Category: Uncategorized

An organization I would like to work for is School’s Out Washington (SOWA). School’s Out Washington is a Seattle-based non-profit focused on funding proposals that benefit the wellbeing of underserved children across the state. I’ve worked with SOWA as a consultant for a few projects related to summer programming.

SOWA has a four person communication department. SOWA’s PR team is also in charge of helping fundraise for the non-profit. Their PR team plans and organizes fundraisers, publishes blog-style articles to their website and creates engaging content for their social media pages.

School’s Out Washington is present on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

There is no formal/ traditional communications intern program-(unlike the Bellingham Bells). However, I have worked for SOWA on about four projects, and two of their board members used to be my bosses back in Yakima. So, it never hurts to ask.

Based on my experience working as a consultant for SOWA, they have a rather larger network of charitable agencies across Washington. These more localized charities also have systems in place to reach marginalized populations in a community. When SOWA wants to send a message it usually start as an email to their local partners who then spread the message within their communities using built-in connections and social capital.

If to intern for SOWA, I would like to know if it’s in-person or remote? I probably wouldn’t live in Seattle unless I had to. I’d also want to know if there’s the potential for upward mobility within the organization. Lastly, I would want to know the hours. I’ve recently found my values shifting towards raising a family and so it’s important to know what my schedule would look like and if I’d be required to be on-call.

This is so hard for me. Especially since I did recently take what I thought was an upward career move over my best friend. We weren’t competing for the same job, but I had to move out very quickly and last minute. For starters, I’m gonna make some assumptions. First, I will assume this is a very close friend, I’ll say I’ve known her since elementary school. I was at their wedding, etc. Secondly, I’m assuming this new job would give me a huge income boost, but if I decline the job I’m still doing ok financially.

Kant Philosophy:

If I was following Kant, I would be unable to interview at this time. The job posting is only internal, meaning if I apply, I’m breaking the rules and have an unfair advantage against other outside candidates. It’s also unfair to the company’s employees, like my friend’s husband, who should be considered before bringing in outside talent. I would also tell the VP “My friend XYZ is interested in the same position and I won’t interview until it’s posted externally.”

Utilitarianism (Mill)

For this scenario, I’m going to assume I’d be better for this position than my friend’s husband. If I was following Utilitarianism, I would have to interview and eventually accept the job. Utilitarianism is about the greater god over individual needs. Some would argue the greater good is allowing my friend to close his house and start his family. However, if this company is a non-profit, hospital, or even a company manufacturing company making something essential. Than guiding their PR team would be the greater good. If I was better at the hospital PR job, not to sound overdramatic, but lives could be saved. Example- I post on socials the warning signs of a heart attack, and through algorithms it reaches are target audience of men over 50. Tedd, 57, might see this ad on his way to work. Later that day, he remembers seeing the warning signs and recognizes that he’s about to have a heart attack. Again, this is a dramatic retelling, but it makes the case under utilitarianism, my friend’s family may not be the greater good.

Conclusion

I would actually follow the golden rule- treat other the way you want to be treated. I would accept the interview- I personally believes interviews never hurt anyone. I would tell my friend’s family that I was approached but I’m taking the job. I know hw much this means to my friend and their spouse. I would then bring salt, wine and bread when they close on their house. I picked the golden rule, because it seems the most ethical thing to do, but also I believe good inspires good. I wouldn’t want my friend taking a job I really want, especially if I was planning my future (house, kids, etc.) around this job.

This past September Starbucks celebrated their 50th Annivarsary. Coincidentally their annivasary falls on National Coffee Day, September 29, 2022. Interestingly, the US and Canada celebrate coffee on the 29th, while the rest of the world celebrates on International Coffee Day on October 1st.

On September 27th, Starbucks released a press release about how customers can receive a free cup of Pike Place Roast brewed coffee at select locations on National Coffee Day in honor of the company’s 50th anniversary. Alternatively, people can receive a free Pike Place Roast packaged coffee for home by visiting their website on National Coffee Day.

Starbucks also said it’s Reserve locations in Seattle, Chicago and New York would be participating in the promotion.

Several local news sites picked up the Starbucks story including KSAT News, ABC’s San Antonio affiliate. Also NBC affiates in Chicago and Tampa also picked up the story. USA TODAY also covered Starbucks in a more broad piece about National Coffee Day giveaways.

I think news organizations where the reserves are located would be interested, NBC Chicago did run the story. As well as markets where there are a lot of Starbucks locations, and where Starbucks dominates the market compared to Dunkin’.

It’s also a free recognizable item. That on its own draws attention. I remember reading an article about it on my Google feed, but I ended up not going because I figured the line would be long and the nearest location was 20 mins. from my house. I would make the trek for half-off drinks during happy hour and buy one get one Frappuccinos around Cinco De Mayo.

Starbucks Stories, that’s what they call their newsroom.

USA TODAY

San Antonio

Chicago

Tampa:

I wanted to talk about social theory, so I tried to find a company that utilizes social theory. It was a little difficult, I know companies use employee of the month all the time, but I couldn’t find proof. Walmart wanted me to sign-in using a Walmart email to view their newsletter.

So I thought I’d lean on my previous experience working at a McDonald’s in Sunnyside, Washington. I started working there in March 2021. It wasn’t until four months later that we even did employee of the month. I unfortunately was never employee of the month. I tried to win it for August after I found out, but then I gave up because I had to move back to Bellingham in September.

Obviously the McDonald’s I worked a did not effectively utilize social theory, or I was under a rock.

I like social theory because mimicking behavior to repeat a desirable outcome is interesting to me. We all feel a need to fit in, and social theory plays into that need to fit in. It may be unethical, but it’s ok, I haven’t taken ethics yet, but I think it would be really cool to see how PR/advertising was able to market a product so well that if someone didn’t have one or buy one you’d be missing out. But now I’m roaming into fomo or fear of missing out.

