Something #4: SPI, the quick get-away

If there is on huge regret I have this summer, it’s not making it out to South Padre Island yet –in fact, I rarely do most years, something I find ridiculous.

Every year thousands of people make it to this small barrier island from all over the United States and the world for that matter, and people like me who live 45 minutes from it ignore the quick island getaway within an hours drive –some middle of the U.S. folks would kill for that!

So my something number 4 isn’t just a place, it’s a change in pace. Despite the fact that I’m going to be over-the-top busy over the next few months, it’s still on my list of things to do –right next to watching Cher live (I tease.)

Something #3: Food strikes again

Back in ‘something 2’ I mentioned the yummy food we have here in The Valley, and when I want Mexican food the special way we Valley-folks like it (Texican) I can only think of one place that tops my list, Taco Olé.

Taco Olé is not only a national award-winning restaurant, but also one of my most frequented (the Mission, TX location is the one to hit-up, btw,) and in my opinion almost no other restaurant can add up to its consistent level of tastiness –but here’s what sets it over he top for me is the service.

Over the years the staff has not only got to know me, but they know my drink (unsweetened tea,) and they know my dinning habits, preferred tables, and my hatred of veggies. Walking in I get the same nice hello everyone else does, but when I take my seat I fall back on the relationships I’ve built there, there isn’t much better than great food served by awesome people, so that’s why my Foursquare peeps think I’m addicted to Taco Olé.

Something #2: MCPL

I know it’s tough to mention the new McAllen public library without getting into its past as a huge ugly empty former Walmart location –but that’s exactly what I’ll doing.

Why is it my favorite little something? Well, because people talk about. It’s not everyday that people get excited about a library, award winning or not, this place was the talk of the town and then it went viral online. I’ve attended meeting at the place and stopped by just for fun, and will likely be hosting a huge event there soon, but what makes it special is truly how it got people to take a look at things that they hadn’t in a long time –books.

Something #1: Foodie or fatty?

Topping my list of things to start with, is that little something I wish I could have right now instead of waiting for my next class to start, lunch, more particularly, Taste of India.

Living in South Texas, there aren’t always a million ways to break away from Mexican? Tex-Mex? Texican? –urm, local food and national chains, there are some great options.

While I can go into detail about the quality of service, the cleanliness of the restaurant, and all the flavor I enjoy in my favorite appetizer (vegetable samosa,) my favorite dish (chicken tikka-masala,) and huge amounts of yummy nan, it’s safe to say that everything I’ve tried on the menu has been remarkably delicious.

So from my list of things I enjoy, I invite you to try Taste of India in McAllen if you haven’t already, it’s a nice change your pallet should enjoy.

15 posts? Gasp!

We all have little things in life that give us bit of joy, whether it’s a place, person, object, or mixture of them –they’re there. When given the task of writing 15 blog posts about ‘something,’ for class, I decided that they should be about 15 of those things that I enjoy.

Living in The Valley, there’s admittedly not a lot of new things to do –but there are a million old things that are awesome, and when there’s nothing to do, hell, we go out and buy new toys to entertain ourselves, and they become that new little ‘something’ that we have fun with.

 

Opinion Leaders, in a nutshell.

Sociologists traditionally have defined two types of leaders. First are the formal opinion leaders, so called because of their positions as elected officials, presidents of companies, or heads of membership groups. News reporters often ask them for statements when a specific issue relates to their areas of responsibility or concern. People in formal leadership positions also are called power leaders.

Second are the informal opinion leaders, those who have clout with peers because of some special characteristic. They may be role models who are admired and emulated or opinion leaders who can exert peer pressure on others to go along with something. In general, informal opinion leaders exert considerable influence on their peer groups by being highly informed, articulate, and credible on particular issues.

Both formal and informal opinion leaders play a major role in the life cycle of public opinion.

The Public Relations Yardstick Model

Public Relations Effectiveness Yardstick is a straightforward set of guidelines a professional PR practitioner can follow if he or she wants to measure PR effectiveness. There are three levels of to be taken into account:

  1. The most basic level measures message distribution and media placement.  This level lets practitioners know where the message is being sent, and who is receiving it. Message reach and dissemination details are a starting point to gauging effectiveness.
  2.  The second level serves as a measurement of audience awareness, comprehension, and retention of the message. On this level there is more information about what portion of the audience was aware of the message. With this one can gauge what they took from the message and what they clearly remember about it.
  3. The third and most advanced level is the measurement of changes in attitudes, opinions, and behavior. With this detail oriented measurement comes the part that practitioners love –how did the audience react, did they buy something, change their opinion, not buy something? This level gets to the core of not only message reach and perception, but audience synthesis and adaptation.

