tehamagroup – Page 27 – Tehama Group Communications

September 29, 2015March 15, 2017

Five Ways to Conserve Water During a Drought

California’s drought deficiency has had me in a steady state of anxiety for well over a year now, and things aren’t looking any better. Growing up in Northern California I have always been able to see our water sources first-hand. I’d see water flowing downriver driving up to South Lake Tahoe and when I’m enjoying boating on Folsom Lake. Now, all I see on trips to the lake is stagnant water with ever decreasing levels. Some people think the situation is helpless, but there are always ways to conserve water.

Turn off the water when you brush your teeth

It seems obvious, but I see so many people run the water while they aren’t even using it! It drives me crazy. When brushing your teeth, rinse the toothbrush, turn off the water, dab the paste and start brushing. Only turn the water back on when it’s time to rinse again. Simple right? Apparently not enough people think to do it, so check out this short tutorial by Thames Water for more insight. The same goes for doing dishes, turn off the faucet in between scrubbing plates and it can save gallons of water.

If it’s brown flush it down, if it’s yellow let it mellow

I’m sure most people know exactly what I’m referring to, but I’ll go ahead and elaborate. Try not to flush the toilet if you don’t have to. Did you know that every time you flush a toilet it uses anywhere from 1.6 to 7 gallons of water depending on the model of the toilet? So unless you need to drop the kids off at the pool, try to avoid flushing.

Leave the ‘Wash Me!’ sign on your car

I love my car and it kills me to see it covered in dust, leaves and bird poop. But it hurts even more to use water to wash something that doesn’t really need it. There are conservative ways to wash a car, for example, fill a bucket up with soapy water, hose it down, scrub and rinse. But this is only necessary when your car is looking desperate for a wash.

Create a song queue for your showers

After a long day, a nice relaxing shower can be just the thing you need. But keep it to a minimum. Dilly dallying in the shower is a huge waste of water – get in, wash up, get out. I like to pick out two songs that run for a maximum of 10 minutes. That way when those songs are over, I know it’s time to turn the shower off and hop out.

It might seem like a lot of inconvenient sacrifices, but when everyone does their part it truly makes a difference. The WREC saves over 19,000 gallons of water a month by stopping the distribution of towels. Desperate times call for desperate measures and right now California is definitely in a time of desperation.

By Julianna “Jane” Eveland, Assistant Account Executive

September 24, 2015March 15, 2017

Making the Transition from an Assistant to A Leader

In life, we are always trying to achieve something greater. It may be a personal goal, or something that we are trying to accomplish in the professional world. Last semester I had the opportunity of being the PR assistant as well as an assistant account executive for Tehama Group Communications. This semester, I accomplished one of my personal and professional goals of becoming a leader at TGC. I was given the opportunity of becoming the organization’s PR director and an assistant account executive for the fall 2015 team. The transition of becoming a leader has been exciting and overwhelming, but all around a great experience.

I would like to share some tips on how to make the transition from being an assistant and stepping into the role of a leader a little bit easier.

1. Communication

I feel that effective communication within your team is one of the greatest qualities a good leader can possess. When you are managing a group, big or small, you want to make sure that there is an open two-way flow of communication. You want your team to know that they have a voice and feel as though they are being heard. Being able to interact with them will allow meetings to run smoothly and for everyone to stay on the same page. The best communicators are in turn the best listeners, and I find both of those qualities to be very important in being an excellent leader. It is crucial that you listen to your team’s advice, because they tend to have insight on things you may not have been aware of and their knowledge can be extremely valuable.

2. Set Goals

Setting goals is a major priority. Goals should be realistic and under a set timeline. Create a plan to accomplish each one. A goal can easily be overlooked or forgotten about if you don’t write it down and make it clear to everyone involved. When you visually see an objective in front of you, it will always be on your mind and you’ll work harder to reach it. In the beginning, some goals may seem very difficult to achieve. However, if you persistently work together, you’ll be surprised at the amazing things that can be accomplished.

