other people to be successful above your own shows a value of self-worth and respect for others. Who knows where the world will take me, but I do know that consulting is an option which I initially misjudged. Technology: it’s everywhere. But I did not realize how difficult the field of technology is to infiltrate until recently. Sure, as a dual student in public relations and information management and technology, I am able to notice a clear division of male and female ratios between my classes. But I never took a moment to really think about what this means, venturing toward a career path with men being the primary C-suite holders, and women in executive roles are few and far between. Tonight, I had the pleasure of listening to three-person panel including:
Each panelist offered unique insight regarding being a woman in the field of technology. Lynn RootShe earned her degree in economics and finance, and it was not until she joined Pyladies did she discover her inner ‘nerd’ as she stated. She learned the foundations of Python to enable her programming side. She noted the importance of being a self-advocate. Why? Being condiment and forward lands you a job, she claimed. “I am a crier when it gets difficult. I allow myself to have those moments, and then move forward.” She attributes her success to lots of luck. She humbly stated she is the highest ranking executive at Spotify, which is incredibly impressive. She mentioned the crucial aspects of staying in contact with individuals you make in the professional realm. Having a good attitude and the wellness to vocalize what you want and deserve is equally necessary. Maira BenjaminShe started as a statistic major. She noted knowing how to code encompasses essential aspects. “That’s the thing. There are lots of issues as far as women and men. And they aren’t going away. That is why we can’t step aside and back down. I don’t want to be the only one standing.” Being in the industry and working at Pandora, she noted the improved nature of gender relationships. However, she observed she could count on a single hand the number of VPs and upper level executives who are women in her company. “A woman is promoted on performance rather than potential. A man is promoted based on potential.” A woman has to prove herself worthy, ensuring work quality and ethics before being promoted. Men, innately, seem to display a higher sense of confidence, landing higher positions. Kate BrodockShe started with a disclaimer based on the way the moderator phrased the question. “What can women do? Rephrase the question, what can the industry be doing to promote equality.” She noted stating the question this way makes it seem as if women are in the wrong. This should not be the women’s problem, there is a system in place that hasn’t changed and we start by noting the need for society to note these differences first. Brodock did not have a straight-forward path, hoping from career to another. She recommend this, however, in order to show resilience and passion in a career. While she seemed reluctant, she also made a point to note obtaining more degrees does not always attribute to success. She emphasized the importance of mentorship and fostering relationships with professors. This panel made me think: we have a fight in front of us. However, it’s not something that will change easily. But seeing women such as the three tonight gives me confidence that our effort is worth it all in the end. Because being equal should not be a debate at the end of the day, but a basic right.
You go to Instagram, and that scrumptious pizza you were talking about yesterday suddenly appears on your feed. And so you wonder how. Or on Facebook, and the dress you just saw on ASOS now seems to follow you around wherever you click. We live in a world driven by our trackable actions, even if we think we are able to have discretion with what we do. A picture’s location is searchable, trackable, and even pinpointed to figure out ones location, searches, and commonalities. Scary, right? But how is everything so connected? Well, it’s called the Internet of Things (IoT), and the path of change the way we consume news, products and media continues to change. The IoT, in simplest terms, is connecting any device to the internet. This extends far beyond the usual cellphone or laptop, and it’s infiltrating industries such as coffeepot makers, washing machines and any other device you find yourself using on a regular basis. The Iot fosters relationships between people and devices, with every combination in between. So why should you care as a public relations professional? he internet is a substantive platform to communicate, which our industry thrives on. And now, we have billions of devices communicating with each other. Anything that has the potential to connect will now connect. How do we embrace the growing trend? -Consider the service/product of your organization- If you work as a public relations representative, look at what your company represents. Make sure you utilize the any access to the internet as possible. For instance, technologically-driven products are at ease when embracing IoT. However, commodity-drive brands struggle with joining the interconnected world of the internet. Amazon is an excellent example of a company embracing the shift in supply chain and recognizing the need of immediacy in terms of products. The Amazon Dash buttons order items to consumers, using simple Wi-Fi. Other examples include the following: Key Locators: Tracking down lost keys by attaching geolocating devices to keys, using Bluetooth technology. Wireless Temperature and Humidity Sensors: A great way for customers to prevent disasters in homes or businesses. Preventice Solutions: This provides a way for patients to have all medical information and prescriptions sent to doctors. Why is this important? The IoT provides vital connections between consumers and the answers they desire. Public relations professionals need to understand the way in which a product reacts with its public to make sure the correct message is translated. However, monitoring the situation is vital. The ability to rely simple on an algorithm to produce answers to consumers is not the purpose of IoT. Yes, the connections create ease of use, hypothetically, but being the primary source of communication between the customer and organization is our job. Having the information gathered from IoT devices provides crucial feedback, but monitoring the situation is equally needed. Purchase history, easily collected through IoT, provides another excellent way communicators recognize the needs of a public. So embrace this idea, because it’s not going away anytime soon. Amazon Dash is able to track and use how often, what times and all factors involved in purchasing items through a tiny button. It's pretty amazing what the internet is capable of, but using this data is the truly gratifying aspect. Do not let this opportunity go to waste. Professional communication is always shifting, but IoT is here to stay. Words of Wisdom Read the fine print. Devices these days more than likely