James Thach

Photo taken by Expressemploymentprofessionals.com

James Thach, Corporate Communications at Express Employment Professionals

By: Katie Graham

From 2006 to 2009, after graduating from Gaylord with an advertising degree, James Thach decided to take his internship to another level and actually work for it as Corporate Communications with Express Employment Professionals. Express Employment Professionals is a company that’s main goal is to show people how to find jobs. It has been around for over 25 years, helping people find the human resources and job skills to seek a career and a future. Thach worked at the international headquarters where he wrote blogs, columns, and press releases for internal and external audiences. His press releases consisted of writing to people about the latest employment and new office spaces that were available at the time. He would fill in the blank, with people, the insight as to how to go about seeking a job as well. Most of his blogs were fun facts to audiences about “How to be Interviewed,” or “How to Interview,” or “Top 10 ways to find the correct skills needed for your job.” Thach said that most of his time dealt with press releases that showed publicity to new job employment.

Thach also wrote pamphlets for the franchisees listing potential employment in the local areas. The pamphlets also showed where temporary workers were and became the “umbrella” to showing the progress of the company. Overall, quality writing was his main skill because he had to show a sense of reputation to the company, while publicizing to the audience the skills, material and training suited for the type of job that person was looking for. His knowledge consisted of knowing the franchisees and his company he was writing for. If he didn't know the rural area, he wouldn't know the jobs, therefore would have nothing to write about.

One of his responsibilities was to interview 2 franchisees about temporary works and economic trends. Thach would ask the franchisees about the trends that are possibly coming up, while predicting the work area that might have openings in the future. He would then send it to the publisher, where the pamphlet would then be published and sent out to the public to those wanting to find the fastest way to look for their job. This was best known as the Rosenberg Surveys.

His longest responsibility was actually building the main website for Express Employment Professionals. He designed it entirely by himself.

“It was pretty fun, don’t get me wrong, but I had to have my AP book on me at all times,” Thach said.

He is not currently working there anymore because of the amount of writing he had to endure every day. He got the job from interning there but never thought he would have a job right outside of graduating. Thach said that his best opportunities came from interning and to do as many as possible. This is what allows you to learn what you like and do not like out of a career. Thach also mentioned that even though you have graduated, it doesn’t mean you should throw away your AP book. Like mentioned above, he used his AP book every day during his time at Express Employment Professionals. It was a stable job, but not what he was looking for. It was a reality check, showing how much you are required to write in a job like this.

Thach now works for Crooked Tie Studios, where he records and creates wedding videos.

“It has nothing to do with my last job, but I love social media and photography so why not?” Thach said. His photography class got him into this, and his advertising capstone class pulled him further away from doing any kind of advertising.

Overall, James Thach is a writer and writing is his passion because it is the easiest to him. He wouldn’t mind doing more press releases and blogs, but for right now he’s getting his kicks out of going to weddings and making memories.

Jennifer Haveman

Photo taken from andersonhansonhlanton.com

Jennifer Haveman, Account Executive at Anderson Hanson Blanton

By: Christy French

Anderson Hanson Blanton is an advertising, marketing and public relations agency in Dallas, Texas. They take a no-nonsense approach to ensure they meet their clients’ needs and work within their desired budgets. Their core philosophy is to appeal to their clients’ target publics by making their clients’ products emotionally appealing.

Jennifer Haveman has an undergraduate degree in English Literature. The majority of her experience in PR and marketing was learned on the job. She expressed she has had some great mentors along the way, as well as some mentors who pushed her to her full potential.

Looking back, Haveman says she has been involved in the PR /Marketing industry since the 8^th grade. She was on the yearbook staff in Junior High, the newspaper staff in high school and then was in news radio during college. She took a small detour in the nonprofit world working with at risk youth before stepping back into the advertising arena. “I learned a lot about marketing and PR working for a nonprofit,” says Haveman. “There was never a budget for PR so I learned quickly how to gather the facts, tell the story and then sell the story in order to raise money to reach the people in need.” Haveman says it was just a natural progression that she came to work for an Anderson Hanson Blanton in 2007.

