Monday, September 27, 2010

Small time PR


To me, every time the term "PR" comes to mind I think of New York City, a swanky office building in midtown, a celebrity in trouble and a conference room full of business suits trying to put the pieces back together.  Of course this is just one example of how PR works, but what about people in Texas? Or Oregon?  Sure we have nice offices and high powered executives too, but is PR all about the celebrities and the glam?



According to wikipedia (a reliable source, I'm sure) Public Relations is a field concerned with maintaining public image for high-profile people, commercial businesses and organizations, non-profit associations or programs. Now after many PR classes I know this definition to be true, however, I don't think it's as black and white as that.  For example, my sister started her own photography company a few months ago and has been working to get her name out to a targeted audience, the people of Midland.  In a nutshell, PR is the business in which people work their hardest to ensure that their company's good name is not tarnished and is portrayed in the best light possible. Public Relations Practitioners are hired to make sure their client, a company, has a good relationship with their public, employers, and clients.  But for a smaller company with only one employee how does PR work?


When my sister first started her company here is what she did. 
1-came up with a company name, Wynne Elder Photography
2-hired a graphic designer to create a logo for her new company 
3-did free sessions for friends in order to establish relationships and references
4-created a website with tons of information about her services, examples, past clients, calendar for availability, and most importantly a section about herself, which reassures her future clients she is legit and eager to please 
5-used social media to promote her new website, including twitter, facebook, her personal blog, and word of mouth
6-had any of her friends who uploaded her pictures to facebook give her credit underneath the photo so people who saw and liked the picture knew who took it and where to find her
7-created a blog about her sessions, her passion, and everything else any future client needed to know

Wynne did a great job of promoting her company on her own, maintaining a good public image, giving the public a clear understanding of how her business works. Wynne didn't have any PRPs working to promote her new company and she also didn't have a crisis that needed to be worked out.  She was simply using PR 101 to reach out to her targeted audience combined with more modern modes of PR such as social media outlets.  PR isn't always about maintaining crisis situations, it can be about small companies getting started, big companies maintaining a good reputation, and even celebrities dilemmas. PR isn't always black or white.  

www.wynneelderphotography.com


Friday, September 24, 2010

Reggie Bush...A sneak peak

Reggie Bush is one of the most well-known NFL football players out there.  I must admit I probably wouldn't know as much about him if he didn't date the fabulously popular Kim Kardashian, BUT I did a little digging and I'd now consider myself a Reggie Bush know it all.  






Heres what happened:
Reggie Bush went to USC to play football in 2004 and was VERY good at it. 


 So good that professional agents approached him and made an under the table deal with him.  The deal consisted of him promising that he would work with them after college to get drafted, the agents providing Bush and his family with travel accommodations, cars, hundreds of thousands of dollars, and lots of other perks that his teammates were not receiving.  In 2005, he won the Heisman Trophy for most outstanding college football player, but it all came crashing down just a few years later when the news of his illegal deal was made public.  






Here's where it stands from a PR point of view:
The first thing that came to my mind when I heard this story was, "What about USC? Where do they go from here?" Well, USC got a lot of bad press from this incident, being stripped of winnings, suspended for the next two football seasons, and lots of questions from the public to find out if they knew about Bush and the agents.  USC was obviously angry but the way in which they handled the crisis was not very professional and came off as extremely bitter.  Bush on the other hand handled the crisis with poise, dignity, and regret.  A new way for stars to address issues is through Twitter and Bush took full advantage.  He posted encouraging notes to kids who looked up to him, how he was sorry for all the trouble he caused, quotes about remaining strong through hard times, and his ultimate decision to forfeit the trophy.  Social media is one of the most popular ways in todays age to get news out there for all to hear.  Twitter is especially helpful because fans can respond to his posts, chat with each other about what they all think, and express their opinions. Reggie Bush received a great amount of feedback from his fans, and haters, during the crisis and I really do believe Twitter and other social media has a greater impact on the public than the 10 o'clock news, because really, no one my age is watching. 



Wednesday, September 15, 2010

More about the AP style book changes

So, whenever there's a lot of information about a certain topic I prefer reading a list compared to a long, drawn out paragraph.  So here's a list of the most recent changes to the AP style book 2010.


  • The style book refers to the Great Recession, which they consider to be the 2007-2008 economic crisis that was the worst since the early 1900s. 
  • Other terms that they added are: Bluetooth, Blu-ray, bondholder, hard line, Taser and thumbs-up.
  • The social media section in the style book includes over 42 terms relating to Facebook and Twitter. 
  • Includes information on how to use tools on such social media sites. 
  • Changes have been made to certain cities that previously appeared without the countries to which they belonged: Bogota, Columbia; Copenhagen, Denmark; Frankfurt and Hamburg, Germany; Kabul, Afganistan; and Oslo, Norway.
  • Another cool thing about the updated style book is that it's available on iPhones and iPads for fast and convenient usage.
These are all the style changes that I found interesting.  I'm sure there are plenty more but these relate most to my life.  I'm glad they finally decided to include the social media terms as they have become so prevalent in today's youth and society. 




