Urban District Alliance

I briefly mentioned this in an early post, but I have exciting news.

Missouri State's PRSSA, Public Relations Student Society of America, has a student PR firm called Bear Communications. This semester, we have a new client: Urban District Alliance, and I am one of the account executives for one of the teams.

Urban District Alliances is essentially Springfield's community development organizations. They work a lot with downtown. (Which I love!) They want us to create an entire PR campaign for them. I have an awesome team that I met with today for the first time including Megan Haeffele, Doug Gaehle, and Bryan Milbach.

I am looking forward to working on a real life PR project with my fellow classmates and get to invest into an area of Springfield I love. Pin It

Reflecting on Dr. King's Legacy

Last year, almost to the day, I marched with the lovely connally  from Mediacom Park to Central High School in Springfield, MO. It was an experience I will not easily forget.  For the first time, I felt as if I was walking in the shoes, literally, of those who have fought and fight for their civil liberties.  The police car led the way, and I could not help but imagine how during the Civil Rights Movement how the police cars would have been blocking the way instead. That moment made me feel a part of the history stories I always enjoyed reading about.

 Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Men hate each other because they fear each other, and they fear each other because they don’t know each other, and they don’t know each other because they are often separated from each other.” Racism, prejudice, and mistreatment of others cut into my soul deeply.


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When glancing back through history at slavery, Salem Witch Hunts, Jim Crow Laws, and the Holocaust, it reminds us that it is our job to make this generation better at treating everyone humanly. Milton Bennett, an intercultural communication scholar, put a new perspective on the Golden Rule.  Bennett said, “Do unto other as they would have done to themselves.” By following the Golden Rule, one almost behaves in an ethnocentric manner treating others how one would want to be treated.

Everyone is different, and with all of our differences coming together in the workplace, it is imperative to try to understand and empathize with each other. Like Dr. King said, our hate could simply be because we do not know each other. Even though our country and world has come a long way from that March on Washington years ago, we must continue to deepen our knowledge of one other and learn to celebrate diversity. Pin It

Brewing Basics: The Bee House Dripper

Since I am giving away a Bee House, I thought I would give you a tutorial on how to brew coffee on a Bee-House.

First off, a Bee-House is a type of brewing device called a "pour-over". I am giving away a Bee-House from PT's Coffee Roasting Co. Here is what their site has to say about it.

Necessary Tools:

• A Bee-House
• #2 Paper Cone Filters from a local grocery store
• A kettle to boil water in
• A scale
• Coffee beans (24g to 26g)
• A grinder
• A timer

 

How-To Make the Pour-Over:

1. Start the kettle of water on the stove.
2. Weigh 24g to 26g of coffee depending on the type of coffee.
3. Grind coffee to a ground somewhere between french press and drip coffee.
4. Fold the #2 Filter at both ends and place in Bee House.
5. Place Bee House on a cup or something that can hold 12 oz of liquid.
6. When the water comes to a boil, take the kettle off and rinse the filter with the hot water. [This also brings the Bee House and mug to a higher temperature.]
7. Dump hot water.
8. Place cup and Bee House on scale.
9. Put coffee grounds in Bee House.
10. Zero the Scale. And changer to oz.
11. You want the water to be at a little over 200 degrees Fahrenheit, so it is okay to let it sit on the stove for about 30 seconds before actually letting it touch the coffee.
12. Pour water in the Bee House just enough to wet the grounds.
13. Start Timer!
14. Let "bloom" or sit for 30 seconds to 1 minute. [This depends on the age of the coffee. The closer the roast date the shorter the "bloom", generally speaking.]
15. Pour water at a steady pace in a figure 8 motion until the water reached about 1.5 centimeters from the top.
16. Finish pouring very slowing to maintain the height of the water in the middle of the Bee House until you have 13.6 ounces of water.
17. Let the water finish dripping. It should take between 2.5 and 3 minutes.
18. Enjoy your cup of coffee from your Bee House.

 Keep in mind this is how I make my coffee in my Bee House. There are many other ways to make it out there as well. Some Baristas suggest different ratios or pouring techniques. Experiment. Make it your own.

Here is a good video on making a Bee House from Topeca. He uses a slightly different technique than what I shared, but if you are a visual learner this might help:

 If you want to win your own Bee House Dripper, get your friends to follow my blog! Enter my give-away!

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PRSSA Goes Pokerface

PRSSA is back in full swing this semester, and we started out with helping one of our clients, GYN Cancer Alliance. We have an internal student run PR firm called Bear Communications. We help local organizations free of charge with different PR activities.

The local GYN Cancer Alliance in Springfield had a Casino Night called Chips for Cancer in the Tower Club. It was a very swank location, and we got almost full rein to decorate the place with fun cards, dice, etc. Our favorite was probably the giant blow-up dice! Everyone needs a set, seriously.

It was a lot of fun setting up. Enjoy some pictures from the afternoon:

The whole time, I could only think of how I wanted the song Pokerface by Lady Gaga playing in the background. I know, it is silly but fitting with the decor.

In other PRSSA news, we have a new client this semester: Urban Districts Alliance. I am so excited to possibly work with them. Cheers to another semester!

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One Year Anniversary Giveaway!!! ***Updated***

On Tuesday, February 16, 2010, I published my first blog post on Coffee, Culture, and Community. Now, almost one year later, I want to celebrate this blog's anniversary with my first giveaway! I am giving away a coffee brewing device called a "Bee House".

Okay so here is the deal. My goal is to have 30 followers by February 16, 2011. This is where YOU come in.

The Rules:

• You have to be a follow through Blogger before you can participate (sorry other subscribers).
• You have to be living in the United States (sorry international followers but I can't afford the shipping).
• The Deadline is February 16, 2011!

What to do:

• Comment on THIS blog post.
• Get your friends to follow my blog via Blogger.
• Make sure they comment on THIS blog post and indicate the name of the person who suggested them to follow my blog. (Ex: My name is Amy Sue and Jimmy John told me to follow this blog.)
• If you have me on your blog roll, add two extra comments.
• I will randomly select a name from the list. The more people you get to join, the more chances you have to win.
• If I reach my goal of 30 followers, I will feature EVERYONE who at least one person to follow me either in my blog roll and/or a special blog post. 

Please feel free to ask any questions via e-mail: bparry08@gmail.com.

Good luck! 

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