Hello! From the Newest Intern Leslie Quiros

My name is Leslie Quiros and I am the newest intern at Abraham Harrison (Yeeiii!). I am currently working towards a bachelor’s degree in Public Communication at American University and I couldn’t be happier to join your team this summer.

As some of you may know, I come from the small country of Panama where Public Relations is a field with very little importance. As a result, my decision to pursue PR did not take place the minute I graduated from high school (the only decision I took when I graduated high school was to leave Panama—I kind of needed a break from the small city thing).

So, with no clear idea of what I wanted, I headed to New York to pursue a degree in Fashion Marketing and Management. But after a year of related studies—and my parents nagging me about my “career” choice— I realized I did not want to limit myself to the fashion world.

I took a break and made an assessment of my skills and abilities and the things I loved to do. Before I knew it, I was at American University learning all there is to know about the PR industry. As I learn more and more about this industry, I realize how PR is definitely my calling (I have to admit though, there are days when this field seems overwhelming).

The fact that one has to constantly be on the go or that one minute your client is doing great and another they are involved in a world-wide crisis, scares the bejesus out of me. However, it also works as a motivator because unlike accountants or bank tellers, I like to wake up every morning without knowing what the rest of my day will look like.

If somebody had told me six months ago I was going to be interning at a Digital PR and Social Media marketing firm, I probably would have laughed. Not because I consider this sort of firm to be a joke, but because at that time, I had little knowledge of the importance of social media in the PR industry. However, over the last months my mind has been blown away by the power of the digital world in the communications industry.

The fact that as PR practitioners we are able to reach thousands of people through a single 140-character phrase, or that we can easily communicate with opinion leaders and have them spread our message through their Blogs is something astonishing. As a person that grew up in the Internet age, I used to take the power of Blogs and Facebook and even Twitter for granted. But not anymore! A few months ago I decided to embrace this digital world and learn about all the opportunities that come with it. This is why I am so excited about joining your team and seeing first hand how a digital campaign comes together and succeeds.

Before I finalize my first post, I want to leave you with a little something I wrote a few months ago regarding technology and social media networks:

One of my professors asked me the other day if I considered society to be too connected since the creation of Twitter, Facebook, Blackberry and iPhone. My answer was simple. If somebody had asked this question a century ago, the answer would have probably been yes. If we lived in a society where people were limited by distance and socioeconomic boundaries, then Twitter, Facebook, Blackberry and iPhone are nothing but disrupting. However, this is not the case. For decades, society has struggled to bring the world together. Great minds have worked hard to find ways that allow us to communicate easily, no matter where we are. I believe that the creation of these technologies and social networks is a result of our desire to become more connected with the world.

The real question is: How connected is too connected? For the first time in history, we are building bridges with different countries, cultures, and people. A person sitting at a Starbucks in Manhattan could be reading a Twitter post of a person sitting in a Starbucks in Mexico. People can travel all over the world and instantly send pictures to their friend through a small cell phone. I could find out what my friend from middle school is up to, even if she lives hundreds of miles away. Truth is, we can never be too connected because as our lives become more hectic, it’s always good to feel that people are all around us.

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