emily

I just want to say a big THANKS to everyone involved with the Communications Department at the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation! You guys are awesome!

I’ve been working on a project for my Case Studies class and research different PR strategies/activities by the Komen Foundation in its Race for the Cure event. I wrote one simple email to the PR Manager, and since then I’ve received many emails from people in the department asking how they can help with my project!

Not only have they provided me with incredible information, but they have relieved a huge amount of stress and worry over having to find all the information on my own! It’s so encouraging when other people are so willing to help!

The Susan G. Komen Foundation is an amazing organization to promote awareness and generate funds to research breast cancer. Early detection is the best protection. Ask my mom. My mother is a 4-year survivor of breast cancer and doing great! Luckily, she found it early and was able to have the cancer removed and is now cancer-free!

The Komen Foundation has a special place within our family, as well as any organization that supports the cause. Through the hard work of everyone involved in the Komen Foundation, Race for the Cure Series has become the largest series of 5K runs/fitness walks in the world.

Since its origination in 1983, the Komen Race for the Cure® Series has grown from one local Race with 800 participants in Dallas, Texas, to a series of more than 100 Races with 1.4 million people anticipated to participate in 2005.

In addition to raising funds, the Komen Race for the Cure® Series is committed to educating the public about early detection, the strongest method of surviving this life-threatening disease. The five-year survival rate is 95 percent when the disease is discovered while still confined to the breast.

The Komen Race for the Cure® Series helps raise awareness of the importance of a positive breast health program – monthly breast self-examinations for all women beginning at age 20, clinical breast exams every three years beginning at age 20 and annually at age 40, and annual mammography beginning by age 40.

Up to 75% of net income stays within the community to fund breast health education and breast cancer screening and treatment projects, and minimum of 25% of the net income supports the Komen Foundation Award and Research Grant Program, which funds groundbreaking breast cancer research, meritorious awards and educational and scientific conferences around the world.

So, kudos to the Komen Foundation and all involved in the Race for the Cure for your accomplishments! And thanks a million for all your help!

I can’t believe the intensity of that game Saturday night! Congrats to all the guys on the team! I have to say that the game Saturday night was one of the best college games I have ever seen! I’m not one of those people who knows all the ins and outs and technicalities of the game, but I know good football when I see it. And Auburn and Georgia played good football this weekend. In fact, it was a great weekend of football in the SEC. South Carolina beat Florida, and more importantly, the undefeated Crimson Tide came to an abrupt halt by the LSU tigers!

I know some Auburn fans are disappointed in Alabama’s loss because it hinders Auburn’s chances to go to the SEC, but as a die-hard tiger fan, I can’t tell you how happy it made me to see Alabama’s undefeated season go down the drain. How sweet the sound of silent Bama fans!

One of the things that drew me to Auburn was the pride Auburn fans take in their school and team. And, no, it’s not just a football game. It’s the eagle flying in the stadium. It’s the band playing the fight song during pregame activities. It’s the smoke coming out of the tunnel as “Eye of the Tiger” plays and the guys march out on the field. It’s intense emotions, and part of your heart walks out on that field with every player coming through that tunnel. It’s more than just a football game. It’s football in the South. It’s Auburn football.

Now, we have the Iron Bowl this weekend. Possibly the biggest, most intense rivalry in college football. There’s nothing like the Auburn vs. Alabama game. No other game in the season can compare to this game. Nope, not even Georgia. This is the game where everything is at stake. It all comes down to Saturday night. I can’t wait!

War Eagle!

While I’m sitting here in the computer lab racking my brain about what to write about in this week’s blog, I can barely hear myself think, which is turning my blog into somewhat of a rant about my aggravation.

 I understand that people have group projects to work on, after all, my PR classes are all about group projects. But really, how loud do you have to talk in order to for the person sitting 8 inches away from you to hear you? And are extremely loud cell phone conversations about which party to go to tonight really necessary while working on that paper or project? At least turn your cell phone on to vibrate!

 Maybe it’s because I’m hungry, tired and sick that makes me annoyed by people’s lack of consideration for the other people around them. Or maybe it’s just because some people are just plain inconsiderate.

 Ok, now I feel like a grumpy old woman complaining about today’s youth. I guess it could always be worse. I could be at the library.Nothing wrong with the library, but imagine hundreds of college students spread across four floors holding books only as a disguise to what’s really happening.

 One question- do people really go to the library to study? I know I don’t. I attempt it, but I never leave the library with a feeling of accomplishment. However, I do leave knowing who’s dating who, the new hot spot downtown and the parties taking place on a Wednesday night. Not quite what I set out to learn in my adventure at the library, but important information nonetheless. I guess computer labs in the business building are no different.

Recently, the Hilton hotel chain has begun asking hurricane evacuees to leave their hotels. Other hotel chains in the Mississippi area have let evacuees stay, but some hotels owned by Hilton have asked evacuees to move out.

