The end of 2012 is here – it just seems like yesterday that it was just the beginning! This year has been a very exciting one for not only me, but also my family.
My Dad had a chance to go to South Africa this past summer on a safari. Dad was always supportive in my travels and he wanted to see where I lived for a summer between my Master’s degree and PhD. Mom was very successful this year as well with her teaching, research, and psychology textbooks. Karla continued her drawing adventures and was featured in the MidState Fair this year for her art. Kristin finished her first year as an instructor at West Point and got married this summer in Walt Disney World. She also wrote a great review of the year as well on her site – very fab! 🙂
What has happened for me in 2012? Well, there are a few highlights I would like to share with you all.
- Establishing my reputation in the social media and PR academic community. I had a few articles be published this year along with a couple of book chapters. It’s very exciting to see your name in print and get the respect from your fellow academic community members for your work.
- Presenting around the US and Internationally: I had a chance to present in various places around the US this year including Orlando (ICRC 2012), Chicago (APS and AEJMC), Phoenix (ICA), and Morgantown (Integrate). I also got a chance to present my research internationally in Milan (RI 2012) and Melbourne (World PR Forum 2012). All of these experiences were amazing.
- Finished my first full year teaching at Louisville. It seems just a few months ago I finished my PhD at Tennessee, but I completed my first year teaching as an assistant professor at the University of Louisville in 2012.
- Assistant Professor, Researcher, and Maid of Honor: I had the honor of serving in Kristin and Scott’s wedding this past summer in Orlando, FL. Two of my closest friends, Sabrina and Monica, also served as bridesmaids. It was a very wonderful event – we had an amazing time and so happy for my sister and we welcomed Scott into our family. It is great to have a brother! 🙂
- Won my first research award as an Assistant Professor: I worked on a project with some amazing people that won the best presentation at ICRC 2012. It was very exciting!
- Won my first teaching award: I won my first teaching award when I was in Morgantown this past summer at the WVU IMC Integrate conference. – and it was such a wonderful and momentous occasion. I felt truly honored and humbled by this award, especially since it is voted by students. Thank you all so much! 🙂
So, what is going to happen next for me in 2013? There are a few things in the works, but I will share these few with you all for now:
- I will be finishing up my second year at the University of Louisville. Amazing how time is flying by! I will also be teaching my social media class this spring, which will be the first social media class offered at UofL. Very exciting!
- I have a few conferences already booked and accepted presentations. I will be presenting again at ICRC in March and then will be on a crisis communications panel at SoSlam 2013 in April and a presentation at the World Social Marketing Conference in Toronto.
- I will continue to be busy teaching online and offline – this is where coffee comes into play! 🙂
- I am still pretty busy with various research projects and conference submissions, so there are some things that will continue to be in the works and will be published and presented this year.
- I am going to try to be successful with my New Year’s Resolution. I actually was this past year (no artificial sweeteners in my coffee), so this year – I’m going to continue to workout but really get more involved in running. Hopefully I will be able to do a couple of 5k / 10k runs this year.
Wishing you all the very best for the upcoming year! Let’s make 2013 absolutely fabulous! 🙂 Happy New Year, everyone!
Best Wishes,
Karen
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