Corus Entertainment studios - review in photos

Here are some photos from our trip to the new Corus Entertainment studios in Winnipeg as part of the Career Trek experience.

lunchroom/lounge

brand-spankin new equipment

the engineers' office

the green room where guests wait before an interview

Carlo is one of the producer-technicians that is responsible for everything that plays on air

Bubba B the MC - one of the coolest Winnipeggers you'll ever meet

Our Career Trek radio production class visited the Astral Media studios today in the Craig Wireless building downtown.

Waiting in the lobby the elevator opened and we were welcomed by a man in a track jacket. The first thing I noticed about this guy was his voice. He had a subtle accent about him that suggested he had been to other places other than Winnipeg.

Bubba B the MC - or Bubba B - invited all eight of us into the old elevator that brought us up to the HOT 103 and QX 104 studios in the old building in Winnipeg's Exchange District.

 I've heard of Bubba in the past and heard him on HOT 103 on a random drive home from school. I didn't think anything of him then. I thought he sounded like how radio personalities (called on-air talent) should have sounded - friendly, entertaining, and emphasized every syllable he spoke over the radio.

We brought our four Career Trek participants on a field trip to give them a feel of what it was like to work in a real radio station and in the radio industry. Bubba B was our connection to the real world and I was blown away by the inspiration we got from this dude at the microphone.

Bubba B giving live, up-to-date Winnipeg weather conditions

Bubba B was actually working while we were in the HOT 103 studio to interview him about his job and the radio industry.

This guy was super awesome - he used the analogy of HOT 103 as a spaceship and how Ace Burpee, Chrissy Troy, and LTI launch the spaceship from the ground and into space to meet the space station floating around in space. In the space station, Chris Fantini was like the astronaut-scientist who knew all about space walking and all the crazy stuff he needed to do to keep the audience listening to the show for the rest of the day. Finally, Bubba B brings the spaceship back home to Earth after a long journey through space. His job was to land it safely after all the struggles and triumph it had encountered through the day.

Bubba B was very inspirational about his own journey through his radio career. He talked about how he got started in Calgary, AB in Canada and thought he was going to get his big break. After waiting for two years thinking he'd finally get his own radio show, he found himself leaving the radio industry altogether. He was an artist himself. He wrote his own songs and recorded them too. After Calgary, he left the radio industry and forgot about his passion in music, not doing anything related to it for six years.

"Winnipeg saved me," said Bubba sitting in the radio station in front of the three widescreen computer monitors.

What he said truly inspired me and I was sure it inspired the four fourteen-year-old participants in the room as well.

He described the path to his career as tough but he kept trying. He described HOT 103 as a defining moment in his life that told him radio was clearly his passion. He remembered hearing one of his favourite songs on the radio and on that particular incident, he knew he was doing was he was supposed to be doing - being an on-air talent for a radio station, engulfed in music and creativity.

Another memorable thing about Bubba was his use of water as an analogy. He quoted Bruce Lee when he said "be like water" meaning be ready to take different forms in radio. Working in radio meant a person needed to be able to work with anything that was thrown at them. Bubba works at night but if he were to get a phone call in the morning saying he had to fill in for a sick co-worker, he knew he had to be at the studio in the morning on top of what he had to do at night.

Bubba also explained knowing the different forms water could take was essential when working with other people. Knowing when to be 'liquid' and knowing when to be 'ice' in different situations when dealing with people was important because it allowed you to deal with problems and come up with solutions. Knowing when to be easy on yourself and knowing when to be strict to push yourself to your limits would help you achieve your goals in life.

I didn't know much about Bubba B before the tour but after listening to him talk that night allowed me to learn more about the radio industry and also about Bubba B himself. Bubba was honest, relatable, and most of all, inspiring. He was definitely one of the coolest Winnipeggers I've met in a while. One thing I could tell you for sure was that Bubba was not bothered by Winnipeg's extreme cold or annoying mosquitoes - a mark of a proud Winnipeg man. Thanks Bubba B!

