Business Cards, Resume, and Interviews

Things are coming up quickly! It's hard to believe that I'll be in Los Angeles in just over a month. I get excited every time I think about it! I've had the chance recently to go over a few of my things and get things organized. The first thing I started with was my business cards.

My business cards aren't too bad, but I've gotten my own personal website and a LinkedIn profile since I first made them, so I felt those things needed to be updated. On top of that, I actually used the icons for my social media websites instead of just putting the name of the website with a colon and giving my URL. I feel like it looks much more professional. I like my new headshot, too. My older one was a little more serious, but this new one that I decided to feature actually has me smiling in it, which is more indicative of my personality, I think. A water mark is also included on my landscape photo on the back of the card.

Back of business card

My resume has gone over an update, too. I have a lot of experience in PR and I didn't realize it until I gave it some thought. I realized that serving on the LDS Institute of Religion Executive Council for two years down in St. George is totally a PR experience! Everything we did was geared around increasing the visibility and credibility of the institute program! We did everything from speaking assignments at YSA wards in the St. George area to plan large-scale activities like dances, movie nights and Mario Kart tournaments. Everything was about engagement--everything.

While at Dixie State, I also worked as the liaison between the local Chick-fil-A restaurant and Dixie State Athletics. I would call the athletic director at the school and organize days where we could come to basketball games during halftime and throw free water bottles out to the crowd. We always dressed up one of our coworkers as the Chick-fil-A cow and brought him/her with us, so that was fun, too.

I was also on the Public Relations committee for the Dixie State University Student Association for one semester. I was in charge of media production! My primary responsibility was to edit footage of recent DSUSA activities and cut them into a video to be posted and shared on social media. I loved being able to do that and I found it very rewarding, but I only did it for one semester because shortly after I was made President of the aforementioned Institute Council.

I wanted to take my resume to the Career Center and have them look it over, but by the time this blog was due, their schedule had already been filled.

Interviews are also something I'm familiar with. While studying motion picture production at DSU, we did a lot of documentary-style interviews for our videos. I typically like to have a healthy list of questions to ask those that I interview while still remaining flexible to ask questions pertaining to any material they may bring up. In particular, I remember doing a film with a friend in which we interviewed LDS institute students on why they go to institute. It was only a short three-question interview for several students, but we found that many of the students had insightful answers. It was a really rewarding experience.

Things are coming up quickly! Unfortunately we won't be meeting together as a class today to prepare for the trip, but we will in a couple of weeks. This is going to be excellent! Big things are coming!


-Aaron Hall

UVU PRSSA
Instagram: @uvuprssa
Website: www.uvuprssa.org

PR Conference at CSU Fullerton

Well, this is exciting news!

Just over a month ago, I got the news that I was selected to represent the Utah Valley University chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America at a regional PR conference this upcoming March! The conference is going to take place at California State University, Fullerton, and should include public relations students throughout the western United States! Our group at UVU consists of about a dozen bright and charismatic public relations students that will be attending the conference. I'm so fired up about this! It's going to be an amazing opportunity to meet other aspiring PR professionals and make some friends.

As of right now, our friends at Cal State Fullerton haven't made clear who the presenters and speakers are going to be for the conference, but that's okay! We have a really stellar trip planned out so we'll be talking with some quality people before then. Two people I'm particularly excited to meet are Faith Tusieseina of Universal Music Group and Cori Fox of American Idol Productions. I've always wanted to work in the entertainment industry so this is really exciting!

Faith Tusieseina is originally from Redondo Beach, California. As a teenager, she attended Lone Peak High School in Highland, Utah before coming to Utah Valley University to play volleyball. She played volleyball from 2008-2009 and began studying public relations not long after. During her last year at the university, she was a member of the PRSSA Executive Board. She also worked as an intern for Brener Zwikel & Associates, a production intern for Continuum Entertainment Group, a research assistant for the Communication Department Chair of Utah Valley University, and a production assistant for MRM // McCann SLC.

After working at MRM // McCann SLC, Faith moved to Los Angeles to work as a publicity assistant for Katz Public Relations. While at Katz, Faith promoted many upcoming Hollywood talents and secured press coverage for them. She also promoted clients at photo shoots, premieres and other special events, such as Entertainment Weekly's SAG Party and the Camp Ronald McDonald Carnival.

Since June of 2015, Faith has worked with United States brand partnerships for Universal Music Group. Her interests include her family, friends, and the beach.

The other person I'm really excited to meet with is Cori Fox at American Idol Productions. Cori graduated from Utah Valley University in 2013 and was involved in UVUSA, PRSSA, and UVU Clubs. She's had extensive experience in the field of public relations during and after her education at UVU. As a member of PRSSA, she served as the Vice President of Digital Communication and was a member of the Bateman Team, which won a Golden Spike Award for their social media campaign in 2013!

Also during Cori's time at UVU, she worked at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints as an intern for social media and marketing. She also was a press liaison for the Sundance Institute and worked as an intramural marketing coordinator for UVU.

Cori moved to California in June of 2013 and has been there since. She's worked in many positions around the Hollywood and Los Angeles area. She's been a production assistant for Jimmy Kimmel Live! and So You Think You Can Dance. She's been a VIP Guest and Media Coordinator for LA Live, a Vine Booth & Twitter Mirror Specialist at Twitter, a Rising Star & BET Honors Script Coordinator at BET & ABC Network, a Customer Support Specialist at JetBlue.

During all of these, Cori has been a Script Assistant for American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance at American Idol Productions. She coordinates with producers, stage managers and executives and assists the director during camera block of each individual performance. Most recently, Cori has joined the Digital Team at American Idol Productions.

I wish I was able to find more information on our conference presenters, but unfortunately this is all the information that was available for now. I'm looking forward to discovering who they will be so I can reach out to them in the near future. I have a feeling this trip is going to open all sorts of doors for me and my other friends here at UVU's public relations program. :) Can't wait!

-Aaron

Personal Twitter: @aaronnhall
UVUPRSSA Twitter: @uvuprssa