Haveman says the most challenging part about working in this industry is unearthing the needs of their clients. Most clients have an agenda when they meet with her. “It is important to take the time to talk to them and find out the story they don’t see,” says Haveman. “Then the company can help them develop this story to build a strong message for their target audience.”

“For new PR professionals, first, they need to be professional, and show a smile and good attitude,” says Haveman. “Second, be a self-starter and take the extra effort no matter what you are asked to do. Research your clients, competitors, relevant industries and media trends.”

Media Ethics: Cases and Moral Reasoning

false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

By: Leslie Koch

Media Ethics: Cases and Moral Reasoning by Christians et al., does a great job at comprehensively discussing ethical issues involved with today’s media as well as society. The book not only makes the readers think about their own moral values, but brings up great points about the changing ways of thinking in today’s media.

The book outlines important issues in four separate parts; news media, advertising, public relations and entertainment. In the news media section the authors discuss the effect of corporations on the news, the difficulties of truth telling, the reliability of sources and portrayal of social issues. In advertising the book focuses on issues brought up by commercialization, image portrayal, and general moral issues in the profession of advertising. When discussing public relations ethics, the authors bring up issues involving conflict of interests, social responsibility and the challenges of representing an organization. The entertainment section of the book describes violence as entertainment, the pressure of profit, and censoring issues.

In each section, the book uses actual cases to illustrate the issues and defend the authors’ arguments. In the preface, the authors say that they believe in using case studies to learn, because that is the nature of the media industry. Media and communication is an experience-based and hands-on environment, where learning occurs by doing. Because of this, the authors choose to use real-life examples for the readers to learn vicariously through.

I enjoyed reading the book because of these cases. I found it very beneficial to be able to analyze the arguments by seeing how they were applied (or not applied) in an actual situation. I believe that ethics is a hard subject to teach, because it is based on moral reasoning and the answer is not always the same. However, I thought the book did a great job at working through those challenges and shedding light on sensitive subjects.

The New Rules of Marketing and Public Relations

By Brittany Atwood

Originally this book was started on David Meerman Scott’s personal blog about marketing and public relations. In January 2006, he published an e-book and since it’s debut has been downloaded over 200,000 times. This is clear evidence that we are in a time where the Internet is a major form of communicating.

The New Rules of Marketing and Public Relations is not a book solely written by Scott. The book contains comments and suggestions that he received on his blogs as he wrote chapter by chapter as a blog. He used these suggestions as a way to make his findings more effective.

According to David Meerman Scott, corporate blogs are emerging as one of the most effective ways for different types of businesses to tell their stories directly to the public. Audiences are hesitant when viewing traditional forms of advertising such as print but with a good blog companies can showcase their abilities to go above and beyond what is needed of them.

In the old days, companies could only communicate through the expensive forms of advertising. However, blogging in today’s time changes the rules. We all know from experience that not only is it hard to get people’s attention but it is also hard to keep their attention. Blogging allows you to focus on getting the right message to the people at the right time.

Scott talks about the Internet in terms of people not just another form of technology. He discusses the ramifications of the web needed to pertain to the average person. He uses a variety of case studies throughout his book that makes the information more real. I think real life examples are important to showcase in terms of Scott’s views.

Rick Buchanan, Oklahoma Legend

By: Angenene Kendrick

While attending the Oklahoma Republican Party Candidate School last year, I had the pleasure of meeting a practicing professional who has served in media relations from small town projects all the way to the governor’s office.

Rick Buchanan spent part of the afternoon explaining the difference between earned media (public relations) and paid media (advertising) attention. Although most of it was review to me, I sat with a group of students who were learning it for the first time.

Rick served as Governor Frank Keating’s press secretary from 1995 to 2001. Keating was very generous in his verbal style when he offered remarks about almost everything. He kept Buchanan very busy at times. When asked about the experience, Rick commented, “Gotta love Frank!”

Rick has worked in broadcast marketing at KWTV and is now with the Oklahoma County Commissioner’s office. Although he didn’t admit it to me, I understand that he does some ghost writing for a few organizations. I’m not going to reveal that source.

Because of his experience in Oklahoma politics, I asked him to explain how they work. He said, “You're dealing with egos and personalities and power. Power always gets in the way. It's a great study, however.”