The least interesting theory to me is the magic bullet theory. Mainly because its been discredited. I think it’s great to learn from but its not practical in PR today. There is no magic bullet to influence every single audience.

“Amtrak Joe” may run the country, but is it even enough to turnaround the company?

Background:
Since it’s inception in 1971 Amtrak has never had a profitable year. Amtrak formed after the U.S. decided to buy failing private railroad companies providing nationwide passenger service. Amtrak is broken into three business models. The first is the Northeast Corridor or NEC. This line runs from Washington D.C. to Boston and includes high speed Acela service. The second is state sponsored routes, Amtrak shares the costs with state governments, think Amtrak Cascades. Lastly, the company provides long-distance service, like the Empire Builder from Seattle to Chicago.

The Acela service is Amtrak’s most profitable line, earning the company $80 per passenger. State sponsored lines combined do not bring in a profit, however because the state carries some of the financial burden, and because these routes connect urban areas, the potential for earnings is there. It is not recommended Amtrak cut state sponsored lines. Amtrak’s long distance routes are killing the company. Every long distance route is operating at a loss. Bloomberg reports ““ In particular, long-distance trips account for 15% of Amtrak’s total ridership and 80% of its financial losses.” Analysis from the transportation themed YouTube channel Wendover Productions shows Amtrak’s Sunset Limited line, running from New Orleans, Louisiana to Los Angeles costs the company $456/per passenger.

Expenses/Income. (FY21)
According to Amtrak financial statements, the company has $21,475,632,000 in total assets…

Total revenue: $2,081,804,000

Advertising expenses: $56,178,000

Total expenses: $4,065,801,000

Operating loss: $2,007,073,000

Estimated retirement/pension benefit payouts for FY22: $74,143,000

Retirement obligation 10/1/21: $529,553,000

Retirement plan assets:   $469,573,000

The retirement numbers confused me, so I added charts from Amtrak’s financial statement below.

Trends/ Noteworthy

November’s infrastructure package provided Amtrak with $66 billion. The company plans to use the money to add more lines and continue subsidizing long distance routes. However, as Bloomberg points out Amtrak has a long list of maintenance repairs. The Northeast corridor, Amtrak’s most profitable region, has a maintenance backlog exceeding $38 billion. I think Amtrak should focus on improving profitable corridors before expanding long distance routes. According to NBC News, Amtrak is planning to spend $22 billion form the infrastructure package on improvements.

Railway Age reports, due to an Omicron surge, Amtrak will reduce service across all lines for a ten week period ending March 27. Service disruptions on the Northeast Corridor will certainly hurt Amtrak’s bottom line. Disruptions on Amtrak’s long distance routes will save the company money, counteracting lost revenue from Northeast disruptions.

Sources:

Amtrak financial reports:

https://www.amtrak.com/content/dam/projects/dotcom/english/public/documents/corporate/financial/Amtrak-Audited-Consolidated-Financial-Statements-FY2021.pdf

Bloomberg:

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-12-29/just-say-no-to-amtrak-s-expensive-expansion-plans

NBC News:

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/amtrak-ceo-outlines-plans-spending-66-billion-infrastructure-funding-rcna4786

Railway Age:

https://www.railwayage.com/passenger/intercity/omicron-forces-amtrak-service-cuts/

Wendover Productions:

I usually focus on the reactive part of PR. Responding to a crisis, explaining an uncomfortable situation, and spinning bad news. I really like that part, especially mixed with politics. However, I do know there is a another side of PR. It’s more proactive and building brands, running social media accounts, generating good publicity for a company. PR is like basketball, they both have offense (proactive) and defense (reactive). Coincidentally, I happen to be better at defense when shooting hoops.

After googling a few jobs, the first one to pop up was Assistant Director of Communications and Marketing, Admissions right here at Western. The job entails creating a marketing strategy for Undergraduate Admissions. This position closely works with Undergraduate Admissions, Marketing, and Communication departments.

The next job is a PR internship at Boeing. The job entails “media relations” and using social media to promote Boeing and it’s credit union BECU.

The last job is Community Director for an assisted living home. It involves creating a network, giving tours, following up on inquiries and developing a professional referral program.

The assisted living job definitely surprised me. It wasn’t running a social media page and seemed more sales oriented in enrolling the elderly. Overall, I think most jobs fell into my expectations of the profession. I’m really excited to learn more about the industry.

Sources:

https://www.google.com/search?q=pr+jobs+yakima&rlz=1C1VDKB_enUS986US986&oq=pr+jo&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0i433i457i512j0i512l3j69i60j69i61j69i60&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&ibp=htl;jobs&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=2ahUKEwimrsX7lrr1AhVnAmMBHWCzCW8Qkd0GegQIFhAB#fpstate=tldetail&sxsrf=AOaemvLy1WTuOjAyvPNpz0LaDdX_1tMfLA:1642470378141&htivrt=jobs&htidocid=rQWa5pnOMDYAAAAAAAAAAA%3D%3D

https://www.google.com/search?q=pr+jobs&rlz=1C1VDKB_enUS986US986&oq=pr+jo&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0i433i457i512j0i512l3j69i60j69i61j69i60&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&ibp=htl;jobs&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=2ahUKEwimrsX7lrr1AhVnAmMBHWCzCW8Qkd0GegQIFhAB#fpstate=tldetail&htivrt=jobs&htiq=pr+jobs&htidocid=9bKZanRzJPoAAAAAAAAAAA%3D%3D&sxsrf=AOaemvLy1WTuOjAyvPNpz0LaDdX_1tMfLA:1642470378141