TOW week 9: Simple tips for PR students new to blogging

Blogging is confusing if you’ve never done it before. Sticking to guidelines is also challenging if you don’t understand where to find directions and information. To make thing a little easier on PR students new to blogging I’ve come up with a top 10 list of tips to help things along.

1. Check out information on GA View before class begins. If you don’t, you could miss a quiz or first assignment.

2. Print out blogging guidelines so that you don’t have to navigate through the instruction blog every time.

3. Save some time: print out due dates of chapter questions, quizzes, and TOW topics.

4. If you haven’t ever used WordPress, look at your classmate’s blogs to get an idea of the layout and blog format. You shouldn’t use their creativity and ideas to influence your blog.

5. Actually watch videos and listen to podcasts ahead of time. That way you won’t have to procrastinate and write a lame blog.

6. Use the guidelines to make sure your blog meets the checkpoint standards. That way you can go back and fix whatever is lagging before it is graded.

7. Always review grading forms after you get your grades just to make sure everything is correct.

8. Start assignments ahead of time (especially the interview assignment). Just in case you need help, something goes wrong, of if you can’t get a hold of the interviewee.

9. Don’t be afraid to contact other students and the teacher for help. It is better to seek help from others rather than getting a mediocre grade.

10. Check your e-mail for notifications about quiz re-openings, due date push backs, and assignment reminders. These actually help if you have other classes and travel during the summer,

I’ve taken intro to PR in a classroom and didn’t do as well as I have in this online class. However, the online class is a little trickier to keep up with sometimes. Hopefully these tips can help somebody out!

Happy blogging everyone!

PR Connections 4: “Learn the signs” A PR campaign that raises awareness about autism

I got a summer job with Bulloch County Parks & Recreation. What I do specifically, is work with kids that need special attention: mostly kids with autism. The “Learn the signs” campaign aims at increasing awareness. Have you ever seen an out of control kid at the mall, a restaurant, or grocery store? In a lot of cases, people that aren’t aware of autism will pin the behavior on bad parenting but the kid’s outbursts might be signs.

Before I got the job, I had no idea about the symptoms or statistics until I started job training. It is good to know the signs and symptoms of autism because some parents are unaware that their kids may be struggling with a disorder. By working with these kids in the local area, I can now recognize the difference between autism and behavior problems.

It’s great that there is a PR campaign focusing on raising awareness because they also raise money for research and spreading the message. Autism speaks uses public events such as concerts and fundraiser walks. They also use blogs, press releases, and  public service announcements to spread the message. They even use celebrity endorsements, which has proven to be very successful.

To raise awareness I will list a few facts about autism-

- 1 in 500 have it
-Males are 4 times more likely to have it
- Problems developing communication and interactive skills
- Delays in learning how to speak
- Need for a routine

Click here to view the article

Statistics & Symptoms

TOW week 8: Writing a news release? Follow these 10 simple tips

Public relations practitioners often use news releases to get their clients into the news. Provide 10 tips for writing an effective news release. (Be sure to link to at least two sources for your information.)

1. Put the most important information first.

2. Use a good photo or logo.

3. Be descriptive but don’t use hype words.

4. Edit your work.

5. Follow standard format.

6.  Include information about the business or organization.

7. Use the correct style of writing. The standard is AP.

8. Try to relate the release to a trend.

9. Tell how a product or company will affect the industry.

10. Make it easy for general audiences to relate to.

All Good Music Festival 2010

Okay so I was a little bummed out by the fact that I didn’t make it to Wakarusa but I’m making up for it! Next weekend, I’ll be going to All Good. Some musicians headlining the festival are Further (AKA the Grateful Dead minus Jerry Garcia), Widespread Panic, Umphrey’s McGee, Bassnectar, Rebelution and many many more. The tickets were $150.00 each but you definitely get your money’s worth! Widespread Panic tickets alone usually cost around $30 each and Furthur tickets cost even more. This festival takes place in Masontown, WV -a town with a police force that has nothing but contempt for those that come each year.

This is gonna be a basic music festival- 3 days of music, camping, and and vendors. The thing that makes this festival stand out more than any other is the fact that there will be NO OVERLAPPING SETS. That’s right people, I won’t have to miss the tail end of a good show just to watch the beginning of another.

From Statesboro to Masontown, it will take about 10 hours to get there by car. If we get a few people to carpool we can save more money on gas and have more to spend on things like posters and tee shirts. The vendors at music festivals are all willing to haggle and carry different items. Some things that I’ve typically seen in the past include: tapestries, bongos, glass pipes, hula- hoops, glow toys, clothes, specialty camping supplies, herbs, spices, incense, posters… the things people sell these days! I love the vendors because I see things for sale that I could never find anywhere else. It also adds to the unique experience of a festival.

I’m so excited… hopefully I can remember to keep up with my camera so that I can post pictures of what I saw.

TOW week 7: Hey everybody, these podcast thingees aren’t too shabby

I chose to listen to the marketing podcasts the creative career and marketing over coffee. On creative career, I listened to “The Nine Personality Types- Differing Personalities at Work.” I listened to  the episodes “Offensive Americans” and “iPads and Forklifts” on marketing over coffee.

I listened to creative career’s podcast directly on the website.  The episode I listened to discussed a book about using personality types to find a career. I liked it because it would be interesting if we really could use personality traits to help people figure out where they would like to be at and what they should do.

But then again, when different personalities use similar ideas for a product or a service, healthy competition drives the market. If people with similar personalities dominated a particular portion of the work force, is it possible that innovation could be limited? If  the idea that “certain personalities excel  in certain fields of work” can be proved scientifically, I just might buy the book. What type of personality is good for the PR world?

