Now, I know what you must be thinking: “Why is this happening? How could it be? We just started! Oh, where does the time go?” But rest assured, life will go on. You may also be thinking, “What in the world will I do with my free time? Go to the beach? Hang out with friends? Watch the entire season of Lost in one sitting while taking down a half gallon of chocolate ice cream, crying because I would rather be writing press releases about Tom Sawyer?” I suppose. Don’t worry you poor, lost soul you. We will soon have a campaigns book for you to read whenever your sentiments get the best of you.

Which brings me to my next point—the pressures of “the book.” Nothing gives you a panic attack quite like tracking media. Think about how many Web sites exist on the Internet. Five billion Web sites equals five billion places the phrase “The Big Read: Alabama Reads” could appear online. Thank the heavens for Google alerts. Next, think about how many radio frequencies float through the air over Birmingham every day, and how many 10 second mentions of Alabama Reads can go virtually unnoticed if you aren’t paying close enough attention. (Fortunately, this was easier to monitor because for the most part, the stations that mentioned us were stations we contacted ourselves—but still.) And lastly, flipping through every print publication in Birmingham to look for Tom Sawyer in black and white can be slightly overwhelming if you’re like most college students who don’t read the newspaper on a daily basis.

Don’t take that the wrong way. The process has also had its rewards. To see the fruits of my media-producing labor tracked and assigned monetary value is definitely a good feeling. And to see how far Alabama Reads has come from that first day of class in the fall, from brainstorming to accomplishing, is something I can say I have taken pride in. We have all watched this project transform before our eyes, and although it hasn’t been easy, it’s been worthwhile. Throughout this last stretch of crunch-time, I have enjoyed working with every member of our team, and watching as we all slowly turn into PR professionals. The stress that we have all felt has paid off, and it’s about time to say goodbye—to each other and to Alabama Reads. We only have a couple of short weeks left, so let’s finish as strong as we started.

by Sarah Caroline Willcox

1. Your team members are your rock. Don’t be afraid to ask them for help. I am not one who likes to ask for help, but during this campaign, I learned that asking for help does not make you incapable or dumb, it makes you smarter. My team members have taught me so much. Each one of them has something special about them both as a person and as a professional. I consider myself a better person and professional just from seeking their help and assistance.

2. Take on the little things—every task is a contribution. Throughout this campaign, I have taken on little tasks such as overseeing the orders of promotional materials, sending pictures to the social media team and organizing documents and materials. None of these tasks are things that directly affect the success of the campaign, but these types of things are important. Everyone cannot work in the spotlight, and when being a part of a team this size it is important to remember everything contributes to the success of the campaign. Taking on the little things makes a difference.

3. Get to know your client. The most important thing when overseeing a campaign is knowing your client. Not just the contact people for your client, but everyone within your client. With the size of this campaign, everyone involved had more responsibilities than they were accustomed to. Sometimes the most resourceful people within the client were the “little people” that we wouldn’t have known about without familiarizing ourselves with everyone involved. Many struggles we face could have been eliminated if we would have familiarized ourselves with the people within our client immediately.

4. Reflect, Reflect, Reflect. When you reflect, you learn. You learn about your project, you learn about yourself. Through reflection, I have often found the desire to keep working, the desire to try harder and the desire to improve. If this is your first project like this, it will not be perfect. If it is your 100^th, it will not be perfect. Reflection allows you to recognize mistakes and learn from them. If you don’t reflect until the end, think of all the mistakes you will be missing. Reflect throughout to eliminate mistakes and grow as a professional.

by Amanda Burton

Recently, our libraries’ events began winding down, so most of the Alabama Reads team members have been focusing our attention on gathering media clippings and making sure we’ve documented every mention of the Alabama Reads brand during this campaign. And it is a blast.

Don’t get me wrong; it’s not a glamorous task, and flipping through towering stacks of newspapers or sifting through Google alerts can certainly get tedious, and calculating advertising rates can be confusing. But the end result is worth the time—and the paper cuts.

What’s the end result, you ask? Numbers.

