PR Crisis: ABI Public Relations Firm

On Wednesday, the PR Crisis team took a field trip to see the ABI Public Relations Firm. This field trip allowed all of us to see what it is like to work in a firm that all of us want to pursue a career in.

Upon entering the firm, everyone was extremely nice and very welcoming. Bern, who was the manager at the firm, gave us an introduction as to what exactly they do and how B2B actually works within their company and their clients. Before entering and learning about the ABI firm, I had no idea what B2B even was. Bern was the first one to present and give us some background and how the company was started. Since being open for 30 years now, their company has evolved and now have five locations all over the world that deal with international clients.

I never realized that public relations deals with much more than just crisis communications and creating press releases. During the length of our trip, all of the employees met with us and gave us a brief presentation on what their job entails. Yulia, which was one of my favorite speakers of the day, shared her successful story behind helping Bosch with one of their items that they had recently produced. It was neat to see how involved the company actually is in different processes and how well they communicate with each other.

We were also able to meet with Richard, who previously used to be an editor and now writes press releases for ABI. He went through different techniques and strategies during his presentation that help him write the perfect press releases, and wanted to pass those onto us. Richard also gave us an assignment to see if we had learn anything from his presentation and teachings. The assignment was to write a press release based on the information they provided us with. Come to find out, this writing prompt was the same as they would give to anyone applying for a job.

ABI was a very interesting place and they understood that while we are younger, we do have a lot of potential to someday be in the same career. They provided everything that we needed through the whole day and enjoyed having us there. I hope some day, that I can be in a workplace environment like that and share my knowledge with others.

Public Speaking: Tour for Muggles and Dreamgirls.

On Monday, the public speaking class had a morning field trip for Tour of Muggles and an evening field trip to see Dreamgirls.

The Tour for Muggles field trip was amazing. Our tour guide, Ellie, was one of the best public speakers and made the tour so much fun. While I am not a huge Harry Potter fan, I liked how she was able to share some information on other characters such as Sherlock Holmes (movie and Netflix series) and James Bond. During the walk, we were able to see the sights and areas used for filming, as well as inspirational spots that J.K. Rowling thought were fitting for the movies. I thought it was really neat that J.K. Rowling had so much to do with her film and was so involved in casting the characters to make sure everything fit the English culture, as well as fit the way she wrote it.

Before giving us information on how the location was portrayed through the movies, Ellie gave us a more historical background on each place. I knew that Alcatraz was meant to portray Azkaban, but I did not know that the J.K. Rowling found the Clink Prison to be an inspiration as well. It was extremely creepy, and somewhat intriguing to learn that after over 600 years of being available to criminals, no one ever escaped. Meaning, if you went in the prison, you most likely never came out.

The Tour for Muggles with Ellie was definitely one of the best tours that we have been on since being in London. I was very impressed.

Monday night we attended the play Dreamgirls at the Savoy Theatre. I was super excited to learn that Amber Riley was supposed to be in the play, but bummed when I did not see her on the stage as Effie. Even though I was disappointed, that did not last long as the play was phenomenal. The singing, dancing, and acting was just simply remarkable. I really did not know all of the songs, which is why I slightly preferred Mamma Mia to Dreamgirls, but it was still an incredible show.

Overall, the field trips for this class have been amazing and I am super grateful that I was able to come on this trip and attend these places.

PR Crisis: Museum of Brands, Advertising, and Packaging & Churchill War Rooms.

On Wednesday, the public relations class attended the Museum of Brands, Advertising, and Packaging, as well as the Churchill War Rooms.

The museum was sort of interesting, but also sort of boring after a while. They offered a time tube that lists the advertisement of different products that go way back in history. It was neat to see how advertisements and products have evolved over time. There were a couple of things that caught my eye, as either the advertisement or packing of the products were intriguing. Near the end of the time tube, they had many products from the coronation period from when Queen Elizabeth II took the throne. From tea cups, plates, flags, chocolate wrappings, and other things were all shown in the glass. They also had products, such as newspapers and dolls, from when Charles and Diana were married in 1981. At the very end of the time tube, there were products from the 2000’s, so you were able to see the past and present of advertising. The One Direction piece in the museum was the greatest thing I have ever laid my eyes on, well, other than Harry Styles himself. I was definitely a Directioner back in my day. Beside the One Direction case, there was a modern disney case that had Frozen, Tangled, and Brave products inside. I thought it was super cool that dolls had evolved from creepy looking devils to the dolls we have today. The next part of the museum was the branding side of products. Again, it was slightly boring after a little while looking at the same things over and over, but still somewhat interesting.