PR, As Explained to Grandma

I was asked how I’d explain the public relations to someone quickly and without using jargon that most people wouldn’t understand, AKA how I’d tell my grandma.

Public relations is talking to your publics and sharing information that means something. Publics are people inside an organization and outside that need to know about what’s going on when things are good and bad. Public relations is not bout lying and spin, it’s about telling a story and setting a tone. Public relations work is not marketing or advertising, there is no media buying, it’s all about relationships with people who can spread your message –and not always in the way you intended. It’s art and skill combined.

The category of things which floated -Ida Tarbell’s search for the truth. Part 3

In the end, it is important to recognize Ida not only for her historically defining work, but also as a person, a minority, and as someone with a passion for the truth. Ida Tarbell shaped the media landscape in her time and in ours; she not only paved the way for women reporters in years and decades after her, but also shines as an example of journalism at its finest. To understand her up bringing lets one truly appreciate the founding years in her life, the curiosity that would see her through until the very end of her life. Without Ida Tarbell the American journalist would have still engaged in muckraking in one form or another, but she brought more to it, and she inspired many to pursue stories even if they felt they were up against Goliath. Her achievements not only helped expand the role of newspapers and magazines in modern society during the progressive reform movements, but also as a remodel to women across the spectrum, professional and activist alike. At any given point today we can turn on our television and watch women like Diane Sawyer anchoring the ABC’s World News, or turn to cable news outlets and watch a woman after woman set their sights on telling hard-news stories that matter to everyone, beyond that one can even give Ida credit for the women of The View (though not journalists,) who freely follow and aim media spotlight at any issue they deem important. Ida Tarbell opened a world of possibilities for women and journalists by wondering what would sink, and what would float.

 

Be sure to read parts I and II.

 

References

Brevard, K. M. (2010). The story of oil: how it changed the world. Mankato, MN: Compass Point Books.

Somervill, B. A. (2002). Ida Tarbell: pioneer investigative reporter. Greensboro, N.C.: M. Reynolds..

Tarbell, I. M. (1939). All in the day’s work;. New York: The Macmillan Co..

The category of things which floated -Ida Tarbell’s search for the truth. Part 2

It goes with out saying that with her fathers success came a more privileged life in which she was exposed to the arts, to education, and to a love of reading. Over and over again she snagged any material possible and began to gain interest in the world outside her own. When the time came to graduate from high school, Tarbell was head of her class, and so she went on to study at Allegheny College, and would soon after land her first publication job –a teaching one none the less, at The Chautauquan. After a fallout with the editor she wound up in France during the French Revolution, during this time she would interview many influential people on the movement and put her intuitiveness to work. After her stint in France she came to back to America and began working her way up at McClure’s Magazine where she would become on authority on Abraham Lincoln after writing a 20-part series on the late president, and in turn establish herself as a true journalist in America. (Tarbell, 1939)

Her central moment as an American journalist arrived in the form of an exposé, The History of the Standard Oil Company a 19-part series grew to become Ida’s most historical work. In the series Ida exposed Rockefeller’s unethical tactics. A pioneer in what we now call investigative journalism, Ida set forth with hundreds of documents, interviews –an amount of work rare to the business those years. Tarbell would bring Rockefeller’s strong-arming in the industry to the forefront and help shape the progressive era in which this was yet another example of big business marginalizing smaller businesses and consumers, all the while being labeled a “muckraker” by businessmen and political leaders at the time –a term not viewed upon in a positive manor in her time. The portrayals of her work in a negative light never affected her effort, and she kept on using her investigative power to shed light on the abuses she witnesses. It also is important to note that she did not condemn capitalism itself, but “the open disregard of decent ethical business practices by capitalists.” (Brevard, 2010, p.33) Remaining as impartial as possible, even with stories that struck close to home. Rockefeller’s Stand Oil Company’s methods, once revealed by Ida, outraged the public and led the government to prosecute the company for violations of the Sherman anti-trust act of 1890. (Somervill, 202, p.48) Realization of fairness in the marketplace was one step closer.

 

Be sure to read parts I and III.

 

References

Brevard, K. M. (2010). The story of oil: how it changed the world. Mankato, MN: Compass Point Books.

Somervill, B. A. (2002). Ida Tarbell: pioneer investigative reporter. Greensboro, N.C.: M. Reynolds..

Tarbell, I. M. (1939). All in the day’s work;. New York: The Macmillan Co..

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