Balancing Personal and Professional
Posted by Kristin in Life, Social Media on May 10, 2010
The concept of defining one’s identity online has been discussed endlessly. I’ve worked to develop my professional persona through Twitter and lately, my website. However, as I enter a new stage in my personal life, I feel the need to document and ultimately share these experiences with friends, family and anyone who is interested.
However, I fully acknowledge that my professional contacts and readers of my website (all seven of you, hello!) may not want to read about my struggles with wedding vendors, stresses of budgeting and ideas for cheap dates for poor newlyweds. So I decided I would be one of the many to venture into the world of multiple blogs. Yikes.
This blog will continue to allow me the freedom of posting about a variety of topics – ranging from first date etiquette (thank you Twitter!) and book reviews to PR tactics and mishandled crises. Everything directly related to my personal life, and my transition from single to engaged, and later to becoming a wife (gulp) will be housed on my new site.
As I work to build up content and adjust to maintaining two separate sites, I will be a contributing columnist on Just Judy Judy Judy. Thanks, in part, to a chat with Judy, I feel comfortable and am ready to be the owner of two separate identities online. Eventually, I will be moving to a brand spankin’ new website, but until then check me out at Little Miss Bride to Be.
Here’s the question: How do you balance your personal life with your professional image online? Do you use two separate identities? Or, do you take the opportunity to showcase you as a completely balanced person?
Need-to-knows: Eastern Europe
I just returned from an amazing vacation in Europe, where my family and I ventured to Berlin and Prague. I plan on posting my photos to my Flickr account and tossing up at least one additional blog post, but here is my quick recap of Prague (and a subsequent generalization for all of eastern Europe).
What you need to know about eastern Europe:
Sausage. Everywhere. And, it is delicious.
Yet Another, Dream Job
Posted by Kristin in In the News on March 31, 2010
So, the latest craze seems to involve companies, organizations and entire nations coming up with “dream jobs.” First it was Australia’s Tourism Queensland offering a job which included snorkeling, sunbathing and feeding turtles – or something ridiculous.
Then, a winery in California sought a social media guru and wine enthusiast to promote the company and wine lifestyle for six months. I don’t know about you, but all these jobs just sound like the most horrible positions in the world. Right?
Oh but wait, now The Irish Times are offering a couple the chance to globe trot about the most-romantic, luxurious destinations in the world, while blogging about their experiences for six months. GAH! TORTURE!
For those couples who are interested in applying, here is some more information. More than 1,000 couples have already applied – so buy a lottery ticket while you’re at it.
First Job Checklist
Earlier this afternoon, I gave a presentation to the University of St. Thomas PRSSA chapter. It was a great exercise for me, because as a young professional I often struggle with feeling inexperienced and “too young.” Throughout the process of preparing my presentation – and thanks to Arik Hanson for the idea – I decided I could speak to what I know, which is what to look for and expect in your first job out of college.
For this presentation, I also experimented with Prezi. While I found it a bit hard to get used to, I definitely think that with more practice it will become my favorite presentation tool. If nothing else, it definitely wins points over PowerPoint for being more visually interesting and engaging.
What the Kell?
Posted by Kristin in Media, Social Media on March 9, 2010
So, I’m sure many of you do not religiously watch Bravo like I do… but stay with me on this one. Bravo’s newest TV show “Kell on Earth” follows Kelly Cutrone and her minions at People’s Revolution in the fast-paced world of fashion public relations.
Cutrone is cut-throat and intimidating as hell, and infamous for the line, “If you have to cry, go outside.” (Note: I would never work at a place where employees bursting into tears happened enough times for that rule to be in place). Yikes.
A recent episode, however, let loose another strange rule at People’s Revolution: employees are not allowed to use social media.
**Update: I was informed by Katy Smith that, in fact, employees of People’s Revolution are using social media. However, given the recent episode where a new hire was terminated for tweeting about being hired, I am leaving up this post. I’m still interested to hear your thoughts about social media policies.
Moment of Zen
Even for a Monday, today was quite the crazy day. Between meetings, tight deadlines, prepping for being out of town (and out of touch) this weekend and sharing my big news – the day felt consistently frantic.
Thank goodness for inventions like Pandora.com because tuning into my “You’re My Home” station helps to bring everything back to earth. When moments of clarity can be hard to find, it’s important to take time – even if it’s just a few seconds – to re-focus, re-commit and re-energize.
So, I present to you…my moment of zen for the day.
What is it that you do to reset your mind when it’s crazed or clouded?
P.S. I tried to find a better video (one that wasn’t so creepy) but struck out. Sorry.
Sharing News in the 21st Century
Well, as many people know… I am recently (very recently) engaged. The past 24 hours have been exciting, happy, busy and overwhelming. Wisely, I waited until the next morning to start sharing the news with family and friends. This is, by far, the biggest news I have ever had to share with so many people and I wasn’t entirely prepared for the process.
Naturally, the first form of communication was a phone call to my parents and sister, followed by a picture text of the ring. Following a phone call to my grandma, I resorted to text message to share the news en masse. All of this, plus the phone calls that followed were completely expected. However, the announcement via social media was quite a task.
Congratulations tweets from Madeline Koch and Paul DeBettignies were the beginning, followed by congratulations and excitement from all of the great people I know online and in real life. The official changing of the Facebook status and obligatory photos unleashed even more.
I am so very grateful to have so many people who care about me and love me. And that isn’t the point of this post. I am truly amazed at how differently information is shared, especially huge life-changing information. The utter speed of communication and response is exciting, and alarming! I am still working to catch up, say thank you and update everyone on the news. This entire process has truly opened my eyes to communication of the future, and at the same time, how traditional communication – over the phone and in person – is still necessary, and important.
Well, I’m off to make more phone calls to family, but this is definitely a moment and a day that I never want to forget. Thank you to all of you for being my support, sounding boards, friends and mentors.
About Me
Public relations and communications professional. Passionate about sports, photography, travel, friends and family. Minnesota native, looking for where life will take me next."In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary." --aaron rose