Author: mlavens

Lidstrom Retires from NHL

Posted on by mlavens in Press Release

DETROIT, MI – This morning Detroit Red Wings captain, Nicklas Lidstrom announced his retirement from hockey and the Detroit Red Wings during a press conference at Joe Louis Arena.  Lidstrom has played with the Wings for twenty seasons and has served as the captain of the team for the last six years.

Lidstrom stated, “Retiring today allows me to walk away from the game with pride, rather than have the game walk away from me.”

Lidstrom had a “Hall of Fame” career. He has helped the Red Wings win four Stanley Cups.  He has also been awarded the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenseman seven times. Lidstrom has played in 1,564 regular-season games in his NHL career putting him behind Gordie Howe on Detroit’s all-time list. Other statistic are 1,142 points (264 goals & 878 assists) which is the fourth most in franchise history.

Lidstrom’s Stanley Cup Playoffs numbers are just as impressive as his regular season statistics. During his career he never missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs, meaning he’s appeared in 263 post-season games. During the playoffs he’s score 54 goals, had 129 assists for a total of 183 career playoff points.

Hockeytown will surely miss Nicklas Lidstrom.  Thanks for twenty year of great hockey.

*Note: This is not a published story from the Detroit Red Wings. Everything stated comes from a private writer.

Google is Here to Help

Posted on by mlavens in PR News & Info

When I first took a PR class, I remember learning about the importance of a press release.  Covering the 5W’s and making sure the most important information came first in.

Well I recently discovered something in Google Docs…templates!  And one of those templates is for a press release.  This is a great resource if you want to make a professional press release, without having to spend too much time formatting it.

Plus, there are plenty of other resources on Google Doc Templates.  You can find templates for resumes, cover letters, school projects, and everything else!  This is a great place to help you out with any kind of document.  Be sure to check it out.

Grad School, Here I Come!

Posted on by mlavens in Graduate School

I know it’s been a very long time since I’ve posted, but I’m back with some exciting news!  I’m going to get my Master’s Degree in Public Relations at New York University!

This past April I graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology, with a minor in Public Relations. I’m very excited to begin the next chapter of my life in New York City at NYU.  It is such an amazing opportunity.

In the mean time, I’ve got to get back into the swing of things, so expect lots of PR “news” posts and updates.  Just because I’m done with my undergraduate education, doesn’t mean I’m done learning, and the best way to learn is through experience and everything the world has to offer!

And That’s the End…

Posted on by mlavens in Internship

Yesterday marked the final day of my internship with the Lenawee Intermediate School District.  That morning when I woke up at 5am all I could think about was how excited I was that this was going to be my last day.  By the end of the day, that attitude had changed.

This internship had a lot of work to it.  Probably more than I was expecting.  They day of the Fine Arts Festival was amazing though.  All the kids seemed to really enjoy the day, and when they were finally done rehearsing and the evening performance started, I was amazed.  I couldn’t believe how well they were doing in all the different forms of art.  And I was so ready to join in! I wanted to be in one of the TRACKs learning all these great things.

Once the day came to a close and I was saying my goodbyes to everyone, I wanted to cry.  It was such a great day and everything went so well that I was glad I had put in all the hard work I had.  I didn’t want it to be my last day.  Hopefully I’ll be able to help out again next year.

The Power of Social Media

Posted on by mlavens in PR News & Info

With the recent death of Osama Bin Ladin, it’s been seen how much power social media has.  Most people heard about the news of his death on Sunday night through facebook and tweets.  According to the article, The 7 Stages of News in a Twitter and Facebook Era, after President Obama’s speech 4,000 tweets per second were being posted.

The article then goes on to state those seven stages.  To read more about them, follow this link.

With 4,000 tweets a second when breaking news occurs, we see how much power social media can hold.  I was probably in the minority during the Osama Bin Laden news.  I saw it on TV, not social media.  That’s not always the case though.  I remember hearing about the death of Michael Jackson on twitter.  I’ve also learned about new products through twitter.  I was probably one of the first people tweeting about the iPad after reading a tweet about it.  My main point, news travels fast through social media.

