On Friday morning when I woke up, I turned on ABC News like I do every morning. I was horrified and shocked to see all the devastation that had happened literally over night (for us) in Japan. This was in the midst of California getting the after effects of the Tsunami.
As I was getting ready for my day, I wasn't really thinking about all the ways that this disaster could potentially effect me. I was just really worried and horrified for these people.
When I got to the office all of the news stations where on every single TV. The PR professionals were busily trying to figure out what to do with their clients. A lot of them had TV placements for the day, one client had been booked for the Today show. They were supposed to be doing a parenting segment that would tie in with the new book that the client was selling. CANCELED. The PR person on that was waiting to hear if it would be rescheduled for a later date. The segment was rescheduled and we all had a glass of wine to toast her efforts!
Another PR person was trying to figure out a way that she could work in her music client into the news. She decided to have a fundraiser going on the band's site. This got a lot of press later on and she was able to create a news story within a news story.
It was really interesting to see how this major disaster that happened in Japan was effecting the office and potentially the work I will be doing in the future. I was taken a back at how immediate it was. I always knew that the news and the world would affect PR, but I guess I didn't realize how fast it would happen.
I also got hit with this disaster on a personal level. I got a phone call that would have me on edge even into the coming weeks. It was my boyfriend, whom is a Marine stationed in DC, he called to tell me that there was a high possibility that he might have to go to Japan in response to relief efforts. My heart sank. My boyfriend is getting out of the military at the end of this month and also is in a "non-deployable" unit. Which basically means they don't send him anywhere. We are still on hiatus with this news and every minute I hope that I won't get the phone call that he has to go. Life of a military girlfriend.
This news of my boyfriend got me thinking about Operation Home Front, a non for profit organization that I am working for with my PR 107 class. I started thinking about all the ways that we could get them tied into this news about Japan, since they work with military service man and their families during an emergency. All my efforts were declined, due to the fact that they were doing absolutely nothing in relief efforts. If I was getting paid to work with this organization, I would have definitely pushed something, you have to jump on those opportunities. If you are not doing anything to get press from a situation- you make a story.
By the end of the day my head was spinning with this whole Japan disaster- from the office, to my personal life, to my school work and THEN.. I decided to blog about it.
I have to admit, it is so terrible that all of this Japan, and tsunami crisis's are terrible, but as far as your internship goes, it is a great way to learn what could happen. What makes our job so exciting although sometimes difficult is the quick pace, and quick change that could happen.
ReplyDeleteAlso, i'm sorry to hear that your boyfriend might have been deployed, and I completely agree with you about your feelings toward OHF, but truth is we're just helping them out and we don't really have much say in what nationals does. booooo
hope you're having a better day!!
This was such an awful tragedy, but the way local media covered the events really got me aggravated.
ReplyDeleteFOX 5 and NBC 4 went into Manhattan LIVE and just randomly asked Asian-Americans who were AMERICAN citizens how it affected them on a personal level at their noon newscasts! Really, how ignorant.
Everybody at my internship literally stared at the television screens for 5 minutes asking if both stations really just did that.