I DID A PODCAST

I have some awesome news, I completed my first podcast ever! And let me tell you, it was a grand time. I think the coolest part about it was I got to do it with one my best friend, Paige Hartings. Paige and I were pretty excited to do this assignment because our professor told us we could partner up and record it.

The podcast is called Meeting in the Middle and the goal is to pick a topic in social media and have an "expert" answer some questions. We decided to go with social media in the athletic world. Paige is on the volleyball team at Northern and as you know, I am on the basketball team. We asked the head coach of the volleyball team, Katie Kuhn, to be our expert in this topic.

The questions Katie answered for us 

1. What is the #1 thing you look for with your athletes on their social media accounts?
2. How do you feel about your athletes using social media? What do you think are the pros and cons?
3. During your recruiting process, do you look at their social media accounts?
4. What is the most important advice you could give an athlete or student in general about the use of social media?
5. Since you've been a college athlete yourself, how have things changed from your time as an athlete to now?

This podcast was a lot fun! I learned a lot about social media with myself, my program and my school. I hope this can help coaches and athletes in the future. Katie was relatable and easy to talk to, which made the podcast exciting!

Check out our first episode of Meeting in the Middle. Click here to listen!

SISTERS

I am deciding to write a blog about my sister, Abby, because 1) I always wanted her to write one about me and 2) She is truly my favorite person on this world. 

Throughout everything I've been through, my sister has never left my side. She is my #1 supporter. She loves me unconditionally and will always be willing to listen to my vent sessions. Abby can do no wrong in my eyes and without her, my life would not be the same.

I could write pages on pages on how Abby is the best sister so instead, I will give you a few reasons why she is the best. 

She will always be there. Whether I am stressing about a school assignment, arguing with my aunts or my dad or having relationship struggles, Abby will always be there. She listens like no one else and she will give the best advice, whether or not I like it. I can always count on Abby to be in the stands at my basketball games, to be the shoulder to cry and to be the best dancing partner in the world. 

We can't stay mad at each other. This reason makes me laugh because I feel like I'm the initiator to every argument or fight. We could be fighting about sharing the car, braiding hair or a full on screaming match. But in the end, I know we (mostly me) can apologize and move on like nothing happened. I will always talk to her
after the fight and ask "are we still fighting?" and then we laugh it out. 

She accepts me for who I am. I would say I'm a pretty unique breed, with my obnoxious laugh and energetic self but Abby will always be my hype person and confidence booster. Yes, she will tell me to "chill" or "bring it down a level" but she will always be right by myself laughing with me. Abby has kept me strong when I feel weak and this is why she is the best sister. 

My sister makes my life a whole lot brighter and I will forever be grateful for her heart and personality. Thank you Abby for being my best friend and sister. You have been my best friend since the beginning of time and I can't wait for our adventures to continue. 

THE MAN, THE MYTH, THE LEGAND. MR. PEANUT

This blog is about to be nuts! Known for his monocle, top hat and cane, Mr. Peanut has been toasted and died at 104 years old.  Mr. Peanut is one the most iconic food brand mascots in history and he will be missed by many. 

The commercial took place with Mr. Peanut driving the NUTmobile with Wesley Snipes and Matt Walsh. Mr. Peanut drove a little nuts and swerved off the road, making all three hang from a branch that was going to snap. Mr. Peanut let go without any hesitation plunging to his death. Click here to watch the full 30 second video.  This commercial is a preview of the so called "funeral" of Mr. Peanut. The full story of Mr. Peanut's death will be aired before one the biggest commercial activity event, the Super Bowl. 

Twitter blew up when The Estate of Mr. Peanut tweeted about the commercial and his death. #RIPeanut is trending on Twitter and it is a huge PR campaign for Planters. A bunch of well-known brands are tweeting back to Mr. Peanut with punny responses. All the tweets about this campaign makes my heart happy because I see the use of social media and public relations mixing with a huge food icon. 

This marketing strategy may be a bit morbid but it is genius. Some may argue Mr. Peanut is more popular than Planters itself but this campaign is getting people to talk about the product. Isn't that the point of a marketing strategy? 

I wonder what is going to happen next. Is Mr. Peanut actually dead? Who is going to replace one of the most popular food brand mascots in history? Twitter did their typical thing and Planters marketing strategy is GREAT, in my opinion. 

