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The Department of Equality Opportunity and its ever growing influence on JMU campus

Director James Robinson reveals new digital projects

Accessibility at JMU

The Department of Equal Opportunity is now partnering with Disability Services to create more accessibility on campus with a new electronic communication system. The Office of Disability services wants to provide inclusive, equitable environments for students which is why they were an excellent partner for the Department of Equal Opportunity. Both departments strive for diversity and equality on this campus and want to be a service to campus life.

https://www.jmu.edu/ods/accommodations/parking-versus-paratransit.shtml

If you want to get to a certain location on campus, the system will direct you from Point A to Point B. The system wants to target people’s specific needs without having to ask for accommodation. James Robinson believes that “a lot of people don’t want to ask for help, and we feel like they shouldn’t have to ask, it should just be provided.” Having to ask for specific accommodations makes students, staff and visitors to this campus feel different. They want to provide accommodations so no one has to be put in a situation to ask in the first place.

It is very important for the Department of Equal Opportunity to be a service to the student body. James Robinson does not want the department to be known as a watchdog to the campus but rather have everyone be equally included. Robinson states that “we are not targeting any specific group. Regardless of your socioeconomic status, we want everyone to have equal opportunities.” The department’s beliefs of everyone being included and having equal opportunities are reflected in their new online system for accessibility.

Online Bias Reporting System, NOT@JMU   

James Robinson currently oversees a new online bias reporting system. If anyone experiences any bias regarding gender, race, ect, occurring on campus or off campus, they can report it now online. Robinson states that “we want to see what is happening in our community that is not typically reported.” We want this area to be a place that is safe for everyone. If you see something, say something. In order to hold incidences seriously, local and county authorities are partnering up to review the reports and hold people accountable for their actions. Neighborhoods and landlords are also joining the fight against discrimination to ensure that their community is a safe place to live as well. The system will be available next week. The website states that if you are a victim or witness of a bias related incident, racial or otherwise, please report the incident immediately using the NOT@JMU link. They request that you document as much as possible and timeliness and accuracy are critical. The form will be completely anonymous if you wish it to be. The NOT@JMU implies that at JMU, we are not a part of the hate culture, that it has no place here and it is not tolerated.

Link to file a complaint: https://www.jmu.edu/oeo/how-to-file-a-complaint/harassment-witness.shtml

Future Direction and Goals of the Department of Equal Opportunity

Employee Representation

Robinson would like to see more representation from minority professors but believes that recruitment for more equal representation is not done in the right way. Currently, employee recruitment is done through reaching out in chronicles and magazines, but he would like to see if great students would like to come back as professors. This would be the most simple method. This way, you would know they have a great work ethic and an attachment to the university. Currently the JMU employee minority population is 15% and essentially the goal is to include where there is not included. The more minorities that apply, opens up their pipelines in order to enrich our students populations. The more diversity you have, the more rich you are as an institution.”

Future Goals 

Alongside the same theme of inclusion where there is not inclusion, Robinson would like to see more representation from more than minority groups. He uses the Education Department as an example. Currently, it is very underrepresented by males, and we discussed how this could be harmful. Young children need to be taught in school by males and females, to have good role models from each gender. We want to teach children and people to not let barriers prevent them from success. 

In the future, the Department of Equal Opportunity wants to see everyone treated equally and having equal opportunities. Robinson states that he wants people have “conversations about the actual office. We want people to know it’s an actual place you can go to.” The staff is trained with etiquette to speak to people in hard situations. They seek to not stifle people, but rather let people feel and saw whatever they want to say. In order to do this, The Department is growing their Facebook. They had live updates about College Gameday and it was the most hits they have ever had. They don’t want people to see them as a coal and daggers. Robinson states that “we can have fun”. Robinson wants people to know that they are here to provide a service. He states that “you do not have to be in dire need to come in and seek our services. If you have a question about Affirmative Action, we can answer these things.”

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jmuoeo/

Website: http://www.jmu.edu/oeo/

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My Study Abroad experiences in South Korea

For the past month I have been staying in Seoul, Korea at Soongsil University with 10 other JMU students and two Korean students studying Sports and International PR. Immersing myself in Korean culture has been one of the most enriching experiences of my life. After coming home from this trip and reflecting, Korea is everything and also nothing what I thought it was going to be like. I knew that Seoul was a funky city, but I had no idea about so many of the things that I learned, that I’ll go over. While being in Korea, I have done, eaten, and explored many places.

Starting with my school work, I have learned so much about Public Relations. After visiting KPR, Naver, Weber Shandwick, Dr Bae’s speech and the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics Committee I have a better understanding of how PR functions in the real world. KPR and Naver are reflective of Korea’s Public relations process, because they are strongly lacking one. They are heavily influenced by the media and don’t follow through with the PR process. Whereas sporting events and Weber Shandwick conduct research, select a target audience, and make sure they can evaluate the success of their campaign. It was interesting to learn that Naver has close ties to the government, which is hard to wrap my mind around because I could never imagine Google and the US government doing shady things behind the back of US citizens.

