EUROPE!!

I can't believe my college career is over!! I just graduated in May with a BBA in Business Management, a minor in Public Relations, and an emphasis in Special Events Management.

Now, to treat myself to a little gift- A TRIP TO EUROPE!!

I went May 17th-27th and it was CRAZY the amount of stuff I did and saw! I went with my friend, Lisa, and we started off in Dublin, Ireland. We were in Ireland for 3 days and saw the green fields, sheep, and castles. The image to the left is the ruins of Trim, which holds Ireland's largest and oldest castle.

The next stop was England! We saw Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, Oxford, Parliment, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Tower Bridge, the London Eye, and many many more. My favorite place was Stongehenge, which is pictured to the left. We were only in Enlgand for 2 days and I probably took the most pictures there... haha.

We went for a day trip to Amsterdam and saw the red light district and Anne Frank's house. Unbelieveable. The

remainder of the trip was spend in France, which was BY FAR my favorite place. We saw the Lourve, Notre Dame, the Mona Lisa, the Eiffel Tower (pictured left), and went to Versailles.

It was quite an adventure. In those 10 days, I was on and off 7 different planes and what felt like hundreds of busses and trains. I may have to go back soon when I have more time to travel :-)

Cindy Hamilton: Nike PR Manager

I wish these blog posts weren't so far apart, but the semester is coming to a close and that means FINAL EXAMS!! I just have to share who else I learned from over my Thanksgiving break.

I met with Cindy Hamilton who is the PR and Community Relations Manager at Nike, Inc. at the Chicago headquarters. The building was a little hard to find at first because it was just a tiny door on the street. Don't judge a book by its cover because it opened up to a multi-level, spacious headquarters. They even had a floor dedicaded to showrooms, which was very interesting.

Hamilton said she spends most her time dealing with the media. She follows media outputs on Nike, processes requests for journalists, pitches to the media, and responds to the public and journalists.

One of her favorite tactics for reaching out to the public and media is through press kits. She showed me an interactive press kit Nike put out for the Nike Lunarglide+, a new running shoe they had launched. The image to the left shows different parts of the Lunarglide+.

Hamilton said the biggest thing she learned the hard way was that you can't please everyone. Some people will just prefer other brands over Nike and she can't try and make them change their mindset. She also said that in media outlets, she would choose quality over quantity.

I learned a lot of other very interesting things from her and was glad she took the time to meet with me. I found it very beneficial talking and learning from someone with so much experience in a field I'm extremely interested in! Thanks Cindy!!

Michael Berk: M&M The Special Events Company

It's my favorite time in November: THANKSGIVING BREAK!! And I made the most of it by meeting influential people in the Chicagoland area. I am a Business Management Major, Public Relations Minor, and Special Events Management Emphasis. All of these categories hold a strong interest for me and I wanted to learn more about the industries.

On November 25th, I had a great opportunity to meet with President and Chief Creative Director of M&M The Special Events Company, Michael Berk. M&M is a special events rental company that rents lights, florals, tables, chairs, tents, etc. to anyone looking to hold an event. Berk holds everything from corporate events and social events to weddings.

I was intrigued by the story of how he got his business started. Berk was the vice president of marketing for a major coffee company. He explain in Special Events Magazine how it happened:

"One day in 1980 I woke up on the wrong side of the bed, went to my comfortable corporate job and had a bad day. I walked into the president's office and told him that I quit. I hadn't planned this. I didn't even have a job lined up."

He did have a lot of experience in trade shows, conventions, and employee events so he began to start planning local events with his wife. M&M's headquartered office are in Carol Stream, IL, but he also has locations in Naperville, IL, and Dallas.

One of the questions I asked him was what made him decide to create another location in IL and then another in Texas. His answer: stupidity. He said someone once told him that in order to survive you either needed to be really small or really big. That's when he took the plunge and it all worked out for the best.

The most important thing I learned from him was that if you're unhappy with something in life, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!! It makes sense, but not a lot of people follow this rule. Whether it's a job, a habit, or personal opinion, if something makes you unhappy, do something to change it.

Michael Berk is a very interesting man and I'm glad I got the chance to speak with him! He can be contacted at 630-871-9999 or check out their website at http://www.mmspecialevents.com/.

