Melissa Bohl and Cory Zimmerman Guest Speakers

As we prepare ourselves to venture out in the public relations world it is important for us to learn from those who have gone before us. It’s not often that we get the chance gleam some experience from such prime examples of professionals as Melissa Bohl and Cory Zimmerman. Cory and Melissa have taken different paths and consequently have very different careers but that just goes to show the wide choices of us students will soon be presented with. Melissa works of GE healthcare; she is basically part of a business to business sales and customer service team. GE healthcare is currently one of the nation’s largest providers of diagnostic medical equipment. Melissa started her career at a public relations firm and said it was her first job where she gained the confidence to perform in her position today. Melissa told us about GE’s position in the market today and explains what GE will have to do in the future to stay on top of the competition. What stood out of Melissa’s presentation to me was how she used her experience from her first job to excel in her current position. Also don’t forget Melissa mentioned that GE has internship positions! http://www.ge.com/careers/students/internships.html Cory who started out as a professional marathon runner is now the owner of his own full service marketing/public relation/ brand management firm call Z2 marketing. Cory personal specialization is photography but he gets involved in every level of the business. I was especially impressed by Cory’s ‘painting with light’ photography technique and the fact that he’s not afraid to add some serious production value to videos made for social media campaigns. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gx1zCYIujE Cory’s presentation was truly entertaining and it’s refreshing to find out that we have such a booming success like Z2 Marketing right here in Pewaukee Wisconsin. Cory’s personal story and struggles starting out in the business world prove that if things don’t work out at first keep trying because chances are things will get better, a lot better. If you want to learn more about Z2 Marketing and what their all about check them out at their blog. http://vervecast.net/

Katie Felten guest speaker

Katie Felten came to speak in my Public Relations Tactics II class about Linkedin. Katie focused on how we as public relations students can use Linkedin to launch our careers. Katie points out that Linkedin’s real power comes from introductions, joining groups, getting recommendations and so on. Katie also gave us some tips on how to maximize our Linkedin pages so they stand out above the rest. For example I learned that in the interest’s portion of my Linkedin I should have a little more personal of a message, mention fun spare time activities that could turn into conversation starters. Another important feature that Katie covered was groups and associations. Joining groups that tie into what you want to do as a professional is an important step because groups and associations allow members to send messages to one another. She told us to join the bigshoes network http://www.bigshoesnetwork.com/ as well as local groups so you can go to events. Groups will also post jobs because the people posting are avoiding the paid job area of Linkedin. Nonprofit group are also good to join because they will connect you with people who are passionate about the same causes that you are, that can be a great segue to a professional relationship. Katie Felten did certainly made me more aware of my Linkedin abilities if you what to hear more follow Katie at http://twitter.com/mkelive on twitter. Also check out some social media training opportunities at her website http://www.mkelive.com/ if you want to take your social media skills to the next level. Personally my favorite part of the presentation was Katie’s recommendations for the Title bar, were you put information about who you are and what you do. The Title bar is basically 160 characters to explain yourself and make people remember you. Also remember on Linkedin you never have to put personal information like your age or your marital status; rather introduce the world to your professional self.

BMA event

The BMA event (http://www.bma-milwaukee.org) was extremely useful in preparing myself to launch a career in public relations. I had a great time getting to know people and receiving feedback on my interviewing abilities. I found the resume check to be the most valuable part because I find the resume to be my weak spot it was nice to see some of the things I did correctly but more importantly I learned what I need to change for the real deal. During the social media seminar I met Haley Landsmen she works at Fullhouse and is very active in public relations. Her Twitter handle is @haleylandsmen if you want to follow her! Another way to stay involved with BMA is to stay in touch on facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/BMA-Milwaukee/143605512066 remember these people want to help us students and we should help them help us.