Bryon Riesch

Life is such a precious gift and you never know when it may change in an instance.  In one short moment, life changed for Bryon Riesch.  Bryon was just a regular freshman at the University of Marquette. He was just 19 years old at a party with friends when they got the slip'n slide out.  He was head first down it and his hands slipped out and hit is chin.

He spent 27 days in the ICU and three months in the hospital. He is a C5 quadriplegic.  I usually think when people are paralyzed, that they are either paralyzed from the waste down or completely paralyzed but this is not the case; every injury is different. Bryon can move his shoulders and biceps but not is hands.  He can't more his legs but he has feeling in his toes.  
Riesch had to learn how to adjust to his injury and re-learn how to everything.  It was very hard for him to keep a sense of dignity because he has to have a lot of people help him.  It was a struggle for him to maintain his independence.  Eventually he returned back to school.  It took it slow, starting with one Spanish class, then two classes and then a full load.  He graduated in five years with a double degree in Marketing and IT. After graduation, he worked with Goodwill Industries which helps people with disabilities get a job. They helped teach him how to market himself and he got his first job at Northwest Mutual where he worked for five years.  Later he switched to R&R Insurance and he still works there.

Technology has helped make life for people with disabilities easier.  Bryon has an iPad  that never leaves his lap and is equipped with voice recognition software that types what he says.  In his house, he has a HAL system that controls the lights, TV and heat.  All of this technology though comes at a price.  A new wheelchair costs about $30,000.  He also has a van that he can drive and it was about $30,000 for the van, $25,000 for the ramp and $20,000 for the controls.

Many people are unsure of how to communicate with those who have a disability and Bryon gave us some tips.

• Do not be afraid to ask questions and use common sense and be respectful.  
• When talking, make sure to speak normally and to introduce yourself and be their friend. 
• Direct your questions to the individual not the caregiver. 
• It is best not to be touchy feely or pet anyone's dog.  
• When possible, try to see eye to eye with someone by speaking to them while you are sitting down.  

In 2001, Bryon started the Bryon Riesch Paralysis Foundation. They do a lot of fundraisers in order to help find a cure for paralysis and to provide assistance to those effected.  One of their big events is a golf outing where in year one they raised $100,000 and in 2010, raised $225,000.  In April they did a run/walk where they raised $18,000.  To date, they have raised about two million dollars.

Bryon was a truly inspirational speaker.  I could never imagine being in his position and I hope that I never will. I really admire his positive attitude, energy and sense of humor.  When Riesch was in the hospital, his dad asked him if he thought he could still make a difference and he responded with yes.  Since his accident he has overcome many obstacles, learn to adapt to a new way of living and has been an advocate for helping to find a cure for paralysis with his Foundation.

Trish Skram

Recently Trish Skram came and talked to our PR Tactics class on the benefits of blogging.  Trish is an alumni from UW-Whitewater with a double degree in marketing and speech communication with an emphasis in public relations. During her junior year, she got an internship with Mercy and it turned into a full time job. Trish has held a variety of roles but now is the media specialist and public relations manager.

Blogging is starting to become a more common tool for companies to utilize to help gain awareness and loyalty and 77% of internet users read blogs. There are many reasons to blog including to generate content, network, gain knowledge and establish expertise.  As part of her job, Trish manages the blog for Mercy. Besides working for Mercy, she also does some freelance work and blogs for the Janesville Gazette and WHPPMS.

In 2008, Trish decided to launch her own personal blog to help separate her from others in the field. 58% of people say that they are better known in their industry because of blogging.  At first she was nervous, but had guideness from a friend, Sarah Evans. Many people have fears when it comes to blogging. There are a number of tools to help set up your blog but some of the most popular ones are blogger and word press. A lot of people think that they don't have time and 60-80% of blogs are abandoned within the first month. Trish said to be consistent when you are blogging. Try and write new posts on the same day of the week so that your read can expect this.   A lot of people are unsure what they should write about, but Trish gave us some ideas including 10 best/worst, tips and tricks, how to's, lists, interviews and more. People are also afraid of looking stupid and not having the right information. Trish used the Nike slogan and said that you just have to do it. It is ok if you make mistakes; you just have to learn from them and move on.  When deciding what to write she keeps in mind three guidelines:

1. To grow her network and learn from others
2. Help better the PR/communications industry
3. Talk about what she knows and loves

To be successful with your blog you should:

• Know what you want to get out of it
• Know your audience
• Be personal and positive
• Encourage engagement from readers
• Tip from Trish: She likes to end her blogs with a question to help encourage comments
• Be visible: promote your blog.

