Balloon Boy

I couldn't help but write a post on the famous balloon boy, or lack there of. For the past two hours, the news and social media worlds have been blowing up over a 6-year-old boy, who apparently got into his father's homemade air balloon and took off over Colorado. As I continued to refresh my Twitter stream, @NBCActionNews @cnnbrk @ABC and basically any other news station known to mankind was constantly tweeting about the latest updates regarding the floating UFO look-a-like. Since the majority of the updates were concern for the 6-year-old boy that was inside the balloon, it was quite a relief when the balloon landed and there was no sign of the child. That was, until people starting questioning whether or not he had fallen out. At one point, it was said to have been at 8,000 feet in the air!

Right now, the trending topics on Twitter are #balloonboy, #saveballoonboy, Falcon (the boy's name), Colorado, Balloon Boy, CNN - Wow! I won't even count the number of posts I've seen on Facebook! The power of social media, ladies and gentlemen.

I'm sitting at work and as customer's filter through the store, some have mentioned hearing the story on the radio, while others overheard someone else talking about it. It's just crazy how a story like this makes its way through the public that quickly.

Let's all hope and pray that Falcon is hiding out in his basement. Until then, I hope everyone keeps their negative questions and comments to themselves.
#saveballoonboy


The latest from CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/15/colorado.boy.balloon/index.html


UPDATE (6:32 PM):
According to CNN, Falcon Heene (better known as, #balloonboy), was found alive. He was found in a box in his family's attic.
(Reference: http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/15/colorado.boy.balloon/index.html)

My Favorite PR Newsfeed

So, sometimes I find it hard to open each and every e-mail from the daily newsletters and newsfeeds I get, but I must say that I do find myself opening Ragan's Daily PR Newsfeed every day. With exerts from other blogs, Job-of-the-day and the top stories, you can get almost everything you need in one stop. Although news and articles are never ending, I usually like to start my day with this feed (and of course, not rely on it as my only source of information).

For example: Since I'm a recent college graduate who in continuously applying to public relations firms, today the newsfeed had a blog post from PR Breakfast Club (another great PR blog): "5 Tips for Interviewing at a PR Firm" - Could not have been more perfect. Obviously I clicked, and each different point brought up different things to be aware of. This one especially caught my eye:

Know Social Media:

"Not every agency knows HOW to use social media successfully, but by now they all know that it’s important. This means that there are many companies who are looking for new, young people to bring in a different perspective and hopefully help them catch up with the future of the industry" [from PR Breakfast Club]

I thought this was very interesting because when you Google or research interview tips and things like that, social media isn't at the top of the list, but in PR these days, it's almost crucial. It's really quite strange how generations can be so different. I think if I said the phrase "social media" to my parents, they would tilt their heads to the side and question my odd statement. "Yes, mom ... something with Facebook," I would reply.

Oh, the changes ...

My life is full of adventures...

Well, I think I start with a new topic every time I create a blog. I posted a discussion on LinkedIn not too long ago about how I can't maintain a blog, it just doesn't seem to work out. I've tried every hosting site and every different angle, but this time will work! (Ha!) I've been encouraged dozens of times to start a blog (which I've done), I just haven't continued to post to it. I'm going to make a solid effort this time though. Hopefully I'll be focusing on my life through the public relations/social media view (how I've gotten to where I am and where I see myself in the future).

Just a brief introduction (to my wonderfully large audience):
My name is Candice, I'm a recent college graduate from Rutgers University with a bachelor's degree in Communication and a minor in psychology. I've been studying public relations for some time now and really hope to start my career shortly. I've had 3 internships: one at an agency, one in corporate communications and one as a social media enthusiast.
I've been following numerous agencies online and reading your average PR newsletter every day. I'm currently addicted to Twitter (@candicewirth) and I'm phasing out of the "Facebook phenomenon." I'm trying to explore all there is to the world of social media, while maintaining the knowledge and information as it comes along.

Here it goes ....