Sam's Blog Spot

Encompassing International Travel & Nature Through Reflection

Posted on May 9, 2020 by samasoklis

bryan-goff--eDpBjt6UL0-unsplash — Photo by Bryan Goff on Unsplash

After watching the movie Into the Wild, there are many connections to tourism that an individual can reflect on. As this movie shares a story of a college student (Chris McCandless) aiming to create a simplistic life, he takes on his journey across the US to embrace what the world has to offer. As he endures many issues and realizations throughout his travels, he ends up staying in a bus in Alaska to realize after many months that this journey is no longer for him. Longing for home, McCandless failed to re-cross the river that would get him on his journey back. With dwindling supplies, he ends up ingesting a poisonous plant that make him sick and pass.

This movie opens up many different perspectives for one to think about throughout this film. One major appreciation I had for McCandless was his admiration for nature. In the beginning of the film, they show him enduring nature in the bus in Alaska. This created a space for him to not worry about any outside influences, allowing him to encompass his true self. Through this he writes journals, reads, and hunts to live the most simplistic life. This allowed for new connections with himself and those he endured throughout his journey, creating the purest thoughts possible. This is something that I have always tried to do when traveling, as I know I can soak up the most by just connecting with what’s around me.

In addition, this can allow one to reflect on the influences we have around us everyday in the world. Whether we are traveling on a vacation, going to work, or just sitting in our backyards, one can become so consumed in a “reality” that has became very prominent in our generation. This distracts one from what is around them, lacking appreciation of others and what the world offers. As many could guess, I’m aiming at the technology within our society. As it has brought many strong advancements and tools, many people tend to abuse this for their own personal enjoyment. If the majority were to undertsand the appreciation they can gain from the real world and pure connections, McCandless would 100% support this notion.

Now you may be wondering how this movie relates to hospitality and tourism? There are many ways in which one can understand the relevance, as we should be focusing on the travelers experience. If one in the industry were to hold a journey similar to McCandless’s, it would require intensive planning to deliver the best experience to the consumer. As we would probably make this tour the best nature spots in North America, one could teach and guide travelers to appreciate the beauty around them. In addition, answering questions and creating a personal connection with the travelers would create the best experience for experience and growth. Being able to translate the simplicity and feelings of being connected with nature is the best experience one can endure and hold on to forever. Teaching this to others will allow for appreciation that we all need when enjoying what nature and traveling gives us, the experience!

Overall, this movie has a lot of key aspects that make a lot of people think about the current life they live. Aiming to enjoy the purest form of nature and creating strong interpersonal relationships is key, as many don’t understand or practice this logic. As I have taken some time throughout my vacation journeys to sit and realize the purity around me, I hope to pass these trait off to others, aiming to legacy aspects of Chris McCandless. Although I will not be cutting up my cards and running away, I do hope to continue sharing the same passion for nature and traveling throughout my career.

Trending Now

Looking at current article within the industry, I chose to pick one from the Boston Globe that discusses the state of the industry from just one point of view. More than 50% of hotels are closed in the Boston and Cambridge area, hoping to gain revue from travelers this summer. Thoughts about creating an additional tax when purchasing a room this summer is in the works, as it would help generate for loss in funds due to COVID-19. In addition, marketing and PR campaigns funds are being pushed to attract visitors this summer, despite the ongoing global pandemic.

Ad & PR

Components of PR: Creating the Big Picture

Posted on December 9, 2019May 6, 2020 by samasoklis

In looking back over the course of the semester, CAP 220 (Fundamentals of Public Relations) has taught me a slew of information that I had little knowledge on prior to joining this course. Reflecting on different thoughts I had about Public Relations, I had gained some information from one hundred level courses during my freshman year at Grand Valley. These courses gave me a touch of what the field would entail, but there will still a lot of unanswered questions that I hoped to gain when entering this course. Defining PR now, I would still use a similar definition that was asked of us in the beginning of the semester. The difference now is knowing the background and all the smaller details that are behind the actual process. As it was a lot more complex than expected, all these pieces throughout the semester helped to build a strong understanding.

