Allen Hall Public Relations, Eugene, Ore. Sept. 2014- present Account Executive • Create PR campaigns to solve specific communication problems for Fred Meyer • Develop strategic social media tactics, targeting UO students to increase event participation • Draft PR pitches for the local Eugene media, including KEZI and KVAL • Publish creative blog posts for agency, targeting aspiring and professional PR practitioners

Oregon Logging Conference, Eugene, Ore. Jan.- March 2015 Media Relations Intern • Created all of the media advisories for the 77th Annual Oregon Logging Conference • Pitched to the local Eugene media via email prior to the event • Coordinated with the media and scheduled live interviews with the President and VP of the OLC

Ethos Magazine, Eugene, Ore. Sept.- present Social Media Chair • Promote magazine on campus through Facebook and Twitter, using Klout • Edit and approve magazine’s social media content before posting it online • Develop new product placement ideas, contributing to magazine’s marketing plan

Fred Meyer Stores, Portland, Ore. June- Sept. 2015 Human Resources Intern • Organized and scheduled meetings for 30 interns, managing the group throughout the summer • Facilitated internal communication between interns and department supervisors via Outlook • Implemented new hire training strategies for all 132 Fred Meyer Stores • Co-planned and coordinated the annual Fred Meyer office BBQ with an attendance of over 2,000 employees

Education

University of Oregon, Eugene, Ore. Expected June 2015 Bachelor of Arts • Major: public relations • Minor: business administration

La Universidad de Pablo Olavide, Seville, Spain Aug.- Dec. 2013 • Studied international marketing and Spanish Skills

• Programs: Microsoft Suite, Photoshop, InDesign and Final Cut Pro X • Social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WordPress and YouTube • Language: Advanced Spanish

1 About Me

Hello—My name is Nicole Maroney but everyone calls me Nikki. I’m a young public relations professional with a passion for people and the great outdoors. Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, I’ve always been an avid explorer adventuring outside with wet socks and muddy shoes. This enthusiasm inspired my fascination with the outdoor PR industry, bringing me halfway across the world. After spending a semester in Seville, Spain, my eyes were opened to the global opportunities available in the field of communications and branding. With graduation quickly approaching, I couldn’t be more excited to pursue my career in the dynamic PR industry. Settling back in Eugene, Oregon, I’m continuing my professional experience as an account executive for Allen Hall Public Relations. This student-run PR agency at the University of Oregon challenges me every day. Building relationships with our clients and devoting PR campaigns to specific communication problems, have given me the essential PR tools I need before graduation. Additionally, my position as Social Media Chair for Ethos Magazine, an award winning multicultural publication, has demonstrated my devotion and eagerness to working with fellow students. Leading my team we plan small events, develop strong social media platforms and engage with our target publics effectively.

Throughout my journey at the University of Oregon, I’ve learned strong communication skills are not only critical in the ﬁeld of public relations but in our daily lives as young professionals.

Today, my enthusiasm for writing and engaging with others continues to draw me toward the multifaceted profession of PR, rediscovering what it means to be a strategic thinker.

2 Blog Post for Agency

During the holidays people are overwhelmed with crowds, adversements and ﬂashy window displays telling us to buy, buy, buy. Kicking oﬀ the holiday season with Halloween, department stores across the country are trying to cut through the cluer. This holiday season, my account team and I are working with Fred Meyer to stand out amongst the noise.

Last week, my team had our first conference call with Amanda Ip, our Public Affairs Specialist at Fred Meyer and Quality Food Centers, to discuss potenal media pitches for the upcoming holiday season. We came up with some excing ways to engage the local Eugene media; yet we were stumped on how to effecvely pitch our stories. Bouncing ideas back and forth, we came up with some excing ways to engage the local Eugene media.

I decided to reach out to Kathryn Their—former reporter and communicaons professional— who currently teaches Journalism and PR at University of Oregon. She oﬀered me some great advice on how to pitch to the media. Here are some of her ps:

1. Establish Trust: The ﬁrst step of eﬀecve PR pitching is building trust with the reporter. Before you can begin thinking about pitching to the media, it’s vital for PR praconers to establish trust over me by showing the journalist you’re a credible source with valuable informaon. Once a reporter knows you’re an ethical PR praconer, he or she is much more likely to consider sharing your stories with the media.

