Warrior Dash

So I'm sitting here trying to come up with the perfect idea for my next blog topic, and I thought I'd write about a race I'm running on May 22. It's called Warrior Dash and it's in north Georgia. This race is considered to be the ultimate event for thrill-seeking athletes. Would I consider myself an athlete? Not quite. BUT, I am a thrill-seeker and I couldn't pass up this opportunity.

This is the first time the race has been held in the southeast, and it's the 3rd out of 9 races held in the 2010 series. Warrior Dash is not an ordinary 5k course. It has many intense obstacles that you have to overcome such as:

• "Warrior Roast" --> leap over warrior fires


• "Muddy Mayhem" --> crawl to the muddy pit to the finish


• "Cargo Climb" --> manuever over the cargo net


• "Black Forest" --> forge your way through uncharted forest


• "Junkyard Jam" --> stampede through the scrapyard
  

I'm pretty pumped about the race, but I'm also a little scared of the "cargo climb." That just seems really tough! But what I'm most excited about is the fact that the interest in this race has exploded because of social media. As a public relations major, I'm constantly trying to observe and learn what makes some events "tip" and what makes others fail. The use of facebook and twitter has earned this race it's success, and it hasn't even gotten here yet!



On Facebook, the race series has almost 50,000 fans! That's incredible. Not too mention, the Warrior Dash facebook fan page is how I first heard about this unique event. I posted the fan page on my facebook status and within 2 hours, several of my friends responded and we all registered. I've also been following Warrior Dash on twitter. The twitter page has almost 2,500 followers and is growing everyday.


I can hardly wait for race day to be here. Don't worry though, the festivities are only beginning when the race is finished. Afterwards, there is a huge post-race party. The race, a Red Frog Events production, will provide beer for all of-age race finishers and live music will be playing all day long. Check back around the end of May for more results!!!

HealthyMilledgeville

This a big week for a group of women in my PR Campaigns class! They are finally hosting an event for Digital Bridges after a semester of hard work and preparation.






I've talked a lot about Digital Bridges on my blog before, but just to refresh your memory, it's a grant run program promoting the use of technology in the Milledgeville community.




Anna Bryson, Keri Allgood and Beth Benton will be at Kroger this Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m. promoting HealthyMilledgeville, a community campaign they created that combines the use of technology with healthy living.

The HealthyMilledgeville facebook page has exploded! With 502 fans, it's already using technology to inspire healthy habits in Milledgeville. Come out and support these ladies if you get a chance, there are Guiltless brownies provided for the first 100 visitors! How can you resist this?

How do you see yourself using technology?

Last Saturday, Feb. 27th, my campaigns group and I had our Digital Bridges Awareness event. It was a success to say the least! We were nervous preparing for this event because we weren't positive about what the crowd would be like, but it turned out to be just what we were looking for. The question "How do you see yourself using technology?" was proposed to the Milledgeville Mall consumers, and the small event piggy-backed off of other small events such as a Red Cross blood drive, and a beauty pageant. The area turned out to be highly trafficked so this was an ideal location.

Some of our successes included:

• being prepared for any technology malfunction or accident that we thought could happen
• gathering 54 email addresses and/or telephone numbers of community members who showed interest in Digital Bridges
• having over 60 people engage in a computer activity (PhotoBooth on Mac)
• talking with over 80 people about Digital Bridges, where the Digital Bridges center is located and how it can help them
• the simplicity of the event as a whole

We did a run through with all 4 Mac laptops to make sure we were prepared for any malfunction or any worse case scenario. To gather people to fill out the contact information we offered a free iPod touch prize to a lucky winner. This gave them an extra incentive to be connected with Digital Bridges. Not everyone had time to sit down at the table to make a magnet and ask us questions, so we made flyers that gave directions to the center and a quick over view of what Digital Bridges is all about. We made multiple contacts with the mall supervisor to make sure we had a table and the correct number of chairs set-up for our event. We had balloons and candy to create visual noise and make our table more inviting for the mall shoppers.

One of our greatest strengths that made our event such a success was our group dynamics. We met once a week, two days before meeting with our client. When we met together we discussed and developed new ideas and formulated a plan to present and email to our client before we met with her. As a group we all were proactive and strong communicators. Our ideas blended well together and we were able to bounce our ideas off of each other and come to a productive environment.

