This is The END...

With this being my sixth and final post, it's time for some reflection. Looking at my experiences during this campaign class, there are a couple of things that I can take away with me heading forward. First, it is essential that pr practitioners be able to work well as a member of a team. Our team was comprised of 12 members. Because of this, communication was paramount in our ability to accomplish the goals we were tasked with.

The second lesson I learned from this class, which I know will follow me through my career, is that sometimes a client is going to opt NOT to use the work you have created for him or her. This is exactly what occurred for our group working for the NuHelth foundation. We created materials that fit the client's needs and requests, and in the end, the client opted not to use them. A few of the our team members were upset by this and took it personally. However, Professor Morosoff told us that this is something that can and will happen in pr and you cannot be offended by it. I felt the latter.

So as the next 13 days count down till I walk across that stage to except my diploma, I find myself at a crossroads in my life. For the past four plus years my life has revolved around college. Now as I close that chapter a new one begins. I am currently looking for an apartment in Astoria Queens with two of my longtime friends, all the while applying for pr jobs in the NY area. For me, moving back in with my parents was not an option, but that's a blog post for another day.

When I began writing this post I wanted to cap it off with a quote. Initially I thought of the late great Jim Morrison when he said "This is the end." However, I am coming to grips with it not being an end, but rather a beginning. So I'll sign off with a line from the song "Closing Time" by Green Day and goes "Closing time, every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end..."

 

Inexperienced Social Media Users

It seems with each passing day, more and more people are becoming active with various forms of social media. From Facebook and Twitter, to YouTube and blogs, people all over the world are seeing the possibilities offered by social media and are adopting it for themselves. However, new users need to be aware of the pitfalls that exist within the social media realm. One such person is Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall.

Mendenhall, who has been in the NFL for 3 years and is 23 years old, posted a couple of controversial tweets on Twitter in wake of the death of Osama Bin Laden at the hands of U.S. special forces. He first tweeted, "What kind of person celebrates death? It's amazing how people can HATE a man they have never even heard speak. We've only heard one side...". Then Mendenhall went on to say, "We'll never know what really happened. I just have a hard time believing a plane could take down a skyscraper demolition style".

Now to denounce hatred is understandable, as well as to be against murder. For some, killing someone is an unjustifiable act for which there is no reasonable scenario where it can occur. But for him to question people for hating someone whom they have never heard speak is an ignorant statement to make. First, people have heard Osama Bin Laden speak. Does Mr. Mendenhall forget about the numerous videos and statements that Bin Laden and al-Qaeda released attacking the United States of America and accepting responsibility for the September 11 attacks?

And as far as his questioning of whether or not the planes that struck the World Trade Center actually brought down the towers, I personally am at a loss for words. Yes I've heard the conspiracy theories surrounding 9/11 but there's much more evidence to suggest that it was the terrorist hijacked planes that caused them to collapse, and not a radical inside job.

Mendenhall needs to rethink his approach to how he uses social media, specifically Twitter. The instantaneous nature of Twitter can lead some users who neglect to think their thoughts through completely to say something they would regret. Once someone posts something to the internet, it becomes potentially exposed to millions of people and opens up he or she posting the controversial statement to a firestorm of attacks.


 So the next time Rashard Mendenhall thinks about tweeting something, he might want to think about it a little more than he normally would, otherwise he might end up like former Pittsburgh Steeler Plaxico Burress and shoot himself in the foot.

A Changing Landscape

The past two days have been painfully boring for me. After having successful surgery yesterday morning, I've pretty much been laying in bed watching TV and surfing the internet ever since. However, while I have been slowly losing my mind in my bedroom, I have taken notice of something. What you may ask? Answer: social media.

Now I know what you're thinking, "What?! You're just finding out about social media now?" Obviously not. I am and have been an active user in Facebook, Twitter, youtube, and obviously blogging for quite some time. Rather, what I'm talking about it the CONVERGENCE of social media and how it is finding its way into so many different aspects of the internet, and for that matter, our lives.

Now, as I read articles online from news sources like the AP, there are links at the top of the page for me to easily post the article link to my Facebook, or tweet the link on my Twitter account. Similarly, I was checking my fantasy baseball team out today and at the top of my league homepage, there is an icon for me to click to "like" my fantasy baseball league on Facebook. I'm sorry, but my fantasy baeball league is a private league and my fellow members and I would like to keep it that way.