Rick is an awesome resource. When I am working on a project and am unsure to whom in the Oklahoma City media market I should be targeting, Rick is very helpful in showing me direction. He seems to be very well connected. I appreciate his efforts.

When I asked him about advice, he said, “Politics are everywhere. Learn how to play with the big kids, and you can politic anywhere.”

Rick is full of insight and encouragement. Most of the people whom I’ve spoken with about him and his illustrious career have shared very positive stories about him.

Rick lives in Edmond and enjoys photography, golf and spending time with his two daughters.

Mary Kay and Diverisity Campaign 2009

By: Angenene Kendrick

Near the end of February, 2009, Mary Kay announced that for the first time in history they will begin television advertising in March. I was thrilled that the TV ads showcased a colorful heritage of a diverse sales force and customer base.

As an independent beauty consultant since 1997, I've met some amazing people from all over the world. Each summer we are invited to gather in Dallas at Seminar to celebrate our successes and to catch visions of higher dreams.

A few years ago, I attended a banquet with National Sales Director Emeritus Rhonda Burnsides. I sat with my friends from Southern Oklahoma and a new friend from Michigan. We were already diverse at our table, but the real fun started when the sales directors from Miami, Fla. took the stage. Very few of them spoke English. (I had already learned a lot of Mexican Spanish through meeting people in Mary Kay.) I was surprised that I could keep up with most of the Cuban-based Miami Spanish. Then we danced. We were together to celebrate -- it didn't matter from where we came, the color of our skin or our native tongue.

During some of the lunches -- can you imagine dining with over 8,000 of your sisters? -- we had the pleasure of visiting with other consultants and directors from all over the world. It was after one of these meals where I got to take part in a translation chain that I will never forget.
Some of the consultants from Spain wanted to purchase some Mary Kay sales materials, but the company representative was trying to refer them back to the Mary Kay Europe division so that there would not be issues with Spanish customs. There was a problem with the conversion from Texican Spanish to Castilian Spanish. I stepped in and asked if any of the Spanish consultant spoke French. One of them did. Within a matter of minutes, we had everything smoothed over -- from English to French to Castilian Spanish.

My director always taught me that the only qualification a prospective customer or business associate should have is "does she have skin on her face?" Diversity has been a way of life and business. According to the company's website, there are over 35 markets on five continents -- 20 of these markets were added since 1990. With an international sales force of over 1.8 million, similar products are distributed all over the globe.
Vice President of U.S. Marketing Yvette Franco explained that the new commercials purposely include diverse models.
"In fact, we will have three commercials that target our diverse general population, Latinas, African-American women. Remember these groups are the fastest growing population segments, " Franco said.

My Mary Kay experience has not only taught me about the importance of God first, family second and career third, but also about diversity. I have learned that folks are just folks. We are all sisters together on a quickly shrinking world. Language, cultural tradition and national political background shouldn't matter. We all have skin on our face.

Advertising and Public Relations

Many people not in the journalism field get advertising and public relations confused. Aboutpublicrelations.net claims one of the main differences between public relations and advertising is the extent of the message control. Public relations practitioners differentiate themselves from advertising by controlling their message after it has been released to the world. Advertisers, however, cannot control their message once it has entered the wide world of media, or the sales it produces.
A specific way both advertisers and public relations practitioners can get their message out, is by using other events to promote their product or organization. For instance, just recently were the Academy Awards. Havaiana Shoe Company paired with the film awards show to promote their casual footwear. Each award nominee was not only hoping for a chance to win the “Gold Man”, but also received a golden pair of sparkling Havaiana flip flips in a gift package which give homage to the 65 years of Oscar.
These baskets can add up to quite the hefty price. Companies send these freebie gifts to nominees in the hope they will be photographed with a famous star or starlet. By directly giving the gifts to the stars, it ensures that it will go directly to the hands of the person intended. Though, celebrities are not the only ones who desire these pricey baskets. Auctions for the gifts can go on sale more than six months before the event and can cost up to twice the net worth of the items.
Public relations practitioners can use big events, such as the Oscars to promote an object or company if needed. By attracting celebrities, certain organizations can obtain their end goal.