Sarah E Geiger

Pinterest consumes my free time.

What a beautiful photo of Seattle.

It is important to relax and disconnect from life. For me, music and a good bottle of wine can cure any long day. Tonight I am listening to a new artist named William Fitzsimmons, a psychotherapist turned musician with a very acoustic, yet electric sound. His music is very peaceful, but if you listen closely, the lyrics have quite the edge.

Check it out.

So This is Goodbye

P.S. I am still trying to figure out Pinterest, that is for another day!

A group called Reboot is encouraging members of the Jewish faith to turn off their their electronic lives for the Sabbath. They aim to rebuild tradition after the last decade of 24-7 Myspace, Facebook and now Twitter abuse. This weekend was the National Day of Unplugging lasting from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath. I am curious to know how hard this was for the participants? If you cannot shut-off your devices for the boss, then who?

Everyone is so connected 24-7, with new technology unfolding every month, from iPhones to Blackberries. Can you really blame everyone being so connected? It is so easy nowadays. Is social media creating a digital addiction? You see it everywhere, you may have experienced it yourself at some point! I know I had friends in the past that would not put down their cell phone to a point you question why they even want to hang out! Sometimes I see couples out to dinner glued to their smart phones, not even speaking a word until dinner arrives! Even “True Life” a popular MTV show is featuring a “I have Digital Drama” show next week that follows two lives as they become more desensitized to their addiction to the internet. It isn’t just them America, we all have a little twinge that tells us to check our Facebook, yes even at the dinner table.

If every person, no matter what race or background instilled a “National Unplug Day”, do you think we could do it? I am pretty sure I would have to lock up my iPhone and Macbook, what about you?

We are in the age of social media, it is sink or swim. A few months ago I found myself debating the purpose of Twitter, I had to jump on the bandwagon or forever get lost in the gap of technology. I chose to create a Twitter, tried a few tweets and then didn’t log back on for a few weeks. This sounds pretty typical of 90% of Twitter users, you know the saying “10% of Twitter users produce 90% of the content”.  I decided to give it another try after seeing other professionals finding usage of the tool.

Nowadays, I am on Twitter everyday, attend “Twitter” events around town and have increased my personal network both online and in person. This tool might suck up some of my time online, however the benefits have been astounding.

One thing I have noticed is how people utilize Twitter to brand themselves. This micro-blogging tool encourages brevity and personality to show. I have seen some good examples and some absolutely terrible examples of how people portray themselves. Perception is reality, right? One thing people need to learn is to keep personal and professional at a balance (we could all benefit from these tips).

After some research around the web from resources like Media Bistro and Mashable, I found some need to know tips to positively brand yourself.

1. Discover your brand and then create it: Your self-impression = How people perceive you
2. Claim YOUR Profiles: create a Google, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and any other social media tools. This will promote consistency and increase your SEO.
3. Personal Hub: Make sure you have a blog or personal website to link back to. This will align your brand with other outlets (social media profiles) and will show your expertise overtime if maintained consistently.
4. Consistency is Key: Update your social media profiles on a regular basis - engage your audience, post interesting content, show personality.
5. Build Credibility: It takes time, but if you follow the basic rules of social media and personal branding you will build up your own credibility. This does not happen overnight.

Building your personal brand takes time, actively engaging your local community and following these tips can help. One thing to remember is to be yourself. Surround yourself with the right people and you can learn a ton. Set-up that coffee date with someone interesting, go to that Twitter event, be ACTIVE!

Referenced: Mashable “Personal Branding 101: How to Discover and Create Your Brand” by Dan Schawbel

From planning stages to the event fruition, here are some tips (some learned the hard way) on how to handle those last minute details. A big part of PR is knowing what your clients expect and managing their expectations for the big event. From conference to workshop, there are must know tricks to help you make it through. I’d like to call it “PR EVENT PLANNING SURVIVAL GUIDE,” read carefully.

1. Carry a jump drive with you, just do it. A big part of following up with the media is gathering all speaker presentations at the end of the event.
2. Don’t change purses the morning of, in other words, bring business cards! You don’t want to be writing your email address on a scrap piece of paper! A true PR professional must always be prepared.
3. Plan your outfit according to the theme the night before. Don’t wait until the morning of scrambling around to find an ironed pair of pants! Also, SHOES are important. Make sure you have a comfy pair of black heels, cause more than likely you will be running around.
4. The day before, go through a list of possible pieces of collateral you might need to bring on behalf of your client. From fact sheets, press kits or press release, bring at least 5 extra copies. Heck, throw it in a folder and create a nice “take-away” for surprise media guests.
5. Network! Between registration, printing out name tags or escorting key guests to the stage, make sure you meet a few new faces. Maximize this event and learn more from guests in your client’s industry. They might come in handy later through a connection or complimenting your hard work to the boss (aka client).
   
6. When you call someone for a favor, make sure you have all of the details. Anyone can come up with a good idea for an event, make sure you have it all approved before checking in on a venue or extra favors from vendors.
7. Contact list – Collect all phone numbers from clients, vendors, the building manager etc for the day of. Type it up and carry it with you at all times in case something comes up! You never know when the food will be delivered late or a key guest showing up 10 minutes late (cough cough politicians). And speaking of politicians, make friends with their PIO’s! They come in handy when you least expect it!

I am sure there are tons of other great tips out there, would love to hear them! If you have a tip, just let us know below.

Happy event planning!