I really enjoyed immersing myself in Korean culture. Wearing the traditional Korean clothing was one of my favorite things that I had done. Everyone on the streets were complimenting our group on how beautiful we all looked and even wanted to take pictures with us. The garments are a sign of beauty and I really enjoyed that because the US has no equivalent. Immersing myself into the food that Koreans eat had to come in a close second. I loved taking off my shoes and sitting on the floor for Korean bbq. It is so bonding with the group of people you are with, not to mention the bottles of soju which are necessary to order when indulging in this meal. Some other different culture differences would be taking off your shoes before entering a room, bowing during greetings, taking/giving money with both hands and having elders poor drinks.

Not only were there major differences when it came to these cultural customs, but the city of Seoul has some of the most unique lifestyles and routines I have ever seen. The first thing that blew my mind was how people stay up until 5 or 6 in the morning partying. They do not slow their drinking pace or fun until then. So when walking trying to leave Hongdae at 5 in the morning was impossible, because the streets were flooded with people coming and going. It felt so bizarre just walking around at that time of night, because in NYC I would feel like it is extremely dangerous. But nope, in Seoul, people sleep on the streets at night time. Or sleep in a Jjimjilbang for 12 dollars a night, which the US really needs to think about doing. Another huge price difference was with Karaoke bars. You can rent out a room with your friends for less than $10 an hour, which is a sharp contract to NYC which can total up to $100.

More Quirky Differences

Dogs Just about every dog I saw was extremely miniature and teddy bear like. It made me happy to see at every turn. 

Underground City. I was surprised that so many malls and shopping centers were underground. And they weren’t little either. They would stretch for kilometers! There were also just underground tunnels so you wouldn’t need to walk across busy intersections or bridges. 

Soju City. It was interesting to learn that they barely drink liquor in Korea. Soju is the main alcoholic drink, consumers casually with many dinners. 

I really enjoyed my time in Korea, and couldn’t have done it without my two amazing professors for putting it all together. I remember hearing about this program in class thinking I would never do it, and now here I am, a few days after being home and that’s all my mind is on. Korea was an amazing experience and I encourage everyone interested to go. Here is a link to buy some plane tickets :) 

https://www.expedia.co.kr/?rfrr=Redirect.From.www.expedia.com%252FCheap-Flights-To-Seoul.d178308.Travel-Guide-Flights

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Night 3/3 in Seoul ~ Abseoulutely found in Itaewon

Itaewon is known as the foreigner district of Seoul. This area is in the center of the city, and it’s known for international restaurants, souvenir shopping, and vivacious nightlife.

First thing you should do is to fill your stomach up for a night long of soju drinking at the Maple Tree House, Itaewon  단풍나무집. It is rated the #19 of 120,554 Restaurants in Seoul.

Timeout.com has reported that when you walk along the street behind Itaewon Hamilton Hotel, you’ll see a row of windows that are wide open and through which there’ll be groups of foreigners grilling meat. It might be the unlikely geographical location of Maple Tree House in Itaewon, or the modern interior that doesn’t look like your typical Korean BBQ place. The signature Maple Tree House dish is the aged hanwoo (Korean premium beef) sirloin. The thinly sliced beef loin that comes with a savory sauce is also a favorite house dish. When they open up all their windows in the evening, a cool breeze blows through, making it the perfect setting to enjoy your Korean BBQ and Heineken beer.

Address:  26, Itaewon-ro 27ga-gil Yongsangu Seoul 04350 

Opening hours:11:30am–10pm

Transport:Itaewon Station (Line 6), exit 1 Price: Aged hanwoo sirloin (150g per serving) 34,900 won, Jeju heuk dwaeji ogyeopsal (black pork belly) (150g per serving) 16,900 won 

After chowing down, head on over to the B One Lounge Club. One of the most famous places in Itaewon. 

B One Lounge Club

According to the hungrypartier.com, B One is the biggest club in Itaewon, and one of the largest in Seoul in terms of capacity.  The entire club is underground, with several different rooms, multiple DJs and dance floors.   The music is a mixture of deep house, dance hits and underground electronic music.  It’s always crowded on every night of the week, as you’ll see by the large line to get inside.  If you only have one night to party in Itaewon, and you want it to be absolutely crazy, then go to B One.

Address: English --> 179 Itaewon-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea

                Korea --> 이태원을 대표하는 라운지 클럽으로 Hiphop , House, Nu disco 등 All-Kinds Of Music 를 지향하며 세가지 의 차별화된 섹션별 구성으로 이루어져 있습니다.

Hours: 10:00PM - 4:00AM

Phone Number: [phone]

Price: 

Admission: 10,000KRW without drink Drinks: 7,000~140,000KRW

It turns into a club on the weekends. (Admissions: 10.000~20,000KRW) In order to make reservations, you need to spend at least 160,000KRW.

Metro

Line 6 at Itaewon, exit 2. It's located on your left.

