Week of March 15-20: SPRING BREAK

What I am continuing to discover is the difference between vacation for a student and for someone who has a full time job. Even though I am an intern, working for class credit and not for pay, I still feel like it is difficult to go out of town for long periods of time and abandon my responsibilities. For the past three years of college, I have gone on spring break and forgotten about all school work. This year was different. Since getting this internship, I have felt as though I have to stay connected with people 24/7. I constantly check my email for notices from people at the office as well as volunteers for the campaign. The week before spring break, I went into the office on Friday afternoon for 3 hours to help set up new areas for volunteers to come in and help. As the campaign continues to pick up pace, there will be more need space.

Also, during the week of spring break I spent a total of five hours answering emails and polishing up the biography I was working on. This was a new experience for my spring break. I was not use to doing work on vacation. This is preparing me for what is to come after graduation, a lot less vacation time.

Spring Break: 8 hours

Week of March 8-12: More Event planning..

The one thing I have noticed about my internship is that the more days I spend there, the more I know what to do when I get to the office without needing direction. I have my own projects I am working on and it feels like more of a real job. I really like the new office I work in and the people that share the office with me. We have a really good time! I am still working on the event I started planning last week. I have been working out what public's to target for invites and spent a lot of time on social network sites trying to get people to confirm to the event. One thing I noticed is that a lot of people initially say they will go to an event, but it is the follow up that is important. I am trying to get contact information, phone or e-mail, for those who confirm on facebook in order to be more personal about their invite.
My PR writing class has really come in handy this week as I was asked to write a quick press release. I had to brush up real fast on the components of it and didn't feel as prepared as I would like. I haven't written a press release in a good year. However, it worked out well. I had to write a press release over the endorsement of the candidate by a NFL football player. It was really exciting to be able to be involved in that kind of media. I remember now why I hated writing press releases though, the restraints and wording of information makes it more difficult that you expect.
I am also drafting up emails to recruit interns for the summer. As the campaign progresses, we need more and more help and I am trying to find volunteers, etc.
The last thing I worked on this week is a biography for my candidate from different aspects. We are trying to get her involvement in different organizations, etc. posted and I was helping on that. A lot of writing this week and sometimes that is very taxing.

T:9-6
Thursday 9-6

Week of March 1-5: Event life.

This week I spent a lot of time working on actual events that would take place. First off, I am helping kick off a fundraising event that will take place in Oklahoma City at the end of March. I am targeting specific groups and determining the best way to get high attendance numbers. Since it is a fundraising event, it is a difficult venture to invite people to something and tactfully talk about contributions. This is something, however, that I am getting good at. I have been utilizing Facebook more than ever. I made a group and an invite for the event that will hopefully reach more people. I also have spent a lot of time contacting heads of organizations which is tedious work. All in all, being in PR campaigns currently is helping me through my internship. I am trying to apply what I am learning in both settings to the other. It was perfect planning on my part to be involved in both at the same time.
I also attended my first event this week as an intern. It was held at a very large house in OKC and was hosted by a doctor and his wife. It was also a campain fundraising event. The catering was great and luckily I got to eat some after the event was wrapping up. My main objective was to get people to sign in for the event and get contact information for our database for future reference. What I was not expecting was the amount that some people could afford to write on their checks. Maybe it is since I am in college and have no money, but to see the kind of money people drop on campaigns still shocks me today. For the kind of campaign I am working at it takes about $3 million, before the primary. Anyways, the event was very exciting and also gave me another opportunity to dress up and act professional. Learning how to speak to older business people is much different than what I am use to and I am glad I am getting that experience now.

Tuesday: 9-6
Thursday: 9-9pm

Week of Feb 22-26

For this week, I spent the majority of my Tuesday doing an office change. That is one big thing about working on a campaign, you have to be flexible with your time, location and abilities. SO on Tuesday I was a mover and fundraiser and a social networking buff. I am spending more time on the phone for my internship, getting supporters and contacting those from the past. It is sort of fun to be able to contact people all over the state, but also a little intimidating when not everyone is extremely nice. It is really amazing though to see the amount of money that civilians will put towards politicians. You think that campaign goals are really lofty, as far as the amount of money you need to raise, but it is surprisingly easy. I am also working on a special project were are doing here at the campaign. Trying to incorporate support blogs into our campaign Web site. It is a good way to get volunteers and supporters more interactive in the campaign and doing some of the same work that we do.