I’ve never been a numbers person; in fact, I generally shy away from them every chance I get. This is different, though; these numbers are more than abstract figures in a math textbook. These numbers are the products of our hard work. They’re quantitative proof busy college students with a limited budget can create a successful statewide campaign. They’re guidelines and markers for future Alabama Reads initiatives.

Although I usually deal in words and ideas, I recognize the importance of having quantitative, measurable results. They aid our client, help us track our progress and analyze how to make future improvements and they’re just plain fun—especially when there’s a dollar sign attached. I never thought I’d be so excited about a monetary value that wasn’t on a check addressed to me, but I find myself babbling about sums I’ll never see.

As silly as it sounds, seeing the concrete products of our work makes it feel like Christmas to me.

After months of hard work, late nights and tight deadlines, I’m so proud of the Alabama Reads team and all we’ve accomplished this semester. And I’m thrilled we have the numbers to show for it.

by Caroline Beard

1. Expect the unexpected.

When it comes to working with clients, I’ve learned to be prepared for any circumstance. My initial thought when working with a client was that my partner and I would know exactly what they wanted us to do for them. As regional consultants, my partner and I would just have to do what our client asked… Write a press release? Sure, no problem! Contact the radio station to play our PSA? Sure… no problem. Schedule a local political figure to be the opening speaker at an event? Sure… no… problem?

Needless to say, I completed all of these tasks to the best of my ability, but they fell through one way or another. The press release didn’t make the newspaper’s deadline, the radio stations never responded to any of my requests and the speaker ended up having to be canceled. Through these failed attempts, I’ve learned that everything doesn’t work out smoothly, and that you need to be prepared to make the best of the situation.

2. A great partner = A great asset.

Like I said in my previous blog, I’ve never been big on group work, but having a partner during this campaign has been great. Amanda is also our “design guru,” but that hasn’t stopped her from going above and beyond for our region’s needs. Even though her workload has doubled because of all the design materials she has to produce, she still carries her weight when it comes to getting things done for our region. I do my best to lighten her load, but having a hardworking partner has made working on this campaign a lot less stressful.

3. Get to know your team!

Working with the entire Alabama Reads team has been a great learning experience in itself. Being able to get feedback from all your peers makes your work better. But getting to know your teammates personally can make all the difference when it comes to “gelling” as a whole. Outside of work, we have get-togethers every now and then simply so we can just hang out. As a team, it’s great to be able to become actual friends and not just coworkers. It makes working together a much more enjoyable experience.

by Megan Parks

At the event, our team set up a booth with various activities centered around The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. We painted a white picket fence, had frog jumping contests (i.e. sack races), made pirate hats and more. I think our team had as much fun as the children. One of the best parts was giving away our promotional materials and special edition books. Everyone was eager to win a prize and the children were so excited to receive the books. Participating in this event gave us the opportunity to see how this campaign truly makes a difference in the lives of some people. It gave us an opportunity to share the services of the public library with people who will take advantage of the resources they offer. It also gave us the opportunity to share a classic American story and to provide resources for people to learn more.

As an individual on our team who coordinates collegiate and community outreach, the Holt Community Day Festival introduced me to a new approach. This approach was participating in an event planned by another organization. When trying to plan and execute outreach activities, it often takes a lot of time to get everything prepared to execute successfully. Partnering with other organizations and events allows you to get your message out without a lot of logistical planning. My advice to someone trying to outreach to the community or a certain demographic is to look into options for partnerships. By partnering with other organizations, you are able to reach a group of people through one connection. Participating in another organizations events allows you to contribute to their events success and allows you to outreach to others with limited effort. Partnerships create advancement for multiple purposes and allow growth for all teams involved.

by Amanda Burton

As I look back on all that we have accomplished and learned, one thing I will take away is how to be a better manager. Co-managing this project has been a lot like the children’s book about the man who wore a ton of hats. This past year has been a complete balancing act to ensure that, no matter how many hats were stacked up, I maintained balance to prevent a single hat from falling to the ground. I have had to balance classes, friends, enjoying my senior year and complete graduate school applications along with all of the demands of Alabama Reads. At times, the demands of my schedule and deadlines seemed to be toppling the hats and I had to grab and juggle some of the hats that fell from my head as I rushed from one activity to another, but thankfully, I managed to keep the hats from hitting the ground.

