Karissa Rafferty Compiled Work PR

This is a Qualitative Research Study I conducted during my whole Fall 2014 semester in my COMM 400 Research Methods Class. I conducted an online survey on Qualtrics & asked people about their social media and self-disclosure habits in order to gain more small sampling data in the field of online communicational research. I enjoyed working on this project quite alot, and the data analysis was a fascinating process. Enjoy. 🙂

COMM 400 Final Paper

I had a rather impactful day, and as I was processing it all in a Word Doc I decided to share it with ya’ll. It’s nothing less than a very real, uncensored account of everything lately. I hope you all enjoy and benefit from my intimate self-disclosure here. 🙂 I am Karissa, and I am a writer.

Today. I slept right through my 3am alarm, woke up on my OWN at 5:45am (Thank you, lord). Ate soup and chobani, cracked  open my amp; got right to my comm 400 homework, wrote my Spanish essay, started my Comm 400 research paper. Got ready (and looked pretty good if I do say so myself!) in 25 minutes, put my Spanish skit props together, bolted out the door to go meet my Spanish group at 9 45am, made it to campus, reviewing my Spanish script to memory as I was walking to Sub I. 10:30am, Spanish class, we are the first group to volunteer to go, and we rock it, making the class and professor laugh. Humility.

I get out of class at 11, head to the dining hall and load up on fruit and salad, text my boyfriend, pray, and head to the computer lab with coffee in hand. I finish the Comm 400 paper (not my best paper, but still 5 pages of solid-ish research), hack out a survey questionnaire thingy in relation to my paper’s research focus, print it out, email professor a copy, make it to class by 1:25pm. Some girl is in my usual seat behind my class mate friend, so I’m forced to sit really close to the group that kicked me out. Cool. At this point I’m battling exhaustion, dizziness and annoyance at the proximity to two girls with absolutely no empathy skills. Humility.

My dad sends me a text to ask how my crazy day is going and tells me to come home again tonight. Okay, I can do this. Then Of COURSE, the last 30 minutes of class we have to talk amongst our “groups” (aka ME!) and write down 4 examples of the lecture (4 different hypothesis’ categories) in relation to our study. I sit quietly by myself and write it out, and I can hear every word my old group is saying. We still have the same topic. Professor asks for 3 volunteers to share our examples on the projector overhead. Two people go. Then crickets for like 5 minutes when she asks for a third volunteer. Fuck it, I thought, and walked my ass up with my notes and share it with the class. Humility.

I get out of class, feeling super lonely, memories of the past 3 years’ craziness and shenanigans floating in my head, especially when I see a group of 3 girls walking together all laughing and close, going to lunch together at Southside, or going to study together, or just watch a movie in their dorms together. That was me, Janine and Marcey one year. Inseparable. I was never alone, never felt sad, because they were always bugging me to get out of work early at my office of student media job to come meet them at Starbucks or something. Both those girls turned out to be the most undependable and hurtful friends I’ve ever had once they graduated. Humility.

I go to Taco Bell and talk to my mom on the phone, she makes me feel better and a little less lonely. This stranger goes out of her way while I’m waiting for my food to hand me a straw for my drink (I didn’t even try to go over to that station because it was so busy). Wow, people don’t suck after all. Humility.

I have managed to stay calm and composed all day, even excited to conquer all these seemingly endless assignments. But I almost lose it when I’m about to walk into my class room building and there’s a random guy just sitting on the bench, jamming out on his guitar by himself, playing a pretty song. I am so glad I am wearing friggin’ sun glasses because I start to cry. I cry because in 5-6 weeks, I won’t have crazy days like this anymore. I won’t be walking on this beautiful campus, enjoying the weather and drinking good coffee and evaluating all the weird outfits girls wear these days. I realize how much I’m going miss it all, despite the lonely, supremely frustrating days when I don’t have any money because I can’t work very much. Humility.

I get to class, my favorite class with Dr. Chaaban. He picks on me all the time because I was in his class last year and he’s so fun and slightly awkward. I pull out my brother’s wratched beat up Dell laptop and it takes FOREVER to boot up and connect to the internet, then let me log onto Blackboard. I think there’s some remnants of weed in the cracks between “K” and “O.” Dr. Chaaban has to put in a password for the exam. He very loudly makes a funny comment about how dirty this computer is, and how he can try to find me another one at a thrift store maybe. Ha.Ha. I ask if he would like some hand sanitizer then (jokingly.) He actually says yes, then tells ME to use some too. Oh, boy. Gotta love it. Good thing I was born with a Rafferty sense of humor, good grief! I take his online exam. I think I get a 75% or something. Who knows, who cares. Im just glad I made it. Now it’s time for lecture, which goes by super fast because his lectures are always so fun and interesting, engaging. I think he makes a few more jokes at my expense, but whatever, I laugh too. I see I got a 90% on the paper I had fun writing this past Saturday. Sweet.

