Frivolous PR

To be honest, I would totally do PR for him no matter what.

Back when I was just starting out in my career, I was frankly against PR jobs. Let me rephrase that: Back BEFORE I had a career, I was against PR jobs. Mostly I thought that PR was just a way to control the media. Then again I was determined to be a part of the media until I learned that I could make more money working retail part time than in full time starting off writing positions at newspapers (which by the way were scarce jobs even back then). So my buying into a book I had in college called Toxic Sludge is Good For You: Lies, Damn Lies, and the Public Relations Industry met directly with my need to eat. Eating won.

After a brief stint with a HUGE multinational company that made me feeling icky, I decided that I would only do PR for the "betterment of mankind" or that was so ridiculous that no one could take it seriously. I thought at the time that that left me with non-profit, sports or entertainment. Seeing that I lived in Middle America, didn't have the balls at the time to move and there were only 3 professional sports teams within a 3 hour drive, I chose non-profit. And it worked out well. Hopefully for all parties involved.

Lately, I've been rethinking my stance. Clearly I do PR still and it's not for a place related to the three things I list above, but I actually like my job. I realize there are companies that pitch ridiculously false things to the media but honestly for the most part the media have a pretty good BS meter, so even the best written press release on a story with no substance won't get significant play. However, a poorly written release on a great material can kill a company--which is why companies and journalists to some extent need PR. But that's beside the point. I thought since now I'm doing different PR could I do PR for a sports team or celebrity? Not tactically, but PR is PR. If you can do it well, it's a pretty transferable skill. The level of aggressiveness changes with industry, but that's about it.

The question is now whether I'd want to do what I thought of as "frivilous PR" and now I think the answer is no. Mostly because I don't think people in the entertainment and sports fields think of it as frivolous. And I agree on one hand: those industries are BIG money so the PR is at a higher importance. But when I say "frivolous PR" I mean that the person receiving the information does not see it as essential in their daily lives. And that's where things seemed to have changed. I've seriously met people who view US Weekly as their own personal devotional books. People who can't name the current president, but can tell me the past 6 winners of Dancing With The Stars. . . in order of their receiving the disco ball trophy.

Maybe nothing at all has changed that much except my perception. But that's all I got.

A Bulldog and a Huskie Walked Onto a Court

Or at least they will. Tomorrow night. And if it weren't for Facebook you wouldn't know it in California.

There are many delights to living on the west coast, but one of the things I have a hard time adapting to is the utter lack of interest in most sports. There are some rabid Lakers fans, but even those people really know little outside of professional basketball. So honestly, that makes them less of a sports fan that a specialist. And you only really need a specialist when it's something like a medical problem.

So we're one day out from a national championship game and mums the word around here. And what's worse is that I have a work thing tomorrow night until about 9 p.m. So if you can't get a hold of me, know that I'm again under social media sequester.

And until then, GO BUTLER! Any team from Indiana is a team I'll support!

I'm Certainly Not Simple

I've taken to listening to the San Diego sports talk station. Mostly because they don't talk Lakers Basketball the entire day. In fact, they mostly talk about NFL football and lately about Big Ten football as the San Diego State Football coach (Brady Hoke) is rumored to be courted by Michigan to be their next football coach.

It discussing just that situation when the radio host was talking to a former NFL player originally from Illinois. Here's a snippet of that conversation:

Host: You're from one of those Midwest states, right? Iowa?

Former NFL player: Illinois.

Host: Yeah, I knew it was one of those states in the middle that start with an I. I don't really care about those states. They're just flatlands that I fly over when going from coast to coast.

(The host was smart enough to state that he was probably going to get killed for that one). The host then went on to ask the former NFL player from Illinois if he could explain what it meant when other people described coach Brady Hoke as a "Midwest guy."

Host: What does that mean? When I think of the Midwest, I think of people who just want to move to the coasts. Nobody moves from the coasts to the Midwest. Hoke wouldn't want to move to Michigan to shovel snow. So, when I think of someone being a "Midwesterner" I think of them as simple.

Former NFL player: Well, now I'm offended at that.

And so was I. Frankly, I realize that no one think of the Midwest until election night when they're the country that decides the fate of the election. Or until a snow storm hits Chicago and delays flights. But really? Simple? That's ridiculous. And I take offense to that.

Here are things about being from the Midwest that I would describe as being inherently Midwestern. All of which are better descriptions than "simple."

• Hardworking
• Strong work ethic (according to Wikipedia, the Midwest has a higher employment to population ratio than the Northeast, the West, the South or the SunBelt states)
• Humble
• Smart
• Quietly strong
• Speaking "standard" English- no accents here
• Genuine
• Truthful
• Honest

Those are just off the top of my head. A none of them are offensive. So, radio host of 1090 a.m. in San Diego. Get a thesaurus and an open mind before you open your mouth.

Back to the Work World

I got a call Monday morning from a sporting goods company that has an availability for a PR coordinator (and no, it's not Gus Doerner's LA). It was a surprising call because I had only submitted my application on Saturday night. I did, however, mention that I'd seen more basketball games than any woman except Coach Krzyzewski's wife. That might've helped.

