Last week I had the opportunity to attend South by Southwest 2018. With big brands, tech startups, and everything in between present, SXSW is an opportunity to immerse in all things technology. From sessions to Lyft rides to random coffee meetings, everyone was excited to talk about our not so distant future.

I love the chance to get out and network with other professionals in my community – especially through awesome organizations like PRSA. This year, I was lucky enough to have their Southeast District Conference here in Raleigh. The pre-conference, lunch keynote and afternoon breakout sessions were packed with tons of media relations tips, tricks and best-practices from experts at SAS, NASA and more! Check out a few key takeaways below.

Did you know that for B2C companies, 89 percent of purchases start with a search query and 65 percent for B2B companies, with the majority of traffic going to the top three positions on the search engine page results?

So, Christian, my son, serves up this little vegan/vegetarian gem via text: Q. How can you tell if someone’s a vegetarian? A. Don’t worry, they’ll let you know. I must admit, after nearly 18 months on a plant-based (vegan) diet, which all began voluntarily after watching the Forks Over Knives documentary, I’ve witnessed firsthand the dark side of meat and plant eaters.

The value of a positive first impression has never lost its importance. Before the worldwide Internet, first impressions were exclusively made by a firm handshake or witty pick-up line. Now, we see it more and more, the increased importance of making a good first impression online.

As a student trying to learn as much as I can about social media, PR and marketing, I embrace every opportunity possible to hear from experienced professionals. The most recent opportunity was at the 11th Annual YouToo Social Media Conference at Kent State University.

To begin, I must confess that this tagline was originally used to convince my college roommate to make irresponsible decisions. This mantra, however, to my amusement, is finding application in our industry today. With marketing constantly evolving, we must be willing to take thoughtful risks with our own brands while simultaneously encouraging our clients to “live on the edge” as well.

Spring Break is here! For some, it means sandy beaches, cold drinks, and nice weather. But for those of you who will live vicariously through social media this year, there is an opportunity to use the time off to get ahead of the curve finding a job or internship.

That’s definitely not how the saying goes, “in my own shoes,” what? Okay, give me a chance to explain. When it comes to formulating a strategy, we should always look for first-hand experiences to aid us in creating our plan.

In 1995, Steve Jobs told Computerworld that he always felt death is the greatest invention of life. "I'm sure that life evolved without death at first and found that without death, life didn't work very well because it didn't make room for the young.