CHECKLIST FOR YOUR NEXT SOCIAL EVENT

After reading Guy Kawasaki's book, "The Art of Social Media," I learned how beneficial social media can be at social events. In Chapter 7, Kawasaki gave many tips on how to rock your next social event.

#1: A hashtag is KEY at any social event. A short and trendy hashtag will be successful at any conference or event because it will be in people's faces constantly. You want to use the hashtag before during, and after the event because it's a type of advertisment for the business to get their name out there for everyone to see.

Glacier Awards Backdrop 

#2: There needs to be a place to take pictures. When you come to an event looking your best, people are going to want to take pictures. It's important to have a backdrop so people can show their followers what they are doing. You can put the logo of the event on the backdrop and this acts as another way to promote yourself. A photo section gets people excited and helps the event gain attention when people post it to social media.

#3: Dedicate one person to focus on the social aspect of the event. Having one person focus solely on Twitter, Instagram and whatever social platform will eliminate a lot of stress for your event. The person in charge of the social media areas of the event will have a lot do before, during and after the event. He or she will be in charge of promoting, twitting and taking pictures and sharing articles about the event. (P.S. I would love doing this job at a conference or event).

#4: It is a good idea to livestream the event on social media. Using services during an event will make people feel like they belong. When you livestream the conference, it will provide a way for others to attend even though they can't physically be there. Another way to make people feel involved is by displaying a Twitter feed. This way people can live tweet about the event and use the hashtag created and have their tweet displayed up on screen for everyone to see.

I really encourage you to make sure you have everything on this checklist to produce the best results at your social event. Social media is being used every day and there are always new tips to follow.

"With a little bit of social-media effort and magic, you can make your event look like it was the place to be." (Guy Kawasaki)

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A BASKETBALL PLAYER OVER CHRISTMAS BREAK

As I mentioned in my first blog, I am a college basketball player at ONU and let me tell you, it is an amazing experience but challenging at times, especially during the Christmas break.

For most college students, you will get a month at home to celebrate the holidays with friends and family but for me, I was able to be at home for four days this year. I spent the other days at school playing basketball and hanging out with my teammates. Don't get me wrong, I love being at school, I love being with my teammates, and I love being able to play basketball. I have always loved this game and I am so grateful for the opportunity to play at the collegiate level.


However, Ohio Northern is located in a very small town called Ada and it mostly populated with students. So, campus is dead over the break and it is filled with basketball players, wrestlers and swimmers. So Ada gets even quieter and we have to make our own fun. This year, we decided to have a scary movie night and then go play capture the flag in the freshman dorms, it was a blast!

While we are here for break, we adapt to a routine quickly. We wake up at 9 for our first practice of the day at 10:30 in the morning. The 10:30 practice is very light and it has a lot of shooting involved, you know ... shooters gotta shoot 🏀. After that practice, we have about 45 minutes to eat a quick lunch and get back to our gym for our second practice. The second practice is much harder and more drills are involved and we are dead tired after.

Once our practices are over, my roommate, Sydney, and I would go back to our apartment and hang out for a little bit, eat some dinner and try to find fun things to do. You could say we were bored over the break. We watched a lot of movies, went to dinner with the team, had a team gift exchange, did puzzles and played lots of games.

And the greatest part of all was that we got to wake up and do it all over again the next day.

Eat. Sleep. And play basketball.

MY FAVORITE SOCIAL MEDIA APPS

If you read my first blog, you have learned that I have a Social Media Minor so all the different platforms really spark my interest. I use a lot of social media, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, VSCO, Pinterest, etc. I love social media because it helps me stay in touch with my friends and family, while also learning new ideas and things to do in my life.

My favorite social media website is Pinterest. I would say Pinterest is not a top favorite for a lot of people but I absolutely love it. Pinterest allows to make DIY project, shop for different outfits and learn new cooking recipes. I also love the concept of making boards and sharing them with friends. For example, my roommate and I created an apartment board so we could "pin" ideas we wanted to do in our apartment. 

My next favorite is Instagram. Instagram is super cool to me because I love being able to post pictures with my friends and family. I get to show my followers what I am doing and I get to see what they have been up to. I like the features of Instagram with being able to like and comment and post things to your profile story. 

