So you wanna be a PR Star??

Term is finished but we are still here beavering away!!! Just sorted out my student loan paperwork for next year and it been approved and then spent all day to day battling with the University Admin office trying to register for my optional modules next year!!!


That is one of the good things about this degree that though the foundation and the core teaching is about Public Relations you also get the choice of free choice modules and you can tailor these to the specific area you would like to progress your career. For instance I am particularly interested in the link between PR and Advertising and have chosen an Advertising module and wait for it a module in strategic financial management!!! But you can do anything some of the guys on the course are studying polylang, one of the girls is doing Chinese which is pretty cool, you can take modules in fashion, music, photography - What eva floats your boat.


Any way wanted to hook you up with another fabulous website - check this out...


http://http://www.behindthespin.com/careers/so-you-wannabe-a-pr-star


If you are looking for more info on possibly studying for a career in PR click on this link and check out the website and also feel free to leave comments and questions here.... or click on my picture and you will be linked into my twitter feed and you can send me a message - don't be shy its such a huge step to take and I wish there had been someone to answer my questions when I applied and then prepared to move to London so if I can be of help........ do not hesitate! xx

This is it!

It is quite unbelievable but it is the truth.... we have successfully finished our first year at the University!!!
...... thank you, thank you... I can hear your congratulations..how nice !!! :))))
I have to say that I am so relieved and also proud ... I can not wait to call my mum and tell her that her daughter did it!!!
She has been so fantastic and supportive all the time and it is very nice to hear some words of praise... especially when you are 27 years old... ;)))

The whole year was a lot of fun sometimes a bit stressful and has definitely fulfilled my expectations. Throughout the year we met some very interesting people, we went to the panel debate with Max Clifford, Trevor Beattie, Mark Borkowski and Julian Linley, we've had a fantastic hosting lecturer Cole Moreton for the whole second semester and we met lots of other important people from different PR agencies like Hill and Knowlton, Don'tPanic and also Peter Bingle from Bell Pottinger who talked to us about their work and how to become successful in what we do.

Our lecturers Trish Evans, Simon Goldsworthy and Trevor Moris - in the first semester

(the authors of the book: PR a persuasive idustry? Spin, Public Relations and the shaping of the modern media) were the best we could have hoped for!!

We have worked on campaigns, wrote press releases and handed in lots of course works, spent lots of hours at the library and now it feels so strange to have a big break for almost 5 months!

I will be still very busy working four days a week plus an internship but will miss the Uni very much! I have enjoyed morning coffees in the class with Trish Evans asking us about what we have read in the newspapers and learning about new things all the time...

Most importantly I have met fantastic young people with whom I had so much fun!!!!! Will miss them very much because most of them are returning to their homes for the holidays.

However Becky is staying so you will hear from us a lot more :)))))

Hana xxx

Oh What a Night....

Just back from the launch of Cole Moreton's book Is God Still an Englishman?? This is going to be a quick post as I have a presentation to do tomorrow and I need my beauty sleep but WOW what a night it was so much fun. Today has been one of those mad non stop days dashing all over uni, to lectures, then a group work meeting and a course committee meeting and then a quick dash home to shower and scrub up before jumping on the tube to meet everyone at the launch. Ended up running late because the wonderful transport in London is so volatile that every 5mins we had to stop and wait due to signalling problems but we made it to Livrpool Street. There were 8 Volunteers including myself and the venue was this beautiful Church that is now an art gallery. Its called Wallspace and its at All Hallows on the Wall.

www.wallspace.org.uk

It was the perfect location!!

My job was to sell the books and yes we sold out!!! Whoop Whoop!!! There were over 100 guests in total and I spoke to some really interesting people (everyone thought I worked for the publisher, hehe) but this did prompt some very interesting conversations. There was live music and dancing and we can't forget the wine!!

The feed back was great and if you are looking for an interesting and stimulating read I would highly recommend this book, available on Amazon and check out the website:

www.isgodstillanenglishman.com

and if you need more persuading then google it and read the comments on the Guardian website!!!