I have learned that the key to being a good manager is threefold: get organized, assemble a talented team and delegate. In order to keep my many hats in balance, my organizational lifesavers became a calendar, a stack of post-its and some highlighters. These items may seem trivial, but with their help my world became a little more colorful and those daunting deadlines were kept in order. With a little bit of organization, I was able to keep my personal hats balanced. We are fortunate to have such an outstanding talent pool in The University of Alabama PR program from which to choose and assemble an amazing team of incredibly talented, dedicated and competent students. Delegating was easy as they took each assignment and came back with excellence and, when needed, resilience to make changes and put together a campaign which met the objectives of our client and established a brand which can be used for years to come. I have been amazed and blessed to work with each member of the Alabama Reads team. I have learned more from you than I believe I gave.

The piece of advice I would leave for anyone who has a project ahead of them that seems overwhelming is to take a deep breath and pull out your highlighter, look for the most talented and committed people to include in your project and prepare to be amazed. No matter how many hats you may be wearing, keeping them balanced is only difficult if you have not prepared by stacking them well.

by Caitlin Norton

When Caitlin and I started meeting over the summer, we were more than a little overwhelmed. I think we were both ready to get back to school and recruit more people to get involved with this campaign. I know I let out a big sigh of relief when we roped 16 other people into this… and like us, they really didn’t know what they were getting into at first. It took all of us a while to really figure it out, but by the time we got rolling, I knew things were going to be ok because we had recruited some of the best PR students in Reese Phifer. Caitlin and I were happy. Realllllyyyy happy.

The fall semester came and went in a blur. Occasionally, I would stop myself and try to soak in the final semester of my college career. This was it. No more school, no more football games and no more Alabama friends on a daily basis because I was heading back to Houston after graduation in May. I wanted to enjoy what was left of life as I knew it right at that moment. But in the few months I spent getting to know our Alabama Reads team, I realized I was enjoying what was left of school with some of the best people out there. I remember thinking to myself, “Well, if I’m going to spend the last year of school working, I couldn’t ask for a better group of people, or friends, to work with.” It’s been great from the get go.

We’ve all had our moments throughout the campaign. We’ve experienced frustration, anger, nervousness and joy along with tons of other emotions. But it was so comforting knowing that every Tuesday and Thursday (now Monday and Wednesday) I was with a group of people who were all going through the exact same thing and we could rely on each other for the moments of comfort and support we needed.

I know things have been busy, and we have had our slow times as well, but we’re in the last stretch of the game! We are so close to accomplishing our goals (do I really need to name the 50+ of them?) and we’ve made some great memories in doing so. I can’t tell everyone how proud I am to have worked on a team with some of the best PR people out there… I can’t believe I have to compete with some of you in the job search. Not fair! But I will say this. I would do all of this (and I mean ALL), if each of you agreed to join the team and do it over again. It’s been a tough year, but I’ve had a blast through it all thanks to each of you.

by Alysar Alameddin

What I did not know is how much time I would really spend working outside of the class. I am not going to lie and say it has not been difficult. I work full-time and have other classes also. It has been a struggle to find the amount of time I want to devote to this project. I also found that it is hard working with people who do not agree with you or your ideas 100 percent of the time. Success means compromises. Luckily, I am good at compromising. I like teamwork and I like working with others. I feed off other’s creativity. Everyone has different skills and personalities. It is so amazing to see these creative people come together and make things happen. We work as a team and as a family. Speaking of team, the students and friends I have worked with every week have been absolutely incredible. I am proud to have worked on this project and it has been an honor and a privilege to work on something that is so meaningful and necessary for our society to grow.

by Whitney Mork

Tuesday, I met with my regional coordinator to make sure we were on the same page and to see what else she needed from me. We met for about an hour and a half, and during that time we accomplished more than we both thought possible. So with a truckload of things to do, I returned home and started working. I worked until I accomplished most of the tasks she assigned to me and I checked in on everyone.

