The best part about this trip is that we were all in it together. I loved the energy and enthusiasm of the group, and I especially loved being able to recap that with them to other classes at UVU.
Sharing my experiences to those who weren't there will never be the same as reminiscing on them with those who were, but I can definitely show my appreciation for UVU through doing so and help others to see what UVU can do for their education too. https://www.uvu.edu/students/ I have loved being able to show pictures and talk about the people we visited. There's definitely a novelty factor behind going to New York City and visiting the world's top offices. Again, I'm SO grateful for everything! I feel so blessed. Thanks for following along my journey that has only just begin. :) Kaiti www.uvuprssa.org www.facebook.com/uvuprssa/ www.instagram.com/kaitiguiver/
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Enjoy this video I put together highlighting our trip! I love rewatching this, it brings back all the feels.
www.uvuprssa.org www.facebook.com/uvuprssa/ www.instagram.com/kaitiguiver/ During our experience, I noticed that many things I'd already been taught in my communications courses were reinstated.
These things included:
All the resources we need as college students, we have right now more than ever! If this trip taught me anything, it's to UTILIZE those resources while we can. As students, we can always play the student card to find more learning opportunities. People are so willing to help us. We have endless books and professors and information around us we can consume. It's taking advantage of these opportunities what matters. Now that I've seen these amazing professionals telling me to do EXACTLY WHAT I LEARNED THE WEEK BEFORE IN CLASS... I think I'm going to pay better attention in school. Lol. Here's a link on how to get the most out of college by a trusty source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/17/opinion/college-students.html And after college, the learning never has to stop! Woohoo for learning. www.uvuprssa.org www.facebook.com/uvuprssa/ www.instagram.com/kaitiguiver/ What a way to end a trip. We spent the last day at United Nations Headquarters, and spoke with our good man Felipe for a few hours. I learned a lot from him about how to incorporate what you believe into what you do! He's a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints like me, and he said that working for the U.N. was so rewarding because he was applying what he was learning in church to real life.
One of their goals was to end world hunger by the year 2030 - a goal that seems nearly impossible! Yet they have made so much progress already. https://www.un.org/en/ That was our last appointment and we took a very scary van ride back to the airport that had us all leaning over a grocery bag in case we were about to hurl. Our driver was relentless but I'm proud to say we made it alive and I slept the entire 5 hours of the plane ride because of my drowsy-motion-sickness medication, only to wake up for 5 minutes to drink my apple juice and pass back out on the tray in front of me. I'll never forget my time here and what I learned. PR is the place for me, and I can't wait to work harder with the knowledge I've gained in such an iconic city. Kaiti www.uvuprssa.org www.facebook.com/uvuprssa/ www.instagram.com/kaitiguiver/ Today was probably the best day so far. We had so much fun with Hunter PR, Weber Shandwick, and dinner at Carmine's (on Stephen!)
Mark Newman was absolutely hilarious and kept us laughing. Such a funny dude. He showed us a lot of the cool, creative PR campaigns he had done. He was the one who coined Jell-O as being Utah's state food, and he also was told to put Cool Whip on the front page of the newspaper so they created a GIANT flag cake (yes, a flag made out of cake) in front of the statue of liberty and it made front cover! I really learned the importance of creativity in the industry, and that would carry on to the next appointment we'd go into... At Weber Shandwick, I wasn't sure what to expect from a three-hour meeting. However, the team was so creative and fun I felt like I was swept up in a whirlwind of energy and fresh ideas. My favorite was when we met with Chris who created the term "CultureTap," which means instead of trying to create your own thing, just jump onto what's already out there. This included hiring Bonnie Tyler to sing "Total Eclipse of the Heart" on The Royal Caribbean cruise line during the solar eclipse as well as creating a campaign for VitaminWater where if you could go without your phone for a year, VitaminWater would give you $100,000 dollars. You'd think VitaminWater couldn't get a lot of buzz, but overnight after the campaign launched, they had over 3,000 media impressions. I loved the vibe of Weber Shandwick and aspire to be like them one day! Dinner was all of us together for the first time; we really bonded. Laughs were shared and memories were made. The pasta was bomb, too. You gotta try it. To finish the night, we saw Lady Liberty in all her glory twinkling alone the nighttime skyline. It was a sight to see, I had a truly magical experience. www.uvuprssa.org www.facebook.com/uvuprssa/ www.instagram.com/kaitiguiver/ DAY THREE BRING IT ON!!!...were not my first thoughts when I woke up this morning. As soon as we got out the door though, I woke up a bit! Kinda lol. My eyelids were so heavy. In my notebook I tried to write to stay awake. At the top it says, "My eyes haven't done this before I want to keep my eyes open but I can't. I swear everyone-" lol and then I couldn't keep going. Our first meeting was with PRSA. I'm currently in the student chapter, PRSSA, at my school. It's an awesome program with so many opportunities for PR professionals available. In Times Square, there is a little thing called "the ball drop" in New York City. Yeah, you've heard of it. It's actually a big