In our Corporate PR class at Southeastern University, we’ll all blog about the same general topic each week during the semester. Your TOWs of 300 words or longer are due (should be posted on your own blog) by Saturday at midnight at the end of each week.

Every time you refer to a website or another blog, be sure to hyperlink to the post. And consider inserting graphics or videos to add visual interest for your readers.

WEEK ONE

• Describe which types of social media you currently participate in (such as blogging, podcasting, social networking, etc.), which platforms you use, and why. [NOTE: Since you are creating your blog after after Week One, you will go back and add this post in.]

WEEK TWO

• Why are comments such an integral part of blogs? What advice would you offer on writing effective blog comments? [NOTE: Since you are creating your blog after after Week Two, you will go back and add this post in.]

WEEK THREE

• Which Fortune 500 or Inc. 500 company have you chosen for your Final Project for this class? Why? Be sure to provide hyperlinks to the company’s website, blog, and other places it can be found online in your post.

WEEK FOUR

• “Social Media: Friend or Foe?” :: Listen to Shel Holtz, Mark Ragan and others discuss “concerns and objections around the adoption of social media communication channels.” Discuss the key objections a CEO might have to social media and how these objections might be overcome, based on what you learn in the podcast.

WEEK FIVE

• One Week of Twitter [Note: You will do the One Week of Twitter assignment during Week Four, and then write about it before the end of Week Five.]

WEEK SIX

• Provide a recap of your Interview with a Corporate Public Relations practitioner.

WEEK SEVEN

• Read at least a dozen posts at a public relations blog. Briefly review the blog and explain how public relations students or new practitioners can benefit from reading blogs. (Remember to link to the blog.)

WEEK EIGHT

• Listen to at least two hours of PR/marketing podcasts (such as For Immediate Release, Inside PR, The Creative Career, Coming Up PR, Trafcom Newsor Marketing Over Coffee). Briefly summarize what you heard. Discuss how listening to PR podcasts can benefit PR students or new PR practitioners. Be sure to include a hyperlink to the podcast’s website/blog.  (Optional: Also, write a short review of the podcast at iTunes.)

WEEK NINE

• Crisis Communication (Specific topic TBA)

WEEK TEN

• Corporate Responsibility (Specific topic TBA)

WEEK ELEVEN

• Public relations practitioners should become accomplished public speakers. Create a Top Ten list of presentation skills tips. You should include at least a few tips that are specific to using PowerPoint or other types of slide shows.

WEEK 12

• In WordPress, go into your Dashboard and take a look at your stats. What kinds of things does the Site Stats page tell you? How would PR practitioners benefit for monitoring their own or their company’s blog?

WEEK 13

• This week’s topic was inspired by Adam Vincenzini’s Be My Guest month: post something by a guest blogger. Connect with another blogger (it can, but doesn’t have to, be someone in your class) and exchange blog posts for the week. (You don’t have to write something new . . . share your favorite post you’ve written this semester.) In your own blog, make it really clear that the post is written by another person, and link to your guest’s blog.

WEEK 14

• [Optional] Embed a YouTube video into your blog and explain why you chose this specific video.

WEEK 15

• What are the top 10 things you learned about corporate public relations this semester? (Be sure to provide some commentary about each item on your list.) NOTE: This post is due before midnight on Thursday, rather than Saturday.