No Days Off

Posted on by mlavens in Internship

Welcome to the real world Muffy!  This week I have been to the LISD everyday for my internship, and since school has ended today, I’m home.  My supervisor told me and the other intern to take a couple days off and enjoy being home.  She told us not to worry about the Fine Arts Festival…well, I’m still replying to emails and doing work.  It never ends.  I’m an hour and a half away from the LISD and it’s still as if I’m there.

I’m not complaining.  I’m really enjoying my internship and I can’t wait to see the event on May 11th, but it would be nice to get a break.  Oh well, it’s crunch time.  I’ll get a break on May 12th.

Offer What the Public Wants and Needs

Posted on by mlavens in Internship

Today during my internship at the LISD, I joined members of the community on a “workshop on the move” to learned about the educational offers in Lenawee County.  The morning started out at the LISD Tech Center, where we learned about the Tech Center and JCC.  It was pretty interesting.

From there we went to the Montessori Children’s House/St. Joseph Academy located at Siena Heights University.  We learned about the programs that St. Joseph offer along with a degree program that is offered through a joint program with JCC and Siena Heights.

After we were done there, we heading to Adrian High School to learn out their recent IB program, which was interesting, but it sounded like a lot of work for high school students.  It’s supposed to prepare them extremely well for college though, so that good.

We ended at Adrian College (my home school) to learn about business and entrepreneurial opportunities and a way to help keep and bring jobs to Lenawee County.  It was interesting to hear seeing I haven’t taken any  classes in the business department so the information way all new to me.

So what does this have to do with PR?  Well, the community members that were involved in the workshop were Real Estate agents.  It’s important for the agents to know about these opportunities in the community, because they can showcase them when trying to sell a house to families in the area.  Parents are always concerned about education, and of course, they want to move to an area that will provide their children (or future children) with a great education.  Now that they know this information, they can give the public what it wants.

Revisiting Marketing Tips for Student Organizations

Posted on by mlavens in PR Tips

A few weeks ago I posted an entry about marketing tips aimed at student organizations, and gave seven different ways to market.  Today, I want to talk about developing a PR Plan for a student organization.

1. Come up with an objective or objectives for the organization.  An objective would be a statement that explains a goal you want to achieve and a deadline to achieve it by.  An example would be “to increase membership from 15 members to 25 members by the end of the fall semester.”

2. Come up with strategies to achieve this goal.  In the example about increasing membership, this could be done by advertising the club.  This could be done through flyers, social media, events, etc.

3. Create timeline to achieve your objective.  A deadline has already been set, but now there has to be a plan of how to get there.  Continuing with the example.  Maybe the first week of the plan, flyers will be posted around campus.  After that, the club could be promoted by social media, and finally once people see the advertisements for the organization, then hold an event to get them to come.

4. Consider you budget.  It’s great to have an objective and be able to achieve it, but it may come at a cost.  Consider how much the organization has to spent and if the input is worth the output.

It’s important to follow a plan like this when trying to promote a club.  Not every step has to be done like this, but it’s a good example to start with, and easy to adapt to other objective a club might have.  Give it a try!

It’s a Full Time Job

Posted on by mlavens in Internship

Being a student is a full time job in itself…try throwing an internship on top of that and spending three days a week there because there’s so much work to be done.  That’s my life right now, and it’s right at the end of the semester with finals coming up.  Welcome to the real world.

Right now, time management is the key to not going crazy!  Basically every moment of my day is scheduled.  Just a warning to any college student going to do an internship, make sure you have the time or can make the time.

Building a Good Résumé for PR Professionals

Posted on by mlavens in PR Tips

According to the PRSA article, Resume and Career Advice with a Background Summary, “The first two sentences of your résumé signal to employers whether or not you are right for the job.”  Career objectives are a thing of the past. Employers want a summary of your background.  This is will the thing that places you in or out of the running for the job.

The things that should be included in this summary are prominent PR skills, niche categories, and industries specialized in.  There shouldn’t be anything personal in it.  That is for the interview.

For more information or to read the full article, click here