비원 라운지클럽

After a night at this crazy club head on over to one of the famous hotels in Itaewon for foreigners. 

Hotel Crown Itaewon (호텔 크라운 이태원)

Address: English --> 138, Noksapyeong-daero, Yongsan-gu, Seoul

                 Korean --> 서울특별시 용산구 녹사평대로 138 (이태원동)

Phone: [phone]

Lowest price: ₩65,000

Location: Hotel is 10 minutes away from Noksapyeong Station (Subway Line 6), Exit 3.

Show address to cab driver

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Night 2/3 Seoul searching - Hongdae edition

Hongdae is FULL of young people roaming around this area full of bars, clubs and restaurants. You are sure to have a good time here and are bound to meet some people. Being a college student myself, this is my FAVORITE area. 

Start your night off with a bottle of Soju because drinks in clubs can always be a little pricy. 

Club Vera

After you have sat down somewhere and had a few drinks of soju like my group of friends did above, (and Cass beer) head on over to Club Vera. It is one of the most popular clubs in Hondae. It is filled with amazing lights, EDM music, and a youthful environment. This place has amazing parties even on Wednesday Nights! This club can hold up to 1,000 so definitely come ready to dance your night away and meeting tons of people

Address: 

English --> 356-1 Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea 02-338-0957

Korean --> 베라기획

Price

10,000 ~ 15,000KRW (Excluding Special Events)

Age Limit: 19

Transportation 

Bus: 

Blue Bus- 271, 273, 602, 603, 604, 760. Get off at "Hongdaeipgu Station."

Green Bus- 5712, 5714, 6712, 6716, 7016, 7024, 7612, 7737, 7739. Get off at "Hongdaeipgu Station." (very quick walk from the station) 

Metro

Line 2 Hongdaeipgu Station Exit 9. Go straight until "Tom n Toms". Turn to the left toward Hongik University Entrance direction. Find "Mister Donut." The second basement floor is Club Vera. (Very quick walk)

Taxi: Show them the address

After dancing in Club Vera for several hours stop at one of their street food vendors, they will provide you the drunchy goodness you had no idea you needed. It’ll also make you ready to drink even more SOJU! 

After this pit stop, I leave open space for you to explore another bar/restaurant/club here. There are so many places here that people flock to, so be adventurous and just go in one that you walk by. Don’t let your night stop before 5am, because you will not be doing right. 

When the clock strikes 5am, you can let your Seoul Cinderella self walk on over to one of Seoul’s finest establishments, a jimjibang. For those that are just getting to Seoul, a jimjibang, according to wikipedia is a large, gender-segregated public bathhouse in Korea, furnished with hot tubs, showers, Korean traditional kiln saunas and massage tables, that also serves as sleeping quarters. This is traditional for Koreans to use to get a little bit of rest after a long night of partying. This will be your 24 sleep haven for those nights that turn into mornings.

Inside, you'll find some 3 floors of nice rooms and baths, moderately quiet areas to sleep, and separate levels for the sauna and jimjibang. Online bloggers find that the the yoga room is the quietest, darkest place for a good night's sleep and they often leave it last for morning cleaning.

Address: English --> Seoul, Mapo Gu, Seo-gyo Dong 371-10, B1

                Korea --> 서울시 마포구 서교동 371-10 번지 B1층

Hours: Open 24 hours a day/ 7 days a week

Rates:

Sauna + Jjimjilbang: 9,000 won - If you arrive between 5am & 8pm (for daytime or overnight use)

10,000 won - If you arrive between 8pm & 5am (for overnight use)

***Weekend costs may be slightly higher, no information available***

Jimjibangs are extremely cheap so you will save major bucks by staying at one

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Night 1/3 TripAdvisor Nightlife Tour ~ Gangnam Style

Start off your night in Gangnam, the most luxurious and glamorous district in Seoul. Conversation Restaurant is one of the most talked about dessert places that you must try and start your evening here so you better come with a sweet tooth!! 

Conversation Restaurant

Address: 36 Dosan-daero 17-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul

How to get there: Take a train to Sinsa Station (line 3) and come out of exit 8. Walk straight, then take the 5th left turn that you see. Walk straight down this road. You will see Conversation a few blocks down on the right hand side. For more information you can call them on 070-5123-9398 or check out their facebook page.

Le Chamber

Address: English --> 42, Dosandaero 55-gil Gangnam-gu Seoul 135-954 

                Korean --> 강남구 도산대로55길 42

Hours: 7:30 - 4am

Next on your extravaganza of activities to do tonight is to stop by this elegant, sophisticated, speakeasy. Take a yellow or silver taxi to the address posted above. The entrance to their basement is very mysterious. The entrance is shaped like a bookshelf, and only if you pick the right book will the door open. It will bring you back to memories of playing the board game Clue with it’s 1920′s appeal. 

Next, take a taxi on over to Gae Hwa Oak (개화옥), a 24 hour restaurant for a bite to eat so your soju hangover isn’t too bad. 

