My outlook on the public relations field just continuous to brighten and blossom thanks to the guest speakers that Ann Knabe brings to our class. I really enjoy how the guest speakers give us hope that we will have futures after college! When I tell people I am a public relations major, I usually get a lot of confused looks and get asked what am I going to be able to do with a major like that?? These guest speakers help calm me down a bit and give me hope of success when I graduate!
The speaker that came in today was Steve Staedler who graduated from UW-Milwaukee in 1998 with a BA in Mass Communications. Steve worked as a reporter for the company Community Newspapers Inc and worked with Public Affairs in the US Air Force Reserve. Steve is currently working for the company LePoidevin Marketing as a senior account executive. LePoidevin Marketing runs on a business to business strategy, which is a transaction completed between businesses, such as a wholesaler and a manufacturer. The focus of LePoidevin Marketing is to establish why they are a unique company and how to help businesses achieve their goals. The company also writes up print copies, online advertisements, and white paper. A white paper is report or a guide that helps the reader make a decision or solve a problem effectively.
LePoidevin Marketing has a very helpful tool they use to help businesses called Cision. Cision is an online source that helps businesses communicate and provide information efficiently and accurately. Cision provides contact information for businesses to receive as fast as five minutes. According to Ann Knabe, public relations professionals used to have to look up the contacts and information in a huge book, or have to email hundreds of contacts that took too long and backed up the computer systems. Cision is a great use of technology that has saved companies tons of money. Steve also talked about Google Alert, which is an online profile that can keep the user in contact with companies and businesses. Google Alert provides the subscriber with updates on a specific company so the user is always up to date on the company's or organization's changes. I did not know about Google Alert and I already subscribed to a number of film studios to be informed of. I think this is a great tool because you can stay connected with a company that you have interest in and gain more connections. Overall, Steve Staedler provided our class with very valuable information of what a day in the life of a public relations professional has to do!
