Last Weekend of Shopping Before CHRISTMAS

The weekend before Christmas is one of the biggest shopping weekends of the year. It's the last chance for the working public to get their shopping in before the big day! However, the east coast took one of the biggest snow storms they have seen in years. Roads closing and cars in the ditches held many shoppers back from getting to their destination.
Meteorologists called for 20 inches of snow in the Washington D.C area and up to 10 inches in the Carolina's. So what does this mean for retailers relying on the big crowd? Treacherous roads and near whiteout conditions kept many shoppers away from shopping malls and other stores. Retailers hoping for a better holiday season than last year’s dismal sales, the bad weather was especially painful.
When it comes to snow, shoppers didn't think it was worth the risk. Spending more time pushing your car out of the snow than shopping was not a top priority.
So what does this mean? HOPE YOU DID YOUR SHOPPING EARLY!

My example of PR in Action is the Midnight Breakfast at GCSU. Every year before the start of final exams Sodehxo sponsors a free breakfast from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m. for all the students. Bobcats cards are required for entry, but this doesnt stop hundreds of students from making the trip to the dining hall.

This event was publicized and promoted on Bobcat Vision, OrgSync, and Facebook. It has also been a GCSU tradition for many years, resulting in many older students already knowing about it.

This event gives students time to get away from the library and enjoy a meal with their friends. It is also a great opportunity for other organizations on campus to promote and advertise themselves. For example, WGUR had a table set up at the door handing out free gifts and prizes. Its was a great way to promote their station to the student body.

Games, such as bingo, food, photographers, and giveaways were only a few perks of attending the Midnight Breakfast event. In my video, I recorded a group of students who attended the event. They were very energetic and talked about how they heard about this event. After asking many students how they heard about this event it was obvious that Facebook is the most effective way get information out to college students. It is a great form of social media.

Relay For Life Kickoff A Success? YES!

I could not be more proud of my classmates and all of their hard work to make the Kickoff Dinner for Baldwin County's 2010 Relay For Life a huge success! It would not have been as wonderful without everyones help because each person had a major contribution that obviously proved to pay off! The candles set up around the room (Tori), the AMAZING cupcakes (Marianna), beautiful slideshow (Keri & Andrea), and all the food that was donated (Brooke) is only the start of how great the evening went.

I was a part of the decorations committee under Cara Wilmer and I really enjoyed it. We all got along great and worked together to to come up with some of the best ideas we could. Painting boxes, wrapping boxes, making a banner, and setting up the table place settings were all something I took apart in and I was glad to be a help.

Personally, I thought the room looked beautiful. It was very elegant with black and white and the purple and pink accents really made the room stand out. It was hard to picture in my head what exactly it was going to look like, but it turned out great.

Our class was also very concerned about food. The last thing we wanted was to run out of food. It is always better to have more than enough so we got enough food to feed about 130 people. However, we had TONS of leftovers! All the guests were welcome to as much food and candy as they wanted.

Attendance of team captains was also another obstacle we had to battle. Getting the awareness out about this event was one of our main goals. Press releases, invitations, flyers, and radio ads were all some of the PR work we had done to spread awareness. Almost all the seats were full in that church banquet room and it put a smile on all of our faces.

Last but not least, I believe one of the biggest accomplishments of this PR Admin class is the bond, trust, and respect we all have began to see in each other. Some of these girls have shocked me with all their talent and I am proud to have worked with them. We all worked together as a team and provided encouragement when someone needed it. It was a great experience and can't wait for next semester!!

and PS....THANS YOU DR. MILLER FOR ALL YOUR HELP! WE COULD NOT HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT YOU!