Pinterest…the creativity lifesaver

Are you stuck in a rut while planning an event? Are you lacking creativity flowing to your brain? Never fear, Pinterest is here.

Many college students spend countless hours procrastinating their homework on this site. It’s great! Pinterest displays millions of interesting images that can get your creative juices flowing.

If you’re planning an event and you need some fresh ideas, this is the perfect site. When you first register, Pinterest asks you to choose the topics you are most interested in from their list of categories. Event and weddings have their own group.

Here’s how it works. Make a few lists of things that you will be sorting the photos you are browsing. For example, mine are “I love,” “I do” “I want” and “I dream.” Under these lists, I will “Pin” images that I find interesting and relate to that category.

“I love,” are images that I just find interesting in general. “I want,” are things that I would love to have. “I do,” are hobbies and activities I like to participate in. “I dream,” are things that I may want to use in the future, for example, travel  and wedding pictures. You can personalize these categories to fit your interests.

There are millions of adorable, creative wedding and event photos. These photos may trigger an idea to use for your event. Even if the photo does not relate to what you are working on currently, you can save it for the future.

Love Pinterest and Pinterest will love you back.

Ciao, ashley a.

Daily Lesson in Public Relations

Public relations lessons can be learned anywhere. You can see PR in how you react to a fight with your friend, when watch movie with a dramatic climax or when you attend an event like Cirque du Soleil. PR is can be learned by observing, reacting and participating in certain social situations.

Photo courtesy of Tom Raftery

According to Communications Conversations, it is very important to think about your audience. In situations where PR is used during an event, it is a fabulous idea to include your audience, by making them feel involved. People love to feel welcome at an event, no one likes to feel awkward and uninvited. In personal situations, think about where the other person is coming from. Think, “I see your point, but this is where I am coming from, how can we meet in the middle?” These PR techniques can greatly affect your everyday life.

Communications Conversations also likes to pay attention to detail. When planning an event, it is the small details that always count. Your guests will take notice to the hard work you put in making everything perfect. For personal situations, try to think about what you say. These small details of how you phrase your sentences can change the whole meaning.  Phrase your sentences carefully and try not to sound like you are attacking the person you are having a conflict with. Listen to what they have to say quietly, so they know their point is being heard. These small details will really help when in a communication crises.

PR lessons can be learned everywhere. Just keep and open mind to understanding where other people are coming from and they will be much more open to your personal opinions.

Ciao, ashley a.

Dashing Branding

Say what you want about the Kardashian clan, but they have remarkable branding. The Kardashian’s are talked about by those who are not even interested in the fashion/ gossip world.

The Kardashians have built a brand around their personal life. They are paid enormous amounts for public appearances. Their television shows, which all consist of spin-offs from Keeping Up with the Kardahsians are the most successful reality show of all time. They make vast amounts of money, just to have fans watch their personal lives.

They “K Klan”, has taken branding one step further. They own a boutique, Dash which is located all around the country. Recently, they have launched the Kardashian Kollection at Sears. Each sister has their own personality that they bring to the brand, that fans go crazy for. They are walking icons for what they represent. They sell their fashion as they wear it.

Photo courtesy of Faye Harris

The Kardashians have made a brand out of their last name like no other family has in the last decade. Their branding is what made them who they are. By incorporating their last name into all of their products the Kardashians keep a consistent brand for all of their fans. All of their reality series include either their first or last name, which conveniently all start with the letter “K.” The Kardashian Kollection is personalized by changing the letter C in collections with a K.

Dashing is the name of Kim KarDASHians perfume and the sisters store is called Dash. Pretty much, if it starts with the letter K or includes the word “Dash,” it has to do with the Kardashians.

Yes, the Kardashians are a crazy family who has thrived in the public eye. But they got their success by just being themselves. Check out this Business 2 Community blog for more information.

Ciao, ashley a.

Planning for Multimedia

After your event is all said and done, you will want to  look back and remember it. Multimedia is an extremely important part for planning an event. First and foremost, you need to think about coordinating various forms of media ahead of time.

Photo courtesy of Avangard Photography

Photographers: Photography is a classic way to remember a night. Photos are useful to show clients examples of what you have been able to accomplish. Photographers love to have as much notification in advance as possible.  Some even request a one year notification. After your venue, this should be one of the first things that you take care of.  Dayna Schroeder photography is one of my favorites. Check out her website http://www.daynaschroeder.com/

Videographers: Video is a new and upcoming form of media that is being used at weddings and other various events. Some of my favorite videographers put together clips of entire events in the form of a story line. Make sure to give videographer as notification as possible. Light in the Attic has done amazing work. http://litacreative.com/

Other Media: The most important part of an event is getting people to come. Creating a buzz about your event will entice people to want to attend. Traditional media can help. Writing press releases, making a Twitter and Facebook page and creating advertisements will allow people to start talking about your upcoming event. These types of media are easy and cheap, saving your budget. Twitter, Facebook, press releases and advertisements should be sent out in a strategic order and timeline.