3. Delegation of Tasks

Delegating tasks has been one of the most difficult transitions I have had to step into in a leadership role. It’s never fun being the person telling people what to do, but it needs to be done. I am the kind of person that doesn’t like to ask for help, so have found myself trying to undertake too many tasks alone. This semester, I’ve had to ask my teammates for more help than ever. I’ve found that ultimately, people are more willing to contribute their time than you’d think. When its time to delegate tasks, don’t be afraid to ask for support. That’s what your team is there for, and it will help get things accomplished much more efficiently.

4. Share Your Knowledge

Sharing your knowledge is one of the most important tips I can give on stepping into a leadership role. Be the figure your team feels they can ask questions and learn from. I know exactly what all of the new members of TGC are going through, because I was once in the same position. It wasn’t until I spoke up and asked questions that I found how helpful the leaders around me could be. There is an abundance of information that I have learned from my colleagues and it’s important to share that intelligence with others. I have learned that when you share your knowledge, others are more willing to share their own with you. This is an opportunity as a leader to learn more about your team and unearth everything they can bring to the table.

These are just a few of the things I have learned as I made the transition from an assistant to a leader this semester. I hope that you find them as valuable as I do.

By Travis Martin, Public Relations Director

September 22, 2015March 15, 2017

Learning Ethics: Transparency via Internships

As a public relations professional, abiding by a certain code of ethics is extremely important. The Public Relations Society of America has been celebrating “Ethics Awareness Month” throughout September, and their theme this year is “Ethics Every Day.” Day in and day out, PR professionals are faced with ethical dilemmas that require them to constantly be on their toes. Most of the time, PR professionals are working for multiple clients, so they need to be aware of any conflicts of interest that may occur.

When I was coming up with ideas for this blog post, I was confronted with my first ethical dilemma that I have experienced within my time at Tehama Group Communications.

To provide some background, I work for a company called EPIC Productions. Our company promotes various electronic music shows in Chico and the Bay Area. My role is to hand out fliers, hang up posters, promote the show via social media, and overall do anything I can to get people to attend the show.

Now here is where my situation arose. I love music and writing about music, so I thought I would write a blog post reviewing an electronic music show sponsored by EPIC Productions at the Senator Theatre this past weekend. I was going to cover everything from how the show itself went, to how PR was used to promote it. However, because I work for both EPIC Productions and TGC, there was potential to create a conflict of interest.

Essentially, I would be promoting one of the companies I work for via the other. From both a PR professional and journalist’s standpoint, this does not go over well in the eyes of the public. I know for a fact that I would have written a good review about the show because I would never want to make EPIC Productions look bad. Even if something went wrong, I probably would have found a way to turn it into a positive. The post would have been extremely biased, and that looks bad for both of the companies I work for, as well as myself. Because of this, I chose what was best for both companies and was inspired to write this blog instead.

From this experience, I learned that no matter how small something may seem, it could potentially blow up into something much larger. I was simply going to write about something I loved, and didn’t think anything of it. I could have damaged the reputation of both EPIC Productions and TGC with one simple blog post. As a board member of PRSA’s Board of Ethics and Professional Standards once said “If you don’t live and breathe ethics in your public relations career on a daily basis, you may overlook inauspicious ethical missteps that can later breed disaster.”

By Shane Smith, General Manager

May 4, 2015March 15, 2017

A look inside Tehama Group Communications

Take a look inside Tehama Group Communications for the spring 2015 semester!

https://storify.com/travismartin12/a-semesters-look-inside-tehama-group-communication

April 29, 2015March 15, 2017

My Top 5 Fashion PR Agencies

To most people, choosing a career path has taken all of college and beyond to decide, but that was never the case for me. For as long as I can remember I have always had a true “passion for fashion” and still today, I know that I want to have a career in the fashion industry. This industry fascinates me because it is constantly changing and there is always something new and exciting going on.

Being three short weeks away from graduation, the reality of my future and the career that I will embark on is right in front of me. I feel lucky to be leaving college with a degree in journalism with a focus in public relations that I can apply in the industry that has always been my dream. Although it may take some time for me to get my foot in the door in this fast paced, ever-changing industry, I am confident that I will be doing something that I love. There are many fashion PR agencies that I aspire to work for, but I wanted to showcase my choice for the top five in the industry for other aspiring fashion PR pros.

