Acknowledging that maintaining a solid social media presence relies a lot on consistency and creativity, I have decided to take a brief hiatus from this blog to re-evaluate its purpose. Although, having so many different interests, I have decided that this site would be of more use if I narrow my focus. For this reason, I am taking time out to carefully think about and create this focus. Don't lose patience with me - my return will not disappoint.

You go to school for years upon years. You're ready to break into the "real world", to no avail. Your resume is well put together, and you meet all the requirements. You slowly start to wonder what you're doing wrong, when you're going to get a phone call and why no one has noticed you. The fact of the matter may be, that no one noticed you, because no one knows you.

It is true what they say...it's not so much about what you know, as it is about who you know. Now that you've faced that harsh reality, it's time to start getting to know people. What good are ideas with no one to share them with? The following are three big ways to get to where you want to be.

1. Talk to people Simple right? One would assume. The reality, however, is that people become hesitant when wondering who to talk to, when to talk to them and what to say. Talk to anybody, anytime, about anything (educated). You never know anything about someone until you reach out and start a conversation.

Recently, I was in my local Buffalo Wild Wings waiting for my "to go" order. A nice older man came in, sat down next to me, and proceeded to wait for his order as well. I greeted him with a nice smile and a hello. That's it. From that, we entered a 10 minutes conversation about so many things. Turned out, he recently retired from the FBI. His wife recently died, and his daughter just completed her bachelor's degree at Temple University. He found out I was into communications and public relations, complimented my great communications skills and gave me an old business card with his current number and email address written on the back. Needless to say I kept in contact with him, and to this day he shares with me local job positions in my field. All of that, based on a 10 minute conversation in BWW.

I say that to say,  it doesn't matter where you are, or how awkward it may feel, a simple conversation can go so far. You may never know who you're meeting, until you actually meet them. It will never hurt to talk to people, EVER.

2. USE social media. Don't just have a link, actively use it. Participate in discussions, trending topics, create dialogue, ask questions. Social media can be used for so much more than just talking about yourself. For example, more than half of my Twitter followers had no idea that Twitter offers "chat rooms". Every week at certain times, Twitter offers discussions for various fields on various topics. Each day at those specific times, just search the hashtag and follow or participate in the discussion. These chatroom times and hastags can be found online. USE THAT! Social media is said to be the easiest and quickest way to talk to and meet new people. USE THAT! Do not just use it to keep in touch with people you already know, use it to meet new, influential people. Create separate profiles geared toward your field and reach out to those with a similar passion. Exchange ideas, share recent events, become acquainted.

3. Lastly, INVEST IN YOUR PASSION. The most important one. For recent graduates and young professionals, it's hard to manage a new job, with maintaining a social life, saving money for loans, paying new bills, all while working hard to achieve your dreams. For people breaking into artistic fields, it's the same: going to auditions, doing shows, working, saving money and finding time for friends is such a daunting task. However, you have to invest in your passion, with both time and money. Attend workshops, conferences, webinars and happy hour networking events. Go to career fairs and become familiar with the representatives. Take time to educate yourself on the current events of your field and start conversations. Invest in business and resume cards, websites and even logos. Take your passion as seriously as you take your job. Set a time each day to work solely on what it is you dream of. Research the field, research current influencers in your field, send e-mails and find local events & workshops to attend. Remember this is YOUR dream, act like it. The more you invest, the more results you'll yield.

By doing those three things, you'll not only see that you're getting further, you'll feel more rewarded.Try it out, and let me know how it works for you. If you've already been doing these things, let me know how they've worked out. Leave comments and ask questions. In the meantime, follow me: @zshunterPR.

About 3 years ago I had the pleasure of meeting one of the most talented people I know. In February 2011 I had the honor of introducing him to my Tumblr following for his amazing "There Goes My Baby" guitar cover (the original post can be viewed here). Since then, Matt Cassanova, who most often goes by Ghetto Guitar, has continued to create a buzz amongst the music community. Stemming from West Haven, CT, Matt developed a love for the guitar starting in highschool, and since then has taken strides to perfect his craft. Matt exudes a strong passion for music and a keen ear for sound, all of which can be seen and felt in each song.