In reference to my first blog post of the semester, “this allows for intensive research to piece together a puzzle that you work to solve” (Asoklis, 2019, para 1). This statement consists of so much more than what I expected despite my thoughts of research. As research is a key component in PR, there are so many more pieces in addition to just research. Understanding your client and creating different solutions for them that is feasible, along with guiding them for the best success in their business is a huge part as well. Learning how to create strategic solutions that have evidence and background to support them will set the client up for success. PR professionals strive daily to get the best outcome for their client, but understanding and measuring the success is another key factor.

The evaluation process of PR sets the client up to implement all the different pieces of the plan from research and measure the objectives to determine the success. This semester I gained a strong understanding that not all of your outcomes need to be 100% to determine success. Success can be found from follow up in the evaluation, but knowing what was gained and how future studies can improve is a key component. As all professionals strive to give their client the best possible plan, knowing how to interpret and measure is a crucial piece. Understanding that measuring success is not just by the numbers, but the gain in development throughout the business and with their partners is important.

Overall, the different pieces taught in this course has changed my perspective on the overall view of PR. As one striving to be in the industry in the future, using the tools provided in the course will help guide me in the rest of my college career and my potential career. Using these tools provided to create conduct intense research, create first hand statistics, budgets, and plans for execution will help me thrive as individuals in the field. As so much more is part of the process than I expected from the beginning, this class was able to immerse me in a whole new world of knowledge. I have gained strong appreciation for the field, as it has allowed me to understand how PR professionals think as one aims to create the best outcome for the client.

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What Really Defines the Evaluation Process in PR?

Posted on December 2, 2019May 5, 2020 by samasoklis

The evaluation process within the world of PR can be hard to define by one set of ideas. In looking to create the most effective information for the client to use for their company and how one would apply that to their business should be most of the focus in the evaluation process. Showing the client how to understand when your plan for their business was successful and what to do from there are key topics that are crucial. PR professionals strive to make the best image for the outcome expected by their plan in a campaign.

Creating the best plan for your client is the ultimate goal and the evaluation does a great job of passing the torch to the business as long as it’s done correctly. This allows one to either work with the PR professional to implement and evaluate or take the reigns as the business and use the information to implement within their team. Mrs. Johnson is a professional in the industry that has seen evaluation creating a connection between management and PR teams (Johnson, 2019, para 1). As this has not always been the case for teams in the past, the evaluation can help to create these connections needed for professionals. Objectives in a campaign steer professionals to give an evaluation in a structured and supported form.

In looking at an example of an evaluation executed, Southwest Airlines had a PR campaign that would be optimizing press releases for the major news search engines. In looking at this campaign conducted, they were able to track sales in tickets and watch the plan layout over time. From that one was able to use this see what results came about from the objectives given for improvement. In looking at some key information they were able to gain, two PR professionals found “Southwest Airlines was able to directly track more than $2.5 million in online ticket sales as a result of optimized press releases”. This allowed them to track the turns of the ticket sales over a long period of time to figure out the relation between media and sales. From this example, we can understand a properly carried out evaluation that is used by the business for improvement.

As it is always strong to have true data evidence that shows credibility in one’s results, PR professionals use ROI (Return of Investment) to measure the efficiency of ones plan. ROI helps in comparing the success and gain from an investment to others and helps to rank the effectiveness of a campaign. As this data is very important to keep track, it is crucial that businesses keep their focus on the true importance of implementing and are aware of long term benefits as well. Measuring ROI right after the scheduled plan and calling it unsuccessful is the opposite goal of what a campaign should do. If one’s campaign did not play out as expected, it is important to look for improvement and benefits from that campaign to work with for future implementations. Mr. Hall from Forbes advises those to “Harness your brand story, continue to nurture these efforts over time, and don’t rely on the numbers for the whole story” (Hall, 2015, para 8). As this statement speaks volumes, it is key to properly balance the numbers with the long term goals that can be measured over time through the evaluation process.