Gae Hwa Oak (개화옥)

Address: 661-18 Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul (서울특별시 강남구 신사동 661-18)

This will give you a taste of tradition Korean cuisine. A top 10 list written by CNN states that this restaurant specializes in pork, beef as well as seafood dishes such as bossam (pork shoulder),bulgogi (marinated grilled beef), chadolbagi (thin strips of beef), and raw oysters with a hint of tart lemon sauce. To add to the dining experience, Gae Hwa Ok presents about 80 different kinds of traditional Korean wine that complement the tastes of authentic Korean cuisine.

After filling your stomach up so you can drown yourself in Soju, head on over to a Club Answer to dance your night away to electric dance music. 

Club Answer

Address: English --> 125-16 Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 

               Korea --> 강남구 청담동 125-16

Club Answer has been around longer than most of the clubs in Gangnam. Answer is still definitely one of the hottest clubs in Seoul.  It is decorated with luxurious chandeliers, marbled floors and leather seating,  According to a blogger on Trazy.com Answer also holds a lot of public events, partnering with known brands and DJs such as YouTube, Paul Van Dyk and Benny Benassi. This place is made of two floors, the second floor is for VIP with a cost. If you want to have a full experience of this place, you should gather a group of friends and reserve a VIP table on 1st or 2nd floor. You might even run into some celebrities and your favorite K-pop stars. 

Price: Sunday-Thursday : 20,000won

           Fri & Sat : 30,000won

Age limit: 20

Hours: Mon - Thursday 21:00 - 05:00

            Fri - Sat 21:00 - 06:00

           Sun - 21:00 - 05:00

After your legs can no longer support your dancing and soju consumption, go get some sleep at the Ramada Hotel. 

Ramada Hotel Seoul 호텔 라마다 서울

Address: English --> 410, Bongeunsa-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul

                Korean --> 서울특별시 강남구 봉은사로 410 (삼성동)

Price: ₩132,829

Phone: 1330 Travel Hotline: +82-2-1330  (Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese)             • For more info: [phone]

Directions: Show cab the Korean address or walking distance from the Gangnamguchung Subway Station ~ see map attached below

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Comment from a Public Relations Professional ~ Weber Shandwick Korea

Meeting with the Weber Shandwick PR agency was one of my favorite field trips we went on. Before I discuss my experience I had there and the things I learned, I will give you a little background on the agency.

Weber Shandwick is an international PR agency and the office my class visited was the Korean branch. They represent many popular companies such as Ocean Breeze and Absolut Vodka. Companies use Weber Shandwick to conduct PR campaigns. 50% of their work is in digital communications; whether it be through social media, website design, video creation and so on. They also do crisis communication, issues management, business marketing, consumer marketing, and various other communication outlets. They have won prestigious Public Relations Awards like The Holmes Report and PRWeek’s Best Places to Work.

Our class received a presentation from their Senior Vice President Lucy Han, about what this branch does and had a Q&A at the end. They discussed their Ocean Breeze campaign to talk about how they conduct business. Ocean Breeze came to Shandwick Korea trying to market their cranberry juice to Koreans. The only problem is, cranberry juice is a very foreign taste to Koreans who don’t typically have cranberry in their diet. They directed their drink to be more of a health item, rather than a how they would do a campaign for a  regular drink like grapefruit juice (which is very common here) or orange juice. They passed out free samples at events and Ocean Breeze was very satisfied with their work.  

I was then curious as to how they were able to evaluate the success of the campaign. If a certain number of people were talking about it online, how many is a good amount to know they reached a victorious amount. Ms. Lucy Han told me that typically the company will tell them how much money they are willing to spend on a campaign, and then Shandwick comes up with a campaign with that amount of money and tells them the amount of people they can probably target. They typically set a number of probable viewers. In the case of Ocean Breeze, they don’t always know about the success of the campaign economically. They know it was successful because Ocean Breeze wanted to continue doing work with them. Shanwhick themselves can view the media impressions whether they be positive and negative.

I really enjoyed my visit to this agency because they seemed to really follow the Public Relations process. Some agencies in Korea are still in the publicist phase of Public Relations, but Weber Shandwick doesn’t focus entirely on news media. They use various media outlets depending on the campaign needs. Similar to American PR agencies, they conduct research, set goals, objectives, strategies and tactics and evaluate how the campaign went.

We were also given advice as to how to enter the Public Relations field. In the past, it was more important to be knowledgeable in a large range of fields, but now, its still important to know a little bit about everything, but they look for people with extensive knowledge in one field.

When asking them about their favorite campaign, the Zippo’s campaign was the first thing on their mind. They were working for Zippo, a lighter company, and had a promotional tent at an annual rock concert. Every concert, people would flock to the tent to buy the lighters because they had become a collectors item. It was rewarding to them to see their work gain exponential popularity from something that seemed trivial in retrospect but turned out to be a novelty to the concert.

When asking about their most rewarding thing about their job was how it is never boring. This makes me excited for the field I am going into. For more information about Weber Shandwick, head to their website posted below. 

