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Hello everyone! My name is Avery Bracken, and I’m the account representative for Imprint Communications. This means I maintain social media accounts, website and things of that nature. I’m an upcoming junior majoring in mass communication. One of my favorite things to do is to meet new people, and I do this at LSU by getting involved in various organizations throughout campus. One of my favorite organizations is the Panhellenic Council. I currently serve as the director of recruitment publications. With this position, I got the opportunity to attend the SEC Panhellenic Conference to learn how to be the best at my job.  I learned so much about the combination of communications and Greek life. Public relations chairmen in these chapters have a huge task in front of them. In a day and time where Greek life is only getting media attention for mistakes, it is the communication team’s job to show the positivity that can be found in our community. The Panhellenic community most times contains the best and brightest on campus. Now, just show it off! I would start by developing a brand (confirm fonts, colors, titles, etc.). The next step would be to develop a mission statement including the community’s values. Then decide how to tell the story. This can be done through blog posts, videos, photos, etc. I recommend strategizing how to make the plan happen. Be detailed and specific!  Panhellenic women attending an engineering conference. Photo: @LSU_PHC One of the biggest struggles to be aware of is avoiding the stereotype. Sorority women are well known for bid day, being blonde and glitter. However, the women in the PHC community are involved in service, academics and other accomplishments. It is the communication team’s job to showcase these women in their element! The biggest piece of advice is to be authentic.
It was such a joy speaking with fellow communications and Panhellenic women. I was so thrilled to learn new ways to combine my passion for Greek life and public relations!
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Hi everyone! My name is Samantha Lanham. I’m one of the Co-Directors here at ImPRint Communications. As our semester comes to a close, I thought it would be a good idea to come out with a fun, cute blog that will most certainly bring a smile to your face. Have you ever wondered what dog you might be? After taking a thousand Buzzfeed quizzes to find out, I decided to find out on my own what type of dogs certain PR specialists are. Take a look below to see what your job says about you! 1. Publicist A publicist manages publicity for a brand, company or even a person. Every one of your favorite celebrities has a publicist. Publicists are stylish, energetic, savvy and quick on their feet. And somehow they do all this with such grace. That’s why they’re a poodle. I mean look at that sass! 2. Social Media Manager A social media manager creates consistent social media content for a company or brand and is solely in charge of that brand’s social media presence. It’s a huge job these days. It can be very difficult to come up with something new to post each and every day so social media managers have to be super creative. They are normally funny, knowledgeable and always up to date on the latest memes. Therefore, social media managers are a Shiba Inu aka the doge. 3. Account Executive at a PR agency  Account Executives are the best of the best in the PR world. Account Execs juggle around 5 clients at a time. They do everything from social media to press releases for each of their clients. Account Executives are fierce, strong-willed and confident. Therefore Account Executives are german shepherds. 4. Media Director  A media directors are in charge of everything media related within a company. So, they focus on buying ads and placing ads. They need to know exactly how to effectively communicate the message their client wants to convey to the public and how media can help with that. Media Directors are outspoken, straightforward and always down to have some fun. That’s why they’re a basset hound! 5. Public Relations Intern  A public relations intern is like any other intern. They’re the catch-all. They do everything no one else wants to do and they’re constantly trying to prove their skills. It’s always hard to be the newbie but PR interns always tackle it head-on. PR interns are excited, eager, a little nervous and full of new ideas. That’s why they’re an italian greyhound!