automatically connect to surrounding factors, but you gave consent (whether you know it or not). Companies discretely slide statements into applications and products. You hit agree, giving organizations permission to monitor, listen and track your actions. Sure, most of these actions appear harmless, but be careful. While the IoT is useful, information becomes more readily available, good or bad. How to represent an organization's goals in a socially-active, consumer-based society.I have an oxymoronic confession: I used to hate what I learned to love. Middle school turned into the prime age of social media enthusiasm, enthralled with this new thing called Facebook and later Instagram. The idea of updating peers and family on exciting moments of personal events encompassed spare time. And I noticed something: I started to spend less time interacting with people who stood two feet in front of me. Instead of embracing the trend, I loathed the newfound obsession. I promised myself I would not post regarding personal indulgences, but promote others if I decided to use social media applications. I went rather inactive and took a hiatus (several years). College rolled around and people would swap Instagram handles. While odd, this became the new normal when meeting new people. I recognized the need to connect with my peers while still having a genuine personal conduct. As a current student in a public communications school, I note the essentialness of effectively transmitting a message to targeted audiences whether this means friends, colleagues or the random person scrolling through a feed. We as public relations professionals must not only embrace trends of social behaviors but master the art of utilizing platforms to portray articulate messages. In my short time auditing my own social media, I decided to compile essential components of each social platform. The Pros: This is a great platform to incorporate both a visual element and editorial material. For instance, Humans of New York provides a superb example of picking out the important pieces of elongated conversations and pairing the material with visual aspects. Facebook tends to have a less commercialized approach (except for those obvious advertisements that prove the internet collects our recent searches and sends them to advertisers, thanks Google). Facebook also provides one of the more interactive approaches. Rather than a like, people have the ability to react, check-in and provide constructive feedback to a company. Cons: Where are the millennials at? Facebook tends to have a stigma around the older generation. Instagram surpasses the amount of interaction between users, yet the shear amount of users on Facebook offers hope to organizations. A younger generation is on Facebook, but attracting them is another story. 87% of online users between 18-29 are on Facebook. Companies have to search past the grandparents sharing photos of their precious moments and recognize the platform’s potential. Companies should react to exciting inventions, creating interaction with users. Create suspense. Do not promote stereotypes. Fake news is easily shared on Facebook. The convent share button allows a simple post to escalate to new levels, reaching friends and publics at an exponential level. Be warning of sharing reliable information your organization supports. Fight the Trend: As a public relations professional, we must reach all demographics. Noting brand equity and reputation, know the image your company wishes to portray to the public. Add interaction, utilize all features of Facebook and cater to the largest publics. Snapchat"Hey, can I get your snap real quick?" The new generational rave. The Pros: You barely have seconds to capture the attention of a friend, so what do you do? Okay, and maybe you technically have more than a few seconds thanks to this new update (well, let's not talk about this new update that is oh so controversial). You want to record something spontaneous, crazy and unusual to evoke a reaction. Snapchat creates a more personalized, insider, unfiltered and candid atmosphere. Organizations should use this idea to promote the company through the eyes of someone who is eager to gain insight. Be funny, show enthusiasm and get personal. Helpful Tip: Use geotags to add a personal touch to any event in a particular area. The Cons: The platform offers less ways to directly communicate with consumers on a public level. Be careful of this idea. Being accountable and reputable with accurate and calculated information both have value. Larger media companies tend to dominate the information space which gives smaller businesses less space to market themselves. Fight the Trend: Again, create smaller ways to communicate to a particular audience. Promote events using geotags, create stories that allow publics to contribute and offer incentives of consumer interaction. The Pros: Scroll through any feed, and artistic, hipster and millennial photography grace the pages to compete for the artsy photos. Companies should use this platform to hone in on their more artistic sides. Target does an excellent job of combining strategic product placement with beautiful photography to appeal to a wide demographic. Posts should have relatable content to the majority of customers. Rather than posting pictures that show attractive qualities, companies should be strategic regarding the context of each posting. Be careful about posting too many picture oriented around selling and make sure to give stories to the consumer. The Cons: Well, if your company lacks tangible products, visual elements present a problem. Being a dominant visual platform, a company needs to capture something. Fight the Trend: Without a product, companies should focus on the customers to evoke the ambitions of an organization. The Pros:
Simple, quick and readable information. Twitter utilizes speed to transmit information. With a limited character quantity, posters are forced to narrow down the message to its root. While this limits the information, a clearer note forms. Teasing information and linking the rest increases interaction between consumer and producer, gaining interest in a particular topic. The Cons: Sometimes viewed in a positive light, the limitation of a message creates chaos for communicators. Say a major event occurs. Making multiple tweets is not preferred, but a mandatory aspect. Fight the Trend: Link more information as an attachment. Use GIFs to gain interest (visual component). Add #hashtags. Engage with publics, interact and settle issues. Tweeting at a company is a way to effectively receive feedback. Companies such as Delta give travel vouchers for customers lacking satisfactory experiences. The moment I entered the #PRogressSU event at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, the room surpassed the initial expectation of being any public relations event hosted by the university. The room, packed to the brim, consisted of graduate students, undergrads and professionals alike. And we all waited to here about a topic which seems endless in any industry: diversity in your career.