.... need I say more!! Apart from the night was rounded off in style at good old Macedees!!!

Bedtime I think - sweet dreams - B x

Thinking of your Future in PR

I was just reading the updated PR Couture posts and came across this interview (seemed very interesting) and then spotted this link to a website called Vox-Pop! It's a careers website for young PR's - Jackpot!! So if you are thinking of a career in the PR industry you can browse away and get some idea of what the future holds for you.... another great website to look at for career prospects is PR Week, this is a great source for all PR news as well so you can stay updated and on the ball. Check them out on the links below:

http://www.vox-pop.co.uk/2010/04/16/7-questions-crosby-noricks-founder-of-pr-couture-com/

http://www.prweek.com/uk/home/

Bex x

Is God still an Englishman? by Cole Moreton

http://colemoreton.wordpress.com/

Woman's hour

The first thing that we were told at school was to start reading newspapers. Any newspapers, just to see how they write, what their agenda is, who they are targeting and maybe to find the right one for each of us. For me as a foreigner it was not easy from the beginning to read about politicians that I never heard off before and who seemed very boring to me. Frankly, sometimes I had to force myself to cary on reading a long and boring article about someone important just to have an idea of what is going on in politics ... also the headlines do not make sense to me sometimes, because they are written in a form of english expressions that you normally do not come across....maybe they are very old fashioned or poetic ....

BUT

... I have found something that helped me to better understand a lot about this country, their legacy and rules and most importantly I have found myself enjoying one of the "media" that we were advised to listen to...and that is the Woman's hour!

The first thing that came to my mind when I listened to one of the presenters (Jane Murray and Jane Garvey), was my childhood. The program is only spoken, there are no songs unless they have a musician as a guest. It reminded me of myself sitting at a table in my house in Slovakia, playing a game or painting something, my mum cooking in the kitchen and the radio is on... beautiful memories....
On their website they say that the programm is celebrating, informing and entertaining women and in my opinion the show is increadibely funny and very educational. They cover everything from cooking, museums and exhibitions to politics and life stories of very interesting people, most of them are women.
The program is on the BBC4 daily at 10am but because of the time I can not listen to it live so sometimes I listen to all of the series from that week in one row, sipping my cup of tea and doing some cross-stitching (that sounds so weird, but I really do enjoy cross- sittching) :))
Lately I was very interested in the talk about internships and the sometimes unfair treating of students and was very drawn into the debate. I am also currently doing an Internship at a London PR agency and could agree with a lot of the points that were made during the show.

This friday Jenni Murray is going to interview one of my favorite actress Kim Cattrall from Sex and the City so tune in with me and enjoy the show.

Hana xxx

PR COUTURE

http://www.prcouture.com/2010/04/08/pr-coutures-crosby-noricks-wins-blogger-of-the-year/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+prcouture/HhBg+(PR+COUTURE)

I have been following a Fashion PR Blog for sometime now, in fact it is the first blog that I ever signed up to follow many years ago. Now admittedly I don't generally read it every time a notification comes into my email account that there is a new post to read, as you don't always have the time, but this one caught my eye and I thought maybe I could learn something from this blogger of the year winner!!

Have a gander yourselves, not only is the content interesting (Bags, shoes, fashion.... uuuummmm) they have a lot of popular articles that are worth checking out about social media, internships, working for yourself, tweeting - the works so if you have a few mins on your hands I think its well worth a quick scan..... Bex x

Some more Gold Dust

So it's a Friday afternoon and I am catching up on all the media that I have missed over this week and I came across this website. I actually found it on my twitter feed as another PR Company made reference to it but it is a fantastic article about getting coverage for your story/client, have you got a strong enough angle etc.... If you actually then go on to their website that have several PR articles with tips in them well worth a gander my friends.... Enjoy reading Bex x

http://www.72point.com/blog/all-your-eggs-in-one-basket/

From my experience

http://http://www.ucas.ac.uk/students/wheretostart/maturestudents
If you are looking to return to education and further your career prospects I would seriously advise you to look at what UCAS offers on their website, they were invaluable to me when I was conducting initial research into making that transistion back into student life. As a mature student you look for certain criteria when applying to further your education; namely which course, at which institution will give me the best chance of getting onto the higher earning platform. For me it was which institution will give me the best degree in the field that I want to work in and is recognised by the industry as such.