After working so hard on Tuesday, I took a break on Wednesday and got back at it on Thursday.  Thursday I traveled to Moundville, Reform, Aliceville, Gordo and Carrollton to meet with the librarians to check on their progress and see what I needed to help them with. This turned out to be a very long day. It was on this day that I realized how appreciative the librarians really were of the work the group as a whole has put in and how much it has helped them. I was given more work to do, and the worst part about it was that was what I wanted them to do. I was putting to use the skills I have to help them accomplish a task most of them thought would be impossible without the help of another individual.

All in all, spring break was my full time job and I enjoyed every minute of it. I had a few difficult moments when I found out some of the libraries had planned more events and I had no idea, and that some of the libraries were ahead on all of their planning and were just waiting for the events to begin. I had to rethink my game plan quickly, but it was a great lesson. I set many deadlines for the following week because of the unforeseen changes, but it turned out to be nothing short of more work and more experience for me. The only bad thing about my spring break is that I was sick the entire time. I finished most of the work, but sick or not, I was going to continue what I started last fall.

by Tamica Shambly

I promise this was not exactly the mentality I had entering this class; it was more along the lines of a fantasy. It came after my initial greedy instinct in signing up for Alabama Reads: “Okay, so this will look really impressive to employers, and maybe I’ll learn something along the way.” I was put in my place pretty quickly. At the first campaign meeting in the spring, I realized my first task was to understand not only what the objective of the campaign was, but where in the world I would fit into such a momentum. Luckily, I had two important tools in my back pocket that would come in handy for this project: perseverance and knowledge of press releases. Both were crucial, I would soon find out.

After overcoming my initial nerves, becoming more acclimated to the logistics of our plan and trying to slow down my last year of college, I began to gain confidence. Maybe this wouldn’t be so scary after all? I’m on the internal team, working with the media; okay, I can handle this. We’ll need media kits? Yeah, I’ll just whip up one of those. Life is so much easier when you know who you are and where you fit. And then we were assigned our regions.

Now, being from Birmingham, I was definitely relieved to be assigned Jefferson County because I had first-hand experience with Birmingham libraries, radio stations and television. (That is, I had first-hand experience listening to the radio and watching TV when I was home.) It wasn’t until I realized there were actually 40 libraries in the area, hundreds of print publications to choose from and television stations that had important things like corrupt mayors and county politics to broadcast. Talk about feeling like a small fish in a big pond, or more aptly for the title of this blog, the bottom of the totem pole.

I began to have recurring night terrors about an inch-tall version of myself standing in a room full of reporters and journalists screaming at the top of my lungs, “Please pay attention to Alabama Reads!” before being run over by a news camera the size of Bryant Denny Stadium. I’m completely joking, but it really was overwhelming when I thought about all the possible news outlets I could utilize and how many opportunities I could miss. Alabama Reads had the potential to be the buzz of the town, and the weight of it was resting on my shoulders.

Like an angel sent from the heavens, my regional coordinator, Pat Ryan, floated down in gold shining wings and handed me a list of about seven major events to worry about and some media direction. (Or rather, sent me an email.) With blinders on my brain, I was able to establish focus and make a list of priorities I would follow throughout my portion of the campaign. Okay, kick-off event: we need to get this television station, these reporters and this journalist there. Check. First major event: send news release to A, B and C. Check. Establish relationship with radio stations 1, 2 and 3. Check. The realization that maybe the weight of the campaign wasn’t on my shoulders alone, and the sun would still come up tomorrow if my release didn’t get attention. Check and Check.

I’ve learned, with the help of my classmates, who have yet ceased to amaze me, and that this campaign, as well as most things in life, is all about perspective. None of it got easier until I took a step back and realized I am only human and a student, not a top PR executive at a national company who had all the connections in town. I realized that maybe I was at the bottom of a totem pole that held a lot of important people, and that was okay because I was trying as hard as I could for the situation I was given. I have also realized that this experience has been more about the professional skills I was gaining and the people I was getting to know on the way.

If I had any advice for an outsider or budding PR student, it would be this: take a breath, ask for help and realize your place because chances are, giving it your best will get you far. I’ve tried to follow my own advice, and so far, it’s worked out pretty well.

by Sarah Caroline Willcox