The Fresh Year of Falmouth University College has officially been set in motion for 2009, the students, nervous yet excited, arrive to each of their lectures and seminars learning the difference and enjoy socialising with similar people. However tension at the Tremough Campus is a little awry with the work of vandals written on the train station walls just around the corner.
“Penryn has had enough of Students,” was the graffiti, lowering the emotional atmosphere that had been quite cheerful.
Yet this was painted on the wall a mere two weeks after the arrival of the majority number of students this year, thus providing the notion that these words have been written under an impression that only took a fortnight to acquire; as previous years have not witnessed such prejudice attacks, so it is this year that passion has grown.
Nevertheless, Falmouth University College is the chosen institution for both the fresh new minds and existing students come for their study to better their education.
A locally grown student described her arrival to Falmouth as ‘not much of a change in terms of location but the change from college to university was still scary’ and despite the outside turmoil the on campus jovial ambience has made her relax, feeling that ‘the lecturers are all really friendly and approachable, as are all the students.’
Another home grown student feels that Falmouth has been ‘a great experience’ for him and takes pleasure in the way ‘everyone just seems to get along with everyone and everything they're faced with.’
An international first year has not explored her entire surroundings, such as Penryn Town, yet but has already fallen in love with area, finding ‘all the basic things [she] needs, shop, bar, bus.’ These case studies give insight into the serene nature that the students here expect of their university; and contains the essence of hope they have to continue.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Guest Speaker : Lotte Mahon from The Vine
thevinemarketing.com
Walking into the seminar Ms Mahon was sat in a chair awaiting our arrival (well, mine as i was slightly the last to arrive, my course mates were already sitting with pen and paper out). She was obviously quite young and from pre-lecture research I knew she had her own PR business in Falmouth, so already I was quite impressed.
The lecture was an hour and a half and I believe Ms Mahon hardly stopped talking throughout, yet found time to listen to and answer any of our questions. She is of the phenomenal sort of person of which you can listen to for hours- and keep on listening. She kept all our attentions whilst relaying very interesting opinions and information about the world of PR we are starting to wade ourselves into.
Ms Mahon's own business is a 'boutique agency' on her own description; basically meaning, she is unique, she has no chains and is selective of her clientele although she manages to extend over a vast variety of Public Relations including events, marketing and advertising. "A holistic approach to PR" Ms Mahon stated of her practise.
She also advised us on being "flexible to the clients needs." PR is a client focused career so we do need to work around them but also we have our own lives and can't give on everything.
I also found interesting her opinions on the change of PR in just the past 5 years, mostly because of freedom through the Internet and accessibility to this freedom. We can now engage with the individual customer rather than just be reliant on a journalist to send out our press release.
In conclusion, i found Ms Mahon to be a very smart business women and talented PR. She can get a lot of useful information and get you to absorb it. I wish her much luck in her business.
TaTa for now, x
Natalie
Walking into the seminar Ms Mahon was sat in a chair awaiting our arrival (well, mine as i was slightly the last to arrive, my course mates were already sitting with pen and paper out). She was obviously quite young and from pre-lecture research I knew she had her own PR business in Falmouth, so already I was quite impressed.
The lecture was an hour and a half and I believe Ms Mahon hardly stopped talking throughout, yet found time to listen to and answer any of our questions. She is of the phenomenal sort of person of which you can listen to for hours- and keep on listening. She kept all our attentions whilst relaying very interesting opinions and information about the world of PR we are starting to wade ourselves into.
Ms Mahon's own business is a 'boutique agency' on her own description; basically meaning, she is unique, she has no chains and is selective of her clientele although she manages to extend over a vast variety of Public Relations including events, marketing and advertising. "A holistic approach to PR" Ms Mahon stated of her practise.
She also advised us on being "flexible to the clients needs." PR is a client focused career so we do need to work around them but also we have our own lives and can't give on everything.
I also found interesting her opinions on the change of PR in just the past 5 years, mostly because of freedom through the Internet and accessibility to this freedom. We can now engage with the individual customer rather than just be reliant on a journalist to send out our press release.
In conclusion, i found Ms Mahon to be a very smart business women and talented PR. She can get a lot of useful information and get you to absorb it. I wish her much luck in her business.
TaTa for now, x
Natalie
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Well, it's Tuesday morning and I should be thinking about the content in which I base my 'news story' that the Falmouth PR students have been set this week.