As mature students we are more focussed on the quality of the degree that we will walk away with, we understand the finiancial implication of returning to education but we are certainly more able to apply ourselves to the course knowing exactly what we want to achieve and where we want to be in three years time.

The advantage of being a mature student is that you already have your A-level results so I was given my offers very quickly. Only one institution withheld their offer until I had attended an interview, that University was The University of Westminster. This gave them more credability in my mind as not only did they want to interview me and speak to me about the course it gave me a chance to check them out. Never forget that this is a two way street and should be treated as a business transaction you are paying your money (and will be paying it back over many years to come in exchange for the best degree that you can get) It is really, really important to meet your prospective tutors and to talk face to face about what the course will offer you, the content and the calibre of the teaching staff at the University. You need to find the best university for you and your needs and this will be different for everyone but you need to find a place where you will be happy for the next 3 years of your life. If no interview is offered I would highly recomend visiting the university on an open day or making your own appointment to visit. I was offered a place at The London College of Communciation as well and went down on one of their open days to meet the course leader and have a tour of the campus and I was really dissappointed. The tutor was new to the course and had little knowledge of how the education system worked, having never taught before but was fuelled by his claim of having been the person behind creating the radio one DJ/personality Chris Moyles. I then sat through a presentation in their auditorium where I felt completley patronised sitting their as a mature student and being talked down to about how this was no longer schoool and you wouldn't be mollie coddled but need to be independant and self motivated to be able to achieve results (REALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?????WELL I NEVER!!!!) Do not be put off but remember that any University talk you go to will be geared for 18 year olds leaving college or sixth form, as they are the majority intake. Looking deeper than that at the course content and if you can imagine yourself in the enviroment for the next couple of years.

I hope this helps anyone who is looking at the moment for places to study but have to say it is the best choice I ever made and the course has met my expectations so it really does pay to take the time to do that little bit extra research and if you have any questions about my expirience I would be happy to answer them.

Happy University hunting - Bex xx

P.S I moved City to go to my chosen place of study and yes it was tough and it took awhile to settle in, particularly as I had a whole network of friends and work colleagues etc.... in my home town and I questioned my choice for ages. Even to the point where I was going to settle on a course I didn't really want to do so as to avoid all of the upheval, it can be really daunting but don't be lazy really push yourself out of your comfort zone because trust me only good can come from it - THE WORLD IS YOUR OYSTER...... xx

Something I stumbled across...

http://stedavies.com/2008/03/where-are-all-the-student-pr-bloggers/

Check out this blog entry - now OK it might be a little old BUT... very interesting content. The repetition of "Content is KING" an saying that was initially told to us by Don't Panic PR!! So... maybe there is some truth in it!!

This particular blog is a great reference for all budding PR bloggers and wannabe Gurus of the industry. Hope it helps Bex xx

Going Home for Easter......

The Theatre was indeed fabulous, I love the theatre it is such a magical place but this particular show was incredible. Before it started I was wondering how on earth they were going to be able to translate a story about a business disaster onto the stage. But they did and it was fantastic and thanks to Hana and her friend Tom who was in the play we had really, really good seats. I could go on and on about the play but what I wanted to blog about today was my Easter....