According to USAToday.com, in Louisiana, evacuees would have been protected by a Sept. 1 executive order issued by Gov. Kathleen Blanco that bars hotels from displacing a refugee who guarantees payment. Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood has asked hotel managers to let evacuees stay longer, but they are not required to do so.

A spokesperson for the hotel chain says that evacuees were warned when they checked in that their stays would be limited by room availability.  Their point being that they could stay as long as they didn’t have other paying guests reserving the room.

As uncomfortable as it is, evacuees are taking up rooms that could be occupied by regular paying customers that spend lots of money on telephone usage and food and beverage.

These hotels are in the hot spot and contemplating which is worse: bad publicity for kicking hurricane evacuees out or angering big-spending customers. Either way, they’re at risk for a loss.

So, which one is worse? Bad publicity or angry customers?

In a class discussions recently, some said that angry customers is worse, and, after all, it’s been over 2 months since the hurricane and evacuees have had plenty of time to find other arrangements. Others said it’s like kicking a homeless person out of the only room they had.

Is Katrina still tugging on people’s heartstrings enough to create much negative publicity or has enough time passed that the public can understand and agree with the hotels’ actions?

Just a question… why in the world is there so much construction on Auburn’s campus??? I’m beginning to think that Auburn University creates construction projects just out of pure boredom. I was driving to class today, and when I drove into the parking lot I almost ran into a huge bulldozer blocking half of the parking spaces. When I looked around, beyond the big metal gates, all I saw was a hole in the ground with absolutely no signs of any sort of progress. Are they digging holes into the ground for a reason? Or just for fun?

 

Maybe the university feels sorry for local construction and city workers with for an apparent lack of work to be done. So, therefore, the university is merely creating jobs for these workers by allowing them to dig random holes in the ground and create even more detours than before.

 

Every day I drive to class and encounter more road blocks and construction zones than the day before. All I’m asking for is a purpose for the confusion. Why the chaos? Is there a reason for the madness of construction around this town? At least if I knew what the construction is accomplishing, I could give an honest answer to my parents of what my tuition is really paying for.

 

I just finished reading Ashley’s blog about breast cancer awareness. It’s a great campaign, but you have to wonder, among all of the great companies who truly and fully support breast cancer awareness if some other companies are merely jumping onto the fad.

Ashley mentioned in her blog that with all of the promotion, not only in October (breast cancer awareness month), that it seems as though breast cancer seems to be the disease of the moment. I honestly believe that some companies are in full support of breast cancer and genuinely aiming at raising awareness, but I also believe that some companies are supporting the disease for the good PR.

I guess either situation is beneficial as long as it raises money and awareness for the disease, but it still bothers me that people are only supporting it for the image that comes with the support. Breast cancer has benefited from so much awareness from different organizations because it’s something that hits home with everyone.

This particular disease really hits home with me. My senior year in high school my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. Throughout my second half of my senior year and my freshman year at Auburn, she went through surgeries and chemo treatments and is now a survivor and completely cancer-free! Because of what my family has been through, this issue becomes very personal. I appreciate everyone’s support of the disease, but it still disappoints me when organizations and people don’t realize the effect it has on people. Of course I want their support, but I also want their support to be genuine.

Everyone can identify or relate to with breast cancer. Everyone has a mother, a sister or a daughter that can potentially be affected with the disease. Perhaps this is why the disease has been as prominent as it has become.

All of this brings a question to mind. Does a company’s genuine support matter to the general public when supporting an issue like this? Or is the simple statement of the company’s support enough? Like I said, either way is good as long as the awareness and funds are generated. But does it really matter?

 

Ok, I have to finally admit, the stress is getting to me. Earlier in the semester I felt on top of things. Now, I feel like I can’t keep from sinking in the school work. Work keeps piling and piling and piling up, and now I can’t even see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.

School is becoming more than I can handle at the minute. I honestly feel that I need to take a complete day off from both school and work to simply catch up. However, even if that was a possibility, I would only be more behind in class and work.

Currently, I’m running on 3 ½ hours of sleep, a Chick-fil-A chicken biscuit, and 3 cups of coffee. Ah, college life. Marvelous, right? I keep trying to remind myself of the great experience I’m receiving working day after day, hour after hour at my internship. I keep telling myself that all of this school work, writing, reading, learning how to do more on my computer than simply check my email, is inevitably going to hurl me over my competition next year when I’m looking for jobs. And in the meantime, I keep trying to remember that any money is better than no money while, yet again, I’m in front of a computer at work.

In the end, this is all going to help me, right? And please don’t tell me no. I know that through all of the stress and torture of lectures and classes, I will without doubt come out on top, and most importantly, alive.

One of my favorite quotes is, “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.” However, I never thought this quote could be so utterly exhausting. Nonetheless, all of the work will get done. Most likely at the last possible minute, but it will be done.

With three minutes left in the day, and three minutes left to submit this blog, I bid you goodnight, good morning, and good afternoon. I’ll see you Wednesday. I don’t think I’ll wake up until then.

