Hey bloggers, what are you thinking?

This week, I'm checking out what my fellow bloggers have been writing about and how they have been interpreting the info we've been learning in class. I think its important to keep an eye on what your peers are writing about because not only does it teach you new things, sometimes it opens up your mind and makes you think about things in a completely different way.

I read Alexis' blog about fashion and entertainment in the public relations industry since the topic was so similar to mine. Her idea about qualitative research in the fashion industry was interesting because it discussed a different approach that is used to get ideas. Alexis mentioned focus groups as a technique to get ideas from consumers and referred to an Avon article. I find this article so interesting because it provides statistics that are unknown but used a qualitative method to find them. Personally, I find focus groups important because although they cannot be used a general consensus, a company might hear very unique opinions or suggestions. I also think that focus groups can provide insight that is not expected because the consumers can be so diverse. 

Kaitlyn's blog about qualitative research last week was very interesting to read about. Her blog itself focuses on crisis management and for her research, she conducted her own focus group with students who live on the York Hill Campus. Since I live on the campus myself, I was so intrigued by her questions and responses she received from students. One of the points I agreed with most was the lack of an infirmary up at this campus. It is unacceptable that we do not have medical attention at hand and must be rushed to hospitals if there is an emergency. If something were to happen on this campus, there would not be a safe place to bring the student and ambulances or security would have to be called. I had never actually realized this until I read her post and that shows how informative a focus group can be. Participants might bring up ideas that you might never think of and that can start an entire series of questions and conversation topics. I think this focus group was a great idea to gain experience in crisis management since this campus has been such a controversy. I was so interested while reading this blog!

I love reading my fellow classmates' blogs and learning what the new information or ideas are. I think as a public relations practitioner it is very important to be up to date and constantly learning new things about people in your industry and outside of it as well.