Category: Miscellaneous

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Not Filling Her Shoes

Coby stands by her sister’s side, Kayla, as she gets married in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico.

Starting my journey at Chico State, I knew it would be difficult. Not only because of the curriculum or being away from home, but because I had to fill the shoes of my sister who graduated 10 years before me in the same department. Following in her footsteps, I decided to join the journalism and public relations field where she once made her mark. Taking all the same classes and internships, I became recognized by many different professors as “Kayla’s Little Sister”. This is troubling and can be discouraging at times because of how hard she worked at everything.

Having this always in the back of my head, I tried to set myself apart and make a name for myself within the field of journalism. By taking alternative courses and declaring a minor in communication design, I tried to differentiate myself from her. I am constantly compared to her, but in the end, I believe this is what made me stronger as a public relations student.

PR is so unique and different, changing every year with new technology and lessons. My sister and I are at different points in our lives and I am still learning techniques as a student. We could never be the same or be expected to produce identical work. In the long run, I am truly thankful for having her as a guide and someone to look up to throughout this experience in my life. We may all have that person who will do better in any aspect of life, but it’s important to prove to yourself that you are capable of whatever gets thrown your way and to not get discouraged.

My sister has given me tips and has shown me examples of what it takes to become a successful PR professional. I find these lessons and tid-bits extremely helpful to avoid being completely blindsided by what is to come.

By: Coby Kooyman

Picture provided by Ana & Jerome Photography

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Bridging the Gap Between Farm and Table

Pistachios in shell

As the daughter of a third generation citrus, pistachio and walnut farmer, I have been exposed to the agriculture industry my entire life. This lifestyle has shaped the way I see and interact with the world. I am often shocked by how removed people are from where their food comes from, especially in my own generation. I try to educate as many people as I can on the importance of the agriculture industry, particularly in California. However, I am only one person so I cannot reach everyone.  

I was practically shocked by how unaware someone my age was on how food gets from the field and into their local grocery store when talking to a classmate about the severity of the drought in California. The area where I am from in the south valley was hit especially hard by the drought. I was telling this person that many of my family’s citrus, walnut and pistachio groves would likely die if we didn’t get water soon. This loss would be financially devastating since tree crops, such as citrus and nuts, take years to mature to peak production age. My classmate then suggested that my family go to Costco and buy flats of water bottles to water the trees.

This may not sound like a crazy idea to many people but let me put it into perspective for you… to water one acre of pistachios, which is about the size of a football field, it takes about three acre-feet of water per year. To clarify an “acre foot” is the amount of water it takes to cover an acre of land in one foot of water. Simple enough? Now think about how an acre-foot of water is equivalent to 325,850 gallons. This means that to water that one little pistachio grove it would require 977,550 gallons of water…or approximately 7,331,625 Costco water bottles!

Some people get upset about how much water nut trees and other commodities require to produce bountiful crops. However, let me ask you this, is feeding your country and your family a waste of water?

I hate to burst the bubbles of some people out there but no, food does not come from the grocery store! I’m not saying that everyone needs to be an expert on farming practices, all I’m asking for is a little consciousness and appreciation for the people who are working to put food on your plate everyday.

With the growth of the PR industry I have hope for the future of agriculture in California. As PR professionals, our goal is to connect companies to their publics. I hope to use my knowledge of public relations and agriculture to help bridge the gap between farm and table in an effort to connect people with their food. So next time you sit down to a meal take a moment to appreciate the farmer who put it in front of you.

By: Abby Peltzer

Photo provided by Pexels.com

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How My Love of Storytelling Evolved Into A Passion for PR

Writing on notebook and books spread on the table

The frost is melting, the flowers are blooming and birds are singing. This can only mean one thing, spring is just around the corner. For many people this means it’s time for picnicking, kite flying and the annual closet cleaning. But for many graduating seniors, like myself, it is time to start thinking about your future and take some time to reflect on the past.

 

Four years ago when I was desperately trying to figure which major was the right one for me. I had already decided that Chico State was the perfect fit for my school but I struggled with committing to one field of study. I did what any stressed and confused seventeen year old would do, I made a list.

 

On this list I wrote down things I was good at, things I liked doing and useful skills I thought could be applied to a career.

 

My most prominent strength has always been writing. I started telling fictional stories before I could even write the alphabet. As a toddler I employed my mom as my own personal scribe to write these stories for me. As I grew older I realized how incredible the power of storytelling truly is. It can create worlds, birth characters and shape the intellectual minds of society.

 

I knew that storytelling needed to be a major part of my future. I was also good at organizing, juggling multiple commitments and rallying groups of people together. But what else was I good at? I could talk to people with ease and loved to help those in need. Could these attributes really be applied to a major? Apparently, yes.

 

To my surprise and delight, I found public relations, a field of study that perfectly combined all of my strengths.

 

PR uses unique methods to produce a story worthy of attention. It helps companies who have something important to say find their voice. After graduating in May, I hope to work for an organization that is dedicated to changing the world for the better. This is the ideal way I wish to exercise my love of helping others and use the skill set I have developed through Tehama Group Communications.

 

It can be difficult to focus on writing when life gets busy. Whether it be school assignments, shifts at work or your pesky Calico kitty using your notebook as a bed, make time to indulge your creative side.

By choosing a major in Journalism with a focus in public relations and a minor in creative writing I have been fortunate enough to be able to combine my education with my passion.

 

I feel lucky to have found a career path that has allowed me to interact with people daily, organize events, brainstorm ideas and of course, tell stories.

By: Alisa Thorsen

Both images provided by Alisa Thorsen

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Flying Feelings

A plane flying through clouds with a sunset in distance.

Can you imagine your body being forced back into its chair, as an invisible weight is pushing you down further and further? You peek out the small, round window as the world around you races by. The passenger next to you shifts to look out the window as well, blocking your view. Forced to just feel, you can sense your body lifting upward. Now reclined in your chair, your head facing toward the heavens, the feeling of total lift gives you pause. Weightless. Free. Flight.

 

I was able to calculate how many times I’ve had this experience at over 150 in the year 2017 alone. Every time I went through the process of flying anywhere, I found that I had new experiences and new skills.  The following is a list of the top four skills I was to gather while traveling:

 

Organization: The amount of organizational skill that goes into packing a single, carry-on suitcase meant to hold a week’s worth of clothes is on par to playing advanced tetris.

 

Time Management: When you’re traveling with a family of five, you need to know how to plan out how long it takes to get to the airport, print tickets, go through security, find the gate and have spare time in case of a mishap somewhere in between. Not to mention the need to be there 30 minutes before the plane takes off, as that is usually the time when the boarding process begins.

 

Patience: Not only can finding the right plane and price be frustrating, but the line for security can take up time and patience, especially when the anxiety of not making it on time to your flight is involved. This is in addition to the patience one sometimes needs when you’re on the plane and may not be next your ideal seat-mate.  

 

Communication: When dealing with airlines and airports you’re not entirely familiar with, it’s always best to be able to thoroughly communicate with signs and employees. The need for directions, services and idle chats can become important in settings where you’re dealing with time-sensitive transportation.  

 

While this is not an exhaustive list of the things I have learned from my travels, it does give indication to my ability to learn, adapt and read my surroundings. These are the fundamental elements that I believe are key to a successful career in public relations.  They are also key to improving myself not just on the planes I fly on, but in everyday situations.

By: Holly Kraeber

Photo provided by: Holly Kraeber

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Break the Block

A blonde woman with her hair in a bun looking down in distress with an open laptop, notebooks and other supplies on a desk with her hand on her forehead

Writer’s block… more like a writer’s nightmare. Try these tricks to break the block.

Staring at a blank page for hours, days or even weeks can be terrible. Your brain hurts and your vision becomes blurry. Every writer’s’ worst nightmare is having writer’s block.  Try these tricks to get past your block.  

  1. Free write  

Write about anything on your mind, even write about how you don’t know what to write.  Write about your day or a dream you had. The goal of a free write is to get your mind thinking about anything and hopefully it will spark an idea.

     1. Take a break

Stop staring at the blank page. It will only make you go crazy and fall deeper into your writer’s block. Go for a walk or watch your favorite show on Netflix. Take a few hours or days off from writing. When you get back to it try to forget how difficult it was before and have an open mind.

     2. Brainstorm

Make a list of ideas. Start with broad topics and narrow it down to more specific ideas. The list should be from your stream of consciousness, so just bullet point what comes to your mind.

     3. Say “see you later” to all the distractions

That means turning off that cell phone and hiding it in a different room. Try to limit all technology unless it’s the laptop or computer you are using to write. Don’t have your favorite television show on in the background while you work. Stay focused on writing all your ideas.

     4. Get your body moving

The worst feeling is being frustrated with yourself for not having any idea on what to write. Go outside and get some fresh air or do your favorite activity to get your body moving. Exercise is a great escape for a lot of people, give it a try and clear your mind.

Lastly, when you finally get back to writing, forget about all the frustrations you had before because it will only hold you back. Best of luck!