Watson, T., & Noble, P. (2007). Integrating Planning and Evaluation: Evaluating the Public Relations Practice and Public Relations Programs. Handbook of Public Relations, 1–252. doi: 10.4135/9781452220727.n19

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Protecting and Proclaiming Privacy

Posted on October 30, 2019May 5, 2020 by samasoklis

As PR professionals, one of the many things you learn to get good at is interacting with people to gather data. Whether one creates a survey or hosts a focus group, learning information from your subjects is a key takeaway in creating solutions for a client. This research can be quantitative or qualitative data, but either way your subjects are giving their input to us in order to use it in the best way possible. It must be a priority to the PR professional to make sure your subjects information is safe and their privacy is upheld. In doing so, many professionals already have taken numerous steps to create a safe environment for those who give their time to be a part of one’s research. Throughout this blog I will hit many of the key factors that must be a priority in creating transparency in the privacy of the consumers and subjects.

In creating a clear vision for the subject, a professional provides the consumer or subject in a focus group a terms of agreement of some sort. When thinking of this, many of you can relate, as everyone knows the box they forget to check in proceeding with an agreement with a company or acknowledgement of terms. Many people skip over this part and get to the end to give their signature or consent. In a survey of 2,000 consumers, a study found that 91% of the people give their consent without actually reading the terms. This was not a surprising fact to me personally, as I know this is a common factor with these terms of agreement. It is up the PR professional to help change the way this is done by giving a clear cut of what it entails and not trick or mislead the consumer.

As a company, it must be of top priority to be confident in privacy rights and how you data is used and distributed. As many people were in dismay over the Facebook data leak, we want to make sure that we are upholding that most critical standards to respect an individual. In bringing back the transparency factor, it is key that one is up to the best knowledge and aware of what will be done with any of one’s information. In looking into an article by Mr. Probolsky, a guest writer for Forbes proclaims “companies can make sure consumers are aware of the steps they are taking to protect them and begin to get more users on board with the model” (Probolsky, 2018, para. 13). This shows the emphasis that Mr. Probolsky makes, as it should be handled proactively and properly while still making consumers happy and assuring one of the companies promise to them.

As times are not always as smooth as a company desires, knowing how to deal with an information leak or privacy issue is crucial. It is up to PR professionals to know the ropes, and how to deal with a crisis communication within. No matter what the situation is, big or small, the company must have a plan to make the situation the best possible. A journal from 2019 states “suggested companies should establish effective data security protocols; create a communication template for notifying consumers and potential victims; and constantly update and renew a security program” (Hsiangting & Tun-Min, 2019, p. 4). This quote shows strong significance of why we need to stay in touch with our consumers and be as clear and possible, creating an understanding and trust that is needed. As one must be ready to deal with any situation, PR professionals to strive to keep data secure and be clear as possible in protecting and proclaiming one’s privacy!

Hsiangting Shatina Chen, Tun-Min (Catherine) Jai. (2019) Trust fall: data breach perceptions from loyalty and non-loyalty customers. The Service Industries Journal 0:0, pages 1-17.

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Utilizing Social Media within Public Relations

Posted on October 23, 2019May 5, 2020 by samasoklis

Social Media within the world of PR has changed the way in which one reaches and interacts with an audience. Using the technology given to us today, we can use numerous different tools that impact the way in which a PR professional does their job. From social media, one can obtain information based on consumer response, connection, and strategy. By using these tools one can measure and create a desired platform to reach all audience in the desired target. This allows for PR professionals to use these new tools to create the atmosphere on the media they strive to have for their company or business.

The specific use of social media to create “buzz” for ones audience allows a ton of new opportunities that the world of PR did not offer before. A Forbes council member states in an article “Social media makes it possible for the average person to create their own platform and cultivate their own audience in a way that has never been possible before” (Mekky, 2019, para. 5). The statement above shows us the power given to a PR professional to create the best platform to reach the media in the world of social media. The attraction media has today – from announcements and news cultivated by PR professionals – in ones business has created a source of reliability for consumers. When a crisis or downfall occurs in one’s business, social media has also allowed some professionals to create a bounce back or a response to help their brand.

