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cassandraalbritton-blog · 6 years

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1712 Mastery Journal Entry

This month in my mastery journey at Full Sail I was enrolled in the Public Relations Final Project and Thesis course. It is month twelve and I am running low on steam. The journey has been long but the end is in sight. I will take a much-needed retreat to revitalize my energy in January. During this month, I struggled with creating the Pecha Kucha presentation and finding the motivation to finish the Thesis.

In regards to my Pecha Kucha video, it was difficult to speak for only 20 seconds per slide and I felt like I could have produced a stronger and higher quality video. I am sure my experience with this assignment will help me be more prepared for creating one while working in the industry.

Honestly, my lack of motivation stems from a variety of sources. My soul is tired from nursing my sick husband back to health after his surgery in Mexico, grieving for the loss of my papa, and explaining these two situations to my six-year-old daughter. I failed to mention, working 40 plus hours a week and the countless hours of work put into earning this degree. The final course has taught me to be persistent and push through it because, out of the struggle will develop a result well worth the effort- graduation. I am sure this a valuable skill to possess as a public relations professional.

Twelve months ago, I set out to accomplish a few objectives in this course. I intended to read three books related to the public relation field. I did not reach this goal. I also intend to earn at least a B grade in the course. If I continue to turn in my work, I should meet that goal. Additionally, I intended to set up a website and execute a campaign for the Black Eye Pea Boutique. The Black Eye Pea Boutique has taken a different direction so these efforts have been postponed.

Ultimately, this course helped me articulate complex descriptions of best practices in public relations campaign projects and differentiate among the salient theories of public relations as applied to various case studies. I learned how to analyze the outcomes and limitations of social science and public relations research reporting. Additionally, I learned how to create a Pecha Kucha video based on the capstone project. I also evaluated my website design and the online capstone project using site architecture and optimization principles.

Image Credit: loapowers.net

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cassandraalbritton-blog · 6 years

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1712 Mastery Journal Entry

This month in the PR Masters program at Full Sail University I was enrolled in the Online Media Room. This was another difficult month for me personally, because my father passed away. I am sad but at peace knowing he is no longer in pain due the aggressive Leukemia. I have turned my grief into focus and have been pushing through this class, as there is only one more until graduation. After graduation, I will continue to grieve and take a much-needed vacation and reset.

This course taught me how important content marketing is and how to develop a content strategy. I also truly valued the critique discussion posts as they gave me several different perspectives on how my site is used by others. I worked a lot on my website this month and I know that this course has helped me improve the layout of the content on my site. I also learned to use a new website- Storify and how it is used to aggregate content.

Overall this course has enabled me to articulate a complex understanding of best-practice principles for publishing engaging content in an organization’s online media room. I can also contextualize organizational media outreach strategies within the evolution of public relations practices from off-line pressrooms to online media rooms. This course has helped me to better plan, promote, and produce content for my capstone project online media room.

Additionally, I can evaluate the effectiveness of various online media room content. I have also become familiar with strategies in achieving strategic organizational and individual objectives and goals in regards to my client. I also learned the value of evaluating and effectively executing research and targeting of messaging to achieve the maximum return on investment in terms of audience engagement. I can also assess and describe the needs and opportunities targeted in organizational online media rooms.

Image credit: lovethispic.com

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cassandraalbritton-blog · 7 years

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Mastery Journal Entry 1710

Honestly, I thought last month was the most difficult month for me during my Mastery Journey at Full Sail, this month proved me wrong. Irma was hard, but nothing prepared me for the news I received during week 3 of 1710. My grandparents raised me and will always my mom and my dad, and this month, one of them is fighting end stage chronic myelocytic leukemia. Hospice is by my father’s bedside in a hospital 150 miles away. Talk about crisis management, even now, writing this, tears well in my eyes. It’s been heartbreaking this month.

As far as my class this month, it’s been hard to focus, but here is the snap shot of what I had originally set out to accomplish:

I did not meet goals 1 or 3 and if I can catch-up my work from the crisis in my life, I should earn at least a B grade in the class. I had no extra time for the reading in goal one and for goal three, my client is no longer the Black-Eyed Pea Boutique.

One of the three things I did learn is that I need to work on my personal crisis handling skills. I was and honestly still am, an emotional wreck. My father’s illness has quickly diminished and I have truly struggled to handle the situation at work, at school, and at home. My boss and my instructor were very empathetic and understanding, but my six-year-old daughter doesn’t quite grasp that her Papa is dying and I am not sure how, as a parent, I can make it easier for her to understand.