thing. Well the next PR firm we went to, Thatcher & Co., has a balcony that is right next to it. Sick New Years Eve parties there I'm guessing. Brad Thatcher actually has UVU as one of their clients, and did some cool things like take the Roots of Knowledge display to New York City for more publicity. We ate Middle-Eastern food and learned from him the difference between advertising and public relations. Advertising is paid media, PR is EARNED! It's even more credible that way. I also learned from him that you're not going to be interested in every client you work for, but you have to invest yourself in them anyway! Anything can be interesting if you get into it. The third appointment we went to was called FashionPR, except they apparently got rid of the PR part because "PR" is limiting and old-fashioned, and they want to be known as a "communications company." They had clients such as ASOS, Steve Madden, Tinder, Macey's, Parson's and more. Jeff Woodward brought his dog Charlie in with us and sat us down for an hour while we chewed on Brandless chocolate bark. We took a little tour and they mentioned how they'd be hosting an influencer party that night. Afterwards we had some free time so Laura, Marissa, Mackenzie and I went to go visit NYU and the George Washington Arch, there was a kid skating on three skateboards at a time and unicycler AND a juggler. It was bumpin'. We had dinner at a yummy Pho restaurant nearby and then THEE nest banana cream pudding from Magnolia after, which was to die for. Took the subways home and we're finally figuring out how to navigate the city! Also I found out that Ariana Grande's manager lives two streets away from our hotel. No big deal. www.uvuprssa.org www.facebook.com/uvuprssa/ www.instagram.com/kaitiguiver/ The day has felt so long, we've barely been in New York for one day and I've already seen and learned so much. Waking up at 7:15 was not ideal let me tell ya, but we had a full day ahead of us!
Beginning with our walk to the Today Show, we made posters and even got featured on TV! Our Wolverine flag even made it too. Craig Melvin even waved hello. Basically my only claim to fame. (Hi, mom!) Our very first appointment was with Ryan Koch. He runs the Public Affairs over the east coast for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and graduated from BYU. He bought us bagels and taught us that the most important thing in this industry is to be a good relationship builder. "Everything else can be learned," he said. A main thing I took away is that he said you don't have to be extroverted, but you have to be able to be extroverted when necessary. "Learn how to work a room," he told us. It was cool to be in the temple/office for our visit. Soon after, we made our way to where the World Trade Center twin towers once stood. The memorial is touching, with names of those who had passed running across it and roses for birthdays that they would've had on that day. We met with Michael Frazier and Kate Connelly, marketing directors at the 9/11 Memorial Museum. I appreciated this visit because they wanted to have a conversation, not just talk at us. Michael taught us to read a lot, be curious. Read the local news of wherever you are. They were super real and talked about the challenges of keeping the memorial relevant today. He also added that we shouldn't sacrifice our dreams for a paycheck to eat. He was awesome! I loved it. Shortly after meeting with them, we got to tour the museum. Our guide was solemn, and it was an immersive experience where we could see and feel some of the artifacts from that day. I could've spent hours there. It was tragic and intriguing. To finish the day, we explored Wall Street, the famous bull, and also hung out at the restaurant at our awesome hotel and ordered a bunch of cheesecakes, pies, ice cream sundaes, and sodas. Another great day in the Big Apple. I'm excited for what's to come! ...And sleep. I'm excited for sleep. www.uvuprssa.org www.facebook.com/uvuprssa/ www.instagram.com/kaitiguiver/ NEW YORK CITY, meet UTAH VALLEY UNIVERSITY. We've got quite the fine group of kids here. John is basically a certified New York tour guide because he spent a summer internship here. So is Ana, she's from here. Her mom even took her home for the evening. Randy is a rascal, Daniel is a goofball, and Taylor has a son. Jenna takes energy pills even though she's the last person who needs them, Mackenzie is gluten-free, Megan goes to bed early, and Emily won't watch a Broadway show because she'll fall asleep. Alexa won't swear because her husband will get mad at her, Marissa leads the way but always in the opposite direction we're supposed to be going, and Laura and I love cheese. Honestly, I love these kids already. It's a great group. I'm excited to learn more about each one of them. We spent the day roaming the city, starting with getting subway passes, checking into our super sweet Marriott hotel (https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/nycmq-new-york-marriott-marquis/), and getting dinner at Los Tacos No. 1 (WHICH, btw, tastes and looks exactly like my favorite "The Taco Stand" in Southern California.) We walked around 5th Ave, got lost a bit, walked past 40 dressed-up costumers and sellers of fake Gucci bags looking for quick cash, as well as went in the 5 story Nike store that had its own decked-out basketball court. We walked until our feet ached, and then we went back to the hotel and combined our daily credit ($30 per room) to order every dessert on the menu as we overlooked Times Square. The cheesecake, coconut pecan pie, and the sundaes were amazing. And the truffle fries... I tasted a piece of heaven tonight. Day one has been a success. www.uvuprssa.org www.facebook.com/uvuprssa/ www.instagram.com/kaitiguiver/ Carlsbad Flower Fields Listen, if this blog wasn't for a class, I'd have way more clever titles than just "Blog Post Number Six" okay. Promise.
