About Me
- shaethompson
- Hi, I'm Shae. I've just recently started studying PR and so far I think it's fun. I don't have a lot of time for TV there days so don't ask me about current shows. I spend my free time with friends out sampling what I consider Australian culture. I think people should read more and tweet less. I have had about 50 different hairstyles in my lifetime. I think that there is always time in the day to talk to your friends. And I believe that life isn't short, you have longer to do it than anything else, so take your time to enjoy it.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Go plastic
Should Perth ban glass in all pubs and clubs? Well perhaps not. However with 67 glass attacks in WA this year it would be a good idea to take a step in the right direction.
It's easy to pick those places that could use a change to plastic cups from glasses. We've all been there at one time or another. When you go to a pub or club and the floor is half covered in broken glass. These are the pubs and clubs that the customers aren't as concerned with the slight flavour difference that a plastic cup may make to a cocktail. At these places its about quantity not quality. With this mindset it's clear that these are the people who don't need a glass. In a scenario like this there are many fights. This last year Northbridge had the most glass attacks of any other suburb (the West Australian, 2010). Perhaps we can start there. Why put a glass in the hand of an idiot who wants to fight when you don't have to. Its clear that banning glass won't put a stop the the problem. There will always be those drunken idiots who what to start a fight for the sake of fighting and unfortunately we can't see who they are from the start of the evening before the attacks happen, but banning the glass can't hurt.
I believe that its not necessary to ban glass in every pub and club in Perth. There are the nice cocktail bars and wine bars that would suffer for changing their glass wear over to plastic and in these places there isn't much of an issue with the glass. This is were people go to enjoy a drink not to binge. By targeting specific problem clubs and pubs it can dramatically change the atmosphere of a night out. It is a major safety problem to go out on a fun night and find that the dance floor is covered in glass. There is a tripping and falling issue and from my personal experience people don't tend to think to wear shoes that protect them against glass, usually they are for appearance purposes so big pieces of glass can find its way into feet. We clearly need to give some responsibility to the clubs who don't clean up this mess adequately and to the individual who should learn to hold on to their glass but at the end of the day these things do happen so why not avoid it?
Ultimately, banning glass probably won't make a significant change to the number of assaults in Perth but from what I can see, a small difference is better than no difference at all.
It's easy to pick those places that could use a change to plastic cups from glasses. We've all been there at one time or another. When you go to a pub or club and the floor is half covered in broken glass. These are the pubs and clubs that the customers aren't as concerned with the slight flavour difference that a plastic cup may make to a cocktail. At these places its about quantity not quality. With this mindset it's clear that these are the people who don't need a glass. In a scenario like this there are many fights. This last year Northbridge had the most glass attacks of any other suburb (the West Australian, 2010). Perhaps we can start there. Why put a glass in the hand of an idiot who wants to fight when you don't have to. Its clear that banning glass won't put a stop the the problem. There will always be those drunken idiots who what to start a fight for the sake of fighting and unfortunately we can't see who they are from the start of the evening before the attacks happen, but banning the glass can't hurt.
I believe that its not necessary to ban glass in every pub and club in Perth. There are the nice cocktail bars and wine bars that would suffer for changing their glass wear over to plastic and in these places there isn't much of an issue with the glass. This is were people go to enjoy a drink not to binge. By targeting specific problem clubs and pubs it can dramatically change the atmosphere of a night out. It is a major safety problem to go out on a fun night and find that the dance floor is covered in glass. There is a tripping and falling issue and from my personal experience people don't tend to think to wear shoes that protect them against glass, usually they are for appearance purposes so big pieces of glass can find its way into feet. We clearly need to give some responsibility to the clubs who don't clean up this mess adequately and to the individual who should learn to hold on to their glass but at the end of the day these things do happen so why not avoid it?
Ultimately, banning glass probably won't make a significant change to the number of assaults in Perth but from what I can see, a small difference is better than no difference at all.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
The life of an election candidate
During an election campaign each party tries to convince the public that they can do the best job at running our country. And how do I feel they're going? Well so far I don't know that any of them is capable of running our country at the moment.
