Zachary Hill

Surveying a Digital Identity

Executive Summary
In this formal report, I plan to examine my digital presence in the past and present, and how this presence (or lack of it) will influence my goals for my future. I will use search engines in an attempt to locate and define who I am represented to be in digital spaces and I will also examine how that representation will also impact my goals for the future, which is ultimately to be a member of a Public Relations practitioner team in the video game industry, be it for a production/publisher company or as a part of a larger video game corporation, such Square Enix. By analyzing a job opening at Square Enix and professional profiles of those who hold similar jobs, I will then evaluate where I stand in regards to reaching my goal. By doing this, I can use where I stand digitally and professionally in the present day to evaluate what steps I need to take in order to be closer to achieving that goal.

Table of Contents
Executive Summary1 My Future Professional Identity.3 My Current Professional Identity7 Bridging the Gap..9 Appendix of Hyperlinks..10

My Future Professional Identity

Before turning to my current self to understand where I have to digitally be for my future dream job, I will first analyze several job opportunities in the field related to the job I most desire for my life. I will be looking at both actual applications for said jobs as well as prolific employees in the industry in order to conduct this analysis of who I need to be in order to be successful in this field. My desire to work in the PR department of Square-Enix began about a year and a half ago when I was curious about what positions were open in the company and I saw the position was open and began looking at and researching the requirements for obtaining the position.

POTENTIAL JOBS

I would love to start out as the Public Relations Manager at Square Enix. The job description, in my opinion, fits my personality exactly; however, the summary of required experience/background for the position is where I fall short. The position calls for someone who is passionate about games and about planning strategic events for the company. The person to fill this position must also be well-organized, enthusiastic, creative, and observant with regards to what would make a good news/advertisement pitch or not. What is keeping me from getting this position is the preferred 6-8 years of Public Relations

experience and the ability to fluently speak and interpret the Japanese language. It probably would not hurt to brush up on my knowledge of gaming history. I know how to build and maintain relationships with the media, write in the AP style, and communicate effectively as the leader of a diverse team, so I probably just need to focus on learning Japanese and getting experience in the field. A similar job opening in Bethesda Studios, another game developing company, requires very similar characteristics from their Public Relations Manager. The difference with this company is that they are not as focused on their managers ability to read and interpret the Japanese language; however, another barrier which I believe I will face if I should apply for this job is the fact that the company requires that their PR Manager has a BA in Business, Marketing, or Communications. Other than that and the required previous experience, I fit the job perfectly. Based on the job description, the company wants a leader who is capable of being both firm and personable and, of course, maintains the reputation behind the Bethesda brand. They want people who will uphold a level of standard which they have created for their company. One final job opportunity that I could potentially see myself working for is at Blizzard Entertainment as a PR/Marketing Assistant. Similar to the previous jobs I mentioned, the company wants someone with a deep-rooted knowledge of the history of gaming, but unlike the other jobs, their requirement for work experience is only one (1) year. This could be potentially due to the fact that this is an assistant position and not a managerial position.

I could see this job as a stepping stone to my larger goals and it seems like a good company to work for in terms of the job description, and my BA meets the requirement to be considered for the position.

PROFILIC PEOPLE
Kathy Mordini is on the Public Relations team at Mordini Marketing Solutions. She has a background as a broadcast reporter and editor, so she knows what a proper media pitch consists of and how much of an impact the media has on any PR initiative. She alludes to having a background in radio with her connection of Facebook to that show. She stresses the need to be efficiently fluent in various social media applications as well as the importance of volunteering in order to gain networking connections. Her emphasis on volunteering made me happiest, since that is what I have the most experience in than anything else. An employee for Microsoft, Otto Pijpker was once the Director of the PR team for the Server & Tools department of the company. He is currently the Director of Marketing Communications for the company. His background in film, his fluency in three languages, and his 8 plus years as a PR consultant helped greatly with the various achievements he has obtained in the field. His breadth of knowledge of the IT industry has also helped elevate him to the position he holds now. I think, if anything, his profile and achievements have shown me what apposition on a PR practitioner team can potentially lead to in the future.