2. Know Your Reporter: Just because you establish trust with a speciﬁc reporter, doesn’t mean he or she is going to publish your story. The key to pitching is relevancy—knowing what reporters cover what types of stories. From there, you can tailor your pitch to the right reporter or journalist.

3. Plan in Advance: Holidays are a tough me for media because of reduced staﬀ and vacaon me; therefore, planning ahead during the holiday season is especially important. The good news is that the holidays are generally dull news mes, meaning that PR praconers can capitalize on media opportunies by providing stories in advance. Think about pitching evergreen stories (stories that can run anyme and aren’t me sensive), covering news holes during slower news months.

4. Be Creave: In order to shine, PR praconers should try to have some fun with their pitching angles. During the holidays, charity and fundraising events appeal to larger audiences and provide awesome material for pitches. The key is spinning these stories in a creave way, and geng your idea to stand out.

Remember that pitching isn’t just about your relaonship with reporters, but their relaonship with their editors. By understanding your reporter and the hierarchal structure of how the media work, PR praconers have a much beer chance of geng their stories media aenon.

3 Allen Hall PR

Evaluation

Situation: My team of five worked on the Fred Meyer account where we collaborated to complete multiple tasks for our client. My first task was to create a blog post for AHPR’s official blog, highlighting our work for Fred Meyer.

Problem: Having never pitched to the media before, I reached out to a UO professor with a professional background in media relations to learn more about pitching to the media

Results: My blog post was the ﬁrst AHPR blog post published for the year • Additional projects included: – Developed email pitches for the Polar Plunge, an event beneﬁtting Special Olympics – Promoted the Polar Plunge event on campus and social media – Crafted St. Patrick’s Day and Easter pitch ideas for Fred Meyer Stores

4 Blog Post for Personal Branding

5 A Breath of Fresh Air

Evaluation Situation: A Breath of Fresh Air—a blog dedicated to my love for the great outdoors and the public relations industry. Exploring the outdoor experience through a public relations lens, I’m discovering how outdoor and recreational companies establish themselves as a brand through PR eﬀorts and social media.

My blog topics include: • PR campaigns for outdoor companies like The North Face, Columbia Sportswear and Patagonia • Social media campaigns in the outdoor and recreational industry • Corporate social responsibility and environmentalism • Global corporate PR initiatives to protect the environment

Problem: Establishing myself as a PR professional with limited experience working in the PR industry

Results: • Created professional, innovative and engaging content • Established a professional network of outdoor industry leaders by following and interacting with them online • Kept up with current events in the outdoor industry, capitalizing on exciting opportunities

6 Media Advisory

MEDIA ADVISORY: INVITATION TO COVER FEB. 19, 2015

Loggers kick off the 77th Annual Oregon Logging Conference—the largest inside and outside equipment show west of the Mississippi

Who/What: Every year manufacturers and dealers around the world visit The Oregon Logging Conference, displaying the latest technology in forestry equipment. Network and socialize with hundreds of forestry professionals to learn more about their trade.

Hands-on educational seminars given by exhibitors will reveal the most innovative practices in forestry maintenance. Discover what it takes to work in the logging, construction, trucking and heavy equipment industry.

Come Friday to see this “power packed” show, including everything from a live Chain Saw Wood Carving event to an inspiring presentation on new logging technologies. Dedicated to maintaining our healthy forests in the Pacific Northwest, the OLC offers something for everyone.

Where: Lane County Fairgrounds – 796 West 13th Ave., Eugene, OR

When: Thursday, Feb. 19, 2015 All of the following events are located at the Lane County Fairgrounds 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. – Equipment displays open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. – Chain Saw Wood Carving event – outside demonstration area 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. – Free time to view equipment displays 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. – Lars Larson Show broadcast live onsite – Main Exhibit Hall Lobby 1:30 p.m. – Operators of the Year Presentation – Oregon Department of Forestry 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. – “Better Ideas/ New Technology in Logging” Presentation – Wheeler Pavilion 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. – Sawdust Bowl – “hosted beer and wine” – Performance Hall, Convention Center

CONTACTS: Rikki Wellman, Conference Manager, Oregon Logging Conference, 541-954-2477, [email protected]

Nicole Maroney, Oregon Logging Conference Intern, 503-730-7107 [email protected]

7 77th Annual Oregon Logging Conference

Evaluation Situation: From January to March 2015, I was the oﬃcial Intern for the 77th Annual Oregon Logging Conference, the largest trucking and forestry expo west of the Mississippi.