Media can break or make an event. Make sure to try to plan it out in the beginning processes. You will want to remember a memorable event, photography and videography can help!

Ciao, ashley a.

Kardsah Divorce – From a PR Persepective

Celeb break-ups, make-ups, marriages and divorces, its got us all tuned in. In case you haven’t heard, Kim Kardashian filled for divorced from Kris Humphries after only 72 days of marriage.

Photo courtesy of Eva Rinaldi

Kim had brought fans on her wild ride throughout her dating life, proposal, engagement, wedding planning and her “fairytale wedding.” It’s no wonder why fans had such a strong reaction to her divorce. You wonder why fans are so deeply invested in her life, because they have been living it with her.

I know, it is Kim’s life and she is free to do as she pleases, but seriously? I mean, the planning of her wedding lasted longer than the actual marriage. Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge Kardash sucker, but from a public relations perspective Kim made all the wrong moves.

According to The New York Times, if you take the money that Kris and Kim profited for their wedding and divide it by the number of days they were actually married, they made about $10,358.80 an hour. These calculations make fans question the purposed for the marriage.

Her short-lived marriage damaged her creditably to her fans. The next time Kim falls in love, she  will be scrutinized. Personally, I would have advised her to hold out AT LEAST a few more months, just for her fans sake.

If Kim were to have admitted problems in her marriage and show vital efforts to fix it, her fans would have had sympathy for her. Maybe she did, who knows. But these efforts were not advertised and made public so they become void in the public eye.

Maybe on her next marriage, she will get it right. Best wishes!

Ciao, ashley a.

Drunk Post

Have you ever scrolled through your Facebook or Twitter and found recent status update of your friends “getting wasted” or “going H.A.M”? Better yet, have you ever accidentally posted to your Facebook or Twitter after a few cocktails, woke up in the morning and regretted everything you said? Well, this article from The Oregon Daily Emerald argues that drunk posts may insinuate drinking problems in the future.

To say that those who tweet or update their status while drinking are alcoholics is a little harsh. I personally don’t think because you have a bad habit of posting while intoxicated means you need to go to an A.A. meeting. However, I will argue that posting these kinds up updates dramatically influence your online presence.

I know, I know… “but my Facebook is private!” This is the first excuse that comes out of everyone’s mouth. I know Facebook can be set to private. Therefore, you are only sharing these embarrassing status updates with approximately 800-3,000 of your closest friends and family. These types of updates negatively affect your reputation.

Back when I first came to college, my friends and I were excited to share our new-found freedom all over Facebook. Everyone wanted to share how much fun they were having with their new friends, at their new school, with no parental supervision. After a while, I hoped this phase would wear out.

As a senior, I still have friends who like to brag about the drunken mistakes that they made the night before. We are now at the time in our lives that, “getting smashed” is not an attractive trait. Now, it is make it or break it. Everyone is scoping out their previous classmates to see what they have done with their lives. Trust me, saying you go out five nights a week is not an accomplishment.

Even if you are not at this stage in your life, be aware that how you represent yourself on social media, sometimes affects your reputation in the real world. Think before you post and remember, classy is the new sexy.

Ciao, ashley a.

Execute Your Theme

Themes can be tricky.

When you are deciding on your theme, it is important to try to stay away from tacky, reused and unoriginal ideas. Guests do not want to attend your event, just to see something that they already have before. Be original. You can start from a generic idea and then adjust it. Be careful, to unique of a  theme will create chaos in the event planning process.

Photo courtesy of Gemma Morgan

If your theme is a color scheme, remember less is more. For example, you are planning a wedding, let’s say your colors are bright blue, silver, black and white. Just because your color is bright blue, does not mean that everything in your wedding must be too. Try to hint blue in, instead of overusing it. Try to avoid blue nail polish, blue mens t-shirts and bright blue flowers. You can add these colors to your wedding without over doing it. Incorporate blue in the mens suits by using it in a tie. Try to use multicolored bouquet by incorporation white and blue. This will tone down a vibrant color, while letting it thrive.

In addition to incorporating a vibrant color, try to subtlety include a theme. If your are planning an event and your theme is tropical, buy a small about of theme-like decorations and leave the rest for color, flowers and table settings. Over using palm trees can be tacky.

Here are some more tips on Creating a Theme Line that Works from GuideStar.

I hope these  tip are helpful. Remember, less is more!

Ciao, ashley a.