Mastery Journal

Carrie Bland is a Community Manager for Ubisoft and one third of The Mommy Gamers. She is currently working on her Master’s Degree in Public Relations through Full Sail University. You can follow her here: http://www.twitter.com/keeba13 http://www.twitch.tv/KeebaPMS http://www.facebook.com/keeba13 http://www.themommygamers.com http://www.youtube.com/themommygamers

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Mastery Journal

This month was my last class in the Public Relations program at Full Sail University. This month was no different than any other month, in that I learned a wealth of knowledge. I learned so much about how to write a truly professional paper. So much of the time I write in a very stream of conscious way, so learning how to dial that back in order to be more professional in my writing is a skill that I know I will carry with me for the rest of my career. 

This month presented many personal challenges for me which made it difficult to get some of my tasks done on time. However, this as well taught me a valuable lesson about getting in front of deadlines in order to make sure that I don’t fall behind no matter what surprises might come my way. This is probably the most valuable lesson I could have learned this month. It is definitely something that I will take with me through the rest of my career. 

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Mastery Journal

This month I learned a great deal about how to create effective stories. This past week alone, I really learned so much as far as turning different media into a story that can help further a brand’s goals. This is something that I know I will be able to use as I go forward in Public Relations. Creating stories for brands is such a huge piece of Public Relations. 

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Mastery Journal

This month helped me to learn a great deal about Crisis Management. I had not thought before about all of the processes that need to go into managing a crisis. Now that I have learned more about Crisis Management, I can definitely see the benefit of having a set plan before a crisis happens. Waiting until a crisis actually happens can leave a company wide open for negative sentiment among their community. 

In addition to crisis management, I learned a lot about reputation management in general. Keeping a good reputation not only with your community but also with the media is extremely important. This seems as if this should be a common sense concept, but I also learned there are several companies who do not seem to mind what their reputation is. I will make sure to work hard to ensure the best reputation for my company with all of its stakeholders. 

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Mastery Journal

This month I learned a great deal about how to properly plan an event. There is so much that goes into event planning that I had never thought of before. It doesn’t just involve finding a place and ensuring the decorations are ready, but so much more. You need to think about security, food, the potential costs of electricity and other utilities if they aren’t included. Parking and transportation is another factor to consider. I have no doubt that in my time as a Public Relations professional, I will need to plan events, and now I truly feel equipped to be able to plan a successful event. 

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Mastery Journal

This month I had the privilege of taking Media Relations. As someone who is looking to go into Public Relations, this class was extremely important. Any good public relations person knows how to build and maintain good relationships with media outlets. Learning how to cultivate a solid media list was one of the most important lessons I learned. Also, learning how to write an effective press release is something I know I will need to know how to do in my professional future. The last skill that I learned this month that I know will be absolutely key to my professional success, is how to put together a professional media kit. Media kits are so important as to helping people to understand what your brand is all about. This is a skill that I know I will use and will be forever grateful for having learned how to do properly. 

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Mastery Journal

This month I learned a great deal about primary and secondary research. These are concepts that I have learned about in previous months, however, the concept never really clicked with me until this class. These are concepts that are extremely important in not only a Public Relations aspect but also in marketing and in community management. Anyone who is trying to help further a brand can benefit from knowing more about how to properly conduct both primary and secondary research. Once the concepts clicked with me, I was actually shocked they had not clicked with me beforehand. They seem so simple, but I guess sometimes just the way certain concepts are presented can make them feel foreign. Sometimes, all it takes is to look at something from the correct angle in order for our brains to be able to wrap around what’s being put in front of us. This month I also learned how to properly write the findings of these research types. Just having the research is not enough. One must be able to present it to a crowd in a way that not only is easy to understand, but also comes off as respectable. If you don’t site your research properly, then even if your results are ironclad, they will not read as such to those you have presented it to. Those people will just shrug off your findings as yet another inconclusive statement on the internet. Now that I know not only how to obtain proper primary and secondary research, but also how to present it, I feel that I am much better set up for success in helping brands I care about to move forward and become even more successful. This will help me immensely in coming up with great messaging plans, and showing the benefit of these messaging plans to those with power at brands. 

