However, if this leak was intentional. I think it is genius on behalf of Apple’s marketing department. While the story of the “leak” may not have as much hype around it, as did the iPad prior to its release (which makes it seem as though perhaps it was an accident), it is making conversation. And it is making quiet conversation, which means people are skeptical and curious.

Either way there is no doubt Apple will not eventually take over the world, so if this was a legitimate leak, I truly doubt it will hurt Apple in the least bit. And I really hope they don’t punish this Grey Powell fellow too severely. Yikes!

While this strategy seems completely logical in this context it made me wonder how often companies or campaigns target me as simply a means to an end. I suppose being a college student there are not a lot of things that I have control of that would cause an organization to want to get on my good side. However the case may be different for  my best friend who is also my age but a young mother.

I think when it comes to younger children, advertisers definitely aim to their “secondary target” of the parents more often. But even for older children, like myself, advertisers still probably look to the person in charge to gain the access of who they really want. For example if I want a new cell phone advertisers are not going to exclude my parents from their campaign, since they are most likely to be the ones still paying for the bill.

Now thinking about it, this concept of gaining the acceptance of the secondary market in order to reach the primary, seems like common sense but it is slightly empowering to now be aware the tactic.

These “promotion” hours were mandatory because it is the acts’ responsibility to get people to attend the show. After working on my class project for a few hours this afternoon and hashing out promotional ideas for my client, I just realized how much more effectual promoting we could have done if we were given free reign to use that time to do whatever “promotion” we saw fit. Instead of standing in the West Mall, I could have sent an email to the officers of the organizations that I am in inviting members to come. I could have invited more friends on Facebook to the event. I could have created a Twitter account and tweeted multiple times to people I decided to follow. I could have researched Austin event blogs and sent them a quick pitch about the show, or even just submitted the event myself on Austin event sites. Or even starting writing a press release to send to the Daily Texan to publish a story which features my own act and how we stand and compare to the others. (You get the point).

I understand that getting groups to actually commit to do activities such as these would be difficult with something like Texas Revue, but with the knowledge that I have of PR and promoting, it slightly kills me to know I wasted 3 hours trying to hand out paper.

This realization came to me by how long it took for me to be aware of the plane crash in Poland which happened last Saturday. The first I heard about anything happening in Poland was during mass Sunday evening when the priest instructed us to pray for the people grieving in Poland. I then made a mental note to RSS search and Google it to find out what happened. But by the time I got to this it was this morning (two days after the incident) and it was a little difficult to get clear details about what happened from online sources. It wasn’t until later today when I read the Daily Texan that I fully understand what had happened from the incident.

It was interesting to me that in a world where normally all we have to do is be in a public place with a TV to find out about recent events, it took me almost 2 whole days to learn of a horrible tragedy. And I credit this to the tragedy happening on a Saturday when I had plans and rarely turned on my laptop or the TV.

I was also reminded the importance of understanding personalities when a PR professional spoke at PRSSA meeting last night. Matt Krebsbach from Waggener Edstrom showed us an analysis of his own personality. It was interesting to me that it is not only important to understand the personality of those you’re trying to reach out to, but also you’re own personality. Understanding your own strengths and weaknesses and how those work with particular clients or group members could allow you to gain an incredible advantage as a professional.

To further reinforce this “understanding personalities” concept which has been reappearing all week was the fact that I was required to take a personality test for my management class. The lecture was titled “Understanding Groups and Teams.” The results of the test showed me what I was for the most part previously aware of, but it did point out some strengths that I hadn’t yet realized I had.

All of these instances have sort of opened my eyes and forced me to take into consideration that everyone has a personality and whether I am working with them or working for them it must be understood and respected.

Also what really made me start thinking that we all may be doomed within the next few years, is the fact that this morning while tracking my RSS feed trying to get caught up on the latest news, I noticed that the stories surrounding the more than 300,000 units of iPads over the weekend slightly outweighed the stories covering the earthquake. What is wrong with this picture? Are we really more concerned with success of the newest Apple gadget than the fact that the plates of our planet our shifting causing buildings and homes to collapse on top of families and their loved ones? I sure hope not.

I do not really think that the end is near. But I hope that we as a society keep in mind what is really important when it comes to news and informing people about what they truly need to know.

My new BlackBerry Curve arrived in the mail yesterday. Now while I was extremely skeptical (opening my third phone sent from customer care service within the last 3 months), I have to admit this new phone has pleasantly surprised me and I recently New York Observer article confirms my sentiment. According to the article the iPhone and BlackBerry’s are fairly tied with advantages (the iPhone being better with user-friendliness and bells and whistles, while the Blackberry wins with durability and options with both devices tied with celebrity users).

I am very impressed with my new BlackBerry. It does exactly what I need it to now, (which mainly consists of email and regular phone capabilities) and beats out the iPhone in durability (which is something a clumsy person like myself should take interest in). The Observer article makes me a lot more confident that hopefully I will be able to hold on to this BlackBerry for a little while longer before we all inevitably are forced to make the shift to become iPhone users.

This book was published in 2007. It is amazing that only three years ago marketers had not realized the power social networks would have as an advertising tool. Today it seems like common knowledge that every brand can utilize social media and social networks to some degree and it is surprising that a fairly new textbook was so behind the curve to realize that. Maybe the textbook was written far earlier than it was published though. I think this is a possibility because it also uses MySpace as an example, when Facebook probably should have at least deserved some mention in 2007, (even though it probably was not anywhere near the advertising power it has now).

In one of my classes yesterday, we did an exercise where we discussed which media should be used to 1. Generate awareness of the HCR (which I think has already been accomplished by the passing of the bill) 2. Knowledge about the HCR (which I think needs extensive work because even when I go to heathlreform.gov the information on the site is very broad and vague) 3. Feel Positive about HCR 4.Prefer HCR over the status quo 5. Intend to adopt HCR for themselves or their business and finally 6. Adopt HCR.

The last few of these objectives seem very far away from being achieved since many people are still looking for more information as to what it specifically means to them. I also feel as though the supporters of the a bill could have a greater voice in the media. Watching Good Morning America while a work out has sort of become a routine of mine, and I hoped to hear representatives on this show talking about the bill to give me more of an understanding as to what it really means, however I never did. (This could be because I simply missed that particular interview though). But even still I feel like I am having to go out looking for information and if the government wants all Americans to support and adopt this reform they need to provide us with more sufficient information about how it will specifically impact our lives either with extensive online information or more of a voice on TV.

It seems as though the monster of social media will be the only successful medium to communicate to targets because it is growing so quickly right now. However from everything I heard about over the break I do not think the traditional media are going away any time soon. The fact the The Buzz was able to promote those events so well that I not only heard about them from my boyfriend, but my also dad’s best friend shows that the radio is still very powerful at getting the word out, (with the appropriate type of “word” you’re trying to send of course). I guess what I am concluding is that the radio still rocks at promoting events. Facebook has not completely pushed it off the cliff…yet.