Mullens Public Relations

San Francisco based boutique public relations agency
Specializes in fashion, lifestyle and design
Founded by Jessica Mullens Engelman in 2000
Services include: strategic planning, special events, social media solutions and influencer marketing
Some clients include: Burberry, ELLE, Donna Karan, J.Crew and Levi’s

Mannfolk Public Reltaions

Offices in Los Angeles and New York
Specializes in fashion, lifestyle, beauty and social media
Delivers integrated communication campaigns designed specifically for the client
Services include: brand image development, creative direction and copywriting, media representation, press liaison and product integration, special events, social media support, hollywood showroom, account management, advertising and marketing
Some clients include: American Apparel, Allen Edwards and Lyla Jarn

Factory PR

Offices in Los Angeles and New York
Specializes in Fashion, Lifestyle and Celebrity communications agency
Specializes in launching and repositioning brands, tailored to each client
Services include: public relations, events, creative, digital and marketing
Some clients include: Steve Madden, Sam Edelman, Macy’s and BillaBong

Big Picture PR

Offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York
A boutique consumer PR and social media agency focused on fashion, lifestyle, design, consumer technology and health brands
They are a start-up agency whose approach is about storytelling
Services include: product placement, media relations outreach, social media strategies, digital PR, events, launch strategies, brand liaison and many more!
Some clients include: Conde Nast, Lucky Magazine, Guess and GQ Magazine

Now and Zen PR

Offices in New York and Los Angeles
A boutique marketing communications agency focused on fashion, lifestyle and celebrities
They develop and manage multi-platform strategies to build and expand brand awareness to increase sales for clients
Services include: celebrity adoption, product placement on tv and film, media relations and social media marketing
Some clients include: 7 for all Mankind, Express, Nautica and Desigual

by Rebekah Miller, assistant account executive

April 24, 2015March 15, 2017

Study Abroad and Job Outlook – How to leverage your study abroad experience in an interview to land the position

Anyone who studied abroad knows the experience is truly life-changing. Living and studying abroad helps you develop and test your abilities on the deepest level.

Although studying abroad is an incredible life experience, very few U.S. college students are able to make the trip. Only 1 percent of U.S. students studied abroad during the 2012 to 2013 academic year. This is understandable, considering the potential cost and time commitment of studying abroad.

Since so few students have the opportunity to study abroad, this experience can be a great resume booster or an additional area to draw upon when answering interview questions.

Resume Essentials
Although study abroad experience makes you more marketable in the U.S., you must communicate the experience on paper as it pertains to a job you want.

Some things to highlight on your resume about your study abroad experience include:

Language skills. It’s one thing to have studied a language for several years, and another to have actually lived in a country that speaks the language. Even if you went to another English-speaking country, familiarity with different sayings or spellings can be helpful when marketing yourself.
Global work/internship/volunteer experience. There is a common misconception that studying abroad is actually partying abroad. It is easiest to battle this stigma by showing that you have actual work or volunteer experience during your time abroad. Additionally, this is a good way to show that you are passionate about getting involved and immersing yourself in the local culture.
Blogging experience. Study abroad blogs are great for multiple reasons. Not only do you have the chance to chronicle your experiences and growth, but a blog is the perfect opportunity to show your personality to potential employers. Including your blog on your resume allows employers to get to know your personality and assess your writing skills.

Interview Success
Making yourself look good on paper and then delivering on that in an interview are two very different skillsets. After you land an interview, it is important to review key points you would like to emphasize about yourself as an applicant.

This is another great opportunity to incorporate your study abroad experience, and expand on points you may or may not have included in your resume.
In particular, try to:

Emphasize your adaptability. It is not easy to move across the globe and adjust to a completely different culture. It is important to mention how you were able to adjust to the changing environment and work with a diverse range of new people..
Connect your experience with the company. Many companies operate internationally. With appropriate background research on the company you are interviewing with, you can find potential ways to connect your study abroad location with one of the company’s locations or clients. Someone interviewing you may even have travelled to that same location, and that is an easy way to build a lasting bond.
Focus on your accomplishments. Studying abroad is full of challenges, and interviewers love to hear that candidates are able to overcome problems. When possible, turn a struggle into an accomplishment to convey your perseverance.