~I warn you now, I have the flu and in writing this blog it has turned into a rant about writing, enjoy~
Skimming headlines for my adopted paper in the course, Daily Mirror, I find a girl, 19, which is the same age as me, had misunderstood instructions from an art teacher and accidentally encased her hands in Plaster of Paris, which proceeded to cook in a solidifying block of stone up to temperatures of 60 degrees...
What must be running through your head in that situation? Would the first questions comprise of how to get the stone off? Or will the pain out rule and blind all thought? I would suppose different people would think different things, even the onlooking students may have only been thinking of the pain rather than figuring out how to remove the substance.
Panic is a strange thing when studied in human society; when scientists distress animals they find a violent streak in both wild and domesticated animals to escape confines. In continuation of the above example, the students and teacher used hammers to get the plaster off, that itself is quite violent. It seems panic is a branch of fear in which causes most to retaliate physically. Even just reading that story I panicked for the girl, even though it has happened already and she is now free.
If news can expel that kind of emotion from its readers then surely we, as journalists and PR's, must be careful of how we write. I have often been told that we must leave our emotion out of the news, reporting nothing but the fact and let the public respond how they read; but surely we have the responsibility of reassuring the nation after such horror stories? How can reassurance be honest without emotion? The very essence of being human is to be emotional; it is what sets us apart from each other and from everything else, yet we tell ourselves to rid ourselves of such humanistic guides when we communicate so broadly.
I agree, that biased emotion on all news would be a disaster, I understand the importance of neutrality, but even that neutrality exhibits emotion within the public, as stated before. Do we leave our consumers alone to feel angry, or happy, or scared?
Or are they really alone? Are newspapers and even the television (a computer screen?) becoming am insentient part of our daily routines to the point we rely on it as if it were a family member or a friend? That would indeed support Kovach and Rosentiel when they describe journalism as a tool for community.
Perhaps emotion is present in the emptiness between the news and the reader, perhaps even the most neutral of all writings can not but help absorb the energies of both the writer and reader and share it with both. Perhaps we are all linked and understand words as they given and received.
Or maybe I still need to find a cup of coffee this morning. With that, I leave you to go on the hunt for a real news story... wish me luck.
~I warn you now, I have the flu and in writing this blog it has turned into a rant about writing, enjoy~
Skimming headlines for my adopted paper in the course, Daily Mirror, I find a girl, 19, which is the same age as me, had misunderstood instructions from an art teacher and accidentally encased her hands in Plaster of Paris, which proceeded to cook in a solidifying block of stone up to temperatures of 60 degrees...
What must be running through your head in that situation? Would the first questions comprise of how to get the stone off? Or will the pain out rule and blind all thought? I would suppose different people would think different things, even the onlooking students may have only been thinking of the pain rather than figuring out how to remove the substance.
Panic is a strange thing when studied in human society; when scientists distress animals they find a violent streak in both wild and domesticated animals to escape confines. In continuation of the above example, the students and teacher used hammers to get the plaster off, that itself is quite violent. It seems panic is a branch of fear in which causes most to retaliate physically. Even just reading that story I panicked for the girl, even though it has happened already and she is now free.
If news can expel that kind of emotion from its readers then surely we, as journalists and PR's, must be careful of how we write. I have often been told that we must leave our emotion out of the news, reporting nothing but the fact and let the public respond how they read; but surely we have the responsibility of reassuring the nation after such horror stories? How can reassurance be honest without emotion? The very essence of being human is to be emotional; it is what sets us apart from each other and from everything else, yet we tell ourselves to rid ourselves of such humanistic guides when we communicate so broadly.
I agree, that biased emotion on all news would be a disaster, I understand the importance of neutrality, but even that neutrality exhibits emotion within the public, as stated before. Do we leave our consumers alone to feel angry, or happy, or scared?
Or are they really alone? Are newspapers and even the television (a computer screen?) becoming am insentient part of our daily routines to the point we rely on it as if it were a family member or a friend? That would indeed support Kovach and Rosentiel when they describe journalism as a tool for community.
Perhaps emotion is present in the emptiness between the news and the reader, perhaps even the most neutral of all writings can not but help absorb the energies of both the writer and reader and share it with both. Perhaps we are all linked and understand words as they given and received.
Or maybe I still need to find a cup of coffee this morning. With that, I leave you to go on the hunt for a real news story... wish me luck.
Monday, October 12, 2009
The Pilot Post
This is my first blog post on my new Public Relations Ba (HONS) degree from Falmouth University College. There really isn't anything to say in the first seminar of writing for the media but I am sure that will change in the coming weeks....
Blog again soon x
Blog again soon x
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