Miss Gillard I believe has done an excellent job of not committing to do anything wrong. In fact I'm not sure that she plans to do much of anything. She has evolved in a great way physically. She's been re-styled and given some guidance to speak in a way that's more appealing to the public. Which makes her slightly better to look at on the television. However during the very serious electoral debate the only thing anyone could focus on was her larger than average ear lobes. This may say more about the voter than her ability to speak but I like to give Australians the benefit of the doubt and just conclude that she had very little to say that was of much interest to us. Although in the more recent debate at Rooty Hall, I will have to agree with you Miss Gillard, it should be "...about the economy and keeping it strong." I guess we will have to wait and see the "real Julia" the one that will have Australia "moving forward,"
I understand that at the end of the day an election is just a glorified popularity contest (as much as we'd like to argue it's not) but I would think that Mr. Abbot could reel back his desperate attempts to win over the women's vote. Please give the women of Australia a little more credit. We have little need to see Mr. Abbott affectionate with every women who is part of his campaign. It is however a lovely break from talk of Mr Abbott's success in his speedos during the Iron man triathlon. I am glad that Mr Abbott has been so candid in his plans for Australia, the ones we all want to hear anyway. However how can we be comfortable electing a man who tell us so openly that we can't believe everything he says as the "gospel truth." But then if we can't trust a politician who can we trust?
In my opinion the Greens just aren't strong enough to run the country and I never really consider them as part of the race. They always just feel like that nagging voice in the back of your head that says "don't put that half load of dishes through the dish washer cos you're waisting water." They serve their purpose. They are a useful extra vote for those people who don't want to feel bad about voting for one of the pitiful excuses for candidates above. Of course that vote just goes to Miss Gillard in the end doesn't it. Maybe we should all just donkey vote and be done with the system.
I will probably vote Liberals at the end of the day because I believe that they can do more for my country and if a politician is going to lie to us they might as well be honest about it. There's still time for Gillard to convince me though.
Miss Gillard I believe has done an excellent job of not committing to do anything wrong. In fact I'm not sure that she plans to do much of anything. She has evolved in a great way physically. She's been re-styled and given some guidance to speak in a way that's more appealing to the public. Which makes her slightly better to look at on the television. However during the very serious electoral debate the only thing anyone could focus on was her larger than average ear lobes. This may say more about the voter than her ability to speak but I like to give Australians the benefit of the doubt and just conclude that she had very little to say that was of much interest to us. Although in the more recent debate at Rooty Hall, I will have to agree with you Miss Gillard, it should be "...about the economy and keeping it strong." I guess we will have to wait and see the "real Julia" the one that will have Australia "moving forward,"
I understand that at the end of the day an election is just a glorified popularity contest (as much as we'd like to argue it's not) but I would think that Mr. Abbot could reel back his desperate attempts to win over the women's vote. Please give the women of Australia a little more credit. We have little need to see Mr. Abbott affectionate with every women who is part of his campaign. It is however a lovely break from talk of Mr Abbott's success in his speedos during the Iron man triathlon. I am glad that Mr Abbott has been so candid in his plans for Australia, the ones we all want to hear anyway. However how can we be comfortable electing a man who tell us so openly that we can't believe everything he says as the "gospel truth." But then if we can't trust a politician who can we trust?
In my opinion the Greens just aren't strong enough to run the country and I never really consider them as part of the race. They always just feel like that nagging voice in the back of your head that says "don't put that half load of dishes through the dish washer cos you're waisting water." They serve their purpose. They are a useful extra vote for those people who don't want to feel bad about voting for one of the pitiful excuses for candidates above. Of course that vote just goes to Miss Gillard in the end doesn't it. Maybe we should all just donkey vote and be done with the system.
I will probably vote Liberals at the end of the day because I believe that they can do more for my country and if a politician is going to lie to us they might as well be honest about it. There's still time for Gillard to convince me though.
Discovering my worth
When asked to talk about something special that has happened to me I usually draw a blank. I've been to Hawaii and Wisconsin, but neither of these feel all that special. Then I recount my trip to Sydney and remember how much I learnt about myself...
In August 2007, I was 19 and had decided that I didn't want to study at university anymore, that it wasn't me and that I wanted a new start. So my best friend Maddie and I decided to pick up and move to Sydney. We booked the flights giving ourselves one month to save enough money to support ourselves and off we went.
In Sydney we did the usual partying and sight seeing. To save money we stayed in a backpackers. This also let us go places that we wouldn't have thought to go. Like where Home and Away was filmed. During our outing we decided to apply for jobs which we both got successfully. I got a job at a shoe shop in the main city centre and Maddie transferred her Coles job to work in Sydney.
Maddie met the first love of her life, Josh. He was Canadian and a surfer and her very first boyfriend. They spent a lot of time together and he took her to see different places. I made new friends and caught up with old ones who showed me where all the fun was in Sydney. And between us we went though many great and embarrassing experiences.
Alas through all the partying our funds started to run short. We were living off bare basics and I was forced to forgo my necessary caffeine hit before work and she had to forgo her coke (coca-cola) addiction which she relied on religiously. We discovered how to be frugal. Living off $20 a week for food and expenses. It was making our plans to rent a house out in Sydney look rather hopeless.