By: Angelina Castillo

 

 

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Siblings Build Better Character

Elizabeth Ernster posing with her brother and sister on grass

When I found out I was going to have a younger brother, according to my mom, I did not talk to her for three days. On the other hand, when I found out we were going to adopt my younger sister, I could not contain my excitement.

 

I never thought being an older sister would be one of the most beneficial steps in my career. These youngsters have pushed me to the limit on multiple occasions and made me want to rip my hair out but most importantly, helped me grow into the best version of myself.

 

Here are the top four skills that my siblings have taught me:

 

    • Art of negotiation: With every fight, comes a compromise. My younger siblings have taught me that anything has a price. Yes, doing a week’s worth of my laundry definitely seemed worth it to my brother so he wouldn’t get ratted out for throwing away his report card.
    • Leadership skills: Having two younger siblings has shown me how my behavior can affect them. When being around each other starts to go haywire, I know just what it takes to settle them down before everything escalates.
    • Creative ideas: Babysitting on a Saturday night can get boring. As the oldest sibling, I have had to come up with new ways to entertain the youngins. My personal favorite was having them recreate a zombie apocalypse movie.

 

  • Patience: Having younger siblings is a test to your patience. Helping them with their homework has by far been the biggest challenge for me. With practice, I have learned to be patient when teaching them new skills and that it just takes time.

 

 

All of these skills have helped me become a better public relations professional. To be in this industry, it takes a lot of patience, communication and creativity to thrive. Having 21 years as an older sibling under my belt should be enough experience for my resume.

 

By Elizabeth Ernster

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Moving Media

A strip of camera film against a blue background, gives the illusion that the film is moving, on the film there are three pictures of sunsets are are orange

With the ever rising popularity of social media, more advertisers and designers are embracing the capabilities and testing the limitations of digital media. These include features like sound, sequencing and interactivity, which can all be used to engage the audience on a different level. In the past, advertisers were dependent on static print pieces that their audience may encounter while flipping through a magazine or walking past a bus stop. Now, while scrolling through one’s Facebook feed, it’s nearly impossible to ignore the busy squares of color and music that make up advertising on social media.

There are many benefits from digital media such as the ability to convey concepts through time with things like animated posters or slideshows. This medium allows the creator to express an idea rather than simply imply it. Designers Josh Schaub and Eric Brechbuhl created an animated poster (below) showing the tourism aspect of traveling to Lucerne, Switzerland. While they could have created a static poster which implies the busy street, they instead animated the buses, creating a scene of choreographed chaos.

While eye catching and conceptually complex, moving media does have some drawbacks. If the content is on a moving object like a bus, then the animated media won’t have an opportunity to convey the complete message in the time available and would be less functional than a static message. Another drawback could be that the file size of moving media tends to be larger than that of static, which can cause complications when trying to be used on a mobile platform. This is because mobile platforms have more limited internet download capabilities than a desktop computer.

As the number of media environments continues to grow to include spaces like virtual and mixed reality, so will the demand for motion graphics and other forms of moving media. As we move forward, designers will develop and test new styles and techniques and begin to form the foundation for the future of media interactions.

By Giovanni Lopez-Quezada

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Ad Campaigns Promote Body Positivity

A woman with tattoos and her hair in a pony tail kissing her boxing gloves

Companies are launching dynamic PR campaigns designed to motivate women to achieve greatness, whether it is being comfortable with their bodies or challenging gender stereotypes. Here are four ad campaigns that have positively impacted women of all ages:

 

  • Aerie launched Real in spring 2014, an ad campaign that refrained from retouching photographs of their models. Studies show that unrealistic, airbrushed representations of women’s bodies are negatively impacting women’s body image. This campaign was designed to show that diverse types of bodies are beautiful and change the perception that beautiful bodies are thin bodies. In addition to building young women’s self-esteem, it also boosted their sales 20 percent the first year alone.

 

  • The 2014 #LikeAGirl campaign by Always worked to challenge gender stereotypes placed upon young girls. Research shows that as young girls reach puberty, their self-esteem plummets. The campaign battled this issue by highlighting photos of strong, confident girls, in an effort to reframe girls unrealistic ideas about the “ideal body.”  This campaign is generating long-term brand loyalty by focusing on young girls who can identify with the campaigns messages and will need Always products for years to come.  

  • Barbie launched a campaign called Imagine the Possibilities, intended to show young girls that they can achieve anything. This video showed five girls playing with Barbies that represented what careers they wanted to pursue when they got older. As the video goes on, you see these girls become a veterinarian, professor, paleontologist and CEO.