This day was very very long, but so satisfying. I feel amazing. I see the look on my Comm 400 and Spanish professor’s (both classes I was in a lot of trouble in-midterms), and I see their hope in me, their faith, their desire to see me continue to turn things around and succeed. Yes, am moody and yes, I have slacked off significantly lately for whatever internal reason. Yes, I have a crazy life and a very crazy family with their own issues (all 3 members struggling to find employment? Even though they’re all smart and capable and….whatever).

But damn, I am loved. I am loved by God, first and foremost, who never fails to come through for me whether by waking me up at 5 45am just in time, or sending somebody to give me a little straw for my drink when I feel the most lonely. I am loved by my insane family members, who lend me their busted computers and give me $20 when I need it the most. I am loved by my incredible boyfriend who supports me 150% of the time, and sends me amazing texts I never want to forget, and loves me even when I’m a selfish immature hooligan who makes silly choices still here and there.

And yes, I am feeling nostalgic for today and yesterday because I had two delicious ciders and I’m tired, damnit. 😉 And I am Karissa Rafferty. And even though it has been an uphill struggle, I am about to graduate from George Mason. And I won’t ever quit. Friggin’ Humility.

I gained the most valuable opportunity to study Public Relations abroad in the UK for 3 weeks over winter break January 2013, during which I learned how small businesses, corporations, and PR companies operate successfully in the UK. I also gained tremendous experience working with another culture, gaining an expanded global perspective in the public relations world, in addition to journalism, marketing, and business practices in the UK. It was my dream to study PR abroad for several years prior to this trip, and I am supremely grateful for all the connections I was able to make, as well as build a solid & highly beneficial relationship with the Professor who coordinated the trip. This short paper summarizes some of the the many things we learned while studying abroad; in bold are the Professor’s questions. 

 International Public Relations in the UK

COMM 450

January 2013

Professor Dickerson

1. In addressing the news, we learned from Bell Pottinger and Fleishman Hilliard that our world could be viewed somewhat like a transparent “fishbowl”.

Please explain this concept and how it applies to the practice of public relations in today’ environment.

The concept of practicing public relations like living in a fishbowl means incorporating transparency into every action and decision made. Practicing honest, clear public relations is the key to building successful relationships with your clients, community, and employees. In today’s environment, with the emerging popularity of the internet, where anybody can say anything and lie, being able to stay true to your PR values and owning up (in some cases, publicly) to mistakes made is a true indicator of whether your PR career will make it or break it. Consistency and sincerity are two concepts that are closely related to transparency.

2. Through out our visits in the UK a common theme or requirement mentioned by many of the presenters included the importance of public relations practitioners to be skilled “story tellers”. Please explain what this means and give a specific example. 

Being a skilled story teller in public relations is knowing who your audience is, who you are trying to reach, and how to make a story relevant to them. You have to be able to make information interesting, relatable and easy to understand, otherwise your story will be ignored and dismissed.

For example, at Fleishman Hillard, Laura Perry spoke on corporate communications, and on the tricky tactics of “generating compelling conversations with a clear target corporate audience.” Doing so will build trust, recognition, loyalty, advocacy and leadership among your publics, and since the people are central to any company, the ability to get them to listen to your story is highly beneficial.

In other words, when pitching a presentation on a new product your company has marketed, as a PR person you want to be able to tell a compelling and interesting story that is relevant to your audience, otherwise you will not gain anyone’s attention if what you are saying is dry and boring.

3. One key public relations requirement or challenge is establishing and maintaining a professional network. Using information from the eleven visits, identify four additional key additional public relations practices/requirements that you will remember and use five years from now. 

1. Make a lot of journalist friends because they receive 300-600 press releases daily, so the more connections and better credibility you have, the better for your PR career

2. Listen, listen, LISTEN! Don’t just talk. Listen to the people, what they want, what they might want in the future, what they are talking about. The ability to listen and then be able to learn will be a high beneficial aid to your business.

3. Managing a company is like hosting a dinner party-you want to talk on the same level as your client to make yourself relevant and relatable. You also want close relationships with your guests, making sure everyone is happy and getting what they are looking for from you and most importantly, have fun!