Photo essay - the best edit suite on campus

I shot pictures of Edit Suite F in the basement of The Roblin Centre in the Exchange District campus as an assignment to tell a story through the use of photography.

I chose Edit Suite F because of its design and purpose. Compared to other edit suites on campus, Edit Suite F was very roomy and was a very quiet place to work, not a lot of foot traffic in the basement.

Edit Suite F had both Final Cut Pro and ProTools software, making editing of any media assignment a cinch! You didn't have to run to another edit suite to record your voice over and then run back to edit your video. This was definitely the highlight of this edit suite - and also because we spent half our CreComm lives in edit suites in general. This photo essay was something I could look at to remind me of the good and bad times of editing and the stresses and victories associated with video editing.

Eman's social media scope - What I know so far

This is what shows up when I start typing my name - I'm popular, mom!

The two most influential social media motivators I've had the pleasure to meet were 2010 CreComm graduate, Jenette Martens and my sister's boyfriend, Johann Generao.

Both people have taught me some cool things about social media that I wouldn't have realized on my own (with the little expereince I have):

What Jenette Martens taught me:
- When using Facebook to engage your audience, make sure your message is not too long as the post would cut off your message if you didn't mind the number characters you were pumping out on the post. She is a Social Media Convener at The Winnipeg Foundation.
- Use a pre-determined profile before engaging in social media. What she meant by this is there is an appropriate time to use the company's voice, a made-up character's voice, and your own personal voice in tweets and blogs. Knowing when to use these different voices is powerful in persuading your target audience.
- Use an integrated iPhone/BlackBerry app that will allow syncing with your desktop posts and mobile posts. An app that keeps track of stats and web hits is also very useful.

What Johann Generao taught me:
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is very important. He works for an agency that specializes in generating web content for clients in Canada and in the U.S.
- To rank high on the Google search engine, the user (i.e. a person who blogs) must post fresh content regularly and as much as possible link media to existing sites online. This doubles your chances of being searched.
- It's not a bad idea to 'pad' your name by signing up on other social media sites even if you know you won't be using them. These sites rank higher on the results page because of the nature of the site and in turn pushes down any other news about you - Can someone say issues management tool?

This is my understanding so correct me if I'm wrong and I'll add you to the List of Legendary People Who Have Influenced Eman list.

My Independent Professional Project: a promotional video for Red River College

 

March 10, 2011 marked the end of my six month project. The result was the video you just saw.

Working for Red River College's Diversity and Immigrant Student Support Department was an awesome experience with practical key learning I would be able to apply in my professional career as a communicator.

Shooting, editing, and producing a video may sound tough, but it could be accomplished with weeks of careful planning and advise from an instructor.

What worked well for me was planning weekly meetings with my client. This helped a lot because it required me to report to my client recent progress with the product, the video. I needed to tell the client how the video was coming along and the only way around that was to do the actual work.

Once you've managed your deadline and target delivery date, you could then work the small details into your project. In a sense, you were working backwards. You worked from the delivery date then managed the time you had to actually produce the video.

One of the biggest challenges of producing a video was shooting subjects. This by far was the toughest part of my entire subject. I remembered sending at least twenty emails to groups and individuals to come to Princess Street Campus (The Roblin Centre in the Exchange District Campus now) where I had the camera setup on a tripod to film interviews.

After all the interviews, filming B-roll was next on the list. This was also tough because it required organizing logistics to shoot outside of the campus. As seen in the video, we shot at The Forks Market and various places in Notre Dame Campus. Having your own vehicle proved to be very useful as there was also a ton of equipment to lug around.

The finished product was a video that was useful for the department and something that I was very proud of. The marketing manager at Red River College had approved the video last month and would be uploaded to the official college's video channel.

I was really pleased and happy to be a part of this project. The people I worked with and the connections I had made through this experience was something I'd always carry with me no matter where I go or work.

Plyometrics: energize without weights

The great Neil Babaluk and I started incorporating plyometrics in our exercise routine. I was skeptical at first but once we got started, sweat was dripping off my forehead.