I am also helping on a fund raising initiative on campus as well as an opportunity for people to get registered to vote. We are hoping that by reaching out to students and helping them register there will be more of a voter turnout. I know that myself the registering part is what kept me from voting for a long time, therefore I thought it was a good idea to set something like that up on campus.

Hours: Tuesday/ Thursday 9-6

Social Media

One of the most interesting things about working on a campaign is seeing how much of an influence social media has on the fund raising, publicity, etc. Social media is becoming such an important part of public relations and really any sort of networking for companies, etc. that I am glad I am getting a lot of experience. There are certain ways to effectively use social media and I am getting to know these very well from the media director on the campaign. I know that in a previous blog I have mentioned that a lot of my work is with social media for the campaign, but I am currently working on a new project. When trying to get support for a political candidate, it is important to not only ask for money but give people room to share their experiences and involvement. People respond positively when they feel like they are needed for something. I am currently trying to develop a blog on the Web site for donors and volunteers to post why they support the candidate. It is a very vital part of the Web site because it gives people a chance to share their reasons, both political and personal, for their endorsement. This is a pretty time consuming task to take on because it requires a lot of effort in contacting people and editing their blogs. Something I learned about social networking is that it is usually done by a team rather than an individual.

**this week I worked mainly on the social networking part of the campaign and helped build a support blog for the Web site. I worked 9-6 on Tuesday/Thursday.

Vacation Time.

This internship has really started to prepare me for the real world and the job I am going to have post graduation. This past week, I took Thursday off in order to go out of town for the weekend. When doing so, I had to make sure that everything was taken care of at work, all of my responsibilities were handled and that I could make up my hours at a later time. It was not the easy situation I was use to when leaving town. I had a lot to consider when taking that time off. I also had to start considering what I was going to do when I wanted to take the whole week off for spring break. Being a student, we get built in vacations. I know understand why my parents can't take off at random times during the year to go on vacation. They have a set number of days and I am starting to understand this concept. This shows me how it won't be as easy to leave town whenever I want as soon as I get a job after graduation. I am not sure how I feel about all these experiences I am having with "real life" careers. I am feeling more prepared as I learn these responsibilities, but it is also a little depressing with graduation on the horizon.

**This week I worked on Tuesday 9-6. Working on more donor lists.

Lunch Hour.

My favorite part of the work day is my lunch hour. The decision of where we go is a long drawn out debate and seems to be one of the most difficult decisions we face each day. However, it is my favorite part of the day, mostly because I really enjoy the company of who I work with. The gossip at lunch is much different than what I am use to. Going to lunch with my friends or sorority sisters, I would have ample things to talk about. However, these days I find myself absorbing more of the chatter about politics and campiagn business. What I use to chat about at lunch now seems unimportant and juvenille. It still is my favorite part of the day because even though we talk about more important things than shopping, it is a very entertaining bunch that I am quickly becoming quite fond of. When I work five days a week, this could become a money issue..

Other than lunch, I really do enjoy most of my work day. I still am getting use to waking up early and getting dressed. The drive to the city is becoming more enjoyable as I have started to view it as down time, with no work, just traffic to sit in and music to listen to.

What I have really started to get a grasp on, as far as working on a campaign, is how important the relations you have with your donors are. Fundraising is one of the most important aspects of a campaign and how you go about getting people to give you their money is an art. Something great I have been able to work on is the social network aspect of the campaign. Facebook and Twitter are increasingly popular in the business world and applying it to our campaign is very useful. We have social media consultants who help show us how to effectively use these tools to reach the right audiences. When planning an event, it is much more efficient to send out a Facebook invite than make over 100 phone calls. The idea of social networking is a big evolution for public relations fields. It is nice to get a feel for it on this campaign. Any position I pursue in PR could possibly involve a lot of social networking. Another important aspect my internship is teaching me is professionalism. You don't even think about how your day to day conversations with people, both in person and on the phone affect you, but having this position has made me very aware of it.

** Worked Tuesday and Thursday this week 9-6 pm. This week I worked more on donor forms for the campaign and also e-mails out to potential donors. More hands on PR work this week.