We then ate lunch and attended the Churchill War Rooms. I never even knew this place existed, as you don’t hear about it in history classes in school. It was neat that no one ever even knew that Churchill occupied that space during the whole World War II when this side of Europe was being bombed. There was also a museum inside of the war rooms that gave more information as to who Winston Churchill was as a person and how he led Great Britain to a win in the second war as the Prime Minister. I had no clue that he was in the military for Great Britain before he was a politician. I also never knew that he was the person who longed to make sure that America was allied with Great Britain. He knew that with America’s military and strong leadership, Hitler and the nazis would be defeated. We walked around the museum and saw were his people slept and held conferences. This museum was neat and all, but it felt that it was just too long. Every corner I turned, there was another room and I felt that it was never ending. If you have time, I do recommend the war rooms, just be prepared to walk for sometime and intake a lot of information.

Public Speaking: Tower of London & Jack the Ripper

The Tower of London and Jack the Ripper walk were on the itinerary for my public speaking class this week. Along with being full of interesting history, both trips were slightly creepy.

I have always known that the Tower of London was once used as a prison. Monday I learned that the almost 1,000 year old sight was much more than that. Usually you could say you want to save the best things for last, but our class decided to do the exact opposite at the tower.

The Crowned Jewels was the first priority on our list, as we wanted to beat the line and pass all the other tourists. The jewels are all part of the Royal Collection and hold significant meaning to all of Great Britain. To this day, the Queen, or anyone part of the Royal Family are able to use the jewels and gems for important ceremonies, such as coronations or State Opening of Parliament. The jewels were so beautiful and breathtaking, that they almost didn’t even seem real. It was hard to believe that we were looking at masterpieces created only for royalty.

After seeing the jewels, we met with our Yeoman Warder for our guided tour. The history behind the Warders was really neat, as you have to be ex-military to even be considered a candidate. Our warder, Paul, was a great speaker and interacted well with all individuals that attended the tour. He made sure to joke with everyone, as well as taking his job seriously and focusing on his history of the tower. Paul told us really neat stories about some of the prisoners held at the tower. One in particular that I found sort of gruesome was the beheading of Anne Boleyn. When it was time for her beheading, she was still talking when her head was cut from her body, and it happened so fast that her lips were still moving upon picking her head up. Her, along with 9 other prisoners, were executed at the tower. Three of the bodies executed, including Anne, are buried at the Church of St Peter ad Vincula, which is located within the tower premises.

Another strange, but interesting story comes from the Ravens that are held on site of the Tower. There has to be six ravens at the Tower of London at all times, or more just in case. If something happens to a raven, there is always a back up, as the people of London believe that if there are less than six at the Tower, that the Kingdom and tower will all collapse. These stories that Paul was telling were so fascinating to hear because we get to see how not only royalty acted in the past, but how prisoners were treated as well.

Jack the Ripper walk was the field trip that we attended Tuesday night after classes. I think I expected it to be more gruesome than it actually was, but it was still creepy to say the least. Jack the Ripper, who still remains unknown, was a serial killer back in 1888. Jack’s victims were mostly prostitutes soliciting themselves off to men. Not only did Jack kill these women, he completely mutilated their bodies to where they sometimes could almost not be identified. Our tour guide was very knowledgable on the subject and told horror stories of all the victims. Not only did he talk about Jack and the murders, but he took us to where the some of the murders took place. We also had a small discussion following the walk to talk about who the possible suspects could have been. Since both police departments in London at the time were working to find this person, they had different people they believed committed the murders, like a butcher or a surgeon. I found this walk to be interesting and well worth it. Overall, it was a great experience and everyone seem to enjoy it as well.

 

 

PR Crisis: High Noon Tea, Dinner, and Mamma Mia!

Wednesday night, our class took a trip to experience the traditional culture of hot tea, as well as seeing the play Mamma Mia!

I had never had traditional english tea before yesterday so it was great to experience that with my class. The tea was so tasty and was somewhat different that what I have had before. There was a museum included in the same area as the tea room, which was interesting to say the least. After walking around for a little while, I grew bored because most of the things included was science related, which doesn’t fascinate me much. After the tea and museum, we attended an Italian restaurant that had some delicious spaghetti. Besides the play, the restaurant was the highlight of my day, because I finally got to eat something other than pub food.

The best part of the night ( and best part of the whole trip so far) was the Mamma Mia play at the Novello Theatre. I have seen plays before, like the nutcracker, or some random play from the colonnade, but nothing like what I saw last night. The Mamma Mia play felt like I was in New York seeing a huge production of something off Broadway. From the time that it started to the time that it ended, the play had everyone dancing and singing along. It was so magical and honestly one of the greatest experiences. The singing and dancing was so beautifully rehearsed and was spot on. The experience from seeing Mamma Mia gets me even more excited to see the Dream Girls production at the Savoy Theatre in a couple of weeks.

