Last weekend I went to Podcamp Ohio, a new media unconference. I like the idea of an unconference and enjoyed the Ragan Unconference I attended last May. This unconference was structured quite differently than the Ragan one.

This unconference was not targeted towards professional communicators. There were podcasters, bloggers, marketers, event planners and a variety of other people.

Despite this, I still learned quite a bit about marketing and SEO. I also picked up a little about Twitter tools, event planning and LinkedIn. At one session, Chris Brogan was even brought up on Skype.

It would be great to see a PodCamp in Central Michigan sometime. Better yet, I would love to see a public relations unconference. Maybe we could call it PRoCamp?

Rachel M. Esterline works as an account executive for Central Michigan Life, the nationally award-winning school newspaper at Central Michigan University. She is as an account executive for PR Central, CMU’s student-run public relations firm and as a public relations executive with the Student Government Association. Additionally, Rachel serves on the executive board of the Public Relations Student Society of America at CMU and has completed a seven-month internship with her university’s public relations and marketing department. Rachel will graduate in May 2010 with a degree in public relations with minors in journalism and communication.

There’s one thing I never was told about in the classroom: In PR, you do a lot of research. I would estimate that currently 80 percent of my time is spent on research. It seems that every single thing I do require some amount of research, whether I am writing a pitch, working on a social media project or creating a report.

Here are four tips to help with research:

1. Use a variety of different keywords.
2. Consider searching on different search engines for blogs, including Technorati, Ice Rocket and Google Blogs.
3. If you want to know what people are talking about, search on Twitter. People will be sharing links and information related to the subject.
4. Try searching on delicious. A real person bookmarked the links, so it might give you different results. (This is a tip Lara Kretler gave me.)

What are your tips for doing research?

Rachel M. Esterline works as an account executive for Central Michigan Life, the nationally award-winning school newspaper at Central Michigan University. She is as an account executive for PR Central, CMU’s student-run public relations firm and as a public relations executive with the Student Government Association. Additionally, Rachel serves on the executive board of the Public Relations Student Society of America at CMU and has completed a seven-month internship with her university’s public relations and marketing department. Rachel will graduate in May 2010 with a degree in public relations with minors in journalism and communication.

My recent post about wearing jeans brought up another thought related to perceptions and professionalism: tattoos and piercings.

Although I don’t have any tattoos and only have pierced ears, which never wear earrings since I seem to be allergic to most, I am still curious about how professionals and interns feel about this.

There are many inked professionals who keep their tattoos hidden. But what if you have it in an open area–like your neck, hand or even your foot? Are you concerned about how employers and coworkers might perceive you?

With piercings, what would an employer think about a nose ring? Or a tongue piercing? Or even an eyebrow piercing?

Although I have my own opinions, I’m more interested in hearing what you think.

Are tattoos and body piercings acceptatble in the public relations field? Have you ever not gotten a job because of your visible tattoo or piercing? If you are a professional, how do you think having a visible tattoo or piercing might affect potential interns or employees in your workplace?

Rachel M. Esterline works as an account executive for Central Michigan Life, the nationally award-winning school newspaper at Central Michigan University. She is as an account executive for PR Central, CMU’s student-run public relations firm and as a public relations executive with the Student Government Association. Additionally, Rachel serves on the executive board of the Public Relations Student Society of America at CMU and has completed a seven-month internship with her university’s public relations and marketing department. Rachel will graduate in May 2010 with a degree in public relations with minors in journalism and communication.

I started my internship at Fahlgren Mortine today. I learned how to use tools like Cision and Factiva. I also edited a media list and worked on researching editorials for a client. First days can be intimidating, so here are a few tips for your first day at a new internship. Nick Lucido also has a few reminders.

1. Be proactive about working from day one. If you’re not doing anything, review information about your clients, look through the manual or ask if there is anything you can do.

2. If you’re in a new city (or state, like I am), leave early in case you get lost or stuck in traffic. I actually drove to work before my first day so I would know the route and left very early in the morning to avoid the rush.

3. Ask questions. They expect that you won’t know what you’re doing. It is better to get things straight than to ask about simple things a month later.

4. Bring necessary information for HR. Sometimes they will need a copy of your social security card or your driver’s license.

5. Be excited. You’re an intern! You are one step closer to being a professional.

Rachel M. Esterline works as an account executive for Central Michigan Life, the nationally award-winning school newspaper at Central Michigan University. She is as an account executive for PR Central, CMU’s student-run public relations firm and as a public relations executive with the Student Government Association. Additionally, Rachel serves on the executive board of the Public Relations Student Society of America at CMU and has completed a seven-month internship with her university’s public relations and marketing department. Rachel will graduate in May 2010 with a degree in public relations with minors in journalism and communication.