Senior Vice President Lucy Han  

[email protected]

webershandwick.co/kr/en/ 

07/11/2016

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Visit to the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics Venue

Hello tumblr world!! My class made a special visit to the PyeongChang Olympic committee that is preparing for the 2018 Winter Games. The spokesperson, Ana You, and Yesung Lim, treated us to a traditional Korean meal. It was very gracious of them to not only take us around but want to do something as nice as feeding my class of 11 students. In our line of vision from the lunch table was a bridge that said "Yes! PyeongChang" I thought it was a funky sign and asked Lim for more understanding on why they decided to say that. He explained that because the Olympics is a business, they cannot just put the word Olympics anywhere they want, they need to get it approved. So the signs you see will infer that the Olympics are there in PyeongChang. Instead, many signs would say host city or show cartoon characters doing winter sports.  After our healthy, traditional meal, we went to the committee headquarters to hear a little bit about the plans for the construction and accommodation of what is necessary to host an Olympics. The presentation included images of each of the different stadiums that were under construction and showed a map of the overall layout of the Olympics. The games are split into two different areas. The ice games are in Gangneung which is a 30 minute drive from the other stadium. The rest of the games are in PyeongChang. They have been building lodging for the athletes and seperate lodging for families and the media. It was great for the reputation of the 2018 Olympics to create lodging for these individuals, because they have a huge stake in the games. It is crucial for them to feel comfortable and close to the action. It is a strategic move because if they have difficulties getting to the games, it could cause the guests to feel like PyeongChang didn't prepare enough. Different hotel branches are coming to PyeongChang to be able to accommodate for the rest of the visitors that are staying for the Olympics.

Transportation wise, PyeongChang is creating a train to make commuting to the games more easy. Again, this is a very strategic move because if they didn't prepare for the coming and going of thousands of individuals it would be chaos. With new transportation systems, Olympic fans will have a more effortless way home after a long day of cheering for athletes.

The PyeongChang Olympics have received criticism from many environmental groups for their removal of more than a thousand trees for the construction of difficult and news worthy courses for players. In terms of the media, the games had not mentioned any definitive plans for the locations after the games. In the past, the Beijing olympic venue have gone to rust, which is a bad move for the reputation of the current Olympics if they had been criticized for cutting these trees down without a plan for the future. Lim informed us that they saved all of the trees they cut down and plan to replant as many as possible and continue using many of the stadiums for future games and athlete training.  I would suggest for the committee to broadcast a video to the public and the unhappy environmentalist group very soon about plans for future use of the area because if they don't, it seems as if they are not listening or are being environmentally irresponsible. I am posting a link below that discusses the ecological and ethical issues with cutting down the forest.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/sep/16/olympic-organisers-destroy-sacred-south-korean-forest-to-create-ski-run

After the presentation, we headed over to a virtual center in Gangneung. They had simulations of the games and virtual reality goggles. They are creating the technology to put cameras on all the athletes so it can be transmitted live to the virtual reality goggles so viewers at home can has a futuristic, realistic experience of the Olympic Games. This really makes Korea looks advanced in comparison to Olympic Games in the future. This is excellent PR for Korea because viewers can have a never before seen experience of the games and will change sport viewing history.

The trip ended with going to Lim's favorite coffee shop and he treated us to coffee from all over the world. I sampled some of my classmates coffees and could really taste a difference. We had coffee from Costa Rica, Rwanda, Guatemala, Kenya and Argentina. They were all delicious and I'm happy I got to experience the taste test to compare every countries flavors.

The Pyeongchang Olympic committee was a real treat to get to spend the day with. My class was the first day they spent not dealing with press and got to have a more fun relaxed day. 

If reading about the 2018 Winter Olympics interested you, tickets will go on sale October 2016. Stay up to date with news about the PyeongChang Olympics at https://www.olympic.org/pyeongchang-2018

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Visiting Korea

Detailing the strengths and weaknesses of three different tourism websites

Over all, I found the english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/index.jsp to be an incredible website for people interested in Korea. It was great looking around this website because it is easy to navigate and packed with information. I would suggest anyone who has done no research about Korea at all, to go to this website first and search the entire site. It gives great information about the different locations, foods, transportation, festivals, and so on so it’s best to start your research on traveling to Korea with this website. There were a couple of different parts of the website that I thought were incredible help to anyone visiting. The first is the subway tour. It is so unique, it reminded me of the help that a blog would give. It details what stop to get off at and directions to places close by. Anyone staying in Seoul would highly benefit from this if they had some spare time to stop at a different exit on the way somewhere. As I’ve learned from classes and my visits to different companies in Korea, people love top 20 lists. The website lists the 30 Special Tourist Zones in Korea to Offer Utmost Satisfaction. This is excellent because this can be a starting point to many people’s visits. If they see something that interests them they can plan their trip around this. It’s helpful to see what other people do, because it is easy for the public to trust. The website offers one day tours that show you what you need to see while you’re in certain districts in Korea which is great for someone who wants to have a jam packed day of fun activities without wasting time traveling. One of the most helpful parts to new travelers was the travel basics tabs. It’s important to give that a quick read because someone might not want to come during a huge holiday, or might need to know basic information about what time things generally open or what their currency looks like. They have a travel hotline and a complaint center which is excellent PR. It creates a two way channel of communication between tourists and the tourism industry. This can allow for the industry to improve and to give tourists a better travel experience.