The second thing I learned in the class is the importance of knowing not only your target audience but also your constituents groups and how those groups influence your company’s reputation.

The third thing I learned from this course is the importance of creating dark website in advance. I had no idea what a dark website was until week 4 and I learned that my client will benefit greatly if we can make the time to create it.

Ultimately, by the end of the course, I was able to accomplish the following outcomes as laid out in the course syllabus:

I can articulate a complex understanding of reputation management theories and best-practice principles and analyze the interplay of organizations, media, publics, and recipients from a reputation-management theoretical perspective.

Assess and describe needs and opportunities for developing a crisis communication management plan for capstone client organization and evaluate methodologies for conducting both online and offline sentiment analysis in regard to an organizational reputation and evaluate the effectiveness of various reputation management strategies and tactics in achieving strategic objectives and goals.

I strongly believe that everything happens for reason and I am certain that the lessons I have learned this month will help me with not only my professional PR reputation but also my client’s reputation. Thank you, Ms. Foley for your wisdom and empathy this month, it has meant the world to me.

References:

RMS Course Syllabus Retrieved from https://fso-lms4-immortal-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/506/20174/f908ffea-ae29-4641-a113-36a0e16b098f-108d1d00-6472-47e4-b0b1-7b91788387c8/RMS%20Syllabus%20March%202017.pdf?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20171019T032147Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=600&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAI4QJ7YJDQ7JYMBXQ%2F20171019%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=1b1cb8a20dac665f5f71f06fcd8271bd79915a1cbeb1e3f66dd94060c289532c

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cassandraalbritton-blog · 7 years

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1708 Mastery Journal Entry

During 1708, I was enrolled in Media Relations Online as part of my Mastery Journey. I learned a great deal in this course and intend to use this knowledge as I push forward in the degree. I struggled with the pitch assignment in this course because it was completely new territory. I have no experience writing pitches, so that exercise pushed me beyond my boundaries and comfort zone. I was surprised to see that the professor requested a letter format for our pitches. We exist is such a digital world that it is hard to believe that reporters still receive and read postal mail.

As I reflect on the goals I set for this course back in month one of the degree program, it is apparent that I have come a long way. It is month 8 and there are only 4 more classes until graduation. Time is passing by quickly and I am ready to finish stronger and smarter than when I started. My goal in month one was to pass this class with at least a B grade. As long as I turn in the remainder of my week four assignments I should meet that goal. I did not accomplish the readings that I set forth to read but, I did learn more about my client, the Albritton Gallery, and their future goals.

Specifically, I learned to create targeted media lists for strategic distribution of newsworthy information and develop a media-relations content strategy for execution in conjunction with my capstone-level public-relations campaign. Additionally, I designed targeted pitches for specific journalists across media platforms and created a media kit to provide journalists with multimedia materials for use in reports. I learned how to develop talking points for press conferences and spontaneous media meetings and produced a video and photos for use in my targeted campaign for media coverage.

Until next month,

Cassandra Albritton

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cassandraalbritton-blog · 7 years

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Mastery Journal Entry 1707

During 1707, I was enrolled in Market and Consumer Research Analysis Online as part of my Mastery Journey. This was a difficult month for me. I encountered issues using the Full Sail Library to find research and struggled to keep up. The instructor, Ms. Palmisano this month has been truly helpful and gracious with her time and I appreciate her empathy with my husbands’ recovery from surgery.

I have learned to pay more attention to APA guidelines and feel that I may never truly grasp every rule of the APA system. I also learned how to make infographics and the importance of having a target audience defined for your client. When I look back on the goals I set to accomplish in month 1, it is apparent that I did not meet all of them. However, I should earn at least a B in the class if I turn in my last assignments. I do wish there would have been a go to session to discuss questions and be joined by my peers. I think this really helps me feel like I am more part of a class than just one person turning in assignments to the teacher. Overall, I enjoyed the class and look forward to moving on to the next class.

This course taught me how to acquire secondary research from a variety of sources and how to differentiate between primary and secondary research and qualitative and quantitative research. I learned how to classify a target audience, define basic statistics terms, and determine statistical significance. I have gain the ability to analyze communications channels and messages, organize a SWOT analysis, and devise a plan for primary research. This course showed me how to properly evaluate a case study, create and present a research brief, and create an executive summary.

Until next month,

Cassandra Albritton

Image credit: http://thefunnybeaver.com/36-motivational-quotes-success/

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cassandraalbritton-blog · 7 years

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Lobby of our hotel. (at Hotel Marriott Tijuana)

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cassandraalbritton-blog · 7 years

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More street art in Tijuana.