According to a Wikipedia page, plyometrics was a type of exercise designed to produce fast, powerful movements that improves the functions of the nervous system better performance in sports.

The video shown above alternates from upper body to lower body workouts and focuses on building body strength and agility. Plyometrics was great to incorporate in your workout because it added a different dynamic to your everyday workout. Lots of people do regular cardio and weight training but not a lot do enough of this type of burst exercise.

There were many simple ways to incorporate plyometrics into a workout routine. I didn't even realize that something as simple as jumping jacks and push ups were plyometrics and could easily be added to anyone's routine.

I had my doubts when Neil and I started. I didn't think it would be enough of a workout to get anything out of it. Neil was always the measure to see if a routine works. We've been going to the gym for the last month and he was always wanting to try new workouts in the gym. After the plyometrics, my legs were very well exercised and Neil's calves were also worked to its limits.

Plyometrics was quick, energy-charged, and good way to re-energize a busy day at school. Everyone should give it a go!

Fear of birds

 

I've shared this with many people but felt like I just needed to blog about it - to help me get over it.

I'm afraid of birds.

The first thing people asked was "Really?" Then they would either laugh or let out a chuckle. I'm sure it wasn't because they found it hilarious that I  had this weird fear of birds, but because they were fascinated by it.

Then they would ask me "What kind of birds scare you?" It didn't really matter what size or colour the bird was. The fact that it had feathers kinda weirds me out. I mean I've touched a bird before. I've petted a live rooster before and touched a stuffed crow - the kind you would see in a taxidermy shop. Maybe it was the hard bodies birds had that make them not ideal to cuddle with. Then again, why would anyone want to cuddle with an eagle?

I could list ten more reasons why I didn't like birds but the main point was that I recently went to a psychologist to talk about my self-diagnosed phobia.

I took an introduction to psychology class at another college a few years back and learned that I shouldn't self-diagnose myself or anyone for that matter. But I still did - how else would I find out I was terrified of feathered animals?

Before I get into why I even considered seeing a psychologist about this issue, let me just explain that my fear of birds was not at all serious in any matter. So before you get any funny ideas of shoving a bird in my locker or bag, know that it won't affect my quality of life. I would still able to function and carry on with my day-to-day activities. A person should be concerned if his or her fear was affecting the way they live and the way they do things. The person must seek professional help once the fear takes control of their life i.e. staying indoors because of their fear, not being able to work because of their fear, etc.

The visit to the psychologist was part of an assignment in sports journalism. But the idea of getting over one's fear fell through because my instructor said the topic was focused more on the mind and not on physical activity. It was too late to cancel my first ever appointment with a psychologist and, to be honest, I wanted to see what a psychologist thought about my feelings towards birds.

The psychologist was really great. She explained to me the Pavlovian theory of conditioning where the Russian scientist, Pavlov, wore a read coat every time he fed this dog. The long and short of it was the dog salivated every time he saw the scientist enter the room wearing a red coat. The dog learned to associate feeding time with the colour red to a point where the scientist would enter the room without food and the dog would still salivate.

The psychologist said I was doing the same thing to myself. Every time I'd have an encounter with a bird, I'm conditioning myself to be scared and fearful, thinking the bird would attack me. Once I'm out of the situation, I'd tell myself how I just survived yet another close encounter with a bird when in reality, the bird wouldn't have attacked me. But years and years of my own self conditioning has led me to believe birds are dangerous and I should be fearful of them.

So what was her professional advice? She told me that I needed to get bored of my fear. She told me to expose myself more to birds. I would quickly find out that birds are pretty docile and tame for the most part. She also told me it was OK to be a bit afraid of animals I wasn't generally exposed to in an everyday basis - kind of how some people are afraid of lizards, spiders, or bugs.

The psychologist actually told me I probably shouldn't have booked the appointment as it probably was a waste of my time since I already knew and realize all the stuff she told me. For me, I just needed to hear it from a professional. The fact that I said I have a fear of birds was probably bad as it was contributing to my fear of the animal.