Constructive criticism can help you develop something good into something great.

Feel free to tell me, “You’re doing it all wrong!” Then, I can fix it.

But, how can you give and receive criticism without it being taken the wrong way? It’s not always easy.

A friend recently gave me a piece of criticism. After mulling it over, I could see her angle. I also could see several other angles coming into play.

I’ve been more aware of what I’ve been doing lately because of her criticism (which could be seen more as a piece of advice). PickTheBrain had a lot of great advice on taking criticism. I think one of the best points made was to ask what you can do better.

You can help others with constructive criticism.

I recently critiqued a resume and writing sample for a PRSSA member at another chapter. I enjoy helping others when I can. PickTheBrain also has advice on the art of giving criticism.

The best thing you can do when giving criticism is tell the person exactly how they can improve.

Don’t say: “You need to rework your resume.”
Say: “Your bullet points need work. I would suggest developing them into measurable accomplishments rather than just job duties.”

Don’t say: “This press release needs work.”
Say: “I think it would be better if you focused your lead on this aspect. Then lead into the next paragraph with more information.”

So don’t tell me I’m doing things wrong. Instead, tell me how I can improve.

Rachel M. Esterline works as an account executive for Central Michigan Life, the nationally award-winning school newspaper at Central Michigan University. She is as an account executive for PR Central, CMU’s student-run public relations firm and as a public relations executive with the Student Government Association. Additionally, Rachel serves on the executive board of the Public Relations Student Society of America at CMU and has completed a seven-month internship with her university’s public relations and marketing department. Rachel will graduate in May 2010 with a degree in public relations with minors in journalism and communication.

Jacob Share on the Personal Branding Blog shared some great tips on using avatars for branding.

First of all, if you don’t have an avatar, get one! I went to http://en.gravatar.com/ to get one for my blog posts.

These are really important for branding yourself. You can use them for your Twitter, your social networks (like Brazen Careerist) and they also show up when you reply to blog posts.

I recently edited a photo to be use as my avatar. It comes out fairly recognizable even as a small image. The extremely small image is hard to see well, but you would recognize it if you had seen it around before. 

One thing I did with this avatar was completely edited out the background. This causes all of the focus to be on me. Since my hair was a shade different during the summer when the picture was taken, I changed the picture to black and white. I think back and white is very classy looking.

Your picture should portray how you want to be perceived. I wanted to look professional, but not still and unhappy like some professional pictures I have seen.

I created this avatar in a basic photo program called PhotoDraw. It was quick and easy and helps create a consistent look for my personal brand.

Rachel M. Esterline works as an account executive for Central Michigan Life, the nationally award-winning school newspaper at Central Michigan University. She is as an account executive for PR Central, CMU’s student-run public relations firm and as a public relations executive with the Student Government Association. Additionally, Rachel serves on the executive board of the Public Relations Student Society of America at CMU and has completed a seven-month internship with her university’s public relations and marketing department. Rachel will graduate in May 2010 with a degree in public relations with minors in journalism and communication.

Nick Lucido’s post about being a career strategist really resonated with me. I knew I wanted to go into PR before I graduated from high school. At the beginning of my freshman year, I created a color-coordinated spreadsheet mapping out the next four years of my life. You might call me a pre-career strategist.

I recorded each class I needed for my PR major and for my journalism and communication minors.

Reviewing all of the requirements to graduate and my course of study, I was able to make at least nine classes double-count and one class triple-count.

This academic map has kept me on track for graduation and has saved me a lot of money in tuition. During the semesters I could only afford twelve credit hours, I was able to stay relaxed knowing I would still graduate within four years.

I review this document every semester to rearrange courses and to see how I am progressing. I have four other spreadsheets to track more specific aspects: General Education Requirements, PR Major, Journalism Minor, Communication Minor.

How have you kept yourself on track in college and your career?

Rachel M. Esterline works as an account executive for Central Michigan Life, the nationally award-winning school newspaper at Central Michigan University. She is as an account executive for PR Central, CMU’s student-run public relations firm and as a public relations executive with the Student Government Association. Additionally, Rachel serves on the executive board of the Public Relations Student Society of America at CMU and has completed a seven-month internship with her university’s public relations and marketing department. Rachel will graduate in May 2010 with a degree in public relations with minors in journalism and communication.