Infographic Credit: Course Hero

by Alek Irvin, account executive

April 22, 2015March 15, 2017

5 tips for getting started with social media analytics

Examining social media analytics can be an intimidating task for anyone who first attempts to look over them. It’s almost like navigating through a vast, dark forest. However it’s important to understand how to interpret and use data to help get a grasp on how to better communicate and satisfy your publics.

To help you navigate through the world here are my five tips for getting started with social media analytics.

Establish Goal

Before you can begin looking at any analytics, you need to establish goals for your social media campaign. In other words, what are you looking to achieve through social media?

A goal can be as simple as increasing brand awareness or increasing visitors to your website. Having a clear goal will help you get started on understanding which social media metrics are important to your overall goal.

Establish a potential strategy

Brainstorm a potential social media strategy that will help you achieve your goal. I use the word ‘potential’ because after looking through your analytics you might find information that could inspire a different, or improved, strategy.

Your initial strategy will help you pinpoint what metrics you need to measure or examine. One common strategy is to create a posting schedule that follows a consistent posting pattern. To create an effective posting schedule you need to examine the number of impressions and reach your posts are receiving and what days seem to be the most effective.

Research analytic tools

Social media platforms all have numerous analytical tools you can use, however, not all tools are built the same. Facebook and Twitter offer their own free social media analytics tools that present great information. But for other social media platforms you will have to rely on third party apps and websites, that might cost money, to gather analytics.

It’s important to research these tools and make sure they offer the information you will need to carry out your strategy.

Gather and organize data

Once you have chosen which tool to use and have the information in front of you, it’s time to organize this information based on the metrics and measures that will help you achieve your goal and carry out your strategy. I highly recommend organizing or exporting your data into Excel spreadsheets.

Conclude and rethink strategy

After looking over your data, write up a report of key findings and things you didn’t expect to find. Also, reevaluate your initial strategy and see if you can improve with your new set of data or maybe even create a different strategy.

I hope my five tips have offered you direction on your social media analytics examining path. This can be a timely and intimidating task, but if you get through it, you will find great information that will help your overall communication plan.

by Alan Cuevas, assistant account executive

April 17, 2015March 15, 2017

Public Speaking: It’s not that scary

It is often said that people fear public speaking more than they fear death, and honestly who can blame them? Fear of public speaking is real and its technical term is Glossophobia.

I am lucky. Public speaking has never scared me, or made me nervous, and I hope it never will. This could be credited to years of theater as a child, or just sheer luck.

I know multiple people who are terrified to speak in front of an audience, no matter how small, and picturing the crowd in their underwear doesn’t seem to help.Everyone has tips and tricks that work best for them when public speaking. Here are a few tips I find helpful:

Be confident:

Regardless of how terrified you are to get up and speak, confidence will outshine any fear that you have. Think the audience is going to notice you’re nervous? They’ll notice your confidence and knowledge of the topic first and nerves won’t even cross their minds.

Tell yourself that everything is going to be fine:

This is similar to confidence. Tell yourself that you are knowledgeable about the topic at hand. If you tell yourself that you are going to give a great speech or presentation, you will.

Just start:

Starting is the hardest part. In theater I would sit backstage with my stomach in knots before going onstage, but as soon as the bright theater lights hit me in the face, every bit of nerves would leave my body. Once you start speaking, it’s hard to concentrate on nerves as the task at hand should require all of your energy.

For more suggestions, Forbes has a great list of tips that, although unconventional, are super effective in overcoming fears of public speaking.

There are endless amounts of articles online with tricks to help with public speaking. Public speaking can be very rewarding and once you’ve mustered up the courage, you’ll be proud that you did it!

by Juliet Reingold, editor and assistant account executive

April 15, 2015March 15, 2017

5 common misconceptions about PR

As an aspiring public relations professional working in a student-owned PR agency for a year, I have received several questions from people such as “Is PR like advertising? Marketing?” or “So, do you meet celebrities a lot?” I don’t know where people get these ideas, but I am here to set the record straight. In reality, I spend most of my time at the office writing, pitching, managing social media, building websites, and editing photos behind the computer.