- Samantha Lanham I knew two definite things since my freshman year of high school: I want to swim collegiately, and I want to study PR. Coming from a nationally recognized swim club, I learned a few things about branding and public relations in sports from a pretty early age. I always loved the aspect of public relations and how vital it is to the image of every club, organization, and company. I loved the process of being able to build a personal brand that is able to reflect all of the hard work and passion put into a sport. To me, the embodiment of a collegiate athlete is someone who represents not just their university, but the community as a whole. Here are some of the top things I’ve learned through swimming competitively for the past decade when it comes to personal branding and sports PR: 1. Good sportsmanship is one of the best things you can practice. We see it all the time in media where athletes are pitted against each other in a toxic way. Rivalries are some of the best and most exciting things about sports, but no one likes a sore loser. Take a loss in stride and give credit where credit is due. 2. Watch what you post onlineEveryone should be conscious about what they post. Ever since I logged into my first social media platform, my parents always grilled me for foolish things I posted. They would always say, “what if your future recruiter saw this?” I think everyone should be asking themselves, “what if my future boss saw this?” Everything truly will come back to bite you. 3. Watch and learn from the best! Some of my absolute favorite women in sports are Serena Williams, Katie Ledecky, Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, and Simone Manuel. All of these women are trail blazers in their sports. Last year at a swim meet against Stanford at Texas A&M, I got to witness Katie Ledecky not only go one of the fastest times ever in the mile but beat the Texas A&M men’s school record, (A&M men are pretty dang good, so this is insane). Ledecky always carries herself and represents the U.S. in an incredibly professional matter. Simone Manuel has inspired a new wave of women in athletics with her gold medal winning performance at the Rio Olympics, being the second African American woman to win her event. She uses her platform to generate a conversation of inclusivity. Your platform is the most powerful tool you can have. - Cassie Kalisz
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- Maggie Landry  LSU held several holiday events on campus on Tuesday, Nov. 27, for students, children and faculty to have an enjoyable holiday season and to make final’s week more bearable. Holiday performances were held in the LSU Student Union Theatre at 5 p.m. The performances included holiday sing-a-longs, dancing, spoken word, and a special visit from Santa and Mike the Tiger. Also, the African American Cultural Center hosted a Pre-Kwanzaa Celebration at 5:30 p.m. This event was held to celebrate the traditional African values of family, community, responsibility, commerce and self-improvement. This who attended enjoyed music, dance, food and storytelling. Later from 6-8 p.m., LSU Staff Senate held its annual Holiday on Campus, which had arts and crafts, door prizes, entertainment, games, photos with Santa and refreshments. Donations were brought for Toys for Tots and the LSU Food Pantry. Another big event that took place is the tree lighting in Free Speech Circle at 7:15 p.m. Free CC’s Coffee House cocoa and coffee was available.
Mass Communication students celebrate at the tree lighting ceremony. Lastly, the 5 and the 459 dining halls had the LSU President’s Late-Night Breakfast from 10 p.m. - midnight. Students were encouraged to eat an early breakfast and possibly see President F. King Alexander.  Mass Communication students Brooke Smith and Mackenzie Messer enjoy pancakes at Late-Night Breakfast.
- Maggie Landry  Tell me where you are from and what high school you attended I am from Westlake, La. and I went to Westlake High School. How old are you and what is your major? I’m 19 years old. My major is mass communication. I am concentrating in PR with a minor in business admin. How long have you worked with ImPRint? My first semester of freshmen year, so it would be a year. That is actually surprising. What is the best lesson you have learned while working with ImPRint? How to deal with difficult clients. In PR, you never know who your client is going to be and you have to be ready to accommodate all kinds of clients based on their wants and needs. Where do you see ImPRint in the next year or so? I see ImPRint growing in not only clients but also in members. ImPRint is such a unique opportunity and I have plans to make that more known throughout campus. What advice do you have for freshmen or for any public relations students?Get involved in much as you can with Manship. For PR students, getting involved with PRSSA and ImPRint will grow you as a professional. When you get involved with organizations the experience is as good as you make it, so make sure to apply yourself to get the most out of it.  What is your favorite thing to do in your free time? My favorite thing to do in my free time is to go to coffee shops and to pet my dog [Bitty]. Favorite color? Black. Favorite TV show? Sex and the City  Favorite movie? Beetlejuice Favorite holiday? It is a close tie between Halloween and Christmas. Favorite beverage? Venti Strawberry Acai Refresher with no strawberry inclusions.  What is your ideal rainy day? I would wake up around 11 a.m. and then I would put on nice jeans, a black t-shirt and Chelsea boots outfit. Then, I would go to a coffee shop and spend a few hours reading a book. Next, go home and take a nap. Wake up and go to Buffalo Wild Wings and get a queso and chips with a small honey barbeque boneless wing. Then, I would go home and take a hot bath with a bath bomb from Lush. Grab a pint of Bluebell Cookies and Cream ice cream while sitting in bed with my dog watching trashy reality TV until I either finish the ice cream or fall asleep.  We are so excited to have Sam as our new co-director and to see her in this new role next semester.
