August 31, 2009
Dear Darren,
When I got your letter I thought it was so funny that out of all my degrees the one you wanted more information about was Public Relations. I thought “Agriculture Communication” seemed way more obscure, but I am more than happy to tell you all about Public Relations.
Basically public relations is finding the good in something (person, company, etc) and then telling people about it, ok so there you go! It is actually much more complicated than that, but that gives you the basic idea. I will be promoting a client. I will be trying to tell the groups that matter the most to my client the best things or most important things about my client in a variety of ways.
One great thing about Public Relations is there is more than one way to do everything, and I really like that flexibility. I will be given a job by my client and then pretty much let loose to do my research and create the best plan I can to help them get their desired result.
The thing that excites me about Public Relations is the diversity. There are so many different things you can do that are still considered Public Relations. For instance some of the different responsibilities a Public Relations Professional may be required to do are:
· Write press releases, news paper articles, newsletter articles etc.
· Research different groups that are important to the company
· Plan a company event
· Provide opinion on advertising campaigns
· Meet with the media
· Make speeches
· Establish and maintain relationships (with other companies, professionals, important people)
· Identify key group interests
· Work with web designers
· Determine and purchase advertising spaces
Through my internships and the time I spent as the Student Body Publicity Coordinator at LDS Business College I have had opportunity to have a major role in the performing of all of those tasks.
Another great thing about Public Relations is the job availability. Everyone and everything can use Public Relations, so no matter where I end up living there will always be a Public Relations job somewhere nearby. Since everyone needs Public Relations I will also have the benefit of being able to choose what kind of company I want to work for, what size of company I want to work for and so on. The field is basically wide open for Public Relations positions available.
I hope all of this makes sense to you! I cannot wait to hear from you again soon!
Take Care,
Jill
