As we enter this installment of a blog that evolves as I write and gather information, I want to take a little time to talk about myself. Now I promise it won’t be much. I am not one of those super-ego types who just can’t get enough of themselves. I just want to throw a little info out there so people know where I am from, and then hit my second topic of the sensationalized website www.twitter.com.
My name is Ed Mekeel. I am 30 years old, and am desperately trying to break into the realm of public relations. There, I said it. It sounds like I am going to AA for the first time, if you were to hear me speak it out loud, that is. My experience starts with joining the U.S. Navy in 1998, and working in public affairs. I did this for almost ten years. Though I was in for too long, I am quite proud of my service, as I am sure others probably tire of hearing my incessant ramblings over Navy “sea stories.” I will leave those off this blog due to their “colorful” nature. Regardless, I ended my career with the military in January, 2008, on not the best of terms. My head wasn’t in the game, and the military does take its toll. I wasn’t ready to sacrifice anymore: simple as that. And so I did what any prior servicemember who enlisted at the age of 18 must do, returned to school. I started with community college, and then worked my way up to a real school, Tulane University. I am proud and pumped to say I graduate with a Bachelor’s in December.
Bored yet? Well there is a point to this. Since I ended my active duty service to the military, I have fruitlessly tried to find a job in public relations. No one seems to want to hire me! I know the biggest issue was not having a college degree, but I also think military public affairs experience doesn’t directly equate to civilian PR experience. I am not bitter, but I truly didn’t understand for the longest time. Over the last few months, I was lucky enough to have a mentor who is an extremely talented PR professional. She has opened my eyes to a number of websites and practices that I knew nothing of during my time in the Navy. The military hasn’t embraced practices like social networking in their training process. Oh sure, there is a presence, but they don’t teach it in the curriculum. It’s something you MAYBE learn later. Thankfully that same mentor is a professor, and made it a point to teach cutting-edge methods of communications to her students. Learning about social networking web 2.0 websites, the first she taught was Twitter.
If you have no experience with www.twitter.com, you are way behind the power curve. I don’t mean that in a bad way, but seriously, get out of the Stone Age. I have heard the growing concerns of my senior peers who think too much information over the internet is not good, but we are in an information age. The kids coming into the fold ten years younger than myself spend more time on the internet than any other, estimated at 31 hours a week. The most harmonious website for direct information with quickness is Twitter. Even though that annoying 140-character limit is a drag, it’s still the best way to find information about people, products, businesses and entities.
How, you ask? I will cover it in my next update. I am sure the suspense will kill you. : )
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