The PRSSA (Public Relations Student Society of America) at Georgia Southern University asked me to join them for tonight’s meeting and share with them one of my favorite subjects: Twitter! How could I say no?
To see my notes on the slides, you can download the presentation or view it at SlideShare.
Are you a public relations student (or recent grad) just getting started using Twitter? It’s usually best to test the waters a bit before you dive in. Try following some (or all) of these people or organizations in my Twitter Starter Pack for PR Students. They all have something in common: they tweet useful or interesting information for people involved in public relations. Read their tweets for a few days before you start tweeting yourself.
You may also want to read these two blog posts I’ve written about Twitter: Choosing Whom to Follow on Twitter: My Strategy and A Twitter Lexicon. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t recommend Prof. Sam Bradley’s College Student’s Guide: Twitter 101.
Questions?
(PS: Suggestions for other good people for PR students to follow? Please let me know with a comment to this post.)
If you are requesting an override for one of Prof. Barbara Nixon’s courses, please complete and submit this form AND send an e-mail letting her know that you’ve completed a form. (Note: If the form doesn’t automatically load within the body of this blog post, you can access it here instead.)
In the spring, I’ll be teaching an online course for Georgia Southern called Social Media for PR. One of the things I plan to incorporate into the course is video/audio from respected leaders in PR on the topic of social media — like what the students might experience if they went to a conference. There are many, many videos (and audio recordings) of conference speakers online now, but where to start?
Mitch Joel created something at his blog Six Pixels of Separation called a Pixelated Conference, where he embedded video clips from many different conferences. And that got me thinking . . .
If you were going to create a Pixelated Conference on Social Media for PR students, what would you include? Please offer your suggestions here, and I’ll share a link to what I create for my students when I get it ready.
Some suggestions I’ve heard so far:
Thanks in advance for your thoughts!
[Photo Credit: http://ugaconnect2009.wordpress.com/2009/09/19/pr-is-not-social-media-and-more-words-to-tweet-by-from-lauren-fernandez/]
In today’s PRCA 4330 (PR Research) class, the instructor PC didn’t seem to have the correct version of Flash to show this video. It’s a fascinating talk where “Oxford mathematician Peter Donnelly reveals the common mistakes humans make in interpreting statistics — and the devastating impact these errors can have on the outcome of criminal trials.”
“Dan Saffer at the sixth annual IIT Design Research Conference, held September 21-22, 2007 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, in Chicago. ABSTRACT: How to Lie with Design Research: Same Data, Different Findings “There are three types of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics.” Thus said Mark Twain. Should we add “Research Findings” to the list? Experience shows that, especially with qualitative research like the type designers often do, two researchers can look at the same set of data and draw dramatically different findings from them. How do we deal with this? If the findings are in conflict, who is correct? Is there a way to make our findings more objective, or is the nature of qualitative research such that subjectivity (what some might call lying) is always necessary?”
Statistics can scare even the bravest PRCA 4330 student . . . so let’s look on the lighter side. Using your best search skills, find one or more funny cartoons (or YouTube videos) on the topic of statistics or math.
Here’s one of my favorites, from the PhD (Piled Higher & Deeper) comic strip:
Reply with a comment to this post, giving a link to the cartoon or video — or if you’d prefer, a link to your own blog, where you’ve embedded the funny item. We’ll share the best ones in class on Wednesday afternoon.
UPDATE @ end of this post
Did you see that Pepsi Co. has released an iPhone app for its Amp energy drink? It’s called … wait for it … Amp Up Before You Score. (I intentionally did not link to the app, as I don’t want to drive traffic its way.)
In theory, having an app (not this one) for your brand could be smart, maybe even cool. But when you see what the app does, you may change your mind.
InventorSpot describes the offensive app in this way:
Here’s how it works:
1. Identify Her Type: Got your eye on a girl, and aren’t sure how to get started? Pick out her profile, flip the card, and study up quick with a cheatsheet on the stuff she’s into, with lists, links and some surefire opening lines. (Surefire to what, we won’t say.)
2. Keep a List: Get lucky? Add her to your Brag List. You can include a name, date and whatever details you remember.
3. Brag: You got it? Flaunt it. Keep your buddies in the loop on email, Facebook or Twitter. Here’s who you get:
Artist Aspiring Actress Athlete Bookworm Businesswoman Celebrity Cougar Dancer Foreign Exchange Student Goth Girl Indie Rock Girl Married Military Girl Nerd Out-Of-Your-League Girl Political Girl Princess Punk Rock Girl Rebound Girl Sorority Girl Treehugger Trouble Twins Women’s Studies Major
If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, take a look at the app. And see what people are saying about “Amp Up Before You Score.” Make up your own mind about the app. But for me, I am disappointed in PepsiCo. I expected better from a company like this.
Put in Twitter terminology, it’s a major #PepsiFail.
[Hat tip to Liz Pullen for calling my attention to this iPhone app.]
Just a few moments ago, the Twitter account for AMP (@AMPwhatsnext) posted an apology for the “Amp Up Before You Score” app. As far as 140-character apologies go, it’s a good one. I’ve already sent AMP my feedback.
Going to networking events, or even meeting someone for the first time, can feel awkward for even the most socially adept people. Getting the conversation started is often the most challenging part. Starting a conversation by referring to the weather was lame 20 years ago, and it’s still lame today (unless you’re meeting Lee Haywood, meteorologist for WSAV in Savannah, then it’s kinda okay).
Chris Brogan, in his September 29 Chris Brogan Behind the Scenes e-mail newsletter, shared five ideas for conversation starters.
- “So, what are you into when you’re not hanging out at social events like this?” I use a variation on this often. It lets the person talk about themselves without asking the dreaded, “What do you do?” (I loathe that question. My answer? “I type.”)
- “Do you ever wonder what Adam West is doing right now? Me neither.” A non sequitur accomplishes a few things. It sets a level of the other person’s sense of humor, their pop culture knowledge, and many other things. Just replace “Adam West” with whatever fringe character you want to use to identify what the person might share in common with you.
- “I’m always unsure what to say at events like this, so I thought I’d start with ‘hi.'” You can’t get much simpler than this. It lets the other person know you feel just a hair awkward, but it’s straightforward and direct, and lets them know you’re hoping to say a few things. Follow this up with, “I’d love to know more about what you’re into.”
- “You look like the kind of person who has a different opinion than the mainstream. What’s your take on this so far?” This sets yourself up for talking with the kinds of people who always offer the biggest value to your perspective.
- “What were you doing three years ago?” This one sets a person back a moment. They tend to either answer with a wistful smile or a guarded “who wants to know?” You learn something from this exchange, too.
If you find it challenging to start a conversation, perhaps one of Chris’ ideas will work for you. For me, I’d probably adapt #2 to say “Do you ever wonder what Ron Palillo is up to these days?” (Horshack was my favorite character on http://www.hulu.com/watch/20247/welcome-back-kotter-horshack-and-madame-x.)
Do you have other conversation starters that seem to work well for you at networking events? I’d love to hear them.
(PS: Subscribe to Chris’ newsletter. I bet you’ll be glad you did.)