A Good Day for Social Networking

Have you ever had one of those days where you were just so into something, that 4-5 hours flew by and you had no idea?! That's what just happened to me now.

But, it was a very productive social networking day. I updated by blog, website, resume, and my newest creation: my VisualCV online resume! Anyone can make one at www.VisualCV.com and I highly recommend it. It allows for potential employers to find your resume online and have easy access to all your information.

Here are all the things I have updated today:

BlogSpot: http://www.michelledaciolas.blogspot.com/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/michelledaciolas
GoogleDocs: http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AcEOI8bx0Xi3ZGRueGYyNXdfMmZkZ3g3M2Zw&hl=en
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/michelledaciolas
MySpace: www.myspace.com/michelledaciolas
Twitter: www.twitter.com/MDaciolas
VisualCV: www.visualcv.com/michelledaciolas
Webs.com: http://www.michelledtennis.webs.com/
Weebly: http://www.michelledaciolas.weebly.com/

That's a pretty nice looking list! Feel free to contact/follow me at any of the above links.

Below is an image of my newest creation at VisualCV. You can click on the image and be brought to the actual page:

My Last Semester

This week has been pretty interesting.

I officially registered for classes for my last semester here, at University of Wisconsin- Whitewater!! It feels so strange to say it, but I won't believe I'm done with school till I'm at graduation. Or maybe it will hit when the end of the "summer" comes and I won't have anywhere to get back to.

It is very exciting though. I'll have a Bachelor's Degree in Business Management, a minor in Public Relations, and an emphasis in Special Events Management. The best part about finishing school is... THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS!!

I do realize I'll be in the "real world," but I'm excited for whatever the world has to throw at me! I am currently working on a couple web-pages and online resumes. Over Thanksgiving Break, I can't wait to start creating more for my mom's diabetes education classes. My mom, Theresa Daciolas, is an RN and CDE who works at St. Alexius Medical Center. I can say, HANDS DOWN, she's one of the most knowledgeable and personable people I know.

Below is a picture of my dad, me, and my mom at watching tennis in Cincinnati, 2009!

Twitter-iffic!!

It's official. I think I'm obsessed with Twitter.

I just learned how to fully utilize it and it's AWESOME!! It also helps that I can create different lists and group the people I follow into them. It's a quick and easy way to check the specific categories you create.

Here are some of my Twitter posts from day that I found extremely interesting. Let me know your thoughts on them:

• @HyattChicago Congratulations on the 2009 Workplace Excellence Award!! http://bit.ly/3cqMrH

• A Williams Sister and Bob Marley. RT @nbcchicago Students dress in blackface, cause uproar http://bit.ly/DqzEv

• @wiredprworks "CommunityPR Strategies: 9 ways to keep events alive with social media" http://bit.ly/4EPb4L
  

Go follow me on Twitter for more updates!! http://twitter.com/MDaciolas

Public Relations Social Media Summit

All I can say is, "Wow!" University of Wisconsin-Whitewater held the Public Relations and Social Media Summit yesterday (Oct 14th) and it was awesome. Hundreds of students, professors, and PR practitioners were in attendance to listen to a variety of speakers giving their inputs on the social media world.

The speakers I went to were:

• Paula Berg from Southwest Airlines
  
• Sue Spaight of Meyer & Wallis
  
• Colin Hutt from Primum Agency
  
• Jessica of Sway
  
• Andrew Wintheiser of Lightburn
  
• And the panel of Briana Rygg (Independent Consultant), Joyce O'Brien (Laughlin Constable), Abby Gutowski (VisualCV.com), and Jeff Carrigan (Big Shoes Network) as pictured below from left to right. Al Krueger (Comet Branding) also spoke at the panel as well.

I gained a lot of insight from these speakers and want to put their words into action (after, of course, I finish my homework)! But, it was a very inspiring day and I'm glad to have participated.

To get more about me, please connect with me on:

• Facebook: www.facebook.com/MichelleDaciolas


• Twitter: www.twitter.com/MDaciolas


• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/michelledaciolas


• My website: http://www.michelledtennis.webs.com/
  

-Duh coal liss