Now I'd like to clarify and make sure everyone knows I am NOT a Luddite. It's not hard to see that technology is developing at a rapid rate and we need to be constantly aware of these changes in order to keep up with society. However I do find it a bit interesting/weird when I find myself on Baseball-reference.com looking at Lou Gehrig's career statistics (there was a question about him during a Yankees broadcast) and there is a Facebook icon for me to click to like the page. Keeping with the sports theme, ESPN is constantly reporting on tweets by current and former athletes on their plethora o different programs.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, if someone had told me five years ago when I entered college that social media would evolve into what it is today, I don't think I would have believed them. Not only have new mediums of social media been developed during that time span, but as I said before, these mediums have converged in such a way that few people could have foreseen. All I can do is keep myself informed so I don't end up like Ned Ludd.

The Forgotten Ones

Since the massive 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck Japan on March 11, the Japanese have been dealing with one disaster after another. The most powerful earthquake to ever hit Japan triggered a devastating tsunami that traveled as far inland as 6 miles. The tsunami severly damaged the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant resulting in a nuclear disaster that is being compared to the Chernobyl one in 1986.

Stories relating to these topics appear in the world news every single day, but there is one story that is getting very little attention. Lost in the shuffle of all this calamity are the people that lived within the evacuation radius of the power plant.  These individuals have not only had their life turned upside down by the aforementioned earthquake and tsunami, but cannot even return to their homes now that the flood waters have receded.

Fisherman, and farmers are among the many groups of Japanese who have had their income effected. They've lost most of their possessions and now have lost their ability to provide for themselves. I agree that the priority for Tokyo Electric Power Co is to handle the reactor crisis, but it is imperative that they not forget about the people that have been directly effected by this. Financial compensations are most likely the answer, yet a process for assessing the value and distributing them would be lengthy. This dilemma is a difficult one but it is one that Tokyo Electric Power Co needs to address and it needs to be addressed sooner rather later so these people know they are not forgotten.

Charlie Sheen: The Antithesis of Politically Correct

There's no doubt that within the past few weeks virtually everyone has heard at least one Charlie Sheen quote or transgression. Whether its him "blowing 7 gram rocks", in reference to his on again off again cocaine use, or him claiming to be "bi-winning" when asked if he was bi-polar, Sheen has become something of a polarizing figure.

Sheen's outbursts can be seen through a number of different interviews. In almost all of these, he can be heard voicing his emphatic disdain for Alcoholics Anonymous and his former Two and a Half Men producer Chuck Lorre, as well as how he doesn't agree with the notion of him having any kind of a problem with drugs or alcohol. Oh and while hes conducting these interviews, he's chain smoking the healthiest of cigarettes, Marlboro Reds, and voicing orders/requests to his "goddesses" who currently live with him and apparently answer to his beckon call.

No matter how Sheen tries to shape his newly adopted view on his life, he is undoubtedly a walking talking publicist's nightmare. Embracing drugs and alcohol publicly while denouncing support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous just isn't a wise move. Additionally, engaging in a public attack on his former boss, no matter how much he may dislike him, is not an intelligent decision either.

Sheen needs to understand that whether he likes it or not, he has publics that are going to listen to what he says and pass judgment one way or the other. And even though he seems to not care about the opinions of his publics, their opinions effect him. After all, even though Sheen was the star on one of TV's most popular shows, his antics turned him into a public relations nightmare for his employers and thus, fired him because of it.

So if Charlie Sheen wants to continue partying the way he has been and partaking in the various vices he chooses to, then go for it. It his life, his body, his image that he his destroying. But if he has any desire to get back to work anytime soon, he will have to adopt a new tactic for handling his public relations because his current method just isn't going to cut it.

And So It Begins...

Hello and welcome to Northern Lights. My name is Michael Tarantino and I am senior public relations student at Hofstra University. I created this blog at the request of my PR107 professor and over the course of this semester I will be discussing public relations and how it is reflected in every day life.

This is not the first blog that I have created. Prior to this, I created and maintained two other blogs, both of which were for classes as well. However, those blogs were not centered around public relations where as this one is.

I am looking forward to blogging on frequent basis again for a number of different reasons. First, I enjoy writing about personal experiences, or participating in dialogue focused on normal every day topics. I am an opinionated individual and sharing that opinion with others is something I enjoy doing. In addition to this, I feel that this blog is going to cause me to look at everyday topics from a PR scope. In doing so I hope to develop into a more savvy PR practitioner.

So enjoy my upcoming posts and please comment about anything you might desire to do so. My aim is to DISCUSS topics here and not beat you over the head with my opinions.