Problem: Getting the media to come to the OLC during the Kitzhaber scandal was diﬃcult because all of the Eugene media was covering the former governor’s controversial event in Salem, Oregon.

Results: – Successfully coordinated with KEZI and KVAL news crews to cover the event live. Was also able to get live KLCC radio coverage. – Blasted out email pitches to the media – Event published on multiple media platforms including Capital Press, KMTR, KEZI, KVAL, Timber Harvesting and Laser Tech – Scheduled live TV interviews with the President and Vice President of the OLC – Gave tours to media professionals before and after interview sessions

8 Social Media

My most successful Facebook post as Ethos’ Social Media Chair reached over 6,000 people:

9 Social Media Chair

Engaging with followers on Twitter:

Situation: While I was Ethos Magazine’s Social Media Chair, I managed Ethos’ oﬃcial Twitter and Facebook accounts. I kept my PR team accountable, edited and published all of our social media content and published strategic daily posts for all of Ethos’ social media platforms.

Problem: Created original posts on a daily basis with limited editorial content to work with

Results: Published posts reaching over 6,000 people and increased followers on both Twitter and Facebook. 10 Mini PR Plan: Wild Blackberry Moccs

Situaon: For my campaigns class my team worked with the small baby bouque, Wild Blackberry Moccs, to develop a PR plan in hopes of increasing our client’s online business. Problem: • Lack of brand awareness • Inconsistent online proﬁles • Small customer base • Unplanned social media posts • Limited sales

Goal: My team wanted to expand our client’s customer base by enhancing its online presence and establishing relationships with customers and online inﬂuencers.

Objective: To increase WBM’s website views by 100 percent

Strategy 1: To accomplish this objective we updated and enhanced our client’s Wordpress website, strengthened her online brand and made the website more appealing to potential customers

11 WBM Evaluation

Before: Aer:

Results: • 725 website views on launch day (625 over our goal of 100) • 17.7% like increase on WBM’s Instagram • 4.5% like increase on WBM’s Facebook

In less than 10 weeks my team successfully redesigned and launched Wild Blackberry Moccs’ website; created social media launch content and an editorial calendar for WBM’s Instagram and Facebook; and craed an email pitch to send to our provided list of bloggers.

12 Infographic

13 The UO Office of Sustainability

• Situation: In this mock scenario for my PR writing class, the UO oﬃce of Sustainability hired me to create a strategic message educating Gen-Y on its excessive energy, product and water waste. Its target audience was Gen-Y because this age group (18-24 yrs.) is guilty of being the most energy and water wasteful generation.

• Problem: Gen-Y may be the most informed age group when it comes to environmental issues, but they are the worst oﬀenders when it comes to energy awareness and water waste.

• My biggest obstacle in educating Gen-Y was getting this demographic to care about the amount of waste produced, and why it’s an alarming problem. My target audience doesn’t know the consequences of running clothes through a dryer, taking long showers and turning on the air conditioning. All these activities add up to a larger carbon footprint on our earth, hindering the planet.

• Result: After digging up a little research, I created an infographic educating Gen-Y on its excessive energy, product and water waste. I wanted to clearly illustrate how our excessive waste is damaging the planet at an accelerating rate.

• Call to Action: Have students subscribe to the UO Sustainability Newsletter and learn about the sustainability- related activities and news around campus!

14 Shareholder Letter

Dear Shareholders,

2013 was an exciting year for Apple, bringing the best user experience to our customers through innovative technology, software and services. Our continual investment in research and development, marketing and advertising allowed us to define the future of mobile media and computing devices once again.

Last year we developed the most forward-thinking iPhone yet. After we announced the release of the iPhone 5, 5s and 5c, we sold a record 47.8 million iPhones in the second quarter, along with a record 22.9 million iPads.

In a single quarter Apple had a record revenue of over $54 billion and sales of over 75 million iOS devices. Here at Apple, we’re consistently setting the standard for smart phones and tablets, not to mention our continuous design of the best computers in the world.