4. Read books on how to write like a journalist to get inside their head and stand out, always brush up on your skills and be constantly learning and getting ahead of the game. Staying humble is hugely important  in PR.

4. The year is 2014. You have recently started a public relations position with the Series Four International Software Company headquartered in London & Liverpool, England. The company’s Managing Director has summoned you to an emergency staff meeting.  At the meeting, you learn that last night a Guardian news story reported that your company’s treasurer, Sir Philip Witherspoon, has allegedly embezzled most of the operating and reserve funds.  The government’s commerce oversight office is demanding an immediate, full, and thorough investigation. The Guardian, the BBC, Sky News, and a host of other media are camped outside the headquarters demanding answers.   

 As a part of the company’s public relations quick response team, you are asked to draft a list of key questions you will need answers to in order to initiate a basic media plan. Include objectives and recommended media tactics. Further, provide some rational for the specifics of your recommendations.

The practice of effective crisis management in public relations is crucial to a company’s reputation and future growth. If I were on Series Four International Software Company’s damage control team in London, and this occurred, I would first, stay calm, not jump to accusations or conclusions; and I would get the facts straight to the best of my ability. I would then brief our updated crisis plan and find out how to handle this crisis efficiently. Questions to consider:

Are we absolutely positive that Sir Philip Witherspoon is indeed the perpetrator? If so, how did we find this out? Can this be proven? About how much did he embezzle, and how did he attempt to get away with this? How bad is the situation (ie: how much attention has the media already spotlighted?)

Who will be our main media spokesperson? (me)

How are we going to make our message to the public consistent and accurate? By getting the correct information and verifying it, and staying true to our statements, no matter what may happen. 

How will we monitor the media in the midst of this crisis? By staying informed-watching the news for what is being said about us, going online to find out what people are talking about, and utilizing social media tools to inform people of accurate news.

How can we limit negative public perceptions of our company and what is the best way to protect our reputation? By trying to represent ourselves the best we can in a positive light by focusing on what we have accomplished and how we will learn from this situation.

What actions will we take in the future to limit the chances of this happening again in the future? Tighten security with our treasury department, requiring more accountability.

How can this be prevented in the future with our employees/next treasurer? (same as above)

To initiate a basic media plan, I want to consider all of these questions so that under the public scrutiny, we send an accurate and truthful report to the best of our knowledge, since staying consistent and honest is vitally important in crises. From all the confirmed information and research, we have to act and respond immediately, so that people don’t start to spread false information. In front of the media, I as my company’s spokesperson, I would apologize publicly for not implementing tighter security and not being able to prevent this situation, and acknowledge any other mistakes.

Then I would enlist bloggers to represent my company and invite other media to our news briefings. I would also set up a live stream video coverage to continually update the public and try to represent ourselves in a more positive light (for example, focus on the crises that we have been able to prevent in the past), and consistently update our twitter page to update the public as well. The key will be to stay connected to the media, listen to what is being said, and try to eliminate and address any issues that may “feed the fire.”

Here is another final paper I wrote for my COMM 302 (Foundations of Mass Communication) class fall of 2013 as well. This media content analysis required extensive research and very careful application, since my Professor was quite specific with paper criteria requirements. My paper focused on the research question: “What were the goals in Dove’s ‘Real Beauty’ campaign and were they successful?”

My thesis: According to my media content analysis and research on the Real Beauty campaign qualitative and quantitative data, Dove did meet both their goals as demonstrated by an increase in overall sales as well as a rise in confidence levels in women. In this media content analysis I will analyze this media campaign using statistics, personal testimonies, and online surveys.

This topic interested me due to the fact that I as a female, can relate to questioning what “Real Beauty” means to each person, and the strong impact that mass media can make upon society, which in turn, then influences the way we view ourselves and communicate with one another.

Final Media Paper COMM 302 (click on link to view document)

I have attached a final paper for my Communication 300 (Foundations of Public Communication) fall semester of 2013. I definitely toiled many, many hours over writing the paper on analyzing Sarah Palin’s RNC speech in rhetorical criticism terms, but I enjoyed the process immensely. This paper evaluated and explained how my chosen artifact (Palin’s RNC speech)  met it’s media impact goals as well as incorporated rhetorical analysis  themes such as gender criticism and traditional cultural ideologies.

Enjoy!

Abstract: The purpose of the Sarah Palin’s speech, given at the Republican National Convention during the presidential campaign in 2008, served two principles: to introduce herself to the world as the nation’s first female Conservative vice president, and also demonstrate her loyalty and dedication to John McCain in this pioneer role. The artifact was framed by media as the ideology of “lipstick feminism,” reinforced by third wave feminism, by focusing on comparing traditional concepts of femininity and the sexual power of women to Sarah Palin. The repercussions of Palin’s media image included the attempt to destructing “traditional” gender role norms beliefs of trait generalization and cultural feminism in the patriarchal dominated world of politics.