When it comes to sparking interest in tourists to visit palaces, it could use some help. It is not exciting enough and the information it gives about the palace is in boring font and doesn’t foster interactivity. While it does not provide information in an exciting way, it does tell you everything you need to know about visiting the palaces like the Gyeongbokgung Palace, like transportation, accommodation, shopping and even restaurants. Another section that did lack luster, was the nightlife section. It offers things to do at nighttime, mainly light shows, but lacks telling the viewer what district has the most abundance of bars and clubs. I think tourists would benefit from an overview of different districts that have a copious amount of people out eating, shopping and drinking. This website is a great starting point for travel, so if you like to get most things done on one website, it could be weakness that someone would need to do further research.  

The royalpalace.go.kr/html/eng/main/main.jsp website firsts directs you to their main page that has an interactive map that lets you hover over the different buildings located in the palace. This is a fun and engaging way to first introduce visitors to your website. The website is easy to navigate but has an outdated layout and font styling. It offers a detailed history and plentiful amount of information about anyone’s visiting needs. Their virtual reality tour was not working when I tried to use it, which is a weakness on their part. This website has a lot of potential and creativity, but could use an updating. To the majority of foreign tourists I don’t think this website is visually appealing enough to intrigue most people.

The english.visitseoul.net/index website has a chaotic main page. I clicked on the first tab to the left titled Highlights. This tab is excellent in seeing the excitement and amount of things that Seoul has to offer. This website lacks in interactivity but makes up for that in the amount of places it highlights. This website is unique in that it sells you certain restaurants to head to, unlike the other websites I’m going over. Although this website is disorganized with the amount of things they are trying to encourage you to do, it does spark interest in going to a palace tour. It shows plenty of pictures of the different palaces and detailed histories of them.

Strategies for improvement

If I was a strategic communication specialist I would choose to renovate the second website I analyzed; the royal palace website. It has so much potential to me with it’s video game elements of clicking and new information displaying, and its innovative virtual reality tours separate it from other tourist websites. To improve the website I would put the tabs at the top of the page, and enlarge the words. It gets lost at the bottom of the page and I’m not inclined to get more information from this page. It needs to be immediately easy for the viewer. I think the About tab should go first, because people need to be interested in coming to the Palace before finding out how to visit. I would place numerous attracting images along with interactive visual panoramas of the 360 views of the palace. I would make sure the virtual reality tours can be viewed on all types of computers and to only do sneak peaks so people still feel interested in coming and seeing it in person. I would make the website a combination of the traditional and the new, with its design elements and interactivity being the new and the history along with the vibe keeping the traditional.

My experiences being a tourist at the Gyeongbokgung Palace

Unfortunately, the day I visited the Gyeongbokgung Palace it was a rainy, gloomy day. The changing of the guards ceremony was canceled because of the weather, but the guards were still outside. The guards were great because it really created a time machine element as if we had gone back in time to what the palace was like hundreds of years ago. It adds to the richness and surreal experience of it all. You can also take pictures with the guards which is excellent because tourists would enjoy those types of authentic pictures to show their friends. The palace offers english tours which is another great tactic for tourists because a lot of people wouldn’t want to come because they wouldn’t know what they are looking at, so the english tours are great attractors to those that struggle to understand the history that is all around them. Another great tactic they did to get more tourists to visit more places, was to offer a discounted ticket if you visited multiple palaces. 

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Lotte World and PyeongChang Olympic Venues

Lotte World

Last Wednesday, Brittany, Alex, Alison and I went to Lotte World; the land of everything unimaginable.

This place is great for people of all ages. It is great for families, friends and couples. This place leaves a lasting impact on you because of their creative and mind blowing environment. I witnessed different strategic tactics that were aesthetically pleasing that left an impression in my memory.

When you first walk into this indoor amusement park, you are ambushed with the bright lights, great smiles, and wide smiles on the faces around you. We went to the top floor and found ourselves entering a ride called “The Jungle”. It turned out to be a water ride and caught us by surprise. The ride was decked out in jungle themed decorations and set the mood that you were actually in the jungle and had some fear that you might get splashed with water. Some other rides they had were Pharaoh’s Fury, Aeronauts balloon ride, Dragon wild shooting, haunted houses and much more. Each different ride put you into a different land with music, props, lighting, etc. Inside of Lotte World has so many different realms which is a great tactic. People remember things when it is attached to a feeling, and each of these different rides creates different feelings to the viewer. This enhances their experience inside of it being just a bunch of rides. They care about the customer having a better experience entering into all of these different worlds, letting it be a more interactive experience because they rider can get into it. This link I’m posting shows the many different rides to experience at the park. 

http://global.lotteworld.com/app/attrctn/list.asp

The castle creates a magical atmosphere because the public knows they have entered a place that is supernatural and extraordinary. This castle was the hub for many group pictures and selfies and becomes iconic to the park itself. It is an excellent tactic because it creates a fantasy world that enhances the public’s experience and they will share to their friends and family this otherworldly time.