 

  • Under Armour launched a global campaign called I Will What I Want that depicted photographs of ambitious women achieving their goals. This campaign celebrated bold women who persevered through  adversity and followed their dreams, regardless of backlash from others. With this global ad campaign, Under Armour gained a 42 percent increase of traffic onto their website.

 

Ad campaigns like these are improving women’s perceptions about their bodies. By showing diverse types of bodies, with stretch marks and freckles, girls are realizing that it is okay not to fit into the mold that society has plastered across the media.

 

With widening how they represent women in the media, these companies have gained more traffic and sales from the “normal” type of woman.

By Elizabeth Ernster

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Incorporating My Passion for Food into My Future

A photo of an assortment of fruit and other food on a plate with a bottled drink to accompany it

With graduation six months away, my mind is being pulled in so many different directions of where I could see myself. On one end, I see myself living the glamorous city life in San Francisco. On the other end I see myself moving across the country to North Carolina living a humble life on the lake with extended family members.

Both these situations are completely different, but I want to be immersed in something I am passionate about while utilizing the skills I learned in Tehama Group Communications.

I have been surrounded by cooking and baking my whole life. My dad has always had a passion for cooking. After his career as a golf pro ended he decided to start a catering business, Fuget About It Catering, out of our tiny suburban home kitchen.

Since then it has developed into an incredible business that spread throughout our community by word of mouth. He now has a commercial kitchen and multiple catering jobs a day to prove his success. We started working for him right away as a way to make some quick cash but it soon turned into an amazing learning experience in the kitchen. Cooking is a means to express my creativity and come up with meals using ingredients I would have not thought would be good together.

So, how do I incorporate these passions into my future?

According to an article in Economy Watch, “the food industry comprises a complex network of activities pertaining to the supply, consumption, and catering of food products and services across the world.” This includes the marketing, distribution and advertising of products. That’s where I am most interested within the food industry.

Human’s basic needs will always include food and water therefore the food industry has nothing but room for growth and a profitable future. The food industry is a trillion dollar industry with is wide variety of networks.

O’Dwyer’s released a ranking of the top food and beverage public relations firms and amongst the top three are Edelman ($116,626,00),  Hunter PR ($16,500,000) and APCO Worldwide ($16,283,000). These are just three of a list of 48 agencies that work with the food and beverage industry. These growing numbers prove to me that I can work to incorporate my passion for food with my personal professional goals.

So, what’s next?

Network, network, network! That is the number one word I hear when I do site visits and it’s the way I plan to weasel my way into employers minds. I hope to stand out within these lucrative companies by incorporating my passion for food into my application process and researching their projects that involve food in some way.

Hopefully, in ten years when I am looking through old files I read this blog and have a smile on my face. The smile will be a result of incorporating my professional goals with my passions for cooking and baking.

By: Miranda Carpenello

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The Art of Self-Editing

An open notebook with an empty page with a pencil and glasses on it, there is also a magnifying glass, camera and pottos all laid on a map

If you want your editor to love you, turn in clean copy. It is as simple as that. Not only will you win over your editor and they will possibly buy you lunch, but it makes both you and your editor’s lives easier.

Think about it.

The cleaner the copy you turn in as a writer, the less changes you have to make later on. It also allows your editor to turn your copy around quicker. This means you avoid a grumpy, sleep deprived editor at your Monday morning meetings. And everyone wins when the case of the “Mon-daze” is avoided.

So, here are my five tips on how to write clean copy and earn a free lunch from your beloved editor:

  1. Take a Step Back
    After you have finished a new piece of writing, leave it for a few hours before making your first round of edits. This allows you to become unfamiliar with your piece allowing you to read it objectively.
  2. Read Your Writing Forward, Backward and Sideways
    Read your writing over and over again. You obviously can’t read your work sideways but reading it backward disrupts the narrative flow, which helps you catch mistakes you’d normally skim over. Read your writing starting with the last paragraph, working back up to the beginning.
  3. Read it Out LoudScream it if you want but just make sure to not get a noise complaint. Reading your work out loud allows you to keep your brain from automatically correcting mistakes.
  4. Have a Colleague Look it OverThe more eyes on a piece before it reaches your editor, the better. If you have people willing to read your work, take them up on it. There is a good chance that they will catch mistakes that you have been subconsciously skimming over.
  5. PENCIL TAP
    Take the tip of that writing utensil that is going out of style and tap on every single word. This helps slow your brain down so you don’t fill in the blanks when you edit your work. It makes your brain focus on each individual word rather than your brain trying to predict the rest of the sentence. If you follow these five tips, you will be enjoying your favorite pizza place or preferred coffee joint in no time. And all of it will be at the expense of a happy editor.Written by: Dylan Wakefield