New & Amazing

So, while browsing through some tech articles, I stumbled upon potentially the coolest thing ever! I had heard about the possibility of this happening, but for some reason I assumed it was years in the making. To my surprise I see the technology is here, and will be in stores in a few months.

I am talking about the small little square that plugs into your iPhone or iPad that will allow you to take credit and debit card payments on your mobile device. Amazingly cool right? As the NY Times article cleverly points out, there are many practical every day uses for this little gadget such as splitting bills with your friends when you go out to eat. Or when someone owes you money and they say they don't have enough cash to pay you, they can just use their credit card to pay you in seconds using your phone.

I'm sure there are hundreds of new uses for this revolutionary device, but what about the potential drawbacks to such easy access to credit card payments. It seems to me that this may create a whole new world of fraud.

If I were a bad person, and I needed some extra $$, what would stop me from taking the credit card of someone near me and in seconds, swiping it using my phone then using the newly enlarged balance for my benefit?

While it would make a lot of things much easier and more convenient.. It would also create a magnitude of new types of fraud. This is definitely a trend I will be watching closely to see how it develops and what kind of commentary is generated about the uses and implications of turning each of us into walking credit card taking machines.

Check out the article if you have a minute or two. It is extremely interesting and insightful.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/29/technology/29cashless.html?src=twt&twt=nytimes

Crunch Time

If there is one thing that is driving me crazy right now it's the various "count down to graduation!" Facebook and Twitter status updates. Then there are the friendly reminders from professors, parents, roommates, and even strangers(!) reminding me of all the things I want to accomplish before May 9th, 2010. (AKA G-DAY)

Tonight, I will be putting the finishing touches on my portfolio for my professional development class. Tomorrow, creating a comprehensive time line for the promotion of the April networking event with PRSA. Throw in classes, work, applying for jobs, sleeping if I'm lucky :-) and everything else a Senior graduating in X amount of days should be doing, and you have one very busy college student.

Even at my most stressed I remain more excited than scared about the future and all of the implications that come with it. I realize, as we all do at some point, that good things DO come to an end. Gonzaga, my friend, you have been an impeccable second home to me for the last four years and although I will accept my title as "Alumni" begrudgingly, I wouldn't want to be an "Alumni" anywhere else.

Well, off to the library to take advantage of 5 cent printing!

Until next time...

Back to Basics

The other day I learned a valuable lesson.. sometimes the best way to communicate with someone is face to face. I know that sounds very simplistic, and maybe even rudimentary, but I think we forget the importance of communicating with one another face to face because we communicate so often through our phones or computer screens.

I came to this realization when two of my board members and I spent almost two weeks trying to confirm a room reservation for our networking event we are hosting in April.

We called. We emailed. We left messages. We called again!

None of us could get a response. Time was ticking; plans needed to be made, an event needed to be planned and promoted!

As I sat in the library, pulling my laptop out to send yet another email in an attempt to get this room reservation confirmed, I decided to bypass the electronic route. I stormed over to the office, and lo and behold, had the room I wanted, on the date!

Had I sent another email who knows how long I would have waited for a response. The moral is this, sometimes you have to talk with someone in person, looking them in the eye, to achieve your goal. If the situation allows, I will definitely employ this strategy in my future communication efforts.

"Obviously a misstatement"

This morning I received an alert on my phone from the Associated Press that all owners of Toyota cars that have been recalled should stop driving them as they are unsafe. "That's interesting.. glad I don't drive a Toyota." I thought, as I turned over and pressed the snooze button on my alarm. I had just begun to fall back asleep when my phone chirped again. I began to regret ever allowing notifications from the Associated Press application but begrudgingly checked it anyway. The notification read, "LaHood says he misspoke on advice to Toyota owners".



Now I feel like a real PR nerd saying this, but the first thing that came to mind was a very busy and tense PR department at Toyota. This is major crisis communications mode people! First the Transportation Secretary says that owners should stop driving their Toyota because they are unsafe; a real blow to the image of that brand as the affordable, safe and fuel efficient standby. Next, Ray LaHood recants his previous statement and adjusts it to this, "take them to dealerships to get them repaired". Oops! I would definitely agree with him when he characterizes his mistake as an "obvious misstatement".

It will be interesting to see how Toyota reacts to this unfortunate event. I will be watching closely to see what their next move is.



I have included a link to the article for your reference.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_TOYOTA_RECALL?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

PRSSA

Hello! So as you may or may not know, I am the President of Gonzaga's Public Relations Student Society of America. I have an excellent executive board made up of mostly seniors and a few juniors. We have made some improvements to GU PRSSA this year and last semester was a great success! Wednesday night we had our first board meeting of the new semester and began putting some very exciting plans into action.

First of all, our February meeting is going to be a teleseminar about copyright infringement. It will be talking about what kind of content you can or cannot use without citing. I think this will be very informative as none of us want to be in violation of a copyright. I am a little bit nervous because I have never used a teleseminar before and I know you can only play through it one time. This crushed my plan of doing a practice run before the meeting with the membership. I will cross my fingers and maintain high hopes that things will run smoothly.

Our March meeting will follow the usual format of a guest speaker followed by a Q&A session. I have not found a speaker yet but I have a few ideas as to who I should contact. We have had two representatives from the career center as well as Dale Goodwin, who is the Director of Public Relations for GU. All three were fantastic and I know the membership gained a lot of insight from them.

I am most excited about our April meeting, although it will be bitter sweet as it is our last meeting of the year I think it will be one of the best. We will be partnering with Spokane PRSA to host a networking event for PR students and local professionals. Two of my board members are working on the details of this event so I'm sure it is going to be a big success.

So far PRSSA has been a fantastic experience. I feel as though I have gained a great deal of leadership experience through managing my ten member board and over thirty student members. With only three meetings, a service event, and a social event left, I am enjoying what time I have to the fullest.

Until next time!

Spin Class

So I'm working on my PR Planning & Case Review homework. The assignment is to read the PRSA Code of Ethics and then find an article that depicts a violation of one of the codes. I have found my article, and have read all I can read about ethics in relation to PRSA. The question that comes to mind for me is what will I do if I encounter any one of these ethical dilemmas in my career? What kinds of issues will come up? I know "spin doctor" is basically a dirty word, but what if I am asked to "spin" an event that is not quite as favorable as desired by my client into something positive? Is that simply doing my job, or is it an infringement on the ethical code of the profession.. I'll be thinking about that.

The First Page

Welcome!

This is my entry into the blog-o-sphere, I'm getting my foot in the door and seeing what's out there! I am in my final semester of college and preparing to start out on my own. I'm here to share my thoughts, experiences and insights so far as I figure out where I'm headed into the world of PR. All in all, I'm excited to see where this year takes me.