Social Media has also allowed PR professionals to share company information quickly and effectively to an audience. Besides creating a “buzz”, this also creates a way for social sharing to transfer across all platforms for everyone to see. Whether its a press release, to a new article, information can easily be transferred from source to socure to reach all audiences. A noteworthy PR professional named Ronn Torossian stated “This ensures that when a follower reads a release online, they can easily click on a button to share it with their friends and family, and thus expand brand reach for a client” (Torossiain, 2018, para. 7). This statement speaks volumes as sharing and connecting with ones near to you happens on a daily basis! The number of times I have personally connected with my peers over new press releases is uncountable. The content that trends in media everyday are talking points that one another discuss on a daily as it plays much importance to them. Whether it’s a brand they love, or a company that took a hit, people always love to read and voice their opinion.

Interactions within your social media channel also helps to create credibility and recognition within one’s business. From replying to a customer, to direct messaging them with a problem, the more responsive a company is to these interactions, the more respect a consumer will have for them. In a journal by two university professors, they explain “Organizations can also harness the potential of social media to engage in social conversations” (Tam & Kim, 2019, p. 31). This potential is created through connecting and interacting with your consumers on social media. This allows for deep trust and consideration when one is dealing with a company over social media.

When looking back on the points discussed, many can conclude that the use of social media within the PR industry has changed the way in which one does their job. Incorporating social media and creating the hype, branching out news on multiple platforms, and creating strong interactions with consumers helps to build a brand’s reputation. Using these tools will help one to be as successful as possible when incorporating the new ways in which the industry works. Social media will only continue to grow as technology advances, so it is up to us to continue to adapt with social media and what it offers us.

Tam, Lisa & Kim, Jeong-Nam. (2019). Using social media analytics in public relations: How they support company public relations. Journal of Business Strategy. 40. 28-34. 10.1108/JBS-06-2017-0078.

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The Puzzle Pieces of Research

Posted on September 11, 2019May 5, 2020 by samasoklis

Photo by Ryoji Iwata on Unsplash

The world of Public Relations relies on research in order to function properly. Without research in the PR industry, it would lack a lot of the necessary background knowledge that is crucial to working with others in the field. With this knowledge, you are able to properly interact with your clients and gain an understanding for creating strong lines of communication. According to a PR professional Dr. Stacks, “without research you cannot demonstrate the efficacy of your program” (Stacks, 2017, p. 4). These lines of communication are key for a successful relationship that businesses have with others in the industry along with the public that they communicate to. Having this strong background allows for an even distribution of communication between both parties and a successful gain in knowledge.

Many may think that communication is the main key of Public Relations, but there’s much more than one may think! Research allows for one to target their audience on a relatable level, having an understanding of the audience and who/what your main focus is. In addition, various methods and critical thinking are used in interpreting research with gaining knowledge on your client. “Research on the functional level is most of all “benchmarking” research of critical success factors and best practices” according to the authors of Public Relations Metrics (Ruler, Vercic, & Vercic, 2008, p.11). These authors reiterate the importance of creating a foundation in your research that will allow for best success in the field.

In terms of research, many professionals use various methods to gather and collect data. Getting this data prior to beginning an assessment allows for stronger knowledge and helps to direct an approach to solving the main issue. An example that helped me understand the need of data when assessing a topic is finding your audience when giving surveys and collecting raw data. In context, when surveying a random group of people, finding the age majority will help you understand who your focus is. When viewing your results, you are given a set of data that you can then go forth with allowing for specific problem solving. Having this data allows for one to direct their focus on a certain audience in working towards solving your main objective.

In addition, research allows for the PR professional to gain feedback and answers to topics that one may assess. In the beginning of a certain project or case, background research allows for one to start addressing different questions that they will later find out at the end of the case. This allows for a gain in knowledge that one could use in future projects or clients. Having this extra knowledge from previous clients or cases allows for one to become more credible in the competitive field. Paine, Draper, & Jeffery (2008, p. 4-5) reference the three “O’s” that you gain from your result in research. These were noted as outputs, outtakes, and outcomes that all make up what you hope to get out of a case or study. All three of these allow for an increase in content that can be used in future studies allowing for an increase in data, understanding, and knowledge.

