Rope Mill Park

I’m a native of north Georgia, which is probably why I love fall the most. Seeing the leaves change color in late October/early November is probably my favorite part.

But one of my favorite places to go to, both in fall and year round, is Rope Mill Park. Even though the South has been in a drought this fall, Rope Mill Park retained its natural charm and beauty. The water level is low, but the color of the leaves didn’t disappoint.

I went out for a walk with my father and our dog, Oliver, this weekend and snapped a few pictures. Since then, half of the leaves have blown off the trees, so I’m glad I brought my Canon along.

Here are some of my favorite shots from this weekend.

The Tichenor Cat

Our Photojournalism class pushes us to document various subjects in their true form. We seek the truth and try to capture it to share it with others.

On Auburn University’s campus, the occasional cat can be found roaming the grounds. It’s typical for students to see at least one cat walking by the Student Center each week.

There’s the occasional rustling of the bushes, the random food and water bowls scattered throughout the grounds, and subtle sound of purring emanating from the large vase by Tichenor Hall.

If you’re lucky, like I was, you can spot the Tichenor Cat.

img_9929

 

 

This elusive cat may appear friendly but can become skittish if you approach it too quickly. It is a goal of many journalism students to photograph, if not pet, the Tichenor Cat.

And now, I can triumphantly say I’ve done both before I graduate. Here are some photos of the mysterious Tichenor Cat that roams Tichenor Hall.

 

 

 

My next big project

I have recently started to build a website for one of my classes. The professor asked me to build a Wiz website to present our class’s work to a large organization in January, which means it has to look as professional and be as interactive as possible.

One of the things I’ve learned about digital readers is that they like “distractions.” They love videos, social media plug-ins, photo galleries and interactive maps to name a few. Now that I am going into this project and starting to build the Wix website, I’m looking for different ways to present the class’s information and make it interactive.

Each student (including myself) has to write two to three stories on their assigned topic. This class is Community Journalism, so each student went out and shadowed a community newspaper. My job is to help them present their information in a way that engages the digital readers without it becoming too much or “information overload.”

One of the things I will make for our website is an interactive map. I’ll be using Google Tables to construct the map that will eventually go on our front page and help viewers see where each student went. My goal is to have the map set up so that a reader can click on any of the points on the map and see what newspaper is there, which student wrote about them and have their stories link from the map.

I’m excited to have this opportunity in this class because I love digital media. I’ve enjoyed using social media and having it tie into my stories, and I’ve built a website in the past for a multimedia story, but I am excited to create an interactive website. When it is complete, the work of 12 students and their coverage of 12 community newspapers will be displayed on a website as if it was a single feature story.

Within the next month, the website will be finished. I hope to post it (or at least link to it) on this website.

The Auburn Plainsman Social Media Information

Initial Start Date:

August 14, 2014 to May 3, 2015 (Reporter for The Plainsman from Aug 2015-May 2016) Returned to Online Duties: August 16, 2016 to December 10, 2016.

Skills learned through this position: Facebook scheduling and analytics, TweetDeck, Trello, Slack, Hootsuite and Buffer. Google Analytics and HTML skills as well for operating the backend of the website (Gryphon).

Initial Numbers:

Facebook: About 5.2-5.3k likes (Metrics Shown below are Jan 2014-June 2015)

By Dec 2015, FB had 6,089 likes

Auburn Plainsman 2014 FB Info.jpg

Twitter: About 15k followers in Aug 2014. By Sept. 6, 2014, Twitter was at 16k followers.

May 2015 Numbers

Facebook Likes by May 6, 2015: 6,455

Facebook Reach: Highest Number was 50,394 on Oct. 29, 2014 and Lowest Number was 1,419 Dec. 28, 2014.

screen-shot-2016-09-29-at-5-09-04-pm

Screen Shot 2016-09-29 at 5.10.13 PM.png

Twitter Numbers are unavailable for May 2015.

Since August 16, 2016:

Facebook Likes: 10,047 to 11,868

Facebook Reach: Highest Number 718,147 on Sep 25, 2016 and Lowest Number 2,525 on Sep. 5, 2016.

Screen Shot 2016-09-29 at 5.13.01 PM.png

Screen Shot 2016-09-29 at 5.13.36 PM.png

Three Ways to make an Impact during Hunger Action Month

EXPEDITION

Today is September 1, or the start of Hunger Action Month! Several organizations have different names and social media campaigns for this month, but the goal for this month is to raise awareness about food insecurity in America.

Continue reading “Three Ways to make an Impact during Hunger Action Month”

Writing Portfolio

Garden & Gun

Mardi Gras for Man’s Best Friend

The World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade

A Cajun Country Shindig

A Different Kind of Easter Bunny

Six Sponsored Email Newsletters (clips available upon request)

Family Life Publications Work

Writing

September 2016 Artist Profile

August 2016 Jody Hughes Trio Artist Profile

July 2016 Back to School Fashion Column

July 2016 Back to School Three Page Spread

July 2016 Social Media Etiquette

Social Media

Links to Accounts: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google +, Website

Social Media Packet 7.28.16

Social Media Work

Auburn JRNL Work

Multimedia Story JRNL 3510

Monroeville Feature JRNL 4470

Ol’ Curiosities & Book Shoppe Feature JRNL 4470

Red Clay Brewery Feature JRNL 4470

VO/SOT JRNL 3010

NAT Sound JRNL 3010

Stand Up JRNL 3010

Final Package JRNL 3010

Additional Assignments available upon request. See About page for the contact form.

Four Social Etiquette Tips to Improve your Social Media

I’ve always thought of social media as a digital conversation. Yes, we use GIFs, hashtags and links, but at the heart of it, we’re communicating thoughts and images with each other. We’re just using a digital platform. Most of what I have to say will come across as common sense to social media professionals who have worked for several years, but for those like me who are still learning, here are some helpful tips to improve your digital conversation.

Engage with Others

This is probably one of the easiest things to do, but many feel uncomfortable like it’s a middle school dance instead of a post. Don’t be afraid to start the conversation. Post something relevant to your brand, reach out to other profiles, engage with your viewers with a simple tweet or Facebook post. Reply to others, check your mentions and DM’s, and follow back. It’s ok to make friends with others. It builds up your following and reinforces your current following’s loyalty to your brand.

Continue reading “Four Social Etiquette Tips to Improve your Social Media”

My First Post

Hello!

My name is Rachel and I love to write just about everything. Short stories, articles, fiction, how-to’s…if it can be written, I will write it.

I’m a senior in journalism at Auburn University with a double minor in English and Dance, and I graduate December 2016. Why two minors? I love words and reading, and I’ve danced for seventeen years. During my time in college, I’ve written for The Auburn Plainsman and have also worked as an online assistant editor for the same publication.

Speaking of online, I love digital media and social media, so much that I am the social media director for two other media organizations, served as communications director for my sorority and will serve as a social media advisor for another media organization in the fall.

And, to make sure this doesn’t read completely like a resume/cover letter, I love chai tea lattes with cinnamon, Disney movie marathons and I knit in my free time. I cannot pick one favorite book, but I can pick three: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis and To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee.