XOXO, Gossip Girl

Sororities all over the country plan an annual semi formal and formal. Sisters of every organization always look forward to formal events because it is an excuse to get dressed up and take pictures and annoy everyone on Instagram (sorry, guys). This year, I was in charge of planning Zeta Tau Alpha's semi formal event. It was definitely a learning experience but I am glad I got the chance to plan my own event. 

It was up to me to decide the theme, food, decorations and other activities during the event. It was extremely stressful but thankfully, I had a great team to help out with the planning! Planning an event like this takes a lot of time and preparation. The most difficult part was communicating with the various companies we rented materials from. One thing I learned was to always have a back up plan and expect the worst. Whatever might go wrong, will most likely go wrong so it is important to be prepared and go with the flow. 

We chose the theme "Gossip Girl"/Upper East Side for our semi formal. My team and I stumbled upon this idea when we saw a shirt with the "Gossip Girl" saying "you know you love me, XOXO." We thought this would make a great T-shirt design so we ran with it! We had one of our sisters create a banner for pictures that read "three words, twelve letters, say it and I'm yours: Zeta Tau Alpha". If you watch "Gossip Girl", you know your dream is for Chuck Bass to say that line to you, too. ;) 

Our meal was catered by Ohio Northern University's catering services. Our meal started with a salad followed by a main meal and dessert. I was very impressed with how thoughtful the catering staff was and their willingness to help when needed. 

My favorite part of semi formal are the superlative awards. This year we tried to incorporate the theme into the superlatives more than usual. We came up with awards like Serena and Blair for dynamic duo, most likely to trip up the Met steps, and of course, most likely to be Gossip Girl. Our sisters seemed to enjoy the superlatives. It is always fun to see who wins what! 

Now that semi formals is over, I can finally relax and start preparing for finals. Planning this year's semi formal definitely made me want to restart my obsession with "Gossip Girl" (and Chuck Bass). So, basically it was a win win for everyone. 

Real-Time Marketing and PR

As the semester comes to a close, I have read three social media books for Social Media Principles at Ohio Northern University: "Real-Time Marketing and PR", "Share This" and "Measure What Matters". All three books are great resources to enhance your knowledge about the ever changing social media world.

Overall, I enjoyed "Real-Time Marketing and PR" by David Meerman Scott the most. Meerman Scott gives you the necessary tools to launch effective real-time communications to stay ahead in the PR industry.

According to Amazon’s reviews, "Real-Time Marketing and PR" will allow you to:

• Develop a business culture that encourages speed over sloth

• Ready buying signals as people interact with your online information

• Crowdsource product development, naming and even marketing materials

• Engage reporters to shape stories as they are being written

• Command premium prices by delivering products at speed

• Deploy technology to listen in on millions of online discussions and instantly engage with customers and buyers

The main lesion I learned from "Real-Time Marketing and PR" is in the fast paced digital world, speed and accuracy are critical when dealing with your organizations key publics. Your publics will want information easily accessible and at their convenience. By responding in real-time, you are able to establish relationships and top your competition.

I think this book was my the most enjoyable because it was an easy read with stories and graphics that enhanced your understanding of the material. Not only was the book enjoyable, it was the most practical.

Customers expect real-time responses from your company and as a future PR professional, it is important I learn these lessons now to ensure I am able to build and maintain mutually beneficial relationships.