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cassandraalbritton-blog · 7 years

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Street Art in Tijuana

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cassandraalbritton-blog · 7 years

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1705 Mastery Journal Entry

As part of my Mastery Journey, this month I was enrolled in Social Media Metrics and ROI- Online. I have mixed feelings about this course. I didn’t specifically like the data analysis required but I did learn how important data collection and analysis is in a successful PR campaign. I found it daunting at times to review the data and describe audience behavior and attitudes. My time management skills could have used some adjusting this month and I will be adjusting my work flow as I move forward. I need to find more time to pay attention to the mistakes I am making in my academic writing.

In month one of my journey, I set the goal to earn at least a B in this course. As long as I do well on my last assignment, I should reach that goal. I set the goal to read a book regarding Arts and Humanities Research and that goal I failed to meet. Honestly, I struggle to get the required readings complete for each course and don’t have any extra time to add more reading to my course load. Between my job, my child, my sick husband, and this degree, rest and extra reading are seriously absent in my life right now. Next month I am taking a break from the program to travel to Mexico for my husband’s surgery so I intend to review the resources in this course again so that I can I better understand some of the key principles that I may have overlooked. I feel like I missed or didn’t quite grasp some of the content because of lack of rest and time.

Overall, this course helped me articulate detailed analyses of return on investment analytic reports and research and analyze public engagement with online promotional content using social metric tools. This course also taught me how to demonstrate proficiency using analytical tools to identify target audiences, strategic publics, and stakeholders in line with content strategies. Additionally, I learned how to interpret analytic reports describing behavior of visitors to branded websites and evaluate keywords and analyze digital content. I also learned how to apply SEO best-practice principles in website design and the publication of promotional content. This course should be of great value to my success as I work towards graduation.

Image credit:

http://trend2wear.com/inspire-yourself-ladies-with-these-motivational-quotes-for-women/

#justkeepswimming

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cassandraalbritton-blog · 7 years

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Mastery Journal Entry for 1704

This month in my Masters program at Full Sail University my course was Innovative Public Relations Tools and Resources. I took a look back at my goals that I set forth with for this course back in October when I started the program and I assessed where I am now (6 months later). I did find and explore different PR tools that can be used and learned a great deal about them through the instructor’s assignments. I also should earn at least a B in the class so I did maintain focus and meet my deadlines. I had listed that I should read “The Electronic Welcome Mat: The Academic Library Web Site as a Marketing and Public Relations Tool by J.M. Welch and I failed to meet that goal. I had also listed to build social media platforms for our future art gallery (The Black Eyed Pea). We have decided to go a different route with the name and brand of the art gallery, so that goal also did not happen. I did manage to create social media platforms for my personal brand and learned the value in social media management sites such as HootSuite.

Additionally, I learned about the skills and time it takes to make a branding video and how to promote same. I think this is the most challenging assignment in the course. It requires you not only to know your brand and how you want it represented but also requires a lot of design/video skills. If I didn’t work in an environment where I have had to use those skills prior to the course, I don’t think I would have done so well on the assignment.

In the end result, this course taught me to translate content into the appropriate format for each medium to gain maximum measurable feedback. It showed me how to relate social-media usage to target-market demographic behaviors, evaluate the role of social media in relation to personal and public identity, and create multimedia content such as videos for use in public relations. I also learned how to identify the pros and cons of using various social media, strategize the timing and placement of branded messages, and demonstrate uses of mobile devices and social-media-management tools for public relations.

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cassandraalbritton-blog · 7 years

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Mastery Journal Entry for 1702

In this month’s course, Legal Aspects of Media, we explored many legal and ethical issues encountered by communications professionals. My favorite assignment was the Intrusion Case Analysis Discussion. I really enjoyed reading the Deteresa case and then later searching for a more recent case to discuss and examine among my peers. I especially found it interesting how differently each one of us interpreted the case law and how cases from years back are still be recognized and used with the technologies of today.

Personally, I think that all the topics we covered this month will help me succeed as a communications professional in the PR field. The topics covered in this class provided me with a foundation of legal principles that are necessary to anyone in the communications industry. The topics covered helped me to understand the importance of copyright law and the advantages of registration. The course also helped prepare me to handle potential legal issues in the field by allowing me think about ways to protect myself and avoid legal liability for defamation, invasion of privacy, and copyright infringement in my writing. The coursework also help me to realize the importance of audio, video, and photo releases and how important they are in the PR world. The coursework also made me think critically about the legal issues presented by the ever evolving digital and mobile world that we live and work in.