Currently, Matt has been finishing up his debut instrumental album, all songs of which are created and edited by him. Taking a new spin on music by incorporating his love for the guitar and his natural ear for instruments and great sounds, Matt has begun to set a foundation on which he intends to build upon within the music industry. TRILL ROCK, his debut project is set to release this summer. Below is one of my favorite covers by Matt Cassanova, "Crew Love" originally performed by Drake ft. The-Weeknd. All sounds in this video, including the acoustic guitar backtracks, are performed by Matt Cassanova.

Matt's talent, much like his lively personality, is undeniable. I wish him the best in all of his future projects. More videos can be viewed on his personal YouTube page at youtube.com/MCharles203, and upcoming information about his project release can be found on the URBN MEMOIRS blog page and his personal Twitter account @Ghetto_Guitar.

Hashtagging...an idea that social media users know about, but barely know how to do. One of the easiest ways to group certain content in its relevant "categories", and a free, easy way for social media's version of "search optimization", hashtagging is signified by a "#" sign before the actual tag word. However, none of this matters if you don't know how to hashtag effectively. Below are three tips on how to get hashtags to work in your favor.

     1. Think of the purpose of your post and think of the category it belongs in. 
              Before saying anything, it is important to understand that hashtags should not be used for no reason. The purpose of hashtagging is to allow your post to be found and organized through social media searches. If someone wants to search for baseball information they will search baseball relevant hashtags - when hashtagged properly, baseball related posts will be found. With that said, it's most important to think of the purpose of your post and choose a hashtag that fits in a particular category. If your post is geared toward "#beauty" then the appropriate hashtag would simply be "beauty" or even "#beautytips" (depending on the post). If you're posting on behalf of an organization, the most effective way to hashtag would be to hashtag the field in which the business is in, the name of the business, and whatever category the post fits in. For example, a post written on behalf of a PR firm would include a PR hashtag, a hashtag of the firm's name, and then a hashtag of the category in which the post fits. It is okay to use multiple hashtags in one post, just don't overwhelm the reader; meaning no more than 3 hashtags per post.
           When using this method, it is important to think of keywords that you would use to search for the specific topic in which you're posting about. Chances are, the keywords you create will be the same ones someone else uses to search the topic. 
     2. Let "Trending Topics" guide you
            If you're unsure of what to use, don't be afraid to reference Twitter's Trending Topics (new or old) and use them. Once again, make sure they fit the purpose(s) of your post and are relevant for those who happen to search the specific hashtag. 
     3. Make it sound cool!  
          It can go without saying, that people will read and search for things that sound cool. It's equally as important to create tags that are interesting and catchy...not complex, but catchy! Use keywords that you think can catch the attention of the post's targeted user and that is still relevant to the post itself.


By following these easy steps, your hashtag experience will be effectively used. Once mastering this, we can get on to more complex hashtag tips and ideas for both personal and professional use. In the meantime, what are your favorite hashtags? What was your first hashtag? Share it here. Leave comments, ask questions. 

MediaTakeOut has been considered one of the most visited urban celebrity gossip sites since its launch in 2006. Written in a short blog-like format, MediaTakeOut informs the public of the most recent celebrity gossip, providing articles, pictures, messages, and tweets from MTO's unknown souces. Getting attention for its "naked pics" and its "guess who did this now!" headlines, MTO has quickly become some celebrity's worst nightmare; but can the same be said for the celebritys' PR agents? Is MTO a nightmare for PR agents, or does its (perceived) lack of credibility put MTO at the bottom of their list of concerns?