Going forward, I'm going to try to expose myself to more birds. Maybe I'll visit a pet store and ask if they could perch the parrot on my shoulder while I wear an eye patch. I'll also swap my ergonomic pillow with a full down feather pillow. When I eat chicken wings, I'll ask them not to de-feather it - OK maybe not that one. I still love chicken wings.

My first AGM experience: There's nothing general about it!

Today marked the first of ? AGMs I'll have in my communications career. I better get used to it!

Always have a microphone available for people who want to be heard

Attending my first Annual General Meeting (AGM) was surprisingly pleasant AND enjoyable. I thought about how my first AGM would unfold over and over again in my head all throughout the day. To be honest, the one question that kept popping up was: "How boring would this thing be?"

It was more interesting than I thought.

Just recently, I got a job with a non-profit organization in my hometown, Winnipeg. It was mandatory to attend the AGM and that was why I was at a hotel conference centre in the Polo Park area this afternoon.

 I should also say this was the first time I'd be meeting the staff in the office so my palms were 3.5x sweatier than normal. But my nervousness proved to be short-lived because the people I'd be working with were all friendly. Everyone was easy to talk to which made it very easy for me to feel welcomed.

We had dinner at the restaurant in the hotel before the AGM started and I thought that was a great way to get to know everyone. It was great interacting with everyone - something I looked for in a work place setting. Needless to say, my spirits were high even before the AGM started.

At 7:00 p.m., the President facilitated the opening of the meeting and the evening was underway.

I didn't know what to expect. In my mind, I pictured people sitting on stiff-cushioned banquet hall chairs in front of round tables draped with a coarse, white table cloth. I also expected people to be really serious and the only sound you would hear would the sound of the person's voice at the podium.

I was pleasantly mistaken.

The setup was rows of chairs facing one rectangle table in front where the board of directors sat. Located on the right side was the podium and there was another mike setup in the middle of the row so people in the audience could voice their opinions when invited.

The biggest thing that surprised me was the laughter.

As the formalities commenced, I found myself lost in the lingo of voting for movements and sanctions and stuff I didn't really understand. (Not sure if that last sentence made sense.)

I was surprised when the audience laughed about a small kerfuffle by one of the board of directors and staff member. It really changed the tone of the evening for me since thinking AGMs were all serious. It really made sense that the tone of the evening was the way it was. It came down to "knowing your audience" like we learned in public relations class. As a communicator, you needed to know who would be present at the AGM so you could prepare yourself and how you would conduct yourself in the event something goes wrong. You needed to know when to be serious and when to just laugh it off.

The laughing made the mood welcoming, pleasant, and friendly for those in the audience. I thought the benefit of a lighter tone was more audience participation which was important in AGMs because you would want to hear as many opinions as you could to improve the organization.

I should really start to consider myself as an adult.

I've been in school since I was four years old. I've been programmed to think school was for kids and working was for adults. Being 28 years old didn't really help as I'm still in school at the moment.

As I sat in the AGM, I thought to myself: "Wow, this is real adult stuff. Look at all the people around me... they have beards, fancy suits, and sound like they really, really know what they're talking about."

I mean I knew they were older than me but I was still enamored by the fact that I was sitting in an AGM for work... that this AGM somehow affected me in a very important level.

That was when it started to become interesting.

I had a personal stake in the AGM as marketing coordinator for the organization and was really the biggest reason I paid attention.

Once I flipped the switch in my mind, all the information I was hearing all of a sudden sounded so cool - like the speaker was directly talking to me. It was like a crash course on the organization I was going to work for in 11 days. I start in my new role on April 11, 2011.

What was particularly interesting to me was the health the organization was in. It was nice to hear they made more money than the previous year and continued to have positive growth. I was proud to sit in front row as an employee knowing that what I would soon be a contributor to those numbers and to the greater cause of the organization.

Then my name was called.