Paper 2 COMM 300 (click on link to open document)

I started my Marketing/Communications internship at the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) later in the semester from September 19-December 12, 2013.  I had originally obtained an internship as the publications intern at Strayer University back in May, and very devastatingly, I was dropped as the intern precisely a week before classes started due to a hiring freeze. I had been pretty excited about that internship all summer (and not just because it was paid!) but I felt honored to be hired there, even though I had overslept for my first interview with them!! But I was honest with them & told them my mistake, and they liked my honesty. All summer long I had been in contact with Kevin, the internship coordinator (even when I went to Hawaii I called him and responded to his emails), and was worried I wouldn’t find another internship in time for this course.

However, I sent out my resume, cover letters, and writing samples to approximately 20 different companies, and was offered a position at the IAFC as well as at the Workhouse Arts Center. After meeting with both places, I was impressed very much with both, but I chose the IAFC (even though I had never heard of them prior to Professor Dickerson’s recommendation) because I liked that it was an international company and also closer to school (around 15 minute commute).

The IAFC, established in the 1860s, is located in Chantilly, Virginia, and Jacqueline Garnier, my internship coordinator at the IAFC, was very welcoming, patient, and friendly. I instantly liked her upon our interview, and whenever I had any questions (even the dumb ones!) she attributed greatly to my success here at the IAFC. Jacqueline and I were in good communication, I always emailed her if I wasn’t able to come in that day, and she always kept me informed of IAFC news and changes with finances, employees, and other topics that kept me “in the loop.”

I worked in my own cubicle in nestled in between the marketing director, Corrine Baker, who was very sweet and talkative with me, Jacqueline, and the IT guy, Chris Bradshaw. It was the first time I had worked with a “double screen” computer which was really efficient when I was researching material on one screen and able to work on a spreadsheet or word document on the other screen.

I came into the IAFC around 3 times a week for about 8-10 hours total, which worked really well with my school schedule. Every time I came in, usually wearing “business casual” attire (no jeans, shorts, or open-toed shoes), I would check my IAFC email to stay on top of the latest “news” or events of the day. During the 3 months that I have interned here, I worked on about 4 major projects, usually taking me around 2-3 weeks to complete, which I will elaborate upon later.

My hopes before starting this internship were to gain relevant marketing/PR skills with a well established international association, expand upon my professional network, and observe and understand how the IAFC operates. In addition, my other objectives included building upon my writing & research skills and develop my work ethic. I would say that I met 4 out of the 5 objectives, because I didn’t feel like I really gained any specific “marketing” or public relations skills at all.

I also wanted to sit in on at least one company meeting to gain further insight on how the IAFC collaborates ideas and expands their business, but I was never offered the opportunity to do so. However, one Friday, I attended an afternoon “potluck” celebrating an employee’s ending career there, and got to socialize and get to know a few more of the people that worked in the offices of the IAFC. Everyone seemed quite content working here, and were very professional and welcoming to me.

My only “bad experience” was one Friday when I got locked out of the offices because they shut down the elevators from 12-2pm every day to cut costs, and I was not informed of that. When I tried to go through the stairs, I didn’t know the code to access the office, and tried emailing and calling the 3 people’s numbers I had to try to let me in, and nobody answered. It was a very confusing and frustrating 30 minutes, and I finally sat on the curb outside & waited for someone to come back in and let me in. I told Jacqueline what had happened and she was very empathetic and told me the code so that that wouldn’t happen again in the future.

The first project I worked on was for Tim Hopkins, their social media coordinator, in which I converted around 150 PowerPoint slides into PDF files, and then had to upload the files onto their conference website. The first few hours, I didn’t mind the monotonous work because I liked the “brain break,” but after a while it got tedious and quite boring. Time dragged those few weeks it took me to complete that! I did learn how to turn PowerPoint files into PDF files, which is a simple but useful skill in the future.

The second and third projects that I worked on was editing old online archive publications for their news magazine, “On Scene,” and then plugging the data onto a Microsoft spreadsheet. I didn’t particularly enjoy that project either, but I did learn a few keyboard shortcuts in Excel from Jacqueline which was beneficial, and I had to implement a very keen eye for detail. The other project I did was editing old online publication archive spreadsheets done by other interns. I can’t say I learned anything from that, but again, I would say these projects built a stronger work ethic in myself, because I had to push through monotonous work that I didn’t particularly enjoy but still finished. To make it fun, I would time myself to see if I could plug in the data faster than the previous day.

