In my little bouts of watching, I tend to notice that many people have iPods or similar mp3 devices and it’s made me wonder … Do people use them as a means of amusement, to make the commute more pleasant? Or, is it a way to avoid people - to hide behind a pair of earbuds and ignore existance as we know it? Surely, no one would even dare to speak to you over the deafening thrashing of guitars from an industrial German-rock band. (And yes, I am guilty of this, just so we’re clear).

Even more to my wonderment is how much people have become more reliant on technology than each other. But in this day and age, is it really hard not to be? Oh, I am definitely a digital baby by all means. I made e-zines for a subscriber base of hundreds of teens when I was 14-18 (little known fact #275) and wrote in an online journal long before I considered PR. I can remember my first time on the internet, which was AOL back in the day. Now, I can’t even begin to fathom how I, or anyone else for that matter, would live without all of this.

We know that people make it work like the Amish, for example, whose communities don’t depend on technology, but upon individuals working together as a whole - building relationships, communicating and solving their problems face to face. Perhaps we can take a page and realize that even with all of this technology that can figure out everything for us, we still need each other.

During the last several months, the idea of community has become so much more significant to me as I’ve started to really connect with many different people across multiple online platforms. Each person brings something unique to the table and while I may not interact on a routine basis, I do love to read and wrap my head around what’s important to them.

From this, I realize that community is just as important offline as it is online and it’s always been my personal goal to continue to grow my relationships, most importantly offline within the Pittsburgh PR community. Building relationships can be hard, especially when you have tendencies to be an introvert, like me. Yet, I’ve discovered there are two important things to establishing good relationships:

1. Picking up the phone. Here and there, I see much older professionals convey a sense of bewilderment that some of the younger professionals won’t pick up a phone. E-mail works, sure. It’s fast and easy to succinctly convey your thoughts to someone else. Still, I think there’s a necessity to pick up the telephone and speak to an actual human voice on the other end. The bad thing about e-mail or instant messaging is that a word, phrase or tone can be interpreted in an entirely different way than intended. I think that there is less chance for something to be misconstrued in an actual telephone conversation, unless of course, one person is having a bad day. (And yes, I know we could launch into the Shannon-Weaver Model of Communication, etc., but we won’t). True, I can say much more in an e-mail when I’ve had time to think, but I still enjoy making conversation and forging that connection with others via a simple phone call. Most importantly, you demonstate that you care - that the person is more than just an email address or a handle and he/she is worthy of your time.

2. Take risks. Stepping out of your comfort zone is key to creating new relationships. Yep, I hear this all the time and I’m sure you do as well, but it is very true. Putting yourself in an entirely new situation can be scary, but empowering at the same time. Just remember to swallow and take a deep breath before you take the plunge. I’ve made it a point now to either pursue new contacts on my own by introducing myself on the street somewhere or at an event. It’s hard because I can be pretty shy at first meeting, but I know that to fully get over my fear, it’s what must be done. Isn’t this what it’s all about, however? We’re going to be pushed in PR to do things we may never have done before, whether it’s a one-on-one with a client’s representative or a big presentation to the CEO.  Why not take risks and try new things? We’re engaging with so many different people who all have different goals in mind. The best way, in my humble opinion, to fully understand their needs is to take the time to actively pursue them, start a conversation and maintain that dialogue with the best intentions and full transparency.

So, perhaps the next time we’re on that bus, train or plane, we should start that conversation with the person sitting next to us. We never know where it might lead.

Wow — What started as a simple musing on an everyday occurrence has turned into a long-winded ramble. Sorry, folks! LOL.

 It just goes to show that even the craziest, sometimes most pointless internet memes can be used for something positive and have such a profound impact, calling attention to a very serious issue. In this case, it’s a cause very dear to my own heart.

So, LOL yourself on over and create your own!

Here’s mine!

Because I’ll probably be too spent to string together coherent thoughts, I thought I’d share a bit of creative writing that I posted on my personal blog over the summer. Sometimes, I like to think I’m funny. Well, I at least made a few people laugh for sure.

Dear Starbucks,

I don’t know how to say this, but I have a confession to make … I cheated.