I didn't really anticipate my boss calling my name and making me stand. He got to the part of his report where he talked about his staff contributions and my name was first on the list (Agpalza). He said something like how I haven't even officially started yet but was there to attend the AGM. When he called my name I raised my hand like how I would in public relations class when my instructor, Melanie, would call attendance. Oops. He asked me to stand up so I did, turned around, and waved to the crowd. A bit awkward but I found it funny.

The AGM was done in about an hour and a half. I stood outside with my co-workers and they told me it was a quick meeting this year. In past AGMs, they stayed until 10:00 p.m., and one time, until midnight! I really thought it took long but hearing about the past AGMs made me glad it wasn't one of those times we had to stay longer.

The AGM was neat. I got to learn about the organization in less than two hours and got valuable insight where the company was headed. There were lots of information thrown around and given out and it made me think what the director of marketing and communications had to do to make the event possible. But I knew the answer: lots!! Lots of preparation went into the AGM like how we learned in public relations class. Next year, I'm going to be a part of the preparation and it would be very interesting to see what all went into the process of preparing. Just another thing I'll have to learn as a communicator!

Leaving CreComm: what I'll miss the most.

Home stretch. Here we go!

My two-year journey is almost coming to an end. With two weeks left, I’m feeling excited to finish, pumped for the summer, and scared to start working for the rest of my life.

But what is it about Red River College’s Creative Communications program that makes every person who completes it feeling so inspired and so motivated to do something [amazing] with their lives after CreComm? I don’t like getting cheesy, but in a sense, it makes everyone feel so alive. I don’t know… maybe because so many of us have come from different backgrounds and different experiences that when we all get together under one CreComm roof, we learn that there are others like us.

The CreComm community is what I’m going to miss the most.

How many of my fellow students mentioned the words “CreComm” and “family” together in the same sentence? Lots. I was one of them.

One of the reasons I got good grades in high school was because I was able to interact with my classmates in school and because my teachers were very supportive of me. I felt confident in myself and quickly found out what my strengths and weaknesses were because I had friends all around me to guide me and support me along the process.

The opposite could be said of my university experience.

I knew about five people through my entire one and a half years in university. How could this be considering there were more than 20,000 students that go to U of M? Maybe it was just me. Maybe it was because of the big class size or the huge campus. In the end, I wasn’t able to connect with people in my university experience and I’m attributing the fact I didn’t do so well in university to that.

 What’s so different with CreComm?

I noticed in the first week of CreComm classes in 2009 that this was the place I was meant to learn. It was very obvious that the admin department in Creative Arts had carefully thought of this program, its instructors, its students, and its curriculum. Did you know that for every one CreComm accepted in the program, three people were denied entry? That stat always floored me. What was it that they screened for? Was there an x-gene that CreCommers had that other people didn’t? Up until now, I still wonder. If selection were up to me, everyone who applied would certainly be accepted in. I just wouldn’t know what to look for.

Now that CreComm is ending, my friends are what I would miss the most.

There were still a few CreComms I really didn’t get to know and I would take the program all over again just to be able to make a connection with them. CreComm was that awesome and I’m thankful to be among other talented individuals to finish the program in 2011.

IPP: A culmination of skills

 

As my Independent Professional Project (IPP) comes to a conclusion, I can't help but look back to the first day of IPP pitches when my first pitch of going to Haiti fell through because of health concerns.

When my second pitch of developing a promotional campaign for the Diversity and Immigrant Student Support Department's Cultural and Language Mentor Program got approved, I knew there was work to be done. Six months later, I can actually say "Hey, that wasn't so bad! I actually learned something."

Since I like outlining my key learning points, here are the ones that stuck out the most:

• I can work with a client - choosing RRC as my client was a good fit because I know who the client is and believe in what the department stands for - in this case, culture and diversity. I realize that my values need to fit with the company's objectives in order for me to be motivated. This isn't the case sometimes and I might be hired by a company that might not be in line with my own moral values. In addition, I can also work with a client who has specific needs for his/her audience. I have experienced a situation where my client didn't necessarily like my creative ideas and it was nice to be told that the idea wouldn't work. I learned that just because I was in CreComm my ideas were great and one of a kind. Ideas needed to be tailored and well-thought of.
  
