Isabelle Sassano Social Media PR class

  When I was a little baby freshman, I came into college feeling like it would last forever. I joined a sorority, Sigma Sigma Sigma , and looked up to older girls in my chapter so much. Now I am one of those older girls and I have younger sisters that are looking up to me. Since I am already so far into my college career, I have realized that I need to make the best of each and every weekend I have, because before I know it, I will be out of college and away from this amazing group of friends that I have made here at VCU.   This weekend, my boyfriends fraternity is celebrating their formal in Myrtle beach . About 50 of us drove down here on Friday morning and have been hanging out on the beach, exploring the area and having an awesome time. It was no easy task getting up early enough to leave, especially since I hosted a Harry Potter themed birthday party for my little the night before. I was running on 3 hours of sleep, had to clean my house before we could leave, and ...

When I was in high school, Instagram was just becoming a thing, and Twitter was the most popular site among students. When I first made an Instagram account, I would post the most random pictures and the amount of likes that I would receive never crossed my mind. It wasn’t until Instagram became mainstream and millions of people started to download the app, that I started to notice the attention I would receive on my posts, and that the more likes or comments, resulted in more endorphins and more “happiness”. I put quotes around the happiness because it seems so silly that a virtual action can change someones mood, but when you are an insecure high school student, and comparing yourself to everyone else, the difference a few likes could make was alarming.  This seeking of social media attention is now seen on all platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest etc) and it is sometimes obvious that people will post certain things just to get that attention. I truly think that a lot of ...

When I think of humanity, I think of power in numbers. After a devastating event, people are the most strong when they come together. After the Florida school shooting, students all over the country decided that they were sick of hearing apologies, and they need reform. The survivors of the school shooting decided to start the March For Our Lives campaign. This group of young adults wanted to make a statement to the politicians in D.C. and send a message that this issue can no longer be a political bargaining chip.  Before the day of the march, there were countless schools that had their students walk out during the day in protest of the lack of reform towards gun regulations. Gun violence has been such a problem all over the country and millions of people have been affected.  At the march for our lives 200,00 0 people came and listened to empowering speakers say their peace about the importance of gun reform. Some of these speakers were in their teens, and delive...

With summer around the corner, it has become more and more crucial to lock down plans for the upcoming break. I have known since last summer that my ultimate goal was to live in New York City. Over the last year I have been in contact with the assistant of an event designer that I admire, Jes Gordon . We talked about having a potential summer internship but eventually Kait, the assistant, told me that they were unable to hire any interns but that she had a colleague who might need one! His name was Jeff StillWell . I reached out to Jeff and he was super encouraging about having me join him in his two year old company, StillWell Events. After a great phone conversation, my best friend and I decided to make the hike up to New York so that I could meet Jeff in person.  In order to get to the city, I had to catch a 6:30 am bus which meant leaving my house at 5:00 am and waking up at 4 am. I didn’t meet Jeff until 4pm in the afternoon later that so, and I was so nervous due to lack ...

Before taking this class, I did not realize the amount of thought and planning that goes into a social media campaign. Since social media platforms are a free way to communicate with an audience, I often forget the amount of resources that it takes to create a successful and meaningful impact on social media.  When the spokesman from Red Cross came to visit our class, I was interested to learn about the spread of fake news through social media sites. He shared with us a story of a women coming to the refugee center during the recent hurricanes, and sharing a video of stored food, saying that the Red Cross was keeping food from people in need, when in reality, there were tables of food downstairs, and the food she showed on the video was the food to be served later.  Having plans set in place to respond to this type of post going viral is crucial to any company. Even if a post is a flat out lie, it can still have a long lasting impact on an organizations reputation....

Spring break is always an anticipated event among college students. There are notorious locations like Cancun, Daytona, Punta Cana, Miami etc, where the beaches are filled with rowdy kids looking to blow off some steam and go a little crazy during their week off.  My friends and I wanted to go somewhere warm and tropical, while also avoiding the chaos of the typical college spring break parties. But I must admit, our first idea was Cancun, and it wasn't until a friends parent said that there is no way she would allow her daughter to go to Mexico that we readjusted our plans. While I disagreed with this decision, because I am a strong believer that bad things can happen in even the safest environments, we tried to find somewhere that this mom would allow her daughter to go. The compromise was the Bahamas.  Although the Bahamas were more expensive, my friends and I deemed it was worth it because that way we could all go together rather than one of us having to stay home. So...