I didn’t know what I was thinking that Saturday morning when I walked past you, crossed the street and took a risk, opening myself up to a new experience, diving into world that was so new, so strange to me. His name was Caribou.

Long had I heard his whispers. His flashy neon beckoning me to him. The looks of those who came from him satisfied. Men and women alike. All in blissful gaits as they walked the streets. He had this uncanny ability to quench their aching desires. It was written across their faces. Temptation gnawed at me day after day. Yet, I resisted. For I knew how long we’ve carried on and I couldn’t fathom breaking our bond.

Finally, it became too much to bear. I had to know what he was like. I strolled in that morning, not knowing what to expect. Would I too join these men and women or be left with emptiness and disappointment? One of his associates asked me what I desired of him. Breathless, I responded. I knew what I wanted. I had craved it for so long. I was going mad without it. Venti nonfat raspberry mocha.

With a knowing smile, the associate whispered to another associate and he set to work. Before my eyes, his gift had appeared. Long had that been our special drink, but alas, you told me I had to satisfy myself in other ways until June 25.

Our time together was brief. I departed from him as quickly as I came and didn’t look back. I took one sip as I strode up the walkway and plunged into oblivion. The taste. My God. I knew that there was no turning back. A smooth swirl into ecstasy where flavors of chocolate and raspberry tangoed on my tongue before taking a dive down my throat, a velvety combination, so warm and soothing. I found myself in that blissful state like so many before me had been. He had given me what I craved.

I know not when we shall meet again, but I know that I will not be able to resist the next time I find myself near him.

It breaks my heart to tell you all of this now, but I couldn’t go on with this secret much longer. I hope that we can be friends even after all of this. I will still come to you in my time of need because you, yes only you can provide me with the sweet taste that I crave on a warm, sunny day. 

We’ll always have the venti sweetened Passion Iced Tea.

I promise.

Love always,

Jenn

Editor’s note v1.1: Starbucks is still my morning staple, but I’ve switched to nonfat vanilla lattes. Sometimes, I’ll go for a skinny vanilla latte - if I’m feeling adventurous. So, in essence, my affair with Caribou Coffee has been short-lived. I feel so cheap.

There’s a sense of innocence and youth involved, so why is candy getting such a bad rap these days? OK, aside from you know, being bad for your teeth and detrimental to your healthy and weight. It’s not so much the fact that candy is sugar, (we know that) – it’s the fact that candy is taking on visible characteristics of drugs. 

According to various news reports, the Hershey Company has been forced to shelve a mint that looks alarmingly similar to a street drug packaged in the same manner. The confectionary conglomerate said the design was never meant to resemble anything, but it still has law enforcement officials up in arms because children in possession of the mint could be mistaken to have drugs, or think that a bag of drugs found on the street is actually candy.  

Rather than issue a total recall for the remaining product, Hershey has announced that it will not manufacture anymore after the current circulation runs out. This understandbly does not totally satisfy opponents of the candy whose own children died from drug overdoses. 

So, should Hershey have issued a recall? Probably. However, what this really boils down to is that Hershey is a business and like any business, the point is to make money. I imagine the company could fare well with a recall as other companies have in the past (i.e. McNeil with the tampered Tylenol scare), but for whatever reason, this was the better solution to them. I would hope that Research and Development is a little more cautious the next go-round. Although this product had fared well with test markets, sometimes people don’t think twice about any sort of ramifications, especially if this product was offered for sampling at no cost. 

I’m going to play devil’s advocate for a minute as well. Many candies look like drugs. If it’s really the intention to remove these from children, then the fight has to go well beyond Hershey. It isn’t the first company to be guilty of this, nor the last. We can argue that quite a few popular candies could be mistaken for drugs. I remember from my youth the candy cigarettes and bubblegum cigars. However, fact of the matter is that maybe going up against Hershey is only the beginning.

While on Twitter, I’ve searched nonprofits, PR agencies, sporting organizations and other things and people of personal and professional interest. Naturally, I started to think about politics as the upcoming election is saturating the media.