Besides blogging, Trish also talked a little about Twitter.  Twitter produces 95 million tweets per day.  Trish said that she has a few twitter accounts, both personal and professional.  She mentioned that social media is becoming a recruiting tools and 55% of corporations used social media to seek job applicants.

For more information on Trish you can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

All about Amy Paul

Last Tuesday, September 20th, Amy Paul came and spoke to our Public Relations Tactics II class on "Preparing now for your future - The real world is closer than you think." Amy is a 2011 graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. It took her six years to complete college as she was not always sure of what she wanted to do. She was first a music major, and then decided to switch and she graduate with a BA in Public Relations and a minor in music.  Her last year of the university she was more of a non-traditional student in that she worked full time and took all of her classes online.  Having done this, she said helped made her transition from college to the "real" world easier.

Amy is currently in her first, full time job as a public relations assistant in the Milwaukee county executive office.  Some of her duties include keeping social media sites up to date and looking at Google hits, planning events and writing press releases. She said that she never would have imagined that she would be working in politics.  When she was interviewing for this position, the interviewer happened to know some who Amy had worked with at the Admirals and when the reference was called she got an amazing recommendation from.  Her dream has been and still is to work in public relations for sports.  In addition to her full time job, she still does some side work for the Admirals whom she did one of her many internships with.

Before getting her full time role, Amy had worked at four different internships. She worked at the Milwaukee Admirals, Quadoba Mexican Grill, UWW Development Office and the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin.  All of these internships provided Amy with value experience to help her obtain her first job.  Her internships gave her a diverse backing in that she worked for non-profit and for profit and worked in sports, food, charity and education.  All of her internships were unpaid and she feels that sometimes they are more valuable because it shows the employer that you really want to be there for the experience and not the money.  She even turned down one paid internship to be able to keep her sports internship because that was the career path that she wants to end up in. Even though they were internships, she said to treat them as if it is you real job.  Don't burn bridges when you leave because you never know who knows each  other.

While at UWW, Amy was very involved on campus especially with PRSSA. She served as secretary, editor and professional development chair for the organization.  She said that one of her regrets was not joining sooner.  Being an active member of PRSSA helped to develop her skills and network with other professionals by having to coordinate speakers, attending conferences and coordinating conferences.

Amy had a lot of advice to share with our class.  Her top 5 recommendations were:

• Internships: make the most of them, gain references, ask questions
• Networking: maintain connections
• Get involved: on campus and in the community
• Don't give up: it can be frustrating looking for internships/jobs
• Have fun!: don't forget to have fun between all

It was really great to have Amy come and speak to our class and I really appreciated it a lot. It was really nice to see someone's journey from college to career and to hear tips and how to be successful.  It was also nice to see some career options that one can go into with a PR degree.

If you would like more information on Amy or to contact her, below is her information.

Email: Amy.Paul@milwcnty.com
Twitter: @AP2005
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/amypaul04
Webs: http://amypaul.webs.com

The PR Student

Hello!

My name is Kristen Smith.  I am currently a fifth year senior at the University of Wisconsin Whitewater and will be graduating in May.  I am double majoring in human resource management and public relations. I am from a tiny town, technically I think we are a village, in south central Wisconsin. I grew up on my family's dairy farm where we have about 100 head of Holstein cows. I have two younger sisters and one younger brother; family is very important to me and we are pretty close.

Me showing my March calf, Brenda, and World Dairy Expo last fall in Madison.

It is hard to believe that graduate is less than a year away and I am still unsure exactly what I want to do with my life.  At first I was contemplating going directly to graduate school, but have now decided to get some work experience and go back to school in about 3-5 years.  Ideally, I would love to get a job in a large corporation working in the human resource department.  I am not sure yet what area of HR I would like to work in.  I got into HR because I wanted to do recruiting.  Currently I am doing an internship working in the learning and development department and I also like this area as well.  That is one thing that I really like about HR is that it is really diverse.  I decided to add PR as a another major to help market myself better in the tough job market and I feel that it complements my HR major very well as communication/public relations is  big part of HR whether it be employee relations or advertising a new job.  I also just recently did a five month study abroad in Arnhem, Netherlands. (see my blog: http://www.doubledutch2011.blogspot.com).  I would love to work for an international company in hopes of working in another country someday.  (If I move to another country I am going to apply to be on House Hunters International; I love that show!) I very excited to see where my future will take me.

Me with two friends from Austria, in Amsterdam this past spring.