Without research in the world of Public Relations, it would lack many key concepts that help build up the main focus in identifying problems. As many of these problems range from target audiences to successfully understanding and solving problems in an organization, research is key to understanding background information. In addition, the strong communication lines that are built through research is something that PR professional strive to have in every case. Allowing for these strong connections makes a huge impact on what a company’s status in the PR world and how one looks at the overall image of their company.

References

Paine, K. D., Draper, P., & Jeffery, A. (2008). Using Public Relations Research to Drive Business Results.

Ruler, B. van, Verčič Ana Tkalac, & Verčič Dejan. (2008). Public relations metrics: research and evaluation. New York: Routledge/Taylor and Francis Group.

Stacks, D. W. (2017). Primer of public relations research. New York: The Guilford Press.

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Viewing Public Realtions From a Personal Perspective

Posted on September 9, 2019May 5, 2020 by samasoklis

As I walked into my first lecture of my Public Relations class, I began to reflect on what my major is and how it will work into what my life career is. As an Ad & PR major – with an emphasis on PR – I strive to fully understand and recognize what my degree has in store. Not only do I have a lot of growing to do in the field, but a great knowledge of comprehension and understanding is something I aim to achieve over current and future courses that I will take. As I am very excited to learn and grow in the field, I aim to correct some prior thinking and indulge in what really brings me to this classroom today.

Reflecting on what I know thus far, I drew my own definition of what P.R. meant to me and how it takes role in ones everyday life. As this field works on maintaining relationships, I talked about how PR builds connections with others to help gain credibility and create an “image” for ones brand. Whether this “image” is positive or negative, I believe that a strong relationship will help to guide one’s thoughts when a situation occurs. When thinking about what makes this makes this major so appealing to me, I connect it to teamwork and critical thinking that helps to work out an issue. In doing so, this allows for intensive research to piece together a puzzle that you work to solve.

As I have been working to understand the true concepts that make up this major, I came across an example that helped me understand some of the confusion in the field. Smith highlights in the opening of a reference to an elephant and six blind men. As this goes on, it tells us in the end that the six blind men had different conceptions of what the elephant was. The author then stated “the story points out the pitfall of looking only at the parts and not perceiving the whole” (Smith, 2013, p.19). This allowed me to realize that there are so many small pieces in working towards a goal or focus in order to achieve what you are trying to solve.

As I go through this course and many others, I hope to understand what the pieces are that bring this career into one. When coming across an article I found about the field, I was able to hear what one entrepreneur thinks when breaking this major down into components. Mr. Wynne explains his categories of the field consist of “persuasion, information, communication, third-party validation, public opinion, public policy, and promotions to driven sales, revenues or donations” (Wynne, 2013, para. 4). As I don’t have a clear understanding of what these roles will play out to be, it was nice to understand a viewpoint to clear the fog I have with the field.

Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash

In moving forward through the program, it will be with great hope that I will have a strong knowledge and enjoy what it has to offer to me individually. In addition, I look forward to determining the real differences between this field and the many others that intertwine and work together. In researching how the various fields work together, Mr. Comcowich explains “Coordination helps them do together what they cannot do separately and improve the bottom line for the entire organization” (Comcowich, 2019, para. 1). Hearing this from a P.R. professional along with many professors previously, I look forward to gaining understanding behind all the different professional careers. As I continue to grow in this field, I’m genuinely excited to mold with those around me to make the future of Public Relations.

References:

Comcowich, W. C. W. J. (2019, January 8). How PR & Marketing Work Better Together.

Smith, R. (2013). Public relations : The basics.

Wynne, R. (2013, September 4). Public Relations, Explained.

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Changing Media in the Ad & PR Industry

Posted on April 1, 2019May 5, 2020 by samasoklis

The world of Advertising and Public Relations is a rapidly changing industry that evolves as society changes and grows. As the industry changes, we, as professionals, adapt to these changes to help make the industry intact with current trends. Over the couple decades, we have seen these adaptations made in the Ad & P.R. world. The usage of technology within different companies has skyrocketed since the latest inventions of the internet became available to users across the United States. Since adjusting to the usage in our everyday lives, professionals have made it possible to be innovative and creative to use these tools given to us in their daily profession.

