How did people ever plan events without facebook?

I use facebook almost everyday, and on the days I do use it, I generally check my account about five times a day. Some may think this is a little excessive, but for me, I feel it's almost as necessary as checking my e-mail that frequently.

Facebook has become more than just a tool to look at friend's pictures and comment on each other's walls. It has become the ultimate event planner, and cheap way to send invitations.

For example, for my student group Women in Communications, we can easily make girls aware of upcoming meetings, events and socials with just a couple clicks of the mouse. For girls who check Facebook more frequently than their e-mail, this is a great advantage for us. In addition to the text, it is easy to supplement the message with a funny picture or image to get everyone's attention. Not to mention, other people can easily check and guestlist, and invite others to join.

Last week, one of my friends who works for the UW Athletic Marketing Dept. created a campus wide event. Through the power of the facebook event app. she was able to invite over 500 people, and the list continuously grew. Her event was a great success, and hundreds of students attended. Facebook may not have been the solely responsible for such a great turnout, but it certainly didn't hurt the attendance.

The power of this social media has become unbelievable in the past couple years. It has opened gateways that one couldn't have even dreamed of in the past. However, this application has become quite popular in the past couple years, and it is important to make sure your event gets noticed on facebook. Here are my suggestions on how to make a facebook event that will be sure to spark interest and get the attention of your guests:

1) Get a flashy picture
-- Most of the time it is nice if it has something to do with your event, but sometimes, it gets more attention if it doesn't. I know this group of boys that constantly hold tailgate parties before badger games. They invite hundreds of people every weekend. Their pictures they choose for the events never cease to amaze me. An eye catching image is sure to get your event noticed.

2) Think carefully about what you call your event
-- Obviously, you've heard that you need to cater to your specfic audience, but similar to the rules for the picture, you need to ensure that your event stands out. Your event name should be descriptive, unique, and sometimes, completely ridiculous. If you simply want to inform a small number of people about an event, why not just call it "Jenny's Birthday Party." However, if you are trying to get as many people to come to an event for a charity, you need to spark their interest. Use something catchy and humorous... it will be a guarenteed sucess.

3) Informative, Short Description .. the funnier, the better
-- The same guys that use the funny images also have the best descriptions for their tailgates. Half the time I accept an invitation it is solely because their event description made me laugh. Generally, people will only read the first couple lines of the event description unless you make it entertaining. So, give them the specific details after you've provided a funny introduction. Keep it short, people don't want to read a book.

4) If you really want a large crowd, allow people to invite their friends
-- Facebook has become a great way to network, and chances are you don't have the exact same friends as everyone of your friends. Allowing people to bring others creates a chance for you to expand your event and meet new people. Network, network, network.

5) Make sure you publish onto your page the creation of your event.
-- By pubishing the creation of the event, it ensures that event will pop up in all of your friend's mini-feeds. This is a great way to inform people about the event just in case you may have forgotten to invite them.

Facebook has become a great tool for creating events and guestslists, so why not utilize this tool to the fullest? After using such an easy application, I cannot image how people ever had large parties without it.

Keeping Your Eye on the Prize

As part of the student organization Women in Communications, I have been exposed to a multitude of speakers, all very intelligent, and some more interesting than others.

Our speakers tonight were especially of interest, as they had only graduated a few years prior. Both women work for a PR agency in Chicago, my dream job after leaving Madison. I couldn't help but wish that I could forward the clock a few years and be in their boots instead of my own, not having the uncertainty of what I am going to do for the rest of my life.

However, both women had some sound advice for us aspiring journalists ... some of which included:

1.) Don't be afraid if you don't know what you are going to do after graduation ... most people have no idea. Life will lead you to where you need to be.

2.) Studying and being textbook smart is great, but what else did you do while you were in college?

- Both women stressed the importance in getting involved on campus. Employers look for experience outside of the classroom, more hands-on experience if you will. One of the women said that her employer was impressed with the mere fact that she worked throughout college.

3.) During an interview or a phone interview let your personality shine through. If you make them laugh you know you have gained at least one point. However, do so in a professional manner.

4.) Stay up-to-date with social media. It is constantly changing. Blogging has become a new big thing, just like every other social medium. The women told us we don't necessarily need to have our own blog, but we should be following a few everyday. The blogs we follow don't have to be all professional ... they told us to follow something we love. A common question in interviews now is do you follow blogs? Then a more specific question ... What blogs do you follow? - The ladies told us the audience they reach out to are bloggers, facebookers, ppl. who use twitter. Therefore, if you know how to use these social tools, you will have an advantage in your field.

This information is not new ... it is circulating around on blogs all over this widespread net. However, it is reassuring to hear from someone who was in my boots two years ago, uncertain about where her life would lead her.

How to get an internship ... without previously having an internship

After going on interview after interview for PR, marketing, advertising etc. internships last spring, I kept on getting the same response ... I needed more experience.

However, I didn't understand how I was expected to get more experience without anyone ever giving me a shot. I had worked for a telecommunications company doing marketing for a summer and I thought that was enough. Judging from my success rate, it apparently was not enough. I didn't know what more I could do until one woman I interviewed with gave me a few suggestions. Her suggestions proved to be exactly what I needed, as I just got my first internship doing PR/Marketing for the Wisconsin Union on Campus.

1) Her first suggestion was to get as much marketing and PR experience as possible without getting an internship.

She suggested volunteering for a non-profit, as they would always be grateful for the help. So, I took her advice and searched volunteer opportunities in the Madison area. I really didn't see anything that sparked my interest. I was a little discouraged until I was laying in bed one night (well, technically morning since it was 3 a.m.) and I saw a commercial that touched me deeply for feeding America. It was part of there 1 in 8 campaign ... promoting that one in every eight people goes to bed hungry at night. It then said to contact your local foodbank to see what you could do to help. I immediately googled a foodbank near Madison, and lucky enough stumbled upon Second Harvest Foodbank. I immediately contacted the External Relations Representative, and began volunteering for the organization shortly thereafter.

I have been doing work that you would find both at any non-profit and realistically any PR agency. I have been constantly working to keep the media list used for news releases up-to-date, writing press releases, editing the newsletter and researching ways to branch out with advertising. Overall, a great experience.

2) Her second suggestion was to start following blogs and really tune into social media.

She gave me two names of blogs to follow that I have found fascinating and highly educational.

- Chris Brogan

- Mashable

These two blogs have opened my eyes to the various ways social media can be used, and they have really showed me how to get ahead with technology constantly changing.

These two great suggestions have made a great difference in improving my real-life experience. I feel successful in what I have accomplished thus far on my career, and I hope my pursue of internship will go smoother from here on out.