Women and men sat eagerly awaiting the panelists to speak. The packed nature of the room attests to the massive issues we face as women in the pr industry.But the issues extend far past gender discrimination, but rather encompass both race and ethical differences. And yes, lots of people in the room were white females. However, we all come to learn about the issues. Five panelists encompassed a wide range of career paths from military roots to public relations at Syracuse University. I particularly found the advice of Dara Royer, the CCO at Syracuse University, to ring true to a woman in the pr field. She started by speaking of her ability to take a risk and prove her own worth as a woman. This might mean traveling to the Syrian border to better understand a problem, this means taking a leap of faith in hopes the right people will notice. I understood as a woman, we have to be unapologetic. We have to realize our worth is not only equal to everyone else’s knowledge, but even more powerful. She spoke of the idea of an echo chamber. In her professional experience, she noted the bandwagon mentality in the c-suite of positions rooted in the ‘handing-down’ jobs. For instance, she claimed lots of executives have been executives for awhile and ultimately call the shots of who gets the next positions. Typically, this equates to a dominated white male group. Here’s some of the great advice from the panelists:
Royer shared a story I particularly took to heart. Asked to present a formal presentation, she asked for advice from upper level executives before she had to present. They told her that wearing heels probably was not the best move because this action would cause her to stand out. She went back to her hotel room and put on her tallest pair. That’s the thing: never degrade yourself to fit into an environment. What is wrong with being a woman? I hate that presenting feminine qualities equates to being weak. Well, I hate to break it to the world. Being a woman is the furthest thing from being weak. Being a woman means being unwavering in personal beliefs, speaking your mind and showing your strength. You have to consider what morals (if any) you are willing to sacrifice. Do you conform to standards, or are you willing to push the boundaries for social good? Speaking does not automatically equate to change, but the conversation starts and will not end until changes occur. #PRogressSU How to handle the new craze in a communications industry.In the world filled with coding, stock market trends and accounting, Bitcoin is all the rage. The online currency has existed for a good while, but over the past several month, the popularity (and the unknowns) of the cryptocurrency is abundant. And while the exponentially rising seems promising, investments in the unprecedented investment is a massive risk. Why? Well the world really has no idea the power of this online, decentralized currency and all of the potential capabilities of the new payment system, spanning across all industries. So what exactly is Bitcoin?The foundation of Bitcoin emerged in 2008, known as "peer-to-peer electronic cash system," created by Satoshi Nakamoto. The technology behind Bitcoin is known as Blockchain, a new form of keeping track of transferable information (ranging from social security numbers and bank account information, to simple transactions) in a public space while simultaneously not allowing anyone to remove the information. While Blockchain has been utilized in other industries such as insurance and supply chain, Bitcoin remains the primary user of the decentralized technology. Bitcoin is able to safely transfer information without the use of a third party, making transactions more affordable. Hmm... decentralize, encrypted currency...... To break the idea down, basically decentralized translates to no centered control of the currency (so no official bank to regulate the money or government) and also making the the currency secure. This makes the currency more available, less trackable, more secure and inevitability less known. The PriceBe prepared to brace yourself because Bitcoin is no cheap item, but rather an extremely hot commodity. A share sells for $10, 896.64, with a general upward trend. This is no minor investment. Companies either have a plethora of worth, or lots to risk depending on which way you view the situation and future of Bitcoin. When there's a want, there's a crisisBitcoin has no centralized bank, no regulator or truly any form of being monitor. Being an open sourced software, the currency is widely accepted yet unprecedented. So we covered what Bitcoin is, now what happens when it all goes in an unfavorable direction? How do we deal with this in a communications industry? In 2013, Bitcoin's price plummeted from $1,000 a share to $300. Nearly two years passed until investors reached a return on their investments. In 2014, the world's largest Bitcoin exchange went offline, disappearing over 850,000 Bitcoins that would never be returned. The profitability and potential profit lures criminals and hackers from all over. Today, Bitcoin's worth exceeds $300 billion. As public relations professionals, out job consists of representing the company we work for and their core mission. Public approval vastly differences, some strongly believing this invention is ingenious while others display confidence the program will soon crash. Some critics Bitcoin is the largest monetary scam to ever exist while the other side claims this is the future of all transactions. We are put into a difficult situation. How to represent your organizationIf entering the field of technology, first and foremost understand your own position. (This should be true for any industry in order to make sure you are able to fully believe in the client or compnay you represent). In the tech industry, new inventions, ideas and even currencies are formed all the time. In order to most accurately and logcially repsresent a client, you must be staying up to date.