In between projects, I helped research interview questions to ask IAFC employees for an article Jacqueline was working on featuring the staff members’ job descriptions and random fun facts. Another day, Jacqueline allowed me to finish a school project for another class during midterm week because I had a lot going on, and I really appreciated her flexibility with me. \

During the last few weeks at the International Association of Fire Chiefs, my final project was in looking up past advertisers that the IAFC’s partner and competitor, “Fire Chief,” organization had used in their magazine publications. The Fire Chief went bankrupt in November and were forced to close down, so the IAFC was capitalizing on reaching out to their past advertisers and subscribers. So I looked at the list of advertisers on the Fire Chief website (from the months of July to November’s publications), and created a contact sheet with approximately a total of 85-90 company emails, phone numbers, and any other relevant information needed to expand the IAFC’S advertising network. I really enjoyed doing that, because it was challenging looking for contact information, and it wasn’t as “mind-numbing” as my previous projects.

Lastly, I got the opportunity to learn some very valuable editing tips and skills from Jacqueline, who was very willing to sit down with me and teach me the process she has been using to edit articles for the last 25 years. That was my favorite part of this internship, hands down, because I love editing, and I learned some good skills from Jacqueline, a long time editing professional.

Another day spent at the IAFC stands out to me because I had a very beneficial “epiphany.” I had been stressing out over getting a job right away upon graduation in the spring, and was frustrated with the whole process. While I was working on one of my mindless projects, I had an encouraging thought: I have the whole rest of my life to work at a career and come in every day and do something similar to what the employees do every week at the IAFC, and I realized there’s no rush or immediate pressure to finding “the perfect job” for me right away! I decided to stop stressing out about my future so much and just enjoy the rest of my journey as a student and take each day as it came.

I also enjoyed the overall atmosphere at the IAFC; it was laid back, never stressful, peaceful and quiet most days. I was always greeted in a friendly manner by several employees when I first walked into the office, and I always appreciated that kind of work environment. I really liked the flexibility and convenience with my school schedule that my internship offered me, which was much needed during this hectic senior semester! I also liked that there were almost always baked goods or candy in the office, as well as free yummy coffee for us.

On the other hand, the things I disliked in this internship was that it was unpaid (but we all have to start somewhere!), there weren’t any people around my age, so although I enjoyed the people, it was hard to really feel connected because I didn’t feel like we had a lot in common.  It was also distracting that I could hear almost every conversation going on in the offices, even from far away because there’s not much privacy!  Lastly, my other regret is that I wish I was able to implement my written-skills-I would have liked to be able to have given the opportunity to help Jacqueline write an article or two for their magazine, “On Scene,” and practice my creative skills there, but I never got the chance.

Although my internship at the IAFC was never particularly exciting, and I felt restless with some projects, it was overall a positive experience with my first internship. I am very grateful that I found this internship so quickly on such a short time limit, and everything else that I have gained during my time here this semester. My last day will be on Thursday, December 12, in which I am planning on sending thank you cards to Jacqueline & Corrine, and maybe some cupcakes for the office as well. Despite my positive experience at the IAFC, I would not work for them because I learned that associations are solely dependent on their member’s financial contribution to sustain their business, which is seemingly stress-producing for a lot of employees, as the IAFC’s financial statements were quite low this year. I would probably not like to work here due to that inconsistency in job security with an associational organization.

Here is a media debate paper  I wrote for my Mass Communication class (COMM 302) senior year, fall 2013. My position was that “new media” is good, not bad, due to a higher level of interactivity between people  as well as creating and sustaining beneficial international relationships that are good for economic growth. Comm 302 Debate (1)

Here is a paper I devised for my Public Communications class (COMM 300) Fall 2013, senior year.

Topic: Rhetorical Neo-Aristotelian Speech Analysis of the WWII political figure, Alben Barkley’s speech, “Thomas Jefferson Still Lives,” as evaluated in rhetorical criticism. Comm 300 Paper1

Here is a speech I worked on for about 3-4 weeks perfecting it! I presented it, memorized (about 8 minutes) in front of a board of members evaluating me as a potential commencement speaker at the class of 2013 graduation. Such a fabulous experience, and I am SO proud of all the work I put into this speech! Enjoy. 🙂

47th Annual Commencement Speech

Check out a press release I wrote for my COMM 391 Writing class on campus fire safety:

Fire Safety News Release