This past week was probably one of my favorite ones so far. We started off strong karaoke on Monday night after a day off from classes to recognize Memorial Day in the United States. A lot of the crew was out on a horseback riding excursion, so karaoke was a smaller crew that night; granted our French friends kept the party alive! On Tuesday, we begun classes for the week by discussing Sprinklr research for social media analytics class, and differences in public relations regarding culture in international public relations class.
Tuesday afternoon, we boarded the bus and headed to Rhino Safari which was an excursion where we got in groups of two and drove these boats called rhinos which basically look like a cross between a dingy and a jet ski; it was exhilarating! We began in Simpson Bay, and rode our rhinos up past Marigot, to Creole Rock. When we got there, we grabbed some snorkel gear and jumped in the water. The snorkeling was a great time to snap some awesome underwater photos, although there was not much to see underwater besides seagrass and a couple of fish here and there.
From a public relations standpoint, I was disappointed that the website was professionally made, and offered amazing details of the snorkeling (colorful fish, stunning coral reefs, etc.), and then when we got there, it was quite a letdown. One major thing we have learned in the APR program at UA is not falsely advertising a program because it will cause major problems down the road. I wouldn’t say the company necessarily falsely advertised, but they did exaggerate greatly.
After we finished with the rhino safari, we headed back to the resort and called it a day. A few of us went up to Jordan Village to grab a bite to eat, where I met the cutest puppy I have ever met in my life; her name was Nala which reminded me of my dog because my dog is named Naya. I would have regretted it if I didn’t ask her owner if I could pet Nala, and she graciously agreed to let me pet and hold Nala; it is safe to say that was a core memory for me.
On Wednesday, we had classes again where we continued our studies on Sprinklr and our discussion about public relations and PR plans internationally. That was a last day of lecture before our big catamaran trip on Thursday which was all day long. We boarded the catamaran and sailed around the island, and then stopped for some more snorkeling at Creole Rock, and then lunch at Grand Case. When we made our next stop to swim, I stayed on board to chat with the captain. He is originally from Leicester, England, which was interesting because I am originally from England too. I asked a lot about what brought him to St. Martin, and how he got to be a captain. I thought it was a little unfortunate to notice that he was not as interested in the conversation as I was. It makes me wonder if that is how tourists on the island feel when they go on the Tango catamaran cruises as well because for public relations/reputation purposes, it was not a good look for him or the company, especially when word of mouth advertising is crucial to tourism on the island.
Overall, the week was great, and it flew by. I really look forward to what this upcoming week has in store for us, being our last week on the island. I am excited to continue learning about Sprinklr and how it will help us in our future careers, as well as practicing our public relations plans with all of these hands-on experiences we have been lucky enough to have thus far!
- Cat Gibbs
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