Digital Bridges Event

Tomorrow is the big day, our Digital Bridges awareness event is finally here! The semester is flying by and my PR campaigns group has been planning for several weeks. We took on this campaign as an assignment for our class and it has been great experience for a great organization. Digital Bridges, along with The Knight Foundation and Georgia College & State University, is a citizen led initiative involving the innovative uses of technology to improve the quality of life of the Milledgeville community. Our group will have a station set up at the Milledgeville Mall tomorrow morning/afternoon to inform consumers about what Digital Bridges is all about. Everyone has put a lot of hard work into making this all come together so we're keeping our fingers crossed for the best! A blog post with results is up next...Wish us luck!

Internship Time!

It's that time of year again...everyone is on the hunt for the perfect internship. My classmates are interviewing all over the place - some in Atlanta, Macon, Savannah and Eatonton, Georgia. With that being said, I've decided to stay in Milledgeville and get some local experience and I couldn't be more excited. I'm so happy to report that my internship will be at the Milledgeville Baldwin County Convention and Visitors Bureau. I have a friend who interned for the CVB last summer and had an awesome experience so she led me to this great opportunity....I'm so grateful! The visitors center is super busy and focused on tourism in the Milledgeville community, always trying to get travelers to explore this "old south" town. Please take a minute to visit the CVB's website (www.milledgevillecvb.com) to discover everything Milledgeville has to offer...especially if you're looking for a charming antebellum getaway. I had no idea how much is out there that I should take advantage of before I graduate!

Ben & Jerry's: My favorite scoop AND socially active!

I just got home from the gym and ate steamed green beans and a leftover chicken breast. This obviously did not satisfy my tummy and I knew I needed something more...ICE CREAM always does the trick! I made a promise to myself that I would not divulge in this guilty pleasure until spring break is over, however, there was a half full tub of Half-Baked Ben & Jerry's in the freezer calling my name.

I told myself I'd have only one spoonful. I don't know why I thought this was realistic, because I obviously failed to stop at just one scoop. As I was finishing off the remnants of my favorite sweet treat, I knew I had to blog about it. Not only to tell you all that if you've never experienced the deliciousness of Ben & Jerry's, you should immediately run (or drive, whatever works best for you) to the closest grocery store and buy a pint. I would advise you on what not to get, as most brands have some not-so-tasty flavors, but this is absolutely not the case for my dear Ben & Jerry's brand. I've never had a flavor I didn't enjoy, so you're safe to try them all.(At this point, I've given you 3 hyperlinks, so there's no excuse not to at least check out their webpage.) But back to why I felt this calling to spread the word about this fabulous ice cream... not only is it the best quality because of the unique flavors AND it's all natural ingredients, but the company is on mission. You can describe them as "socially responsible" which is why I feel it's appropriate to publicize them on my PR blog. The company's mission statement has 3 parts that are connected: the social mission, the product mission, and the economic mission. I could go on and on about each section of their mission, but I want to focus in on the social mission for now. Ben & Jerry's co-founder Ben Cohen once said "Business has a repsonsibility to give back to the community." With this philosophy, they've built relationships with their community which makes the Ben & Jerry's culture so unique and publicly appealing. This is a brand that's mastered the art of connecting with their public, which has inevitably led to their lasting success. If you would like to stay in-tune with their newest flavors, check them out on Twitter @cherrygarcia...Maybe a PR internship will pop up, you never know!

Tweet tweet...Yeah, you heard me: I LOVE TWITTER!

My public relations professor dropped the bomb on my campaigns class last Wednesday: she asked us to "tweet"...on Twitter that is! After a year of boycotting the newest craze in social media, I must admit I really surprised myself. Not only was I shocked at how much I loved this so-called tweeting activity, but I actually found myself thinking about Twitter throughout the day (kind of lame, yeah...but at least I'm honest). I was pretty irritated when I heard the requirements of the infamous tweeting assignment...she told my fellow classmates and I that we were supposed to tweet at least 25 times during the upcoming week (including the use of links and @replies). This assignment did the trick, not only did I become active on the site but I also realize why this is such a vital tool in the PR profession. With the use of @replies, you can respond to corporations or individuals and let them know how you feel about something. With the use of links, you can publicize anything you like at the moment. And if you have a new idea, it's totally acceptable in the twitter community to retweet as many times a day as one sees fit! I love the fact that I'm a full-time tweeter now, hopefully my follower list will grow in 2010. If you're not on Twitter, set yourself up an account and follow people who have the same interests as you...But beware, it's addictive. Tweet ya later!