Lotte World topped off the cake of surprises with an indoor fireworks show. It was a great tactic to get more people to have a sensational experience to close the rides so everyone at the park can gather around and watch the astounding spectacle of lights. It encouraged people who had been there all day to stick around to the end to leave them with a lasting impression. And for people who came later, like myself, it introduced me to what Lotte World was all about.

PyeongChang Olympic Venue

The PyeongChang Olympic Venue was very impressive. While still under construction, they have innovative technology to show the public what the finished Venue will look like. Our class got a tour of the venues and creative technology to heighten our viewer experience. The tactics they use to do so, is very impressive.

Our class got the pleasure to go to the top of the Ski Jump and to the Sky Lounge they had at the top of the Jump. Having a lounge at the top gives the public a hyper awareness of how truly impressive it is what these athletes do. It gives them a new perspective of how high and inclined the jump is. It could give the viewer more of an interest after viewing this, and therefore more of a stake in the games. It is excellent PR because it shows how PyeongChang Olympics going beyond what is necessary to enhance the public’s experience. It is mutually beneficial because PyeongChang will receive great press and the public will have an awing experience.

After visiting the Ski Jump, we drove over to the Gangneung venues where they had an environmentally friendly building with various technologies to enhance the viewer’s experience. We went into a 3D theater in which it simulated that each of the audience members were an athlete doing various winter sports. The seats even moved along with athletes movements in the game. The games are creating two more buildings so more of the public can experience this. This is an excellent tactic of the PyeongChang Olympic Committee. It makes them look selfless because they just want viewers to have an innovative viewing experience to preview what the games will be like from the athletes perspective and excites the viewer to watch the Olympics themselves.

The last tactic that I thought was the most impressive was the virtual reality goggles that was similar to the 3D viewing room, but was more interactive because as you turned your head, it was a view of what the athlete would see if they made the same movements. It is the most interactive viewing experience ever created before for sports watching. PyeongChang is creating the technology to put cameras on each of their athletes heads so viewers at home can have an even more intimate experience of their favorite athletes and competitions. This tactic will make the viewer not only watch the games, but become a part of them.

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Gocheok Sky Dome

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Differences and Similarities in Public Relations functions in the US and Korea

While thinking about the differences and similarities between public relations in Korea and the US, I came to the conclusion that Korea lacks public relations in most companies. In Korean culture, it is not common for a company to boast about one’s successes. It seems sketchy to be doing strategic things to gain the publics trust, because they should gain it on their own. Korea’s way to attract consumers is through advertisements and pseudo events so their journey on the different stages of PR is coming slowly but surely.

Naver is the number one search engine in Korea and it is how many people use the news. The first picture I posted is from a stairwell in their office building. They have a very young and fresh layout and design that creates for an excellent workplace. While although Naver’s building is impressive and attracts customers, Naver lost trust with the public two years ago when the ship sank with hundreds of school children on it and they pushed the news further down so people would read it. Naver doesn’t have a public relations team to enhance their reputation and gain back the trust of the public. When meeting with representatives from Naver, they stated that each team they have has their own PR team. Meaning that whoever does PR is also functioning other marketing and advertising works. They do not have a unified PR department which is something that would never occur in the US.

During our visit to KPR, the number one Public Relations Agency in Korea, they told us about the copious amount of newspapers just in Seoul. Journalists have high prestige in Korean culture. They need to do extensive tests in order to become one, and have to write at least 2 stories a day. For many newspapers, they need to rely on Public Relations departments to wire them stories in order to keep up with the demand. This is a similarity between Korean and US public relations. Both media outlets could not survive without the PR departments informing them on what is newsworthy and sending it out through wire services. Many newspapers need wire services especially for international news.

When learning about the Gwangju Universiade by Dr Bae, it seemed to be one of the only businesses in Korea that has excellent PR. Their whole mega sports event was sold to participants as a cultural experience rather than an event with sporting prestige, because of research they conducted. They deliberately and strategically planned the event out perfectly and had no health emergencies with any of the athletes and participants. They conducted research after the event to see how much social media mentions the games had and determined a lot of their success based off this. This whole event had excellent Public Relations which is very similar to the US and stands as a token that it is possible for all businesses in the future of Korea will be able to do PR work as well.