I’m not interested in discussing the candidate I support, but what does interest me is how each candidate is using the internet to engage potential and current supporters.  In the last election, social networking sites were still in their infancy with nothing more than a few blogs and social networking pages scattered here and there, yet in the last several years we have seen a real explosion in usage. Now, you can’t find a medium that at least one political candidate hasn’t touched.  

I’ll liken it to the grade school lunch table, everyone’s comparing lunches (lunch in the web case meaning ‘ideas’), trading lunches and making arguments as to who has the coolest “mom.” And the presidential candidates, well, they want to be known as top kid - the kid who has the best lunch AND the coolest mom.  It’s evident that the conversation is going on with or without them and if they want to steer that conversation in a positive spin, they have to be among  the loudest of voices whether it’s at that lunch table or on the internet.  

Interested in the how and why of such ventures, I decided to create my own little experiment. It was my intention to contact several campaigns and ask why they were so interested in social media and essentially what benefits they saw in participation.  

Well, it’s been about three weeks and I haven’t received a call yet from Ron, John (you know, the one with the Ken doll-esque coif) or Barack yet, but I’ll wait here until Election Day if I must. I have time, really.  

In all seriousness, I honestly didn’t expect a response considering I’m just little me here and the questions of a 24-year-old young professional, who is in the target young voter range, really aren’t that important. I suppose there’s just far more important people to woo, money to be had. I did receive, however, a form from the Obama camp to request a media interview in response to my initial message, which I found a bit funny. I mean I guess I could say I’m my own media entity, but I’m not rolling in that much green quite yet. (Imagine if I filled out that form signing off as my own media outlet - HA)! 

Regardless, if some campaign staffer from any presidential campaign ever stumbles upon this post, let’s have that conversation.

Moreover, if anyone wants to take a crack at whether you think social media is working in favor of the presidential candidates, have at it.

Yet, what has piqued my interest is the ongoing steroid controversy (and the recently released Mitchell Report). An ongoing question of, “Did he or didn’t he?” when it comes to a certain player who broke one of baseball’s most historic records. Now with the rumors swirling around another storied player, you could say things are heating up.

 And I think of not only baseball, but the other sports where doping has had such a profound impact on the way we perceive these athletes to be demigods. I think of people like Marion Jones, Floyd Landis and several Olympic medalists - all of whom have been stripped of their respective titles and medals in recent years.

Is this as much a crisis for the sporting bodies as it might be for the accused? For the sponsors? I think it could fall on either side of the fence. On the one hand, you have the people who don’t care as long the team/individual wins and brings home the bacon; while on the other, it’s a question of ethics and morals. What is this teaching young children about healthy competition? What is this going to mean for me as a sponsor if I don’t distance myself now? How much money can we stand to lose if it’s true?

I thought about this over the summer and I actually had a post all scribbled down on a sheet of paper. Oh, the ideological remedies I sought to vindicate professional sports:

If some of the most hailed athletes could sign a pledge or a commitment to playing the game without the use of performance enhancing drugs and take a stand that they believe doping is wrong, it could divert attention away from the negative and accentuate the positive.

Whether intentional or not, the act of doping is coming at a heavy price. Fines, suspensions and bans are marring the way the game is played, undermining sportsmanship, and discrediting those who choose to subject their bodies to chemical and hormonal alterations.

We’re not just looking at the professional level here, folks. High school and college students are looking at getting juiced as an option, too. These people may or may not be able to repair their own images, but there still is a chance for them to make a positive impact and educate youth to not make the same choices that they have, whether it is by making PSAs or going on the circuit and promoting drug-free choices.

Would they truly be remorseful? Who knows. Perhaps if they weren’t so focused on their own gain so much as helping the team, they may not have done so in the first place.

There’s more to that, but it’s irrelevant at this point. Upon re-examining that original post, sure, I’d like to say let’s all say “we’re sorry” while holding hands and singing “Kumbaya,” but the problem is more complex. There’s too much money tied up in professional sports. With all involved in this matter, whether you’re a sponsor, owner, player, spectator - what’s more important, doing right or winning?

I hardly want to be cynical as I think things can and should change, but my original thought that the court of public opinion (which was not included above) would reign may not be so realistic. I’ve looked at the forums where people laugh at the Mitchell Report and while those sentiments are not representative of everyone, you have to figure that for every voice in contempt, there has to be at least ten more.

