My class and I had the pleasure of having John Scraggins, a Public Relations guru that works for Noble, speak to our class about social media and how to use measurement within a campaign. Within my 4 1/2 years at Missouri State, John is hands down my favorite speaker I have had.
John has changed his career path from being a nurse to a PR representative. I believe within his interactions with people, he holds no judgement upon them. John understands that it does not take a 4.0 to prove yourself within the workplace. I wish that when I enter the workplace, most professionals that I work with have the same mentality.
Noble seems like a great company to work for. When talking about past projects and clients, John was enthusiastic and explained how it takes multiple efforts to be successful. He discussed that there are different departments that have different specialties, and how social media is conducted by PR professionals.
I was not shocked to hear this because I feel the personalities within those in the PR field are are suited for social media tactics. We are still figuring out social media, and it takes creativity and uniqueness to handle the ever changing ways it has.
Another thing I enjoyed about John’s visit was our discussion on large companies that have used social media correctly. Companies like Starbucks, Coca Cola, Oreo, and Skittles have made a great presence within online communities. None of these companies followed a template or traditional media plan to gain attention or traffic to their sites. They simply thought outside the box and created things that are fun for their customers to engage in.
Meeting John has made me realize that when I enter the world of PR, most likely, I will be surrounded by people with many similar interests as myself. Also, that there are people out there that hold understanding within the workplace. I am really glad that John took the time out of his busy schedule to help teach our class valuable lessons.
Student PR 
I have to admit that meeting John was awesome! He gave us an outlook on Noble and showed us what can happen if you know your stuff. Noble seemed like a great company and working for them in the future will be a great insite into the Public Relations life. I also enjoyed our discussion about companies like Starbucks, Coca Cola, Oreo, and Skittles having a great presence within online communities. They are companies that have progressed using great social media and are growing more and more each day. I am guilty as to being a person who loves great social media an I love that its growing more and more each day with companies.
I love that you wrote about John Scroggins. I have to admit, I feel the same way about John’s outlook on GPAs. I know many intelligent people who had a 4.0 all through high school but just got caught up in other things in college and their GPAs dropped. I do not have a 4.0 but I like to think that I would be good in the PR field still.
I also really liked when John addressed Facebook. I have always been told that jobs frown upon inappropriate pictures on Facebook and that they also find it suspicious if you have your privacy settings set so that they cannot find you on Facebook. I like how John does not find that “suspicious” but instead interprets that as smart! Like he said, “Everyone goes through their college party days so who are we to judge?” I couldn’t agree more.
I am glad that you feel the same way. He was a great guy to meet, and i’m happy others thought so too. Hopefully he is not 1 of 1 that feels that it isn’t suspicious to not be able to find someone on Facebook!