If your client uses Bitcoin:
Okay, we are all freaked out (including myself). Robots, drones and virtual reality, oh my. And while I am a sophomore information management and tech major with the compliment of public relations, I am determined to bring answers to a question of concern in the communications world. What is artificial intelligence (AI) ? And am I going to loose my job? Well, like anything in this world, the answer is not one of simplicities. “Please enter the words you see above to verify you are not a computer.” Ironic, really, to think we as humans are asked to pass simple security measures placed on secured information, almost insulting our intellectual levels. “It’s to prevent computers from hacking the system,” the megacorportaions say. Even more flabbergasting is when companies believe that this simple security measure will alter a mechanized system from infiltrating a field of information all by asking the user to input vision. Artificial intelligence is changing the game. The idea of computers being able to fully mimic and perform human action might seem impossible, yet the innovations in the field of tech have all made these once visions a realistic implementation.Computers once had a reputation of calculating simple algorithmic functions rather than indicating voice inflictions to determine if someone is lying. Times have changed. As communicators, we need to change too. So what exactly is artificial intelligence ? When I think of AI, I cannot help but think back to Ex Machina, where the human world becomes inferior to the power of robotics. While we are not at this extreme point, the future offers equivalents. Officially, AI is “an area of computer science that emphasizes the creation of intelligent machines that work and react like humans.” [1] So computers are gaining intellectual capabilities, big deal. We are surrounded in a world filled with automated location enabling systems, targeted advertisements and the use of demographics all to determine the wants of a public. AI gathers information from human behavior, intelligence and performance to evolve into a more intelligent mind itself. Should we be concerned as pr professionals? Well, should we? A concern is certainly a valid point. If we take a moment to understand the computing power of machines that will have not only endless algorithmic abilities but also emotional intelligence, humans seem irrelevant. But I beg to differ. Without humans, the machines would not exist. Without humans, the machines would have no intellectual example. Without humans, AI's information would have no relevance if no-one had any use for gathered intellect. We start to ask machines to use computation with no single correct answer to come up with a singular answer. The answers are subjective and should posses ethical reasoning. Humans have rational capabilities with raw emotion. While some deem emotion as a fault, having the emotion to determine morals and ethics is crucial to the pr industry. We pride ourselves on the ability to make thorough decisions based on a wide range of information (including the human-only abilities). Artificial intelligence, in theory, will continue to evolve to a point of true human intellect. In a Ted Talk by Sam Harris, he argues the idea is dangerous. “The concern is really that we will build machines that are so much more competent than we are that the slightest divergence between their goals and our own could destroy us,” Harris said. He continues by using an analogy with ants. We as humans have no qualms squishing an ant if we deem the outcome rather than having the ant live. In theory, he claims AI will do the same because of the complexity and super intelligence of a machine if we interfere. So as professional communicators, how do we deal with the potential of a machine outsmarting us? I go back to the point that we, as humans, are ones who will always have the true rooted history in mannerisms, professionalism and ethical conduct. While a machine can mimic these behaviors, I doubt they will truly ever be able to have the creative originality of humans. |
AuthorJessica Zuk is a current junior public relations and information management and technology major with a minor in English textual studies. She is from Asheville, North Carolina, and has always loved writing. She blogged during her high school years, continues to write in college, and works for the hip hop radio station on campus. She serves as the student editor for InfoSpace. Archives
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