I think of a post I read from Bruce Pilgrim for Strumpette. Pilgrim’s own scrutiny of the situation perhaps best expresses the sentiment of a lot of people:

And in the end (get it?), do baseball fans give a rat’s ass (get it?) if players are juiced on bennies, roided up, and freakishly large? Maybe a few. The rest of us only want to know what’s his batting average? Any movement on his fastball? Can he go to his left? Can he smack a hanging curve into the next zip code?

It’s a stinging reminder that when it comes to sports, it’s (most often) better to win at all costs.

PR Newswire’ Employee Slugs Release ‘Loony-Bin Rally,’ Gets Fired

Not necessarily just because of what the employee did, but also because whenever Gawker mentions our industry, it’s rarely for anything positive.

It always seems as if things become hectic from November to December, no matter what you’re doing. Things have been busy on my end. From prepping for and staffing Pinkalicious the Musical (go see it - it’s such a treat and the cast and staff from Vital Theatre are simply wonderful - plug, plug) to getting stuff together for the Festival to the kettle campaign at The Salvation Army, it’s felt like a whirlwind of activity. I don’t mind it in the least because I like to be busy during the day, but at night, I feel rather run down and not in the mood to do much else. Add to that, my MBA studies on Saturdays, which I’m quite surprised to say are almost finished, and I’ve been one busy little bee.

One of the opportunities I’ve had during the last month was to attend a PRSA Pittsburgh professional development session presented by Jeff Krakoff. Formerly the founder of Krakoff Communications, Inc., Jeff now serves as Director at Burson-Marsteller, Pittsburgh. “Breaking Into the Competitive World of PR,” a session mainly geared toward students and young professionals, detailed as you would guess, tips and advice to keep in mind when pursuing internships or that first career position.

Public Relations is a tough business to break into and it’s nice to have a professional association reach out to the next wave of young professionals by providing a kind of “crash course,” if you will, on what to do and what not to do. In addition to Jeff’s presentation, several PRSA members were on hand to evaluate résumés and portfolios, which I found to be very invaluable. Getting real pointers from seasoned professionals is nothing like say, asking a friend to look with an objective eye. I highly recommend that you seize the opportunity if/when it comes along.

Jeff (via Jasmine H.) was kind enough to allow me to share the slides from his presentation on this blog. I hope that those of you who are still in college find something that you can take and use. Heck, even if you’re a young professional, I hope you gain something, too. I sure did.

Next up will be a presentation this Wednesday by Rob Key, founder and CEO of Converseon, described as an “industry leader in new media strategies.” (It also just happens to be Paull’s firm)! I’m very much looking forward to attending the session and hearing what Rob has to share with us.

And now, Jeff’s presentation slides. Enjoy!

*Property of Jeff Krakoff & Burson-Marsteller, Pittsburgh. Used with permission.

Simple to operate, safe and secure, the Online Red Kettle allows individuals, companies and groups to create and maintain their own virtual kettles without experiencing the winter chill. Registrants are able to customize their kettle pages, set their own fundraising goals and invite friends, family and colleagues to donate or create their own kettles. Donors will have the option of designating their donations to go to a specific Salvation Army Corps, organizational program or zip code.

The fundraising drive has officially started. To learn more about the Online Red Kettle campaign, visit www.onlineredkettle.org.

I have one set up as well right over here: http://sausa.convio.net/goto/jnschooley

Just remember, a little goes a long way.

It’s so amazing to me how simple concepts and ideas can just forever change the course of entertainment and television. That’s what Griffin managed to do when he created two of his most famous shows (and definitely my favorites as a kid), “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune.” To see them still successful after all these years when most game shows have long since passed is nothing short of amazing.

I mean really, if it weren’t for Griffin, who knows what would would have become of early primetime television. Would America be so enamoured with the game shows of today? Who knows. And yes, there certainly wouldn’t have been ”Celebrity Jeopardy,” either.  

So, here’s to you Merv. Giving the wheel a final spin, you got the best prize of all: a long-term trip to paradise.