 Even after three years at LSU, I still find myself feeling very overwhelmed and stressed about school and/or my personal life. Whenever I find myself in these situations, I practice a few techniques I have learned over the years. Managing stress in college is vital to your success. While reading this, please keep in mind that everyone is different and will handle manage stress differently. Therefore, my methods might not work for you but it could give you an idea of what will! College students are known for procrastinating and with everything else you have going on besides school, it is easy to leave schoolwork for the last minute. Save yourself the ultimate stress and DO NOT PROCRASTINATE. Once you are in college, you could find yourself taking twelve to eighteen credit hours a semester. This means quizzes, assignments, projects and exams can pile up quickly and you may find they fall on the same week. Believe me when I tell you procrastinating is not worth the amount of stress and lack of sleep it will cause you. The best way to avoid procrastinating and getting your school work done in time is by simply planning ahead. A perfect example in my life just happens to be this week. I have an assignment due on Wednesday, a quiz on Thursday and an exam on Friday. I make a plan to get the easiest one out the way first and work my way up to the hardest one. In order to do this, I create a false due date in my head by telling myself that everything is due the day before the teacher’s due date. This allows me to get a heads start on my work, which in turn lower my stress. Even if I do not completely finish the task on the same day, I have some time before the actual due date to complete my work. So for this week, I will start and try to finish my assignment on a Monday, start studying for my quiz on Tuesday and start reviewing my exam material on Wednesday. By working on my easiest assignment early on, it gives me more time to be prepared for the most important assignment: the exam on Friday. Managing stress is all about priorities! You will notice your priorities changing throughout your college years (mine definitely did!). It is all about being able to balance everything and being happy with the results at the end of the day. If you prioritize going out (to Tigerland) or binge watch a show on Netflix over studying, you will quickly find out that your grade on that quiz for your easy class was not as good as you thought it would be. If you had put in the time to review your materials and waited to go out after your quiz, you might have gotten a better score. Oh, and if you think and all-nighter will help, trust me it does not. Sleep is the one thing that will keep you sane throughout college. Not only is this about priorities but simply about time management. Most importantly, I use my weekends to decompress from the previous week and relax with friends and family. I start planning for a busy week on a Sunday afternoon to get ready for the week ahead. For my busy schedule this week, I made sure to start and finish this blog a few days before its due, and that alone has already made me feel less stressed. I am in control of my stress and are getting the results I want by following these tactics and so will you! - Camille Amadeo Photos courtesy of Pexels.com  Why are the majority of PR positions dominated by women, yet the CEOs are mostly male? A quick glimpse into gender inequality in the PR world. What is going on? 1. Women hold 65%-85% of all PR positions, yet only 30% of all global PR agencies are run by women. 2. Women are being passed up for leadership positions because of family-planning and having fewer “connections” than men. 3. Women believe that their contributions and achievements will be seen without pointing them out.
What can we do? 1. Eliminate stereotypes. When a man asks for a raise, he is seen as strong and motivated. But, when a woman asks for a raise, she is pitied or made to feel less than. Let’s get rid of that. 2. Appoint more women to boards. If more women are in charge of hiring, more women will be hired. Simple. 3. Women need to show off their achievements without feeling like they are bragging. If you aren’t proud of your own achievements, how do you expect your boss to be?  Sources: 2014 World PR report https://qz.com/631499/public-relations-agencies-are-dominated-by-women-so-why-are-all-their-leaders-men/ https://www.ipra.org/news/itle/gender-imbalance-why-is-the-female-dominated-pr-industry-still-led-by-men/ https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-so-few-women-board-female-dominant-pr-industry-sarah-leembruggen/ -Samantha Lanham
People tend to think they know what public relations is about, but I am here to breakdown some common myths of the profession. Common Misperception #1: Public Relations is all about lying  The public relations field is actually about telling the truth and building trust. If we lie to the public, we will be found out and then we lose all footing. We can only keep the public on our side by being transparent, so we share accurate information about our clients and their stories. Common Misperception #2: We drink… A LOT  This is a myth spread mostly by TV and movies. For some reason Hollywood thinks PR pros sit around drinking and lunching or brunching. Some people like to have a sip after work but not everyone drinks Common Misperception #3: Social media is our end all be all  People think that we only use social media as a tool. To be a great PR person you have to understand that not everyone uses social media the same. Some people use many social apps, some use a few, and some use none at all. If we only focus on social media, then we are excluding people from getting information. Common Misperception #4: Our job is 9-to-5  PR people tend to be shown as working in offices and not having any at home work to do. This is quite the contrary. Whenever a PR person sees a newspaper or a commercial – sometimes even about a client’s competitor – your mind goes right back to work thinking of new strategies to use. -Garrett Phillips
 Advertisement is only getting more expensive and in a world that we live in who view ads anyways? Ads and commercials are one the pesky things people my age don’t want to deal with, they are annoying and there just in the way. So, what now? Brands are constantly in the look of innovative ways to reach customers. It’s no news that social media is becoming the most powerful and inexpensive marketing tool. Social media, if used effectively can promote your brand to wide range of demographics. It you’re a fashionista like myself you may be wondering what does this mean for fashion brands or clothing lines? Are they just going to have the whole catalog on Instagram? Well, influencers are here to change the game. A social media influencer is a user on social media who has established credibility in a specific industry. A social media influencer has acces to a large audience and can persuade others by virtue of their authenticity and reach Fashion influencers can help fashion brands that are trying to distinguish themselves on the market. Whether you are a small boutique in town or you are fashion runway designer, fashion influencer can change the way your brand gets noticed and here are the reasons why  Its profitable Clothing lines like Levi and DKNY probably have spent top dollars on television, magazine ads, and billboards. They probably could have saved themselves some coins if they endorse a fashion influencer. They followers are not your followers and vice versa, having a social media ambassador opens the door to thousands of followers that are potential customers to your business. Its known that word of mouth is one of the most effective ways to promote you brand. It’s as simple as sending a fashion influencer in your area a sneak peak or limited edition from your clothing line for her to review to her followers. Following the WOMMA guidelines will have people running to the outlets or rushing to follow the link to see where I can get that item.  Its relatable Shopping is difficult and shopping online is even worse. No one is really a size 2 and kudos to you if are but the average US woman size is 16-18. With that being said, when we look at the model wearing the clothing line we want to have a visual representation on how that clothing item would look on us. Having a social media influencer wearing that same clothing item on Snapchat or Facebook would give customers a more realistic representation of what the item looks like, which will incline customers to purchase your clothing.  Engagement! Engagement! Engagement! In the words of the prominent Beyoncé Knowles “If you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it.” no im not talking about marrying your baby daddy I’m talking about social media engagement. Social media engagement measure the public shares, likes and comments for a brand’s social media efforts. So imagine Beyoncé post a pic on the gram wearing LSU gear from the Barnes and Noble, and she captions the picture #GeauxTigers Tiger from @LSUBarnesandNobles. Okay I know not gonna happen but let you girl dream. The number of likes, shares, re-tweets by LSU students and Beyoncé fans would massive. Literally social media would have shut down for the rest of the day. Think about what fashion influencers can do for your brand in a much smaller scale of course. Fashion influencers can amplify your brand by introducing it to their loyal followers which will increase your brand visibility and recognition. Fashion influencer receive clothing and they review your product. If good it can trump sales, if bad it can serve as constructive criticism for you to do better. It’s basically a win-win situation. If you are looking for ways to spice up your brand or simply increase your following, try finding a local fashion influencer in your area because why not? -Kiomy Ruiz
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