Birds are Singing.....

Well a lot has happened since I last posted to my blog. I have met some wonderful people, all who have influenced my life in one way or another. I left Friday, October 28, for Detroit to attend the Public Relations Student Society of America National Conference with three other members from the Steven R. Levitt Chapter. We arrived late in the afternoon to find Detroit a bit chillier than San Antonio, and not as sunny either. I had never believed climate could affect a person's mood towards life, but in this case it really did. I found myself excited to be in Detroit for such an opportunistic conference, but at the same time the weather was so gloomy that it kinda put a damper on things. Weather wasn't the only thing that went wrong, I realized once we arrived at the hotel room that I left my notebook and assignment folder behind on the plane. So the campaign I had been planning for a week already, was lost not to be found, meaning I would have to start from scratch.

Not all was bad in Detroit. I did meet a wonderful new friend in person, one who I met on Twitter, a fairly new social networking Website which I encourage all of you to join and start meeting people. Her name was Shannon Paul, or @shannonpaul for the twitter community, the Creative Content Coordinator for the Detroit Red Wings and social media aficionado. Shannon scored two tickets to the Red Wings game on Friday night for me, which was awesome of her, and I was able to witness my first professional hockey game and take a glimpse of what she does on a daily basis.

Social Media is taking the world by storm, it is all every guest speaker at the conference talked about and everything many of the PRSSA chapters who attended conference are training their members to be a part of. It is the newest way to stay in touch with the latest trends while taking part in those same trends in your daily life. Many of this is thanks to the newest technology in mobile devices, always giving you the ability to stay on top of everything at once. It is one of the best ways to meet new people with common interests and a great way to get others opinions on subjects that matter to you. Many people use it for marketing, some use it just to report their daily life. Twitter describes itself as a micro-blog...a way to give insight to your daily life in just 140 characters.

When I joined twitter it was maily to find reporters, and see what they were talking about, a way to get an inside edge at what my analysts at Frost & Sullivan should be researching, and to see if they had any insight to give to these reporters that may in turn create mentions in multiple publications. Now, I have met so many other twitterers(?) with like interests and started "following" so many others that I think may help me in the future outside of F&S. One of the biggest parts of public relations is to research, and what better way to research than to build relationships with others who may have experienced before what you are going through now.

With all of this being said go now and network, it is the key to your future and the answer that you are looking for. Whether you use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or another social media Website; go out and meet people, read their blogs, and most of all learn from those who have already been in the field.