Post 7: How this Course Helped Me

I’m going to be honest. I came into this course blind and not knowing what to expect. However as this course went on, it helped me to develop my writing and the overall understanding of everything I have learned over the last two years of my post secondary career. Being in Public Relations (PR), I have been told time and time again that it’s all about relationship and developing campaigns and aiming to project to a specific audience, businesses, organizations, and markets.

Digital content is so important, especially in these times being in Covid where a lot of our communication is online and through social media. Content can be guided by story by an author giving in depth and thorough detail on the story and not leaving details out.

The stories I want to tell is totally different than what others want to tell. My passion for agriculture and wanting to promote locally grown foods is something I will never lose and will want to promote. I am so grateful for all the experience I have been given over the last year and will take everything I have learned from this course and be able to use it in my PR career.  

Post 6: How well do people know my story?

My story is an easy one to tell. To someone outside of my world, it may seem like I have a lot on my plate, and I have been told that I am busy person. And it’s true. But I enjoy being busy and it makes me feel like I have purpose. I have a younger brother and sister who are very athletic, and that their deal. Being busy and having a lot on my plate is my deal. I have horses and a sincere passion for agriculture, and I want to stick by that. And some people just don’t understand that.

I have been through moving away and making life altering choices on my own, and its genuinely not easy. However, being faced with the challenges I have and having to live through the mental health challenges of being a full-time student, as well as living on my own and handling family issues at home, really took a toll on me, and I learned how to be a strong, driven, and confident individual.

I look forward to keeping busy and having a lot on my plate, it keeps me humble and busy. It also helped me to realize I need to put my family and friends first.

Post 5: Telling My Story

I am notorious for being known as the person who can’t say no. I have the thought of I just need to help people. And sometimes this is what gets me into binds, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I enjoy being organized and helping other be the best they can be. I have been told so many times that it is a problem of mine, that I can’t say no. I have been told that I need to stop helping people. That’s not me. I need to help people and be involved with everything going on.

With every piece of work I do or compose or really anything I do. I have to make sure every thought I have, everything I’m writing or saying, is true and that I can back it up by facts or something I can do. The success of anything I do (ie. Planning a fundraiser) is how I measure myself to be successful. If the event was a complete flop, I would just take a day and re-evaluate everything.

Creating lists of everything I need to make sure I do or tasks I need to prioritize before a specific deadline is something that just helps to keep me aligned and on track with being productive and successful, believe me when I say that no one should see my day planner – it’s a mess….

Blog Post #4 – B2C Case Study

Being in the Coronavirus pandemic, big companies have had to use social media to their advantage, To help promote their brands and their reputation, B2C (Business to Consumer) companies have had to change the way they reach. Companies such as Walmart, and even online companies such as Ebay, Netflix, Amazon, Facebook, and so many more.

These organizations have had to find new ways to reach their target audiences and attract new customers to shop in a different fashion than going in store. Companies such as Amazon and eBay have had to find new ways to keep their already existing customer service base engaged and returning to shop. These organizations are using social media in place of traditional media (such as newspaper flyers) to let people know what deals are going on. Social media is becoming a constant in everyone’s everyday lives and has been a main source of crucial information especially during the coronavirus pandemic. Personally, if I see an add of a product or service that I want or think I would enjoy, seeing an ad or promotion video (ie. movie or tv show trailers for Netflix) would just help me to investigate further and help curve my choices into getting the service or product.

The quality of their posts can be evaluated through using and analyzing the online user’s algorithm to see what they are looking and shopping for. Even streaming services such as Netflix, have had to re-evaluate how they are promoting new shows to be watched with the evolving pace of social media and how people are watching and reading posts.

Blog Post #3 – Targeting Audiences

I love writing. And part of my Public Relations journey has allowed me to focus on those skills. I have also had jobs where I have had to project my social media posts to specific audience.

One job I have had during my two year post-secondary career is curating social media posts for an agricultural education program. When I started thinking about college, I really wanted to dive into the business part of the agriculture industry, and I didn’t have the marks in high school to get into the University of Guelph or Ridgetown. I also had an undiscovered passion for social media that wasn’t uncovered until my first year of the PR diploma program at Conestoga College.

I was given multiple opportunities to do social media for multiple different organizations. One being the Durham West Junior Farmers, a not for profit organization for rural youth. Many of these posts are geared towards youth and the agriculture industry.

A lot of the social media posts is geared around events and trying to get youth more involved in the community. Another organization is an agricultural education program located in Durham Region. Creating these social media posts has allowed me to find new ways to incorporate my love for creative writing and my passion for promotion and social media. Creating posts around a specific audience can be challenging and difficult, but when the engagement rates and interactions with posts come back, you get to evaluate how your posts performed and what you need to change and what you can keep.

Writing Styles that Intrigue a reader…

Storytelling has come an extremely long way through history, tracing back to medieval times to tell tales of warfare and ancient folklore. Since then, the evolution of social media and technologies such as the internet has allowed for stories to go “viral” and be shared to audiences word of mouth just couldn’t spread. 

Writing any story needs to have a clear storyline, and in the author’s mind, needs to have the ending to look forward to. For a reader, the beginning of the story is the start of an imaginative journey through the article, as they attempt to put an image to the words. 

Information shared at the beginning of the article or story needs to draw the reader in with the lead or hook, and continue to entice the reader to keep reading, sharing every bit of important information that is humanly possible without giving up the end result. 

Information that could be considered crucial, but really not important is important in communication styles such as social media posts and some forms of news articles. News articles and social media posts alike, similar to a good story, needs to have an enticing hook or lead that makes the target eager to keep reading or follow an action of a social media post. 

Following the inverted pyramid style writing, information that a writer could include but doesn’t doesn’t always make it into the story. And this is where some readers often find themselves lost or further investigating. 

COM0014 – Blog Post #1 – A weekend away, is a weekend well spent!

Being in the middle of a global pandemic has really put a damper on any vacation plasn since March 2020. I had so many plans and high hopes for vacationing with friends this year. Whether it be a tropical vacation or just a road trip, we weren’t even sure it was going to happen as of April 2020. Thankfully we had a couple opportunities that we jumped at while we could.

Living in a small town in northern Durham Region, any chance at a vacation, you jump at the chance. Especially in the summer, a cottage weekend trip was a much needed vacation, and thank goodness we took it when we did.

I have a friend who has a cottage around 2hours away from where I currently live. The week before we left was rough. I also live on a working farm so being short a hand was a blow, especially in the summer when there was a lot to do. But I needed it for my mental health, it was the first time I actually said no to helping someone. And I will say, thank goodness I said no!

We left on a Friday evening and came home on the following Sunday afternoon. It was a weekend that I won’t soon forget. So many memories, laughs, truths being told, and quality time spent with people that I loved. So much good food and drinks and I can’t wait to do it all again (hopefully) in summer 2021!