Finally, an employee for Verizon Wireless, Andrea Meyer has worked on PR teams that deal specifically with the gaming industry, such as the North American launch of the Sony PlayStation. Her diverse background in the field of PR (she has worked for a restaurant as a Marketing Director, LucasFilms THX sound division, and Marlboro) really gives me a lot of hope for my future because I think that it points to the adaptability of the skills one has to use in the field. You might be at one place for a while, but the skills acquired at that one place will be carried with you to the next and can easily be applied to different environments.

PREFERRED QUALITIES
I have been able to glean the following top five qualities that employers in the PR industry are looking for in new hires: Fluent in social media Energetic and personable Professional writing skills Adaptability/Flexibility Capable of developing sound strategies

My Current Professional Identity

Searching for my name in Google, Bing, and Yahoo!, the search results yielded absolutely no results for me, not even a Facebook page, although I am a member of several online communities. I have just recently begun to use a set pseudonym, AdonisVen (after Shakespeares poem Venus and Adonis) so that I can build an online identity for myself.

MY CURRENT POSITION
Across the web, since its difficult to find me because of my various personae, it would be simpler to consolidate the list to this report. I have a Tumblr account, which I update whenever I can, although its frequency has degraded as the semester has progressed. For the purposes of this project, I also now have a LinkedIn profile, which I will more than likely continue to update because it seems like a worthwhile website. I also have a Foursquare account, which is in its infancy at this time, so I am still learning how to use it and network with it. I also have a Facebook account, which has the highest privacy setting so that no one can find me unless they are a Friend of one of my Friends. Under the pseudonym AdonisVen, one can locate my Wordpress blog, Diigo account, and Glogster account (which I dont actively use). My presence online is extremely limited, but I am attempting to branch out into other areas of the Internets social media applications. By doing this, I hope to increase my online presence and by doing so, I hope to establish a

modicum of authority in certain blogospheres, particularly those pertaining to video games. Also by learning these new applications, I am showing that I can be adaptable to the ever-changing landscape of digital PR practices. Potential employers can also look at my Wordpress blog if they needed a sample of my writing capabilities as well as my ability to develop a strategy, particularly when having to do an analysis of an advertisement or campaign. My Facebook profile will most assuredly give viewers an insight to my colorful and energetic personality. I hope to depend on other applications to depict this in the future, but as I mentioned earlier, I am simply learning how to use new social media applications and once I have learned sufficiently, I will depend on those applications.

Bridging the Gap

Considering where I professionally and digitally am right now and where I want to be, it seems as though I have my work cut out for me. If I want my dream job, I need to learn Japanese, which looks like it will be a job in and of itself, but I think that it will definitely be worth it in the end to learn the language. Although one of my strengths might be my passion for video games, I think that I also need to brush up a little on my video game history specifically looking at PR strategies used to present games to the public in the past and learning from what went well and what did not go so well. I do need to become more of a web presence, and I think that by getting more opportunities and experience doing PR internships, that will come to pass. Getting internships will, of course, be key, as many of the jobs I am looking at applying for require many years of experience. I enjoy talking to people and getting them involved in things Im passionate about, but one of the things I need to work on is getting up in front of a crowd and speaking, so my public speaking skills will need to be augmented to be truly effective.

Appendix of Links

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Andrea Meyer LinkedIn Profile: http://tinyurl.com/cbf8ltg Bethesda Position: http://tinyurl.com/7s5j966 Blizzard Position: http://tinyurl.com/7sups8z Diigo Account: http://tinyurl.com/c4sezw4 Facebook Profile: http://tinyurl.com/d6n8vs3 Foursquare Profile: http://tinyurl.com/d2beybs My LinkedIn Profile: http://tinyurl.com/cjj5hsc Kathy Mordini LinkedIn Profile: http://tinyurl.com/776srbq Otto Pijpker LinkedIn Profile: http://tinyurl.com/dxz9opn Square Enix Position: http://tinyurl.com/cke7rbl Tumblr Profile: http://tinyurl.com/cwuzt9e Wordpress Blog: http://tinyurl.com/77639rl