According to PR Daily, there are 10 common misconceptions about PR. The following are my top five myths about public relations.

PR and advertising are identical.

While there are definitely crossovers between PR and advertising, they are not the same thing. Advertising is focused on consumers while public relations focuses on building relationships with publics. Take a look at the following infographic or read this article for more differences between PR and advertising.

PR pros distort the truth.

People often think PR pros spin information toward the sunny side of things. However, I’ve learned that one of the most important things to remember while working in the PR field is “Don’t lie and be honest.” PR crises happen when a company starts to lie and to cover up the truth.PR pros are dedicated to telling the truth and building trust with clients and their publics.

PR pros only care about media placement.

People often say PR is all about writing press releases. While writing and media coverage are still a huge part of public relations, PR pros nowadays use plenty of platforms such as social media, blogging, content marketing and search engine optimization (SEO) for storytelling.

PR pros work 9-to-5 and spend most of that time at parties.

When you see PR pros on TV shows or movies, they spend quite a lot of time partying, shopping and drinking. But in reality most practitioners go in early and go home late at the end of day in order to complete tons of deadlines and meetings. PR is a lot of hard work that can’t be done at parties.

PR pros get a lot of attention

I think this misconception is related to budding PR practitioners. Don’t get too excited about media coverage. What is being covered by the media is not you, but your clients. If you like the idea of helping your clients’ message be heard,which will get your clients paid and continue the working relationship you have with them, you’re fit to be in PR. It’s not about being seen; it’s about getting others seen.

by Jihyun Shin, online communications director

April 10, 2015March 16, 2017

Five Essential Things You’ll Need at a Music Festival

If you ask me why my bank account is so low, it is probably because all my money is spent on music festivals. Ever since I came to college, I have been trying my best to attend all the festivals I possibly can on the West Coast. My festival map starts in Southern California for HARD Summer and Beyond Wonderland, and ends all the way up in Washington for Paradiso. My next goal is to go to a festival somewhere on the East Coast, or even one outside of the U.S.

No matter the type of festival, there are five things I believe are essential items that will make your experience that much better.

1. Water

One of the most important things when attending a festival is to stay hydrated. While not many festivals allow you to bring your own water bottle in, most allow Camelbaks and have water refill stations inside. This way, even if you do not own a Camelbak, you can purchase a water bottle inside and go back to the refill station for more.

2.Comfortable shoes

I cannot stress how important comfortable shoes are at a festival. You are most likely going to be on your feet anywhere between six and 12 hours dancing and walking from stage to stage. My choice of shoes are my high-top Vans, they give me plenty of ankle support and are lightweight, making them easy to wear throughout the day.

3. Weather appropriate clothes

Wearing weather appropriate clothes is an absolute must. I’ve attended festivals with varying temperatures, from 100 degrees at HARD Summer in LA, to 5 degrees, at SnowGlobe in South Lake Tahoe. It is important to wear weather appropriate attire because it will not only make you more comfortable, but also makes sure you won’t be risking your health.

4. Backpack/fanny pack/drawstring bag

When you are running around a festival, keeping track of your phone, wallet, keys, ID and anything else you brought can be a hassle. Carrying all that in your pockets often leads to it all falling out, so you need something that is going to keep it all together. A backpack, fanny pack or a drawstring bag works perfectly. Take note that some festivals don’t allow large backpacks like the one shown in the picture, so a smaller option is always safest.

5. Cash

Last, but not least, make sure to bring cash. Cash is always great to have on you in case of emergencies. Festivals will usually have food vendors and always sell water, so in case you are in need of some extra energy you can go buy something. Cash is also great to buy merchandise or any other cool things for sale at the festival.

I hope you take my suggestions into account the next time you attend a festival. They will make your life that much easier. If you want to find me at an upcoming festival, catch me at Northern Nights in July!

by Shane Smith, account executive