I have just been home for 5 days to catch up with friends and family and I realised that I haven't seen them for 3 months. You get so caught up in student life and the day to day running of your life that time passes really quickly!!! I mean we've nearly finished our first year at Uni now that is crazy!!!! As you know I am a mature student and I have lived away from home before but coming to University is different. You are moving to another different city where you make new friends, have to fend for yourself, decide which parties you go to, when to study, when to shop. There is also so much going on in London that it has been very hectic and then the week before I left for Bristol it suddenly hit.... the deep pang of homesickness!!!! It had been so long and I felt really stupid because you think pull yourself together you're old enough to sort yourself out and not get upset. Going back though was exciting but also shows you who your real friends are and who are just acquaintances, you see all of your friends carrying on with their lives, drinking in the same bars, going to the same restaurants and old haunts and you have missed out but they are not part of your new life. It was all very strange, nothing had changed in Bristol but everything had changed with me. It gives you a new perspective on things. I think this is one of the hardest things about moving away for University, you expect to be able to carry on both lives and its not possible and if this is hard for me as a 26 year old how tough must it be for 18year olds. The only difference is that as I had worked in Bristol for 8 years before moving to University, I had a whole network of friends set up. My best friends and my school friends, and 18 year olds don't have that they move to Uni to find that network of friends.

So if you are reading this and you are thinking of returning to education and you are ready to take the plunge I would say it is the best decision that I have ever made but be prepared for the tough times. The feeling slightly in limbo and slightly lost, the weekend was amazing and it was so good to see all of my best friends again. It was a non-stop weekend of eating, drinking, laughing and catching up I am shattered now but I am looking forward to catching up with my London PR friends and finding out what they have been up to .......!!!! Bye for Now Bex xxxx

The magic world of Theatre.

I think that I have mentioned it before but I will say it again....I LOVE THEATRE!!
I love looking at the tickets before I enter the building....smelling them...... so many people around me...they are filled with excitement as I am..... I am stepping into the great "chamber".... so old and marked with so many performances.... I am shivering with excitement and wish for the lights to go off so the show can begin... everyone is quiet in a seconds and I wait for the music..... MUSIC ....my only drug....but very addictive one...I do not think that I will ever be able to get sober from..... and I do not want to.... that is the magic of it.....

The ENRON (The inside story of one of history's greatest business scandals, in which top executives of America's seventh largest company walked away with over one billion dollars, while investors and employees lost everything) begins and i sink deeper into my chair and absorb the story happening in front of me.... My eyes are fixed on my friend Tom Godwin who is one of the traders but throughout the show I could see him acting as a lot of other persons. He was totally great and funny !!

I was quite wondering how the story that is all about money and business will be presented. I have seen the movie before and already new what will happen but I really wanted to see it in a theatre. It is just unbelievable how smart some people are and what they can achieve... it is also frightening to see how far they are willing to go and the disastrous ending just left me to realise how little I know about this world and how much I have to learn. Somethimes when I hear or see stories like Enron It makes me feel so small...

After the show my friend Tom took us backstage and showed us how things work, who operates what and we have discovered that tiny little space were so many people have to move so fast and without any noise.... It was quite shocking!
I just could not resist to try that big mouse head on and let me tell you...it is soo heavy!!!! being an actor is not only mentally hard but also physically.... would you think that all the actors have to be fit??? Quite frankly, I did not.... but again there are so many things that I do not know about.... ;))))

Me and my friends really enjoyed the show and had a long talk about it.... we tried to find the answer if any PR working for ENRON new about what was happening inside the company and discussed it in a lovely restaurant after the show.

There is something about Theatre.... it is all so magical for me... I can see why people want to become actors and sacrifice everything to their passion...
If I could choose I would definitely prefer MUSICALS.... I used to sing when I was little and my friends still tell me that I have a good voice.... I also used to dance and my last experience was at the Greenwich dance academy where I took street dance lessons.... well I have to admit that I am not as good in dance as I would like to be.... still have latino dance on my list.... hopefully will try it one day... and pole dancing....I wanted to try it for years and that I DEFINITELY will ...... one day..... ;))

The Fantom of the Opera was also on my list for a very long time and finally I can tick that one off.... It will be mine birthday present.... It couldn't be easier for my friends to know what I like...... I am already dreaming about the ticket in my hand...the beautiful hall and so many people....and the MUSIC.......

Hana xxx

The promised Radio show with me and Becky!!!