To effectively answer this question, I took to Twitter and sparked a discussion with a few public relations professionals. Of course MTO is not a site that should be completely ignored, since, despite its credibility (or lackthereof), still maintains a solid following, but to what degree should PR agents worry about it? The main conclusion drawn from the many ideas of the discussion is that the agent's concern depends on the damage the celebrity would receive from the specific MTO post. An idea shared by a majority of the publicists is that the public does not necesarily care about credibility, and from personal experiences I can attest to that. In reality, the degree to which a celebrity's PR agent should be concerned depends on the damage anticipated from the post. Although a publicist should be ready to counter any negative press, if the post is minor, the agent may not even consider addressing it - and that is a decision left solely up to the client and the publicist. However, a more damaging post should yield appropriate plans to counteract the negativity created. With that being said, although MTO may not be highest on a publicist's list of concerns, the site should still be monitored as closely as other forms of media.
Please note: Not all of MTO's posts are negative.

I was so consumed with love...and probably lust just remembering my night, that I couldn't even think of an appropriate introduction for this post.  Anyone who knows me, knows my love for Sean Combs, Puff Daddy, Diddy can get a bit out of hand. I've dreamt of working for Bad Boy Entertainment for about 7 years of my life...way before I knew that entertainment PR is what I wanted to do. I promised myself that any opportunity I got to see Diddy (being in CT doesn't allow too many opportunities), I would. I was even planning a night trip to Philly to attend one of his celebrity parties, although by the time I found out about it, Enterprise Rentals was closed. That $250.00 ticket and 5 hour drive didn't mean a thing to me if I got to attend an actual Diddy party.

About a year after that event, my best friend surprised me with tickets to the Diddy - Dirty Money concert for their debut (and only) album Last Train To Paris (which might I add was amazingly produced). Needless to say, that concert gave me so much life. The people who sat next to me got to meet him, and apparently they gave them towels as a memorabilia. At the end of the night, those towels went home with me.

Another year after that, I was driving to work listening to the radio, something I barely listen to, and I heard the DJ's announce a Diddy party being held at a near by CT casino. I got to work. Got out of my car. Went into my office. And 15 minutes later booked the Platinum Party package - early entry, hotel room, and guaranteed access into the party. I didn't even need to know who I was going with, as long as I knew that I was going. I called up my best friend and of course he was all in.
That night may have been the greatest night of my life. The party atmosphere was great. The way the room was decorated, the perfectly costumed cage dancers, and the acrobats doing tricks from the ceiling all made my money worth it. The Djs, ehhh, not so much, but I could care less, I wanted to see Diddy. He arrived, and performed for about 15 minutes....SUPER DRUNK. I couldn't even be mad at him; afterall, it was his party.

For some reason, though, the moment he came out, I was less concerned with him, and more concerned with my dream. I seen everything I wanted right before me. The excitement I had for him, I want to have for someone... someone I actually know. Someone who has been through the wire to accomplish their dream. I want to be on the stage as part of someone's team, representing them and all they're doing. I want to publicize, market, and plan these events for a hardworking client whom I see nothing but potential in. I want to put on the best dress and be a part of the hype - not for myself but for my client. I don't want to smile because I see my dreams manifested, I want to smile because I know I've played a role in someone else's manifestation. Someone who had all it took except public recognition. Someone who had all the talent but no brand. Someone who had all the ideas and tons to talk about, but no way to communicate them to the world. I want to aid in someone else's development, so that one day, their Platinum parties could be as popular as Diddy's are.

I could only dream that one day I won't be the one holding the camera in the audience, but the one forming a positive connection with, communicating with, and gauging the satisfaction of the audience. An audience in which my client's success or failure depends.

Coachella 2012 has had what has already been dubbed the best performance of all time, in its first weekend of concerts. The late Tupac, who was murdered in 1996, made an appearance and performed one of his greatest hits "Hail Mary", via hologram. According to sources, the performance was the $100,000-$400,000 idea of Dr. Dre, and was successfully pulled off, as audience members were captivated by the spitting images of Tupac, his style, and his 'performance etiquette'. It is definitely one of the biggest "must see" moments of concert history. Check it out:

Coachella is an annual music festival, broken into two weekends. To register, or find out more information on the festival visit: http://www.coachella.com/index.php.

I do not own the rights to the video, nor am I affiliated with Coachella.