• I can stay on task - following deadlines and a critical path is important in project management. One person explained to me before the importance of a critical path: If you were hit by a bus on the way to work, will someone be able to pick up and know exactly where and what is happening on the project? Organization is key and what I learned is that my client and I went over the same topics in our meetings at times because either we didn't write down what we decided on or neither of us brought our notes from the previous meeting. Organization is key.
  
• I can stay on budget - throwing an event on $1,000 may sound like a lot of money for a free hotdog lunch but a lot of things need to be considered and included into the budget. I didn't think I'd have to include the price of plastic squeeze bottles into my budget but I did. I learned that food and entertainment go hand in hand and would turn any free food event from a grab and go to a sit and stay event. Having entertainment helps!
  
• I can deliver a promise - I promised my client a promotional video and an awareness event and that's exactly what they were going to get. That made me feel good that I was able to provide what I put on the "contract". Even though there was some minor changes, the client still got bigger things what they bargained for in the end. P.S. I'm not getting anything for this :) purely experience for me and the pleasure of helping in a cause that I believe in.

I present my IPP on Thursday, March 10 and until then I cannot rest. I know until that day is over, my soul will be in unrest. School will be downhill from there and uphill for my career in public relations :)

Life After PR: How Might People Disappear and The Future of PR

For those wondering how human life will end, here's your video no. 3



Personally, I'm not sure how I feel about that theory... but I know degeneration is never a good thing. I guess everyone hopes they're no longer around to witness how humans would go extinct.

Life After PR Topic #3 - The Future of PR

On the other hand, PR as we know it is just about to evolve. I've looked up "future of pr" and an article from the trusty and always handy site Mashable.com popped up.

Author Erica Swallow interviewed 14 PR pros about the future of PR and collected their answers, theories, and ideas.

I found the one about press (news) releases interesting, how Vistaprint Public Relations Manager, Jeff Esposito says there will be three different types of press releases aimed to assist different audiences.

Cisco Systems director of public relations David McCulloch predicts press releases will be more personal to the audience by allowing the gatekeepers a.k.a. journalists to fully understand what companies are all about rather than telling them what to write.

To add to these predictions and theories, I'd like to say that PR, in the future, will be more friendly to its audiences allowing easy two-way communication and instant message delivery. PR will be more personal and will be tailored to the specific needs of the consumer and the way that consumer wants to interact with companies of his/her choice. The role of companies will be transparent communication with its consumers but for this to happen, companies would have to immensely expand its consumer database to accommodate individual needs.

Remember the scene when Tom Cruise entered the Gap in Minority Report?



PR in the future would be something like that, but less obvious of course. Looks like someone at Gap Inc. has a future plan for marketing.

Life After PR: Capitol Records and Two-Way Communication

As I continue this series, I get more interested in thinking about the changes in PR since it started. I guess if one were to put a date on when PR started, it would have to have been 1914 when the Father of PR, Ivy Lee, was retained by John D. Rockefeller Jr. to represent his family and Standard Oil after the coal mining rebellion in Colorado known as the "Ludlow Massacre". But that's besides the point. The point is looking back at the progression of PR over the last 97 years would be pretty interesting.

Here is your Life After People video:



Red River College Roblin Centre in The Exchange District Campus has multiple Edit Suites located in the basement of the William building. Do you think it would survive a Life After People scenario? I'm not betting on it.

Life After PR Topic #2 - Two-Way Communication

Remember that Grunig guy's four models of Public Relations? That was learned in first year PR and yet still fresh in my mind...

It says that the two-way symmetrical model "uses communication to negotiate with publics, resolve conflict, and promote mutual understanding and respect between the organization and its public(s)."

So a good example of this? Do you remember when suggestion boxes first showed up? How about when the word "survey" was first used?