Marketing over coffee, in my opinion, was more informative. I liked listening to the first few minutes of an episode so much that I added the podcast for free on iTunes. After I added it on iTunes I was able to retrieve all the episodes and pause and pick up where I left off just in case I needed to get up. They discussed different methods of advertising, new developments by google, foreign domain names , and applications. This podcast benefits students and practitioners because it keeps everyone updated about different aspects of marketing and the tools used to carry out projects.  They answered questions regarding marketing methods and progress in different businesses.

When they update listeners about progress in business they also explore the different methods companies use to reach objectives. Listeners can learn a thing or two just by listening to podcasts. Podcasts keep listeners up to date with information about business trends and reviews in social media. I liked listening to the podcasts because I actually learned a few things about businesses and the capabilities of the newest gadgets out there. I’ve only listened to music related podcasts a few times but I would definitely listen to the marketing podcast again.

PR Connections 3: BP & PR

Click here to see the video

The oil spill that started about 2 months ago has been an absolute disaster. Since then oil has started to destroy beaches in the US starting with the state of Alabama. In my opinion, Tony Hayward, the CEO of BP, and his PR specialists (if he has any) are handling the situation poorly. He made an offensive comment saying, “There’s no one who wants this thing over more than I do, I’d like my life back.” The people living in the Gulf of Mexico will never get their lives back.

The oil will destroy the beaches of those that have worked their lives just to be near the ocean, those that have grown up there, and those that have traveled there every summer with family and friends. The oil will also kill mass amounts of wildlife. I’ve been following the oil spill since day 1 and the media has shown clips of oil covered pelicans but lets not forget about the fish, dolphins, sharks, sea turtles, sting rays, coral reefs… I could go on and on.

I’m from the coast too, so I understand. I literally almost want to cry when I think about oil reaching the coast and I’m not even from the gulf, I’m from Charleston, SC. I wonder if the oil spill will disrupt anything on the east coast.

I do not think there is ANYTHING BP can do to save their public image. It has been 2 months and unless they find a solution to the disaster their image will continue to sharply decline. It is safe to assume that BP does not have enough money to pay back everyone that is negatively affected by the spill while funding programs to find a solution. If Hayward resigns the only people that will be satisfied are people that don’t understand and politicians. For those living on the coast, I doubt anything will help.

TOW week 5: What’s the deal with Twitter?

One Week of Twitter (complete your One Week of Twitter assignment during Week Four, then write about it during Week Five).

I first started using Twitter last year for a class I had previously. This is me! I wasn’t impressed with Twitter because NONE of my personal friends or any of my family had one (and still don’t). I used to never check my account. It took me a while to think of who to be friends with and twitter was pretty uninteresting to me until I found out that a lot of my favorite surfers, music festivals, and TV shows had accounts. One of my favorite surfers posted a link to a contest that was offered ONLY to Twitter users. His sponsors were giving away free surfboards to the fans with pictures of  their boards and their best surf stories. When keeping up with my favorite surfers, it’s easier to look at my Twitter homepage and see updates of locations, surf competitions, and their results. The TV show Tosh.O on Comedy Central uses Twitter comments as a main part of the show.

This is gonna sound typical, but Twitter is important because it keeps people connected. Major news stations receive video, opinions, and updates from viewers. News stations can get updates in isolated areas quicker from everyday citizens like you and me. Twitter is here to stay. Now that I’m following almost 50 people and have figured out the site more, I check it more often.  I’m not the biggest fan of updating account more than 3 times a day because I’m just so busy doing other things like school, work, and chillin’ with my friends. It probably also, has something to do with the fact that I don’t have a super crazy phone with applications and a touch screen… YET.

Reading Notes ch 15

SMT is short for satellite media tour. Generally, it consists of an interview in which the interviewer and subject are in separate locations. For a successful SMT have a visually appealing background, have a credible spokesperson, and work with the stations to ensure the interview will go smoothly.

A public service announcement is an unpaid announcement that promotes a government program or agencies that promote public interests. Public service announcements differ from standard radio news releases in that radio stations like to have similar announcements but at different lengths.

FACTS:

A podcast is a digital recording of a radio broadcast or similar program.

Radio and TV are to be considered major tools in reaching the public; TV alone reaches 70 percent of adults.

VNR’s are found in the package that they come in (put together like a kit). It comes with a script, media contacts, sound bites, and a video source.

A B-roll is a video only without narration, giving a TV station maximum fallibility to add their own narration or use just a portion of the video as part of a news segment.

Reading Notes ch 11

FACTS:

The baby boomer generation is the age group born between 1946 & 1964.This generation is characterized by the fact that they were born after WWII.

Senior audiences are important in the US because they  follow politics closer than any other age group and there fore vote in greater numbers. Seniors also like to travel and watch TV because of retirement.

When developing a communications campaign for multicultural audiences, developers should have an understanding of customs and values of different groups and use primary language of the audiences.

Women are important audiences for marketing because they have a huge share of customer influence; women keep in touch with at least 75 other people and recommend products to each other.

TV is the best way to reach multicultural audiences because things are broadcast around the world; even some cultural channels are offered.

TV is important to the disabled because the blind can hear the news and the handicapped rely on television to get news and information.

Public Relations Strategies and Tactics- all information provided can be found in the book

Reading Notes ch 10

5 Steps in the issues management process?

1. Predict problem
2. Anticipate threats
3. Minimize surprises
4. Resolve issues
5. Prevent crises

Some strategies when responding to a crises:

1. Denial-an organization denies there is even a crises at all
2. A full apology-when an organization takes responsibility and asks the public for forgiveness

FACTS:

Threat appraisal is when an organization or company is faced with a threat and a PR specialist manages the damage.

Risk communication informs the public of risks regarding food and environmental contamination or abuse.

Public Relations Strategies and Tactics- all information provided can be found in the book