The way in which Ad & P.R. professionals incorporate visuals in the industry has truly changed the way in which one can do their job. With such advanced technology that we use on a daily basis, it has allowed professionals to reach across to numerous consumers to relay a message to one. Through the innovative technology that we use, it has allowed us to display content to viewers that was never thought possible. In reference to do todays society, a prime example is news casters that bring up various polls and graphs that show the viewer valuable information from a look of a graphic.

Not only has technology advanced overall, but us as individuals that changed too. We have learned to adapt to media and how we interpret it from our own perspective. This has allowed our minds to be able to process information seen in visuals a lot quicker in comparison to when technology of this nature was being introduced. The inventions that has brought us up to the point we are in today has allowed us to understand the true concept of visuals in everyday society. For example, the addition of color to television brought great comprehension for the human mind to attract and intrigue interest. In addition, greater visuals and higher quality has allowed for a stronger interpretation on how we see and gather information.

In researching this topic, I came across an interesting article that I thought I would bring up. Cheryl Conner got in touch with Serena Ehrlich to find out the facts behind visuals in the Ad & P.R. industry. A fact from the data collected found that “visuals are processed 60K faster than text (meaning a visual is worth 60,000 words)”. This goes to prove that visuals are the upcoming focus as we progress in society and into the future. A later fact states that “One minute of video is more powerful than 1.8 million words” and “Multimedia adds feeling to facts”. I’m shocked to find out that video is more powerful than words, but then I think about the fact more and it makes sense. The way in which information and programs are displayed to users is only going to advance for those who are to come in the future.

As technology continues to advance, the Ad & P.R. industry must continue to keep up with its vigor that society continues to provide. I hope as a future individual in the career field that I can also keep with the future innovations that will be displayed to users.

Ad & PR

The Evolution of Collaboration

Posted on March 2, 2019May 5, 2020 by samasoklis

Collaboration within a workplace is very important for a company to have a successful business. It has been something that has taken place since businesses where first beginning. Whether it be with your co-workers, your boss, or even you peers, working together within a career is something that should be cherished and used to the best of its ability. Over the last decade, our changing society has altered the way in which collaboration works within the workplace. This is something that come with many pros and cons that help make up what we are facing right now in our current world.

In previous decades, collaboration within the workplace was very different. When working with others, many people just used the old fashion face to face communication to help create a plan and address how all the team members will work together. This usually entailed assigning different tasks to the members throughout the group. This way was very effective and is usually the easiest way to get something done even in todays world. Face to face communication has been proven to be the strongest form in which we interact with one another.

In todays society, working together with one another can come in many different forms. Through technology, it has allowed us to create many different channels that allows for one to work as a whole. Platforms such as GroupMe, WhatsApp, and many other group commuictaion networks have allowed us to work as a team within a workplace without actually having an in person conversation to get the job done. This has become easily accessible to coworkers, as many have their own smartphone for communication. From this advancement, different businesses and companies can work towards a task or goal though this platforms to work with each other and create ideas in which they will accomplish the assigned task.

With new forms of collaboration, it brings many challenges that workplace’s have to face on a day to day basis. From lack of communication, to misinterpretations it has become challenging for some who use todays advanced technology. The classic use of face-to-face interactions has alway been the clearest route that allows one to get the job done with others. With that, most businesses use modern day technology to make this process a bit easier. The personal interactions with others allow for straight connection and understanding with a business. It becomes tricky when using todays technology, allowing for miscommunication that sometime can hurt the team as a whole. It is important when using modern technology to make sure that the points are clear the tasks are done properly as these issues can occur.

Overall, collaboration has always played a main role in companies and how they execute tasks within the workplace. With using todays modern technology, it is important to be aware of the issues that may arise from it. It is up to us as people, working in an ever-changing society, to make sure we stay on top of issues that may cause a stigma in communication. Communication is a main force that can make or break a business if it’s not used properly, for it will hurt those companies/businesses working together to collaborate many different vital tasks to be successful.