Finally we were down to the last of our savings. We had enough money to either get home or pay the next weeks rent. We had to weigh up what we wanted more and just how realistic it was going to be to continue like this. If we both got another job or more hours at our current ones we could make it. We could keep the savings for a bond. But what if we didn't? Where would we go if we didn't have enough money for the rent?
It was a tough decision, especially with the friends we made and Maddie's new love as well as our new found Independence. But at the end of the day we made the logical decision and booked the next flight back home with the intention of planning it all properly next time.
So here I am 3 years later having learnt a lot from this experience. I discovered you can live off a lot less than you think if you really need to. I discovered the importance of planning things properly. But I also had fun and that's all that matters.
In August 2007, I was 19 and had decided that I didn't want to study at university anymore, that it wasn't me and that I wanted a new start. So my best friend Maddie and I decided to pick up and move to Sydney. We booked the flights giving ourselves one month to save enough money to support ourselves and off we went.
In Sydney we did the usual partying and sight seeing. To save money we stayed in a backpackers. This also let us go places that we wouldn't have thought to go. Like where Home and Away was filmed. During our outing we decided to apply for jobs which we both got successfully. I got a job at a shoe shop in the main city centre and Maddie transferred her Coles job to work in Sydney.
Maddie met the first love of her life, Josh. He was Canadian and a surfer and her very first boyfriend. They spent a lot of time together and he took her to see different places. I made new friends and caught up with old ones who showed me where all the fun was in Sydney. And between us we went though many great and embarrassing experiences.
Alas through all the partying our funds started to run short. We were living off bare basics and I was forced to forgo my necessary caffeine hit before work and she had to forgo her coke (coca-cola) addiction which she relied on religiously. We discovered how to be frugal. Living off $20 a week for food and expenses. It was making our plans to rent a house out in Sydney look rather hopeless.
Finally we were down to the last of our savings. We had enough money to either get home or pay the next weeks rent. We had to weigh up what we wanted more and just how realistic it was going to be to continue like this. If we both got another job or more hours at our current ones we could make it. We could keep the savings for a bond. But what if we didn't? Where would we go if we didn't have enough money for the rent?
It was a tough decision, especially with the friends we made and Maddie's new love as well as our new found Independence. But at the end of the day we made the logical decision and booked the next flight back home with the intention of planning it all properly next time.
So here I am 3 years later having learnt a lot from this experience. I discovered you can live off a lot less than you think if you really need to. I discovered the importance of planning things properly. But I also had fun and that's all that matters.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
To blog or not to blog
In PR we love blogs. Public Relations is all about communication and building relationships. With this is mind it makes sense that we can use blogs to our advantage.
In a blog people share their thought and ideas. Its an excellent forum to communicate ideas without prejudice. People feel comfortable to speak fairly freely about their personal opinions and have open discussions. As a PR tool we can then use this forum to get a company's name out there in the world. A blog has the potential to reach millions of people. A good Public Relations practitioner can take advantage of this and set up a blog for a client to communicate with the public. By doing this they can control a small amount of what sort of image is projected to the public on a personal basis that makes the company relate-able to their public. This also give the opportunity to gauge a response on the company itself and react accordingly.
In Public relations it is important to network. The more contacts you have the easier it is to get things done. "It's not what you know, it's who you know." We all know that the Internet and all social media is a great modern way of doing this. With millions of people at your finger tips just think of all the brilliant connections that you can make. This is where a blog comes in handy.Its not just about setting up a good blog either. Looking into useful blogs that are relevant to your cause and following them can give you great insight and connections. When you have a blog that is relevant and well written those people who you are following may stand up and take notice. Then *viola* we have connections.
A blog gives people from all over the world an opportunity to communicate. And Public Relations is about communication. They just go together.
In a blog people share their thought and ideas. Its an excellent forum to communicate ideas without prejudice. People feel comfortable to speak fairly freely about their personal opinions and have open discussions. As a PR tool we can then use this forum to get a company's name out there in the world. A blog has the potential to reach millions of people. A good Public Relations practitioner can take advantage of this and set up a blog for a client to communicate with the public. By doing this they can control a small amount of what sort of image is projected to the public on a personal basis that makes the company relate-able to their public. This also give the opportunity to gauge a response on the company itself and react accordingly.
In Public relations it is important to network. The more contacts you have the easier it is to get things done. "It's not what you know, it's who you know." We all know that the Internet and all social media is a great modern way of doing this. With millions of people at your finger tips just think of all the brilliant connections that you can make. This is where a blog comes in handy.Its not just about setting up a good blog either. Looking into useful blogs that are relevant to your cause and following them can give you great insight and connections. When you have a blog that is relevant and well written those people who you are following may stand up and take notice. Then *viola* we have connections.
A blog gives people from all over the world an opportunity to communicate. And Public Relations is about communication. They just go together.
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