Now that we've got that out of the way, today's blog post is a topic of my choice. I've decided to do something crazy and not post an entry about something inspiring or the next tips and tricks on how to succeed in your life. No, I'm going to be like every other blogger and, dare I say, talk about what's happening in my life. I have an internship with Big Red Jelly, a digital marketing company in Orem. They're great. The environment is relaxed, but I know I'm still expected to do a lot. I work for several clients, and sometimes it can get overwhelming. Who knew social media could be so much work. Content calendars, engagement, story creations, SEO, blogging, the list goes on. I feel like I'm a fairly creative person, so I enjoy the constant challenge of creating something clever. However, it's tough when you're required to be creative for a house realtor. Ask me how much I know about that. Actually, don't ask... don't want my client to see. Lol. I also write for the UVU Review. I've done this for about three weeks total now, hoping to improve my resume. Beyond something I can just put on paper though, it's actually been a really good experience for me so far. I've gotten to practice and push my writing & editing skills, my interviewing skills, getting out of my comfort zone and going to events at UVU I normally wouldn't have gone to. On top of all this, I've made the front page two out of three weeks I've written. I'm pretty impressed with myself, and I'm proud of myself for taking initiative to do something I had never considered at the beginning. I just got back from visiting Carlsbad, California, which is where I spent a year and a half. It's the most beautiful place. The picture above was a photo I took at the Carlsbad flower fields, which go from March-May every year. It's about 10 minutes from the ocean and the smells of blooming blossoms are impeccable. I highly recommend going. Here's the link if you're interested: http://www.theflowerfields.com After spring break ended, it seemed that a tornado of assignments hit me. Project after project, things pile up so quickly and I'm barely staying afloat. All that matters though is that I am floating. 18 credits ain't got nothin' on me. Only three more weeks of school and I'm out of here. I believe all my hard work will pay off, and even though I don't need all A's to graduate, so far I have an A in every class and I plan to keep it that way. Point is, stay in school kids. (I promised this wouldn't be a motivational pep talk post, so I'll just leave it here.) Thanks for reading! Xo, Kaiti Check out these other links for more fun: www.uvuprssa.org www.facebook.com/uvuprssa/ www.instagram.com/kaitiguiver/ I spent the past weekend revamping my LinkedIn. Hasn't been touched since 2015. Yikes. Now, networking has definitely been on my mind as I've worked to find anyone from my high school ex to that kid I met on a cruise in 2008 one time and never saw again, in hopes of building my connections list.
Ever think about the concept that everyone is in our lives for a reason? I definitely do. I think it's very possible that very few of us are taking full advantage of the amazing networks we have built up throughout our lives. I've always heard stories of college alum who talk about how the only reason they got the job they have now is because of the connections they had in college... and I mean, ALWAYS. Whether it was a classmate, a professor, or a counselor who got them the gig, almost everyone I have talked to cannot stress the importance of creating relationships in college enough. College is amazing. There are so, so many resources for us students and they are all here getting PAID to help us succeed. Basically, college can set us up for the rest of our lives, but maybe not through the ways that we think. I'd like to argue that college is less about the courses you take and the grades you get, but more about connections we make through experiences we have. I read an article (www.forbes.com/sites/lizwessel/2016/09/07/the-5-best-ways-to-network-while-youre-still-in-college/#18dc2ba72e15) that gave five tips on how to network while you're still in college, and honestly it totally reinforced my opinion about how much of an advantage we have being labeled as "students." A few pretty obvious ones... use work, clubs and internships to get to know people and ask questions, then stay in touch even if you're checking in just every few months. And talk to everyone about your interests. Some thoughts I hadn't really considered as much... Cold-emailing. It's brilliant. You send a genuine, thoughtful email to any role model you want. You can get in with them (most likely, but don't quote me on it.) I've gotten in with several PR professionals already for school assignments. But who's to say it has to be for a school assignment? You want to learn from the pro's? Email them. Most of them are happy to help. Another route is talking to professors. Some of the smartest minds in the valley are in the next classroom over. Even if you're not registered for their class, go talk to them. They're there to help you, too. I love this idea. I've never thought of it, but you can literally talk to anyone on campus you want. You can find their offices, track down their class times, find the names of their first-born children, you know... (kidding, I do not endorse this.) But seriously, your college campus is YOURS. Not taking advantage of the amazing opportunities there would be a loss. I'm going to try to utilize these tips n tricks and I'll let y'all know how it goes. Until then, Good luck. KTG Links: www.uvuprssa.org www.facebook.com/uvuprssa/ www.instagram.com/kaitiguiver/ |
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