For my Survey and Research Methods class, we had to design a survey questionnaire to measure university employee’s job satisfaction. In the survey, we asked about overall satisfaction as well as certain areas of the person’s job and how they felt about each section.

This weekend when I went home, I gave my dad the same survey we had created. My dad has worked at the same company for over 20 years, so I assumed he had filled out several of these kinds of surveys before. He had in fact completed many of these kinds of questionnaires, so when he finished completing the survey, we talked about the survey itself and why he chose the answers he did.

Survey aside, I was highly disappointed in the company my dad works for. Neither he nor I could pinpoint a public relations or employee relations specialist within the company, and it became very apparent that his company could greatly benefit from either position.

My dad’s overall satisfaction with his job was an average rating. Not too high. Not too low. After talking to my dad for over an hour, I realized that this company not only had bad employee relations, but very insufficient management. Most of my dad’s complaints about his job came from an issue dealing with supervisors and communication with supervisors.

I don’t know that I ever realized until then just how important good management really is within a company. My dad and his co-workers have the very pulse of the company in their hands, and at any moment could bring the $3 million a day to a standstill. Good management and employee relations are crucial in this position because the profits and productivity are at the mercy of those certain employees. Granted, neither my dad nor any of his co-workers would intentionally hinder the productivity, but there is always a chance of error in any situation.

In this particular instance, employee satisfaction or improvement of employee satisfaction is a product of the management within the company, which is in turn involved in the public relations aspect of the company. To me this shows public relations should be very closely involved with company management in order to maximize productivity.

 

Well it looks like high gas prices are here to stay for a while. According to CNN.com, experts predict high gas prices to linger for at least six more months due to more damage from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

“We’re going to go through a very challenging time the next six months, is my guess,” Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman told USA Today. “Both in terms of gasoline availability and (prices of) natural gas and heating oil, we’re going to have some problems.”

Not only gas prices, but heating oil and natural gas aren’t going see any relief as well. “While gasoline imports have helped bring pump prices back below $3 a gallon on average nationally, importing heating oil and natural gas is more difficult. Experts warn that there will be a sticker shock for heating bills this winter, with prices rising by about a third for those using heating oil and by two-thirds for the majority of Americans who use natural gas to heat their homes.”

My international marketing professor this summer said he expected gas prices to hit $5 per gallon before Christmas. We all thought that he was just another business professor spouting off about his abundance of knowledge, but now I’m thinking he may be right.
I’ve grown up accustomed to gas being ready and available at a reasonable price. An unheard of price these days. When I first started driving, gas was around $1 a gallon and I could fill up my Honda Accord for a mere $13. Now, it costs between $40 and $50 to fill up that same little car.

I know I don’t have much to complain about since I do drive a car and not a SUV or that gas prices in the United States is still lower than prices in Europe, but my insignificant part-time job can’t cope with these soaring gas prices. My measly $6 an hour doesn’t go very far, which means that my car doesn’t go very far either.

Reports have just come out stating that Wal-Mart may be interested in buying Tommy Hilfiger as an exclusive Wal-Mart brand.

According to AdAge.com, “’Wal-Mart isn’t likely to be interested in licensing: “Wal-Mart is buying [Hilfiger] to own it and not to share it,’ said Marshal Cohen, a fashion and apparel analyst with NPD Group.”

The article in AdAge.com suggests that Wal-Mart’s acquisition for Tommy Hilfiger is an effort to boost its fashion credibility and compete with Target.

Target features well-known designers such as Mossimo Giannulli and Isaac Mizrahi. Kmart features Martha Stewart. Acquiring Tommy Hilfiger could draw in more upscale customers for Wal-Mart, like the designers have done for Target and Kmart.

This isn’t a new strategy for Wal-Mart. The retail giant recently appeared at New York’s Fashion Week and is running ads in fashion magazine Vogue. The company has also signed a contract with country singer Garth Brooks and is advertising with pop group Destiny’s Child.

All of this comes from competition with Target and the attempt to give Wal-Mart somewhat of a new image. These new advertising aspects are aimed at giving customers a new and updated view of Wal-Mart’s apparel.

However, despite Wal-Mart’s to gain exclusive brands in its stores nationwide, is this acquisition going to reduce the consumer’s view of Tommy Hilfiger’s value?
AdAge.com reports, “The decline of the Hilfiger brand has been blamed by analysts on unwieldy growth that led to oversaturation. Even Tommy Hilfiger admitted as much in a 2004 letter to shareholders: “Over the last few years, the boundaries between our brands have begun to blur, confusing the customer and diluting the value of our individual trademarks,” said Cohen.

The success of the brand depends on how valuable or elite the brand appears to be. The question that executives at the Hilfiger company need to consider is, by selling the Hilfiger line to Wal-Mart, will it ultimately decrease the brand’s value?

I believe it will. As soon as a co-called elite brand sells out to a company like Wal-Mart, I think the general consumer opinion of the Hilfiger line will drastically decrease. While Wal-Mart may benefit from the new line in its stores, consumer opinion of the Hilfiger line will not be the same.