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Media Relations

This month I learned so much about how to create strong relationships with media contacts. I created a list of potential contacts I will be able to use in the future and learned the best way to approach them for projects. This month I also learned how to create an effective media kit, which is an important piece of any company’s website. Knowing what needs to be in a media kit and why the different elements are important will help me in the future to create meaningful media kits for my own website. 

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Mastery Journal

This month was incredibly helpful as I get closer towards my goal of achieving mastery in Public Relations. I learned so much as far as how to use Google Analytics and how to really plan a strategy around KPIs. I have never really used Google Analytics that much, since it is a free tool and seemed as if it would never suit all of my needs. However, as I learned this month, it is more than feature-rich enough in order to do what I need it to. I still may prefer paid analytics platforms as Google Analytics is a little cluttered and clunky, but I do now know how to get the most out of the free tool. 

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Master Journal: Innovative Public Relations Tools and Resources

This month was definitely my favorite class so far in my mastery course. It was right up my alley and I truly learned lessons I know I will take forward in my career. Social media is such an important piece of any public relations strategy, and this month I learned so much. I never knew the importance of using hasthags on Instagram for visibility. Another lesson I learned that I will take with me is how to utilize Snapchat properly. Before this month, Snapchat was a social media app that just sat on my phone unused. I never understood how vital a good Snapchat strategy can be in order to have a full social media plan. I have already began to use the lessons I have learned in my personal social media planning. I can’t wait to begin to use these lessons in my professional life as well. 

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Tweetdeck, a Review

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Master Journal for Legal Aspects in Media

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Mastery Journal Entry

This month my course was Writing for Interactive Media. I feel this really helped to point out some issues with my writing I didn’t even know I was lacking. Never before had I really thought about making sure to cite sources for things, even when I just knew the answer. How did I know the answer? How did I come across the information I was writing about? Just because it might be a subject that I inherently know about, doesn’t mean I shouldn’t back the information up with real sources. I never know when my information may be questioned, and answering with a simple, “Well because I just know,” is not good enough. If it is something that I know personally, then it will be written down somewhere else for me to cite. These are lessons I am going to take with me for the rest of my professional journey. I truly feel that Writing for Interactive Media has helped me to take that next step towards truly becoming a master in Public Relations. 

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This month I was in Public Relations in a Digital World. We learned about how to write an effective PSA for both written formats and video format. I think my favorite assignment for this course was the video PSA. I had a little bit of fun with it and made it about catching Pokemon. I also really enjoyed producing a video. I don’t believe it was the highest quality production ever created, but I learned a lot from having done it and still thoroughly enjoyed creating the content. 

As far as growing in my chosen profession, I believe that learning how to properly write a script for a PSA was extremely helpful. I have written scripts before, but they were always for a theatre format. Learning how to write a proper script for video format was very eye opening. I can’t wait until I can use these skills in my profession. 

Learning everything that needs to be included in an event announcement was also very helpful. The industry I am choosing to go into, Gaming, requires a lot of events. Not only the main big industry events, but also smaller events for influencers and members of the media. The knowledge I gained this month about writing an event announcement is something I know I will use often in my career. 

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This speaks to me. How often do we find ourselves wishing we could do something without actually taking any steps towards achieving that goal? If we spent more time actually taking steps forward towards our goals instead of just wishing we could accomplish those goals, then we would probably be shocked with how far we can go. 

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Shared with Dropbox

Here is the download link for my personal Mastery Journal Timeline. 

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This week’s inspiration comes from my friend Marcia and Walt Disney. She posted this picture of a Walt Disney quote on her Facebook and it really speaks to me. This quote is absolutely correct, if you don’t quit, then you may win. However, if you do quit, you will lose every time. 

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I thought this would be a very appropriate place to share my LinkedIn profile.