Lucie Fralicks on working in a modern era

By Kristin Biery


Lucie Fralicks graduated from the University of North Texas with a double major in music and psychology. In fact she wanted to be a high school band director but a bad student teaching experience altered her career path to where she is today.

Currently Mrs. Fralicks works for the Promotional Products Association International and the biggest thing they do is an annual trade show in Las Vegas. They do all of the planning, logistics, sales, etc. for the 50th largest trade show in the U.S.

“It takes one year to plan and it’s a week long event,” Mrs. Fralicks said. “The first two days are education days with seminars or certification workshops and the last three days are the actual trade show.”

On a daily basis Mrs. Fralicks contacts supplier companies and invites them to come to Las Vegas for the trade show. This past year they had over 1500 companies attend.

While she enjoys talking on the phone, there are certain drawbacks to the job that she has never adjusted to---people saying no. Mrs. Fralicks had to learn early on not to take things personal and that they were not saying no to her as an individual but her as a sales person.

Before working for Promotional Products Association International, Mrs. Fralicks worked selling advertising for Modern Bride magazine and then worked in the development office of the University of North Texas.

With the economy in it’s current state, it is not full of job opportunities so I asked Mrs. Fralicks her advice for someone graduating from college this May.

“Be open to possibilities,” Mrs. Fralicks said. “ Talking to people and networking helps too!”

what dreams are MADE of...

"Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for He has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you."
-Hebrews 13:5

There is no way to get around it, in order to succeed in life one must have money and the most common way of obtaining money in today’s society is to get a job. Money is what sustains us and it is what gives us the means to survival and beyond that it allows us to enjoy pleasures in life. In many ways, money drives us. With that being said it comes as no surprise that people who find a job for the sake of having money are often left unfulfilled. In order to refrain from this many people attend college to get a degree that will hopefully give them more options to find better jobs with better pay and in turn a better way of life. I, however, am a firm believer that money does not make you happy in the long term, but finding a job that you love.... will.
As a senior at the University of Oklahoma my time to find this dream job was fast approaching, and half way through my last semester I felt confused and much like I was the only one of my peers that had absolutely no clue what they would be doing with their diploma. However, that all changed when I was browsing on the internet one day, for what I don’t recall, and came across the Web site prcouture.com. The name itself sparked my interest and I delved further into what the site was about, and as I researched the idea of Fashion PR became extremely intriguing to me.

Ultimately my dream job would have to be designing clothes for a living because I think it is very important to do something that you are passionate about and fashion is one of the only things I know it would be hard for me to get tired of. A few of the steps I am currently taking to accomplish this dream are: I applied to a fashion school in Las Vegas and will attend in April 2008. I also ingest as much fashion as I can be it through television, magazines, or internet. I know I can accomplish my goal of having my dream job because my public relations degree will give me the tools I need to market myself to the media and other outlets and my fashion degree will give me the skills I need to be a designer.

Fashion is a fast-paced and ever-changing career and I think that is why I love it so much. I decided to continue my education with fashion because having the two degrees will broaden my opportunities upon graduation. I will have the option to do fashion design, fashion pr, or public relations in any realm I choose. It is necessary to be specialized in today’s job market because there are so many more college graduates then there have been in generations past.

There is a long list of designers I admire because of their individuality and uniqueness in the fashion world. It is important to be a brand as a fashion designer and some of my favorites are: Betsey Johnson, Christian Dior, and Chanel.

“Making clothes involves what I like…color, pattern, shape and movement…I like the everyday process…the people, the pressure, the surprise of seeing the work come alive walking and dancing around on strangers. Like red lipstick on the mouth, my products wake up and brighten and bring the wearer to life…drawing attention to her beauty and specialness…her moods and movements…her dreams and fantasies.”

– Betsey Johnson

I am most interested in haute couture because it allows you to be very personalized in your designs and I am a big fan of having a one-of-a-kind design. Fashion allows people to express themselves as them; we are what we wear essentially and for the reason that I want to dress people to make them feel good about themselves in their own skin by putting on the most amazing clothing they can.

O.J. Simpson... Really?

-Joshua M. Jones

Last Week O.J. Simpson was arrested, again. So, I will spare everyone the commentary on O. J.'s past and get right into what we are seeing here today. But first, the rundown...

O.J. was charged with 11 felony counts in a Las Vegas county courthouse on September 16. Armed robbery, assault and conspiracy charges were among them. He claims that he was conducting a "sting operation" in the Palms hotel and casino, and was simply trying to reclaim what was rightfully his. Let's not forget to mention the rather unsavory cast of characters in this sordid affair...
Timeline


What everyone seems to be missing here is that, this is a justice system that has been craving more of O.J.'s blood for more than a decade! This is truly a man on trial for his past and whether you agree or disagree with that, you must acknowledge that these people Simpson conducted his "sting" on, are the worst kind of people. So where do we draw the line? Where do we acknowledge whether or not there is even an objective truth to this story. O. J. Simpson's life represents this postmodern line of thought more than anything, what I mean is that, with the convoluted results of Simpson's first legal fray, we lack a real context of how we should feel about this current debacle.
Postmodernism


The question I pose is this. How does a PR practitioner use this postmodern "reality," or lack thereof, to their advantage when trying to frame the image of a client? How do you help O.J. Simpson if you are his publicist? I think what you would do is first set the context to O.J.'s past in relation to his present, whatever angle you want to approach that from. Then you address the ridiculous book deal that further tainted his image last spring.
Book Deal


If you can bring those forces together in a coherent way, you may be able to do the impossible, and save a man's future. Because no matter how you look at it, Simpson's life is a reflection of a justice system that is deeply, deeply flawed.

John Ridley's two cents.