Feel free to follow me on Insta: @em_brock 😄

My third favorite social media platform is Snapchat. I hate to admit to it, but Snapchat is the easiest way to communicate with my friends because texting and calling is not that popular anymore. I will say that I get caught just sending my face back and forth but I love being able to see snap stories of all my friends, especially now with seeing their college experience. 

I am a big social media girl and I love the concept of using social media for personal and business reasons! I would love to hear your favorite social media apps! 

3 SIGNS YOU ARE ADDICTED TO TIKTOKS

I was asked the question, "What is a trend you hated in 2019?" and my answer was TikToks. For those of you who do not know what TikTok is, it is a social media app where people can make dance videos for comedy and share them so other people can see. As you can tell I am not the biggest fan of TikToks because there are so many people who are obsessed with it.

My younger cousin, Jessie, loves TikToks, and she will spend hours watching them and learning the dances to the songs. I have basketball teammates who will be doing TikTok dances pregame and yes, I do laugh, but it is crazy to me how much the social media app becomes addictive. Even younger children (elementary schoolers) know how to TikTok. 

If you are reading this blog and enjoy making or watching TikToks, hopefully this blog will help you decide if you are addicted to this app or not! Full disclosure, this is my perception of TikTok, and this is why I believe people are so obsessed with the social media platform. 

1. YOU SPEND HOURS ON THE SOCIAL MEDIA APPLICATION. 

• You wake up, check TikTok. You go to bed, check TikTok. You only plan to be on the app for a few minutes and then a couple of hours past by and you didn't even realize. You can't put your phone down because you love watching all these people make you laugh. If you spend over three hours a day on TikTok, you're obsessed. 

2. EVERY SONG YOU HEAR YOU LEARNED ABOUT IT FROM TIKTOK. 

• I think it is super cool to learn new music from social media but when you are constantly doing a dance to the song, that's pretty wild. Whether you're driving in the car, walking to class or doing homework in your dorm and a song comes on, you are going to think of TikTok and the dance that goes along with the song.

3. NO MATTER WHAT YOU ARE DOING, YOU WANT TO MAKE A TIKTOK. 

• I noticed this a lot in a group setting. Everybody wants to make TikToks with their friends and post so others can see and hopefully become famous. If you are at a family gathering, party or sporting event and you want to make a TikTok, I believe you are addicted to this app. 

I believe this social platform is going to be extremely popular this year. I believe people will continue to love or hate TikToks. And I can see TikToks being used in the business professional setting as well. 

I have never gotten into TikToks and I don't think I will ever get into making them or watching them, even though I love dancing and laughing. If I do, I will try to not get addicted to the app. I challenge you guys who are obsessed with the app to hang up the phone and hang out with your friends and family. 

WELCOME TO MY LIFE

Hello everyone! Welcome to my first blog post.

First I would like to introduce myself. My name is Emily Brock and I am a Junior Marketing Major with a Social media Minor at Ohio Northern University. I grew up in Akron, Ohio and found my way to ONU through participating on the basketball team. My blogs will be stories about me and my life, stories about how Public Relations and Social Media is affecting our world, and stories about textbooks in my class relating to social media.

But first, let's learn more about ME!

I am 20 years old and I would honestly say that I am living my best life. This is not to say everything in my life is perfect, I have gone through a lot of stuff that has challenged me, but without those challenges, Emily would not be Emily. I would consider myself extremely energetic, determined and of course, LOUD.

Being at Ohio Northern for 3 years has been an amazing experience for me. I am involved in several organizations, but I spend the majority of my time with the women's basketball team. It sounds cliché, but my team is my family and my college experience would not be the same without them. Along with basketball, I am apart of PRSSA, TrueNorth PR, Dean's Advisory Council, American Marketing Association and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. I have met some of my best friends through these clubs and I am so grateful to be given the opportunities at Northern.


Outside of school and basketball, I love being with family. My family is definitely one of kind but I wouldn't have it any other way. We are loud, loyal and loving and have been through some of the hardest of times. My cousins are more like siblings and when we are together, I have the best of time. We enjoy being on the water, whether its fishing, jet skiing or swimming. We have a lake house in Marblehead, OH and we enjoy traveling as a huge group. I also love running and being outside, but of course, I will also enjoy a day of Netflix and chilling on the couch.


Now that you know a little bit about me, I hope you continue to keep reading and follow along with my life. I am definitely a unique person, with a crazy personality so I hope some of my blogs can help you laugh OUT LOUD.

Thanks for reading!