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EVERYTHING TO DO IN HONGDAE

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g294197-d2203080-r379577034-Trickeye_Museum-Seoul.html#

I was searching for things to do in Seoul, and the Trick Eye Musueam popped up as the #7 must do thing in Seoul. As I read the reviews, everyone was ranting and raving about how hilarious and fun this place was. I tried not to read too in depth because I wanted to be surprised, but I read the reviews for the prices and positive comments. The copious amount of reviews made me trust this was a place worth going. After walking through the streets of Hongdae, Lexi and I were pleasantly surprised that this area is FULL of life. We were even pulled into a group of street performers. As we finally made it to the museum, we were astounded by the unique set up and experience this museum takes you on. It gives picture instructions on how to navigate the props to create optical illusions for each of the photographs. This place creates self sustaining PR because people laugh and have a great time in the museum and have pictures that they will share and post to prove it. This place has self sustaining advertising by the premise of the museum; which is to take these funky and unique photographs that will leave the unknowing viewer puzzled. Trip advisor is also great PR for the district itself. It pulls people into the area and keeps them in because of the life and fun it has.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzlKTY9n87U

I chose the youtube video because it shows the exciting atmosphere and the amount of street food you can try. Lexi and I frolicked through the options and landed at a chicken kebab vendor and it was incredible with so much flavor. Videos like this one are great PR because people will see the food in a energetic light and will be enticed for not only the food but the experience. Hongdae is also full of makeup stores and shopping. We walked to different cosmetic shops and bought many beauty products.

https://vimeo.com/173158209

Both of these video clips serve as excellent channels of PR because the amount of reviews/views serves as a trusting mechanism for the consumers because the highest level of trust is now based in “a person like me”. It allows for the area and establishments to speak for itself, rather than the company trying to do that work. These forums serve as excellent tips and help to navigating the area making it user friendly, enhancing the consumer experience. If the consumer is happy, they will be more likely to come back, and tell friends. These online channels serve as a mutually beneficial relationship for both the organizations and its stakeholders. The consumers can place trust in those that are familiar to them and can get tips on visiting, and the organization gets their business talked about, and the website gets more of a following.

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The game at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field was FULL of life. The entire Kia fan section was filled with people with high energy the entire time. As you walk down the stairs to the outside of the field, there is a grass section that you can lay a blanket out with a sand pit right in front of it. This section is great for families with young children. Next to it there’s wooden benches with grass in between for more casual seating. This area promotes relaxed group settings, but still full of tons of energy. There was an older women who was walking through each of the rows encouraging everyone to cheer. She was a full supporter of Kia and she made me smile with her relentless dedication. As I looked around at the people around me, everyone had boxes of fried chicken and beer. That is a must have for Korean baseball games.

During breaks in the game, the camera broadcasted the fans on the big screen, with people who were vibrant and exuberant during their 30 seconds of fame. Those lucky individuals who got screen time were asked baseball trivia with the opportunity to win free vacations and Kia cars. There is a large chance that Kia has a deal with the hotel for free hotel stays for these advertising opportunities. If so, this would be great PR because it would be a mutually beneficial relationship. The hotel gets free advertising while KIA is portrayed in a charitable light as well as lifting up crowd energy which could increase the likelihood of a returning fan.

It seemed as if everyone had a Kia baseball jersey. This is excellent PR for Kia because not only do they get sales from the purchase, but people become a walking advertisement and feel connected with others who wear one. They were decently affordable and very stylish.

What makes Korean baseball games unique is the cheerleaders, the hype men, the drinking culture, the fun promotional games in between breaks and the songs for each player. This allows for fans to have more of a stake in the game, because they are able to know more about the players, have an excellent time with the energy and will be likely to want to come back. I don’t ever watch baseball but I enjoyed the game.

#baseball

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Hello tumblr world, I'm abSEOULutely lost and on a Seoul searching adventure to navigate the PR industry in Seoul. I am studying International PR and Sports PR along with my ten other classmates. Day by day I'm understanding more and more about the differences between Korea and the United States. It's becoming evidently clear that before anyone does business with this country, they do a bit of research before hand. Korea is what is described as a high context culture, meaning that the context is crucial in understanding the message that is being communicated. There is more of a focus on non verbal cues, because there is more internalized understandings of what is being communicated. Whereas, in the United States, we say exactly what we mean. So if we are hungry, we say it, rather than hoping someone will notice you're attention to the food near you. I experienced an interaction in which highlighted this situational, high context situation. When I was sitting alone at a 7/11, waiting for my friends, I was approached by two Korean males. One of them asked me if I had a boyfriend and was waiting for him. The male had noticed I was alone at a late time at night. He analyzed the situation I was in, and depending on my answer, he would've responded differently. He lingered shortly after I said yes, and could pick up on verbal and nonverbal communication that I had no interest in speaking with him and finally left. This identification of a high context versus low context culture is crucial when working in PR, because you could easily offend a client when asking a time, place, or by manner in which you ask to meet to discuss business. You would experience issues if you don't see what is appropriate context for business consultation. It is also common to bring a small gift, like Dr Woo had done with out visit to KPR. Stay tuned to find out more differences between the cultures' communication styles and tips in doing PR in Korea.

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PR~rrrrr🐈