I was ecstatic that I got the call. Don't ever get me wrong about that. I was mostly shocked. I wasn't expecting to hear from people so quickly, as I just started looking hardcore last week. Whether or not I get the job, it has already been a boost in my confidence that I got an interview already. Of course, after being out of the work world for the last couple of weeks, I have to remember how I'm supposed to act. I've done my company research. I've driven the route to the place to know how long it's gonna take me to get there. I've prepped some answers to commonly asked interview questions. I even have my favorite basketball player of all time picked out (Bill Russell, for those who care).

So now I just need to not psych myself out. Remember my experience in interviewing people. It's so weird how personality, some answers and timing play into getting a job or not. I just have to be who I am (which is awesome) and hope that the position is a right fit for me and vice versa.

Wish me luck!

When in Doubt, Cling to Sports

I watched the IU game today. It was simultaneously happy and sad. Happy that they did so well. Sad that Kentucky (and particularly Calipari) is still winning.

On Thursday, I watched the Colts-Titans game. It made me simultaneously happy and sad. Happy that I was able to watch the game when I was clearly out of market and happy for the win. Sad that the game was in Nashville and I thought of all my friends who were there. Also a little sad that the game got so close.

My love of sports has been strong since I was a kid. It grew exponentially when I moved to Nashville. Part of it was out of the new, strong Football environment. Part of it was out of necessity to stay away from boredom. I didn't have cable TV for the first two years I was in Nashville. If you know anything about TV on Saturdays on your big 4 networks, you know that sports is on AT LEAST one of them. When you have nothing else to watch, you don't mind pro tennis so much.

So, it comes as no surprise that I'm clinging to sports once again. When everything else changes in your life, the consistency of NFL Sunday is at least something to cling on to. Sports Talk radio in a different market or just tuning into Sportscenter. Its the same. The stories are the same in Tennessee or Indiana or California. Plus I know more about sports than the average girl. I know WAY more about sports than the average California girl. Not even close. That wasn't so much the case in Tennessee. Most of the girls there at least know SEC Football. The guys here in California don't really know football. Maybe pro football or USC (which is essentially the same, right?). Anyway, I like the element of surprise. It takes guys aback here when I spout out anything sports related. I'd missed that a little.

Maybe I can use it to my advantage. . .

Sure Signs You're Middle Class

Last night I went to a work shindig. It was very lovely and accomplished many things including rallying some very influential movers and shakers around the cause. However, when that many high powered people are in one room, it makes me realize just how staunchly entrenched in the middle class that I am. Here are some ways I knew:

• When one guest mentioned wanting a pool, I immediately threw out there "Yeah, but the upkeep is horrendous" before realizing that they probably won't be touching pool chemicals or a sweeper ever.
• None of my stories begin with "We were taking this quick jaunt up to Chicago in our private plane, and. . ."
• I had to explain to the valet the best way to get into my 14 year old car. (It only unlocks from the passenger side, God love it.)
• I can't relate to taking a business trip. . .to Japan or hosting the Australian Trade Commissioner for dinner.

However, that's what I love about sports. No matter how rich or poor a person, they can all become instant friends or enemies in the matter of one question: Who's your favorite team?

Can't Pinpoint the Crazy

For those of you out there that are football fans, you already know that today is a big day. It's the first day of Wildcard weekend for NFL play offs. Kick off for the early game is a mere 4 hours away and my Colts play in the late game. Last night as I was laying in bed, I could already feel the nerves. My stomach ached at midnight and I thought: What the hell is wrong with me?

I can't pinpoint the exact moment that I fell in love with sports. It could've been one of thousands of high school and college basketball games that I went to in Indiana when I was younger. Although I usually spent my younger years figuring out how to get money out of my parents for cokes and bubble gum.

It might have been a special trip that I took with my dad to Nashville, TN for a big junior college basketball tournament. I ended up with a new Cabbage Patch Kid, an appreciation for John Mellencamp, Meatloaf and Rod Stewars, and hours of bonding with my dad. He'd sit down with me at the beginning of every game and ask me if the teams were playing man to man or zone defense. We went to so many games and were such a fixture in our little basketball community that I was the flower girl in a junior college coach's wedding.

Basketball is easy to understand. We lived in Indiana--home of the Hoosiers, basketball goals in every driveway and literally a state where more citizens per capita average hoops playing time than any other place in the world. Getting into football was a different scenario altogether.

My dad and brother made the weekly three hour trek to Indianapolis to watch the abismal Colts lose to whoever came in that week. It was a special treat if I got to go along and I always loved being in the Hoosier Dome (before RCA soiled it). It wasn't until high school that I cared at all about football. I watched Notre Dame because it was in state and the only games consistently on television. I wasn't a Notre Dame fan though I learned the game by watching them play.

I don't know when I started getting nervous for games and caring so much that I'd schedule my real life around my sports life. My family still loves sports. I credit my dad for a lot of it, but my mom was also known to watch college basketball games on Saturday afternoons as she napped. We all have the bug. While I can't pinpoint exactly when I went crazy for sports, I can point my fingers at who helped make it happen.

And I wouldn't want it any other way.