These are some of the ways that organizations get feedback from their audience to improve the way they operate their business and/or manage their employees. Suggestion boxes offer anonymity to those who offer them while surveys allow for a more complex data research. Both are very useful tools for a PR professional and should be used in a communication strategy when appropriate. 

Life After PR: A three-part series (or longer)

Last night, I was sitting in front of the TV flipping channels on the clicker when I ran into a show called "Life After People" on the History channel. The commentary's voice drew me to stop flipping channels as he sounded so concerned as he described what would happen if the human race suddenly disappeared off the face of the planet. Interesting.

But life after people? To me the answer was easy: there won't be life! All things will cease to exist. As you watch more episodes, you'll realize that even if you survive the mysterious apocalypse the world wouldn't be a nice place to live in. It was not like how Will Smith lived in the movie I Am Legend.

The premise of the show was predicting what would happen to our surroundings and the structures that humans have so carefully built. The animation they have created to illustrate this phenomenon was really well done.

Here was one example: Leonardo DaVinci's The Last Supper. What would happen to the fresco if there were no people to maintain it?

OK, so for something less bleak, I've adapted the same concept and applied it to PR to answer the question: How has life changed after PR? I know there are some things in PR that can't be measured but for my own entertainment and pleasure, I've thought of some things that I think have changed since the idea of public relations started.

Life After PR Topic #1 - Customer Service

Do you remember shopping at a store and didn't particularly liked the way they conducted your business? Maybe because of a bad return or exchange policy? Maybe because no one greeted you at the door or offered to assist you?

Have you noticed the company's policy change over the last couple of years? I remembered when return policies weren't as lengthy as 30 days. Some still have 14 days or less for exchanges and no refunds!

Exercising PR, companies were finding more ways to appeal to consumers by offering them a choice to keep or return their purchase - something that didn't exist many years ago.

Key learnings from my work placement experience

One week back and I can’t be happier!

We’ve been away from school for more than a month (Dec. 13 to Jan. 24) and I realized how much I missed school after being in a work environment for three weeks.

We got back from our work placements with so many stories, both good and not so good, but that didn’t stop us from learning everything we could from the organizations we were placed in. We were, after all, PR majors.

If you were wondering where I was placed, I chose to be placed at Winnipeg Airports Authority (WAA). I went in not knowing anything about this organization and came out with an appreciation for about 120 or so people who were dedicated to making sure our airport was safe, functional, and friendly to all who use it.

While at WAA, I was able to exercise the PR knowledge we learned in class like writing fact sheets, backgrounders, event planning, and making media lists. I spent 14 work days at WAA and I must say that was too short of a stay to be able to really get a feel of what it was like to work in a corporate communications environment.

The biggest thing I learned at WAA was using tours as a function of PR. We learned in first year PR some of the tools to get the public involved and touring was definitely one of them. But I haven’t seen how it affected people until I got to experience it first hand. On my second day, I was invited to tour the new air terminal under construction. In an instant, I was able to understand what the new air terminal was all about – about transparency and community – because I was right there. I was able to see everything with my own two eyes. The information didn’t have to come from someone else; it was unfiltered. Like in communication, I think PR professionals should strive to pass information to their target audience as direct as possible, without any type of lens and as clear as possible. I think this would make their audience feel more involved because the communication was more personal.

I remembered when our class with Kenton Larsen came up with a class motto for PR.

“To propagate, not contaminate”

When I said ‘propagate’, I didn’t mean to increase by sexual or asexual reproduction. Rather, to cause to spread out and affect a great number or to foster growing knowledge of…

Being in PR, it was very easy to contaminate a message or put a spin on it. As professionals, key messages should be kept as unbiased, clear, and concise as possible. After all, it wouldn’t be called ‘key’ message if it weren’t so important.

Now that we’re back, I can’t wait to learn more about PR especially in our brand new course called Communications for Non-Profits where we learn about non-profit organizations, what their function is, how they work, and what we can do as a PR professionals to bring true value to a non-profit organization.