Thursday, September 9, 2010

AP STYLE BOOK

Well, the AP style book is finally becoming a little more up to date with the recent changes.  For one, they are including the definition for POS, which I find a little strange and inappropriate for a school book.  Also, they are changing the word "Web Site" to "website."  I like this change because I always spelled it website and was always surprised when I was corrected on it. My favorite changes are the ones that include social media terms.  They are including terms like "app," blog," "trending," "friend," "unfriend," "wiki," and "metadata."  These changes were necessary because college students in this day & age are so familiar with the terms that it was time for the official style book to also become familiar and recognize them as legit terms.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

OURBLOOK

Ourblook.com is a journalism resource center focused on two specific goals.  It was started 2 years ago and focuses on providing services for students, professors and professionals. 
 
-The first aspect of ourblook.com is geared towards aspiring journalists.  It is created by journalism students specifically for other journalism students.  The resource center is run by four college students who are responsible for the design, concept and interviews.  The idea of the center is to highlight journalism students who are making a name for themselves as well as overcoming obstacles that are taking place in their professional lives.  

-The second aspect of our ourblook.com is geared towards people in the industry and professors.  Ourblook.com showcases interviews with people who are well-known journalists, such as a video interview conducted with mashable.com.   It also includes a list of publications.  It is an easy way for professionals to share information with other professionals, as well as peers. 

Key Mission:  They key mission at the earliest stages of the website was to create an authoritative source online that provides examples of how technology could be shared online.  However, the key mission now focuses on providing journalism and communication to professionals, professors and students as well as providing a center where conversation flows between these three groups of people about the industry and changes that are occurring. 

With ourblook.com students are given the ability to acquire the tools and skills they need to be successful after graduation.  Sandra mentioned that ourblook.com is helping the industry in the long run by preparing current journalism students for the future. 

The way in which they decide which companies or colleges to help is based on whether or not it is a good fit, what their needs are, and if ourblook.com can fulfill their needs. 

One of the most important aspects of ourblook.com is deciding how to create an effective campaign through social media sites.  How can they provide interesting campaigns through twitter or facebook that will catch the attention of college students.  How will they reach their target audience?  

Ourblook.com is a very interesting and innovative way for people interested and involved in journalism to connect and further their knowledge.  

Helpful PR Terms

The second day of media programming, our professor gave us some terms that we all need to know.  I had heard about some of the terms, such as Twitter; however, I had never heard of hashtag, twitter party, or a blook.  

Twitter-twitter is a social networking & microblogging site that is accessible to anyone and everyone.  I joined the twitter world last year and have to admit I was skeptical at first, but it has proved itself to be a good way to communicate with old friends, find out what's going on in the news, celebrity gossip (my vice!) and what your friends are up to.  Twitter has become an important outlet for PR firms, as well as countless other businesses hoping to get their name and information into the cyber world. 

Hashtag-a hash tag is the # sign placed before a topic.  For example, lots of users on twitter post topics they are interested in or a funny thing that happened to them that day.  By placing a number sign before it, it becomes a trending topic.  It is also a way to track trending topics.  Sadly, one of the most popular trending topics on twitter these days is Justin Bieber. 

Twitter Party-a twitter party is a fast and fun virtual party.  They usually take place during the evening for 1-2 hours.  It is a way for people to connect in a group online.  

Blook-a blook is a combination of a book and a blog.  Ourblook is an example of this new phenomenon.  Ourblook is an innovative way to reach out to journalism students, professors, and professionals in the PR/Journalism world.  It provides its users with useful information, as well as showcase fellow journalists work.  It is a community of journalists. 

Google Box-a google box is another way for a group of people to communicate through the internet.  To access a google box everyone uses the same e-mail and password to log on.  Once logged on, everyone can communicate with each other, search, research topics, and still be "together."  

Public Relations-PR is the process of creating an understanding for, or goodwill towards, a company, person or a product.  Some characteristics of PR: the importance of people, trust, respect of employees, problem-solving, implementing progressive policies, and initiatives. PR is focused mainly on the company for which they are working for and the company in which is their client.  It is uncontrolled.  PR firms are known to have strong relationships within their firms as well as with other companies in the industry.  Public Relations is other focused on building strong bond with the community so that they can give back frequently.  

Race Model-
R-research
A-action planning
C-communications
E-evaluation