Posts Categorized: JMC 3343-995

Thoughts on Unit 3.2 

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This week we wrote 2 media advisories and 2 media pitches about the Tipton Children’s Home and the bikeathon. It’s nice to know how to format these documents as they are important to any organization a PR professional might represent. I feel like these assignments would have been easier if I was more familiar with the home and the bikeathon. I was able to look up extra information about the home online, but the bikeathon is non-existent. I would have felt more comfortable writing about an event from my work. Also, since I am not familiar with Tipton, OK it was harder to find who to send the pitches too and even harder to find a way to connect with them. I eventually found the Altus times newspaper which is one of the larger towns next to Tipton. I wrote to a reporter who had written articles about organizations and events similar to Tipton Children’s Home and the bikeathon. ​
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3.2 Reflection Post: Media Pitch & Advisory

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This week we had to write our first Media Advisories and Media Pitches. Again all assignments were written on the Tipton’s Family Home. It is interesting to see how the information needs to be presented in slightly different ways across each platform. I am excited to continue to refine these skills and continue to see the different ways PR professionals interact with various audiences using various mediums. I think its always important, for any job in any field, to know how to communicate clearly to multiple audiences. 

Project 1 Reflection

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This week we had to revise and finalize our designs for our letterhead and business cards. I made some minor edits to my original business card design based upon the feedback I received. I didn’t make many changes to my letterhead because I wasn’t really sure what to change. 

I felt like I had solid enough designs for my rough drafts, which made this week not too stressful. 

I still feel fairly confident with InDesign, although I feel very amateur when I’m using it. I’m sure theres better ways to be doing the things I’m doing in InDesign, but the end result is the same. 

My Attempt at Press Release 1 (and 2): Reflection

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This week we had to write our first two press releases. And it happened…
I felt a little fish out of water this week. I was very unsure of myself and kept having questions I didn’t know the answer to.
Now that it’s over, I definitely have a better feel for the layout of press releases. And I absolutely have a better idea of what all it takes to throw one together. 
I think I would enjoy it a lot more if I was writing for an organization I worked for, or at least one I was passionate about. 
I do understand how important it is to be able to craft a clean press release, and I look forward to continuing to craft this skill. ​

Putting the “L” on “Letterhead”

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I spent the better part of this week playing with one concept I had for letterhead. I just kept tweaking it and changing it until I had something I thought I liked.

After last weeks feedback on my business card, I selected Futura as FC Dallas’ secondary font. You will see this used in the body and the contact info in the letterhead.

On Thursday – the due date – I made up my mind.

I hated it.

So I went back to the drawing board – literally. I grabbed some pens and scratch paper and started sketching out every idea I could think of. Just like with the business card for FC Dallas, I knew I wanted the letterhead to be clean, incorporate strongly the red and navy, and have some sort of sash or sharp line. I want to keep the sash/lines in all the designs for FC Dallas because in soccer crests it often is used to symbolize the lines on the field as well as the movement that takes on the field during the match.

I decided a lot of my sketches were either too newsletter-y or too church bulletin-y. 

I narrowed it down to my top two and set to work on InDesign. Luckily it wasn’t difficult to take my previous iterations and retool them to create my knew designs.

If we are being honest, I’m not really crazy about either of these two new designs – but I do like them better than my original. I think the third attempt is too heavy, and the second attempt looks too much like the French flag. 

Since I have the flu, and this is due in a couple hours, Imma go ahead and sign off and take the “L” this week. After some feedback, rest and vitamin C, I look forward to hitting the grindstone next week with fresh eyes.
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attempt no. 1

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attempt no. 2

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attempt no. 3

Business Card, A Work In Progress – Reflection

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Here we go, design assignment #1. I designed a business card for FC Dallas – one of the original soccer teams from the founding of MLS. I knew I wanted it to play off the navy, red and white that is in the teams’ crest. The crest itself is very clean, and I wanted to reflect that in the business card’s design bringing in clean lines and a simple design. 

Thanks to the instructional video at the beginning of this unit, I was more than capable of doing what I set out to accomplish. I feel like I did a decent job of achieving that. After a couple tries, I finished with a product I felt proud of. 

Again, my little experience with InDesign from high school comforted me and helped me throughout this assignment. 

Trynna be sloppy: Communication Strategy 

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This is my attempt at being brief and sloppy…not necessarily my strong suits when it comes to writing. 

For the FC Dallas graphics I want to play off the navy, red and white that is so integral to the logo. Including the longhorn in some manner would be good too. I’d like the spread to be color driven integrating the three primary colors (red, navy and white in all of the designs). 

It all just needs to relate back the the primary logo and the essence of the brand. It should connect back to Texas, Dallas and soccer. 

FC Dallas Competitor Analysis

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As discussed in my previous post, I believe some of the main competitors of FC Dallas are the other Dallas-based professional sports teams. Maybe the biggest and most successful of these is Dallas Cowboys. 

The main difference of FC Dallas and the Cowboys is sport. Beyond that, their target audience varies a little as well. FC Dallas is able to sell tickets for a lower price than the Cowboys, allowing them to market to a larger audience. Their brand reflects this, focusing on being more youthful, fun and family-orientated. 

The Cowboys’ attitude is more prestigious in a way that screams “We’ve been around for a while, we are big time, and you are our fan.”

FC Dallas should continue to build off this brand separation by continuing to establish themselves as a more youthful brand, with a focus on being for the entire community. 
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FC Dallas Analysis

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FC Dallas is one of the 22 professional soccer franchises in the MLS. Its mission is to continue the Lamar Hunt legacy by being the most competitive professional soccer club in the MLS, provide an authentic soccer experience to fans, have the best youth development system in the Americas, and become the preeminent sports and entertainment facility in our region.

Its competitors vary from day to day depending on the situation. Of course, in a very literal sense their competitor is whoever they are playing that day, whether that is one of the other teams in the League, or one of the teams they are competing against in the CONCACAF Champions League. Additionally, it can be argued that other main competitors are the other professional sports in the Dallas area. On a wider scale, they compete for media time from all professional sports in America, as well as European soccer teams in the EPL. 

Although FC Dallas’ values and attitudes are not explicitly spelled out externally, it can be deduced from their mission statement that they value success and setting the standard for soccer in North America. They mirror this with an attitude of excellence.