Wednesday, September 8, 2010

New blog page

check out my new blog page @ nesbitauthor.blogspot.com

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Athletic Auction SWOT Analysis

Strengths

Good theme - I may be a little bias but the praise we got for the theme this year certainly wasn't.
Decoration - the decoration this year was amazing. We had a huge amount of help from the GCSU Art Department in developing several artistic pieces including a giant 12 foot wide mural of king kong that was displayed and even sold at the auction. Movie posters featuring GCSU athletes and large street lamps adorned the sides of the auction. Movie reels with pictures of athletes in the film strips where featured as centerpieces and all the rest of the decoration really came together.
Dedicated classmates - everyone in my class who worked on this auction put in a large amount of time and even some sleepless nights to pull this off.
Budget - we managed to successfully stay within our budget.
Setting the bar high - This is a strength for the auction because everything worked out but it could have been a major weakness. We set the bar high with grand ideas and luckily we pulled it off.

Weaknesses

Lack of communication - as always lack of communication can severely damage any event. This year we booked performers from the Milledgeville idol to perform. Our client was unaware that we had already booked the entertainment and took it upon themselves to book another performer for the same time. It took some clever juggling from Angela to make sure everyone was happy.
Class time - because this was a class project, we couldn't depend on everyone outside of class time. Everything ended up getting done on time but I would have liked to see it done a little earlier.

Opportunities

Communication - we should have put someone in charge as client liaison. This person would be in charge of coming up with a weekly summary of how things are progressing with the auction. This would let the client know what we are up to so that things like the double booking of performers wouldn't happen. As an added bonus, it may help people to work faster knowing they have someone looking over their shoulder and help people stick to deadlines.
Selling decoration - we were able to sell some of our decoration and that gives us cash to donate towards some of the people that helped during the auction.

Threats

other auctions - since the auction I have noticed several auctions in Milledgeville not to mention there is a regular auction off Log Cabin Road. These are threats because they take away our target consumers but they can potentially be opportunities for us to steal their clients.

Lesson Learned: Backup Plan

This semester my public relations class has been working with Georgia College & State University Athletics to develop student involvement with the athletics program. Last semester, we developed a PR campaign and planned one specific game. This semester, we were each assigned one game to plan.

1.) My game was against USC Aiken. It wasn't hard to find an event because I was told by Athletics that the Milledgeville chapter of the Rotary Club had already expressed interest in doing something that day. I contacted the Rotary Club's contact, Renee Fontenot, and we began a dialogue of what the Rotary Club was doing at the event. About a week before the event, the Rotary Club backed out. Working with Athletics, we scrambled to come up with something to replace her event only to be told several days before the game that the Rotary Club event was back on.

A lack of communication proved to be disastrous in this case as she told all the details of her event to Al Weston, sports information director at GCSU. While Al assumed I knew all the information, Renee assumed that by telling Al she had secured the various things the Rotary Club needed at the game. The day of the game Renee was supposed to give me a script that was to be read during half time and the Rotary Club members were supposed to be recognized and give information out to anyone interested. Renee got sick the day of the event and I couldn't get in touch with her until the game had already been underway. We were approaching half time and I had to hastily find the president of the Rotary Club. He briefed me on some of the things their organization has done globally and locally. Then, I wrote a script.

2.) With so much miscommunication the game went surprisingly well. Al filled out the various commercial timeouts and other stoppages with Valentine's Day events and after the script was done I had time to enjoy the game. I periodically checked on the Rotary Club and asked them if they needed anything. They seemed happy with the brief recognition they had received and enjoyed the basketball game. The crowd that day was large although I think it had more to do with who we were playing than with the Rotary Club being present.

3.) So, the lesson I learned? Always have a backup plan. When things fall through have a simple and easy to execute plan. This will not only save you countless hours of anxiety but will impress clients and show initiative.

4.)I wish I could have had a backup plan. I could have done something very easily since the game came the day before valentines day. I could have done raffles and games to celebrate the holiday. We did have some of this (there was a Hershey kiss eating contest) but we could have done much more.

5.)If I had to grade myself, I would give myself a C. I felt completely unsatisfied after this event. I didn't work up to my potential and felt that it was a mediocre affair.

6.)"Mean in Green" is the campaign we came up with last year for Athletics. Because of this campaign, new logos were designed and are now being used on GCSU shirts and hats. I think one way to keep Mean in Green going is to really push the sells of these hats and shirts and make sure we link the logo with the slogan visually.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

WGUR Visits the Cox Radio Group in Atlanta

Last week several members of the executive staff for WGUR 88.9 FM visited the Cox Radio Group in Atlanta for a tour of the inner workings of a large radio station. The Cox Radio Group broadcasts WSB-AM, WSB-FM, WALR-FM, WBTS-FM, and WSRV-FM.

Our tour guides were Andrew Rudd, Director of Client Services and Lee Cagle, Program Director for 95.5 The BEAT. We toured most of the gargantuan building and got to pick the brains of our tour guides. The experience was enlightening and we were able to make some good contacts in the industry, not to mention all the nice swag and freebies we got.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

New Radio Show at WGUR

I am the DJ to a new show at WGUR, Georgia College & State University's student run radio station. The show is called Garage Band and airs at 3 on Wednesdays.

This is my first time being a DJ and I have found it to be a very fun project. The show came about because WGUR had been receiving promo material for several small bands and we were not doing anything with it. I suggested a show focused on new and local bands.

Planning the show is a fun process because I get to research bands many people have not heard of. I also try to attend more concerts now so I can see who is playing.
You can also listen to the show via podcast. To get the podcast go the WGUR's website, gcsuradio.com, and click on the podcast link. Your Itunes will open up at the GCSU Itunes U website and Garage Band is a tab at the bottom of the screen. Just subscribe to our show and new episodes will be downloaded automatically to your Itunes.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Moonshine Still Concert

Saturday I was in Macon at the Cox Capitol Theater. There I saw Moonshine Still as well as three other bands at a charity concert. I wasn't there merely to watch the show however. I went to film the concert with several other students and a professor, Stacy Lumley, at GCSU.
We had 4 cameras set up during the show. Two wide shots and me and another camera were in front of and behind the stage getting close ups on some very talented bands.
Included in the line up were Brass Tacks, Saint Francis, and Treas in Season. The last two are very similar jam bands to Moonshine Still and actually share some members. Brass Tacks, however, was similar to The Black Keys and a good band to check out if you like a lot of distortion.
I learned several techniques for live filming and worked with a monopod for the first time. All-in-all it was a valuable and fun experience.