This course exceeded my expectations and I learned so much from the materials, the instructor, and my peers. This was a great class and I struggled at times because it has been years since I have had to read and analyze case law but, I pushed through it and found that inner paralegal I buried ten years ago. Although I may not have enjoyed reading all of the legal jargon, I learned a lot of valuable information that will help me as I move forward in the Public Relations Master’s Degree. I really liked that the activities for each week were open from day one of week one so that we could work ahead if our schedule demanded. Overall all, the course did an excellent job of teaching me three valuable skills: 1) This course taught me the value of being aware of legal issues, 2) This course enabled me to be able to spot legal issues, and 3) This course made me work to develop methods aimed to remedy legal issues as I will encounter them in the communication in the communication industry.

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cassandraalbritton-blog · 7 years

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1701 Mastery Journal Assignment

I am in week four of the Writing for Interactive Media course and I as reflect on what I set out to learn, I noticed that I learned a quite lot about myself.

For one, I find it truly, truly difficult to write about myself. The about me project in the class was the most difficult for me. I have struggled most of my adult life with my health at no fault of my own and I have a hard time admitting that and sharing that with other people. I tend to be very hard on myself because I never feel I can give anything my all without my body sacrificing a blow. I will continue to work on being comfortable in my own skin and continue to edit the about me page I wrote for this class. I can’t give up on it because I have to keep creating work as emphasized by Ira Glass in “The Gap”. And one day my writing will reflect more of who I am.

Throughout the course I also learned about attribution which is a new word and concept for me. I will continue to write on, create art, and work on my attribution skills so that I am better at using them in my writing.

When I compare the outcomes of this month to the goals I set in the Mastery Journal I can honestly say that I did not meet the reading goal set but surpassed the grade goal for class (aimed to get a B and if all goes well with my last assignments I should earn an A).

Overall, the projects in the class were challenging, fun, and rewarding. Our instructor, Meredith is awesome at giving helpful feedback and I appreciate her sincere empathy in the times I needed help throughout the course. I will also have to give her props for her go to meetings. Even though I didn’t have the privilege to attend a live session, the recorded ones were truly motivational and inspiring.

Reference:

THE GAP by Ira Glass. (2014). Vimeo. Retrieved 29 January 2017, from https://vimeo.com/85040589

Photo credit:

BrittaNickel. (2017).Brittanickel.tumblr.com. Retrieved 29 January 2017, from http://brittanickel.tumblr.com/post/28278402035

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cassandraalbritton-blog · 7 years

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Mastery Journey Timeline 1611

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cassandraalbritton-blog · 7 years

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Inspirational post for the week of 11/14 to 11/18:

This is a 3D drawing of what was formerly known as Bill’s Grocery for 40 years. Bill is my grandfather and is a mentor and a source of guidance as my husband and I go down this path. Chris and I took a quick weekend trip last weekend to Sanderson where my empty store front is located. We went through and took measurements together and sat down yesterday and digitally created the above. It was an inspirational task to obtain the exact dimensions for the space fore it is the first step in visually planning the layout of our future business. There are some repairs to be done as expected since the building has been empty since I decided to close it’s doors as a grocery store/gas station back in 2007. Our next steps include completing repairs, bringing the building to code, and painting the interior and exterior. There is much work to do but it’s exciting to finally get started on a dream that had seemed to be at a standstill until here recently.

Reference; Digital Sketch posted with permission of Artist, Chris Albritton.

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cassandraalbritton-blog · 7 years

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Inspirational Post for the week of 11/07 to 11/11.

This week I helped to install an Art Installation at the Orlando Museum of Art; From Old to Nouveau. Our collaborative efforts were inspired by the idea that found hand-made objects could personify the beauty that can be created by objects that are often discarded. With this in mind, newspapers, vintage 1800’s encyclopedia pages, little glass jars, wine corks, perfume bottles, and a plethora of found objects have been transformed into Christmas decorations evoking the Art Nouveau era. My team put in countless hours of work and creative efforts to make this possible over the last month and a half. There were many times during this event that I didn’t think we could pull it off but we did and event won Best of Show! This whole process was truly inspirational and I feel truly honored to be part of this strong group of creative women.

Photo Credits- Laurie Hasan, Photography. Posted with permission from Artist.

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cassandraalbritton-blog · 7 years

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cassandraalbritton-blog · 7 years

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http://www.onlinelogomaker.com/logomaker/#

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