Looking at our fiscal year as a whole, we’re pleased to announce Apple had a total revenue of $170.91 billion, a significant 9.2 percent increase from last year. This resulted from growth in net sales of iPhone; iTunes, software and services, and iPad.

Although due to the growth in research and development, we saw a slight 11.3 percent decrease in operating income, totaling $49 million. We believe that focused investments in research and development are critical in our future growth and competitive position in the marketplace. That is why Apple is confident in making further investments in research and development in the future.

Apple’s expansion of its business, retail segment, increased headcount and related expenses contributed to the 11 percent decrease in net income, which was $37 million. In order to remain competitive we must continue to expand our market overseas, investing in long-term growth.

Expanding our business also led to a 10 percent decrease of diluted earnings per share, which was $39.75 last year. However, this hypothetical amount of outstanding shares only reflects the worst-case scenario of share value if everyone exercised their stock options. We are fully confident that our investment in an innovative future will only bring us significant economic growth in the future.

Looking ahead, we’re already working on an even faster, simpler and intuitive experience with the development of the iPhone 6. By consistently giving our customers the best cutting- edge products and technologies in the world, we’re conquering the impossible each year. We can’t wait to do it again.

Sincerely, Tim Cook CEO Apple

15 Shareholder Letter Results

Evaluation Situation: I created a shareholder letter for Apple Inc. for my strategic writing public relations course.

Problem: In 2013 Apple experienced a ﬁscal downturn, making it diﬃcult to relay negative information to shareholders.

Results: I was able to spin the negative ﬁscal information into future opportunities of growth, restoring faith in the long-term future of Apple for shareholders.

16 CSR Memo

To: Yyvon Chouinard, CEO From: Nikki Maroney, VP of Communications Date: October 29, 2014 Re: Proposal for Salmon Run 5K at Patagonia, Ventura, California

Patagonia has always been passionate about its people and the environment. For us, environmental philanthropy is just the cost of doing good business. To honor our dedication to corporate social responsibility, the Patagonia communication team is excited to propose our first Salmon 5K Run.

Running along the Ventura River, the event will take place on November 9, 2014, at Patagonia 259 W. Santa Clara Street. This will be a great opportunity to benefit a non- profit organization right in our own backyard! All the proceeds will go to the Los Padres Forest Watch, the only non-profit organization working to protect wilderness landscapes, free-flowing rivers, and the great outdoors throughout the Lost Padres National Forest. 1

With a maximum of 400 participants, the Patagonia communication team is fully confident that all 400 spots will be filled before the race. All runners have to pre-register by Saturday, November 8, at midnight. Each runner has to pay a non-refundable $50 participation fee, which includes a T-shirt with our logo and race day packet. We have some great post race ideas as well; we can send you a link with all the additional information if you would like to learn more.

Customers are looking hard at how we do business and the Salmon Run would be a great opportunity to showcase our strong dedication to CSR. According to a study done by Forbes Magazine, “More than half the consumers surveyed want to reward responsible companies by buying their products. 53% would even pay a 10% premium for those products.”2 The numbers tell us we’re on the right track. Our mantra has always been, “build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.”3

Los Padres Forest Watch needs our help in protecting our public lands along California’s Central Coast. I’m fully confident that by supporting this cause we will not only enhance our brand, but will also help reverse the steep decline in the overall health of our planet. For us at Patagonia, “a love of wild and beautiful places demands participation in the fight to save them.”4 I look forward to hearing your feedback about this proposal and I cannot wait to discuss more potential CSR opportunities with you in the future. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1 "Salmon Run 2013." Salmon Run 2013 - Annual 5K Run. Patagonia, Nov.-Dec. 2014. Web. 27 Oct. 2014. . 2 Levick, Richard. "Corporate Social Responsibility for Profit." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 11 Jan. 2012. Web. 27 Oct. 2014. . 3 "Our Reason for Being." Patagonia Company Information:. Patagonia, n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2014. . 4 Ibid. Footnote 3. ! ! !

17 CSR Evaluation

Situation: For my strategic writing in PR course I wrote a corporate social responsibility memorandum to the CEO of Patagonia.

Problem: As the VP of Communications writing to the CEO, I had to ﬁnd the appropriate voice in my proposal.

Results: I project the Salmon 5K run would not only exemplify Patagonia’s dedication to CSR but would increase customer engagement and strengthen customer loyalty.