safe harbor video - wrapping it up

Our Safe Harbor video is finally done! I really like the final product, and hopefully, everyone else will too. The final version was very hard to come by with all the editing and cutting. Learning editing skills took almost as much effort as deciding what parts of Deborah's story to cut out. Luckily, we were able to make an extended (i.e. uncut) version also. I hope Safe Harbor uses both as the story in its entirety is very inspiring. Deborah chose her words so perfectly, you'd think she was a spokesperson (I promise, no prepping was involved!).

We learned a lot about video editing through trial-and-error in making this video. Once we got the hang of it, it wasn't too bad, and I really think it is a skill that I'll be able to use in the future. We decided not to make the video too elaborate as the story is the focus and we want people to walk away from the video with that in their minds.

While this is mainly an awareness video, I think the story is inspiring and could potentially raise funds for Safe Harbor too. I really enjoyed making this video because we were able to directly interact with a survivor of domestic violence that Safe Harbor helped. As I mentioned in my last post, I think I want to work for a non-profit one day, so being able to help one now while I'm still in school is a really great experience. Hopefully, Safe Harbor will find this experience as useful as I have!

class - wrapping it up

Well our class is basically done (except for our final projects -- more to come on that when we're finished editing!) and I feel like I learned a lot. Out of all of the PR classes I've taken, I've enjoyed this one the most (though I think it took the most work too) because it focused on the kind of PR I want to do: non-profit! I can't see myself being happy doing PR for some random big corporation like Coca-Cola -- though I'd make more money that way -- but I'd rather use my skills to promote an organization I really believe in. That's why I think the things I learned in this class were important for my eventual career. While the other PR classes I've taken were important because they taught me the basics but this class went into more depth and taught more practical skills. The class projects also helped me realize the real amount of work that goes into various PR campaigns through hands-on experience. I might even keep the books as they apply directly to what I want to do!

pepsi refresh - wrapping it up

So the month of November is over and we weren't able to get the Pepsi Refresh grant. However, we were able to break the top 100, and our efforts helped raise awareness for Safe Harbor. For our class's first attempt (and my first attempt) at a PR campaign of this size, I think it went pretty well. If nothing else, I learned a lot about what kind of effort has to be put in. I wish there was a way to know how the people who did vote found out about it so we could know which efforts worked and which ones didn't.

Looking back, I might make a few changes to how we approached the PR plan. First off, I wish we had known about the texting thing from the beginning. We could have advertised about that for the full month instead of just the half. I also would have put up the flyers earlier (and more of them). I also feel that a more cohesive effort on Facebook might have been helpful (like maybe an event?).

I felt a little burned out at the end (I think everyone was) but I think that just shows you how much effort actually goes into these types of campaigns. Just because we didn't pay for anything doesn't mean we didn't put in any effort. And that's PR. Again, overall I think this was a good experience for me to learn through a real effort, and hopefully it benefited Safe Harbor at least in awareness.