 

Public Speaking: Science Museum and V&A Museum

This week for the Public Speaking field trip, we attended two really interesting museums.

The Science Museum was a really neat place. We were able to see how things work and how inventions in the past have effected the modern world. Sam and I are doing our presentation on Broadcasting, radio, and television so it was super cool to see how television and radio have evolved over time. My favorite part of the museum was being able to see the war section, which was different than the war museum we had seen before. The war section went into great detail on how the equipment was made, what material was used, what happens when people are shot and how it effects their appearance. We were also able to watch a video on PTSD and how it effects the mind. I never really understood that veteran’s suffered so much mentally, and how it effects their daily life.

The V&A museum was our second field trip on Monday. Upon entering the museum, I was blown away by the history and content shown. Sam and I toured through the Buddhism and Roman area that contained a variety of artifacts. The ginormous cast of David was super cool to see and Sam informed me on some information that I was not familiar with. I was excited that we were able to have a guided tour to learn more on theatre, costumes, and what it takes to create a play. Our tour guide was nice and did a good job presenting historical information, but he was not the greatest public speaker. He kept looking down instead of looking at his audience, and said uh and umm a lot.

Overall, the day was interesting, but I was super tired by the conclusion of the V&A museum. Learning more of other cultures and where they originated from does excite me.

PR Crisis: Bank of England Museum and Imperial War Museum

The Bank of England Museum and Imperial War Museum were the field trips of the day for our PR Crisis class.

The Bank of England Museum was interesting. One thing I noticed as we were arriving is that no matter where you go, there is so much history in this country. The Bank of England is the oldest bank and is also known as the central bank in the United Kingdom. The original bank was founded in 1694, but since then, the bank has evolved and is also considered to be the basis for all banks worldwide. The Bank of England and the financial part of England are very similar to the United States. I noticed at the bank that they pay close attention to the economics of the country and set goals. They have a set rate of 2% to control the inflation of the economy, which is the same rate that the United States likes to use. Reading the posters and information provided facts as to how many people they have on their committees and who does what when a possible crisis might occur.

The Imperial War Museum was super fascinating. I honestly have never seen anything like that before. The outside of the building drew you in just because they had different monuments and artifacts from wars. We were able to tour the Secret War room, which includes information on Britain’s Special Forces and top secret operations. I found it super awesome that the inspiration for James Bond was a double agent that worked in MI6. I also found it super cool that women were not discriminated against and were included in the special forces. We were also able to see the Holocaust Museum, which was the most disturbing thing I have ever seen. I could not believe my eyes when I saw photos and facts about what had been done to millions of women, men, and children. The museum did a great job going into detail on what exactly happened in the holocaust and included everyone involved. The most interesting part of the museum was that a model of Auschwitz was created and put on display for those who have never been. I spent at least 30 minutes reading each part on the display, almost crying my eyes out because of the torture these people had to endure.

The experience at these two museums were amazing and I was able to see pieces of history that are not included in history books.

 

Public Speaking: Hampton Court, St. Paul’s Cathedral, and National Gallery

This first week in London has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I have been in awe of the sights, monuments, and museums that we have toured. I have overloaded Facebook and Instagram with pictures and videos that I am sure everyone has enjoyed.

Hampton Court Palace, which was the home of King Henry VIII, was the first excursion we attended. The palace was enormous and took my breathe away when we first passed the gate to enter. When first entering the palace, it was difficult to believe that I was walking around in an area where royalty had previously lived. I really enjoyed that the tour was self guided, so we were able to walk around and enjoy the scenery without being rushed. Even though it was self-guided, the staff was very friendly and were also able to answer all history questions you had. The flower garden at the Hampton Court was the best part of the entire tour for me. I snapped a billion pictures just because I was completely blown away by the details and bright colors. I really enjoyed the desserts at Hampton Court. Their culture is so different so it was great to taste the difference in the brownies and tarts. Overall, it was a wonderful trip and I am so glad I went on the excursion.

Monday was the first day that the public speaking class were able to meet and go on our field trips. St. Paul’s Cathedral, which was our first stop, topped the charts with the incredible interior and detail within the church. I wish we were able to take pictures of the inside because it is truly the most amazing sight. We hiked over 1100 stairs to reach the top of the done, which is killing my legs today, but it was well worth the view. I learned at the second field trip of the day, that I have a strong southern accent and it might be hard to pronounce some names. The National Gallery was very interesting, even though I have never been much into art and paintings. Some paintings were extremely weird, but that’s the point. It’s meant to catch your eye and attention. The best part of the gallery was that Kelsey was able to see her favorite painting and even cried. I wish I was more interested into the paintings to where I was that excited.

I can officially scratch traveling to London off my bucket list, which excites me even more to travel to other countries and see other cultures.