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PRCA 3339 :: Photography Course for Friday

Instead of physically coming to PRCA 3339 on Friday, October 24th, please take the NewsU online course titled “Language of the Image.” You will need to register with NewsU — free — before you can take the couse. We will discuss some of the key points Below is NewsU’s description of the course: 

What will I learn? This module will explore the elements that transform a photograph into an image that tells a story. Through interactive exercises you will learn about quality of light, juxtaposition, point of entry, mood, emotion and a sense of place. At the end of the course, you will be able to communicate better, using visual language, with your newsroom colleagues, whether they are photographers, reporters or editors. And you can share with others who have taken the course how your new visual vocabulary will help you in the newsroom.

How long will it take? This self-directed module takes about one to two hours to complete. You can access the course on your own schedule, starting and stopping at your convenience. And you can come back anytime once you enroll.

About the instructor: John Davidson is a partner in Creative Eye Consulting, specializing in visual therapy for the newsroom. Before leaving in January of 2003, Davidson was Assistant Managing Editor/Photography and Senior Editor/Visuals at The Dallas Morning News. He has worked at five other newspapers as a photographer and photo editor.

Note: This course requires the Flash plug-in to view.

Cost: This course is currently available at no cost to registered users of News University.

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PRCA 3339 :: Blogs

For my GSU PRCA 3339 (PR Publications) Students:

Please provide your blog URL as a comment to this post. Be sure to provide the whole address, including the “http://”

Thanks!

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Jumpstart on Spring Classes: Textbooks

If you’re looking to get a jumpstart on my classes at Georgia Southern University this spring, here are the books that I will be using. I’ve linked to many of them at Amazon.com, but of course you can purchase them from anywhere you like. I recommend you try the Facebook Marketplace first, so you can get a good deal AND help a fellow student.

For All of My Classes

A USB drive, at least 1G

Intro to Public Relations (PRCA 2330)

Wilcox, D.L., & Cameron, G.T. (2009). Public relations: Strategies and tactics (9th Ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Recommended but not required: Li, C., & Bernoff, J. (2008). Groundswell: Winning in a world transformed by social technologies. Boston, MA: Forrester Research, Inc.

Public Relations Publications (PRCA 3339)

Morton, L. P. (2006). Strategic publications: Designing for target publics. Greenwood, AR: Best Books Plus.

Recommended but not required: Botello, C., & Reding, E. E. (2007). Design collection revealed: Adobe InDesign CS3, Photoshop CS3 & Illustrator CS3. Clifton Park, NY: Delmar Cengage Learning.

 

Photo Credit: bookshelf, originally uploaded to Flickr by chotda

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PRCA 3331 Article Review

Review an article on public relations that appears in a peer-reviewed journal. Your review is due by midnight on Thursday, October 23. Recommended journals include (but aren’t limited to):

Your 500-word minimum review could take the following form:

  • What did you learn from reading the article?
  • What surprised you in the article?
  • What do you want to know more about, now that you’ve read the article?
  • How is the information in the article relevant to the corporation you’ve chosen for your final project?

It is acceptable to use first person for this review. However, even though you are writing a blog post, be sure to cite your source–in text as well as in your reference section–in proper APA format. (Using Citation Machine might be helpful.) This assignment is worth 100 of your 1000 points in PRCA 3331.

Questions? You know where to find me . . .

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/santos/1704875109/

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The Groundswell Inside

Here’s an activity we’ll be doing in my Corporate PR class this week. Our focus this week is Chapter 11 (The Groundswell Inside Your Company) of Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies.

Directions: Think about an organization you’re currently a member of. It could be a campus group or even your current employer. How does or can your organization use the groundswell inside, with its employees or members?

Using The Groundswell Inside form, on your own, fill out your name, the organization, and the current state. Then in groups, brainstorm for future ways the organization could use the groundswell inside for each organization in the group. 

Case Study on Avenue A Razorfish (to help students start their brainstorming)

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Social Media for Up and Coming PR Practitioners

The Georgia Southern University PRSSA invited me to give a presentation on social media this evening.  And here’s a link to the websites, blogs, etc., that I’m discussing: 

http://delicious.com/barbaranixon/GSU_PRSSA_links

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: social media)
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Create Your Own Social Media Policy

How do you use social media?

Melanie McBride, a Toronto based writer-aggregator of education, technology, media and culture, wrote:

“Despite the popularity and widespread adoption of social tools, there’s little agreement when it comes to matters of our individual terms of use. Without a collective social contract for social media, many of us are left wondering: How do I define my own social policy? Until now, corporate social media developers are defining those policies for us. Some of us feel it’s time we defined social media according to our our own terms.

McBride posted a template, and encouraged her readers to “[Steal This] Personal Social Media Policy.” Since she has this licensed under Creative Commons, I’m sharing it with you here.

I challenge all users of social media, especially PR students, to adapt this template and create their own social media policies.

MY SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY

[a work in progress]

1. Connecting: Introduce yourself and tell me why you want to connect

[Would you like an introduction from new follows? Would you like them to answer a particular question about their interest in connecting? Define it here]

2. Follow, add, friend: [your subhead here]

[Your polices around friending, following and adding. For example, if people follow/friend you do you automatically reciprocate? Or do you prefer to evaluate the value of a contact over time? State it here, loud and clear]

3. Privacy, boundaries and safety: [your subhead here]

[Define your privacy/boundaries for friends, coworkers and family. Everybody has different ideas about what’s “too much information.” Friends, family and business associates have different ideas about who you are. While you may not be able to control what’s said about you, you can certainly ask your network to be mindful of your limits]

4. Signal to noise: [your subhead here]

[Do you have any strong feelings about the kind of social media experience you seek (or don’t)? For example, do you have a problem with people using RSS in their Twitter? Do you get annoyed by multiple status updates? Make that clear here (so people aren’t surprised when you unfollow them – or vice versa)]

5. Personal data and sharing: [your subhead here]

[What’s all this sharing about? (for you) Are you looking to connect more deeply according to shared interests, ideologies, professional goals?]

6. My networking needs and uses: [subhead here]

[How is your use of Facebook different from your use of Linkedin different from your use of Twitter different from your use of MySpace? What are your specific networking purposes or goals for each?]

7. Your criteria here: [subhead here]

[your policy, feelings, arguments here]

8. Your criteria here: [subhead here]

[your policy, feelings, arguments here]


Photo Credit: The Conversation Prism, originally uploaded to Flickr by b_d_solis
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PRCA 3331 Final Project

For your final project in our PRCA 3331 Corporate PR class, you will analyze a Fortune 500 or Inc. 500 company from a public relations perspective. Your presentation on your company is due the week of November 17. The written portion project is due by midnight on December 2. The grading rubric will be available by October 13 15. Be sure to review the grading rubric.

This project is worth a total of 300 points of the 1000 available in PRCA 3331. The blog/paper portion is worth 250, and the class presentation is worth 50.

You will have the option of creating the written portion of the project as a traditional term paper or as a series of blog posts. Let me know your decision in WebCT Vista no later than October 20.

If you choose to do this project as a traditional term paper:

  • Use APA style for formatting and source citations
  • Submit your paper in WebCT Vista

If you choose to do this project as a series of blog posts:

  • Create one page (not post, but page) on your blog with hyperlinks to all the posts. Submit the URL of your page in WebCT Vista
  • Cite your sources within the posts, and also provide hyperlinks to the original source if it’s available on the web
  • Use tags on your posts

Required elements:

  • An overview of the company and what it does
  • A brief history or timeline of the company
  • Based on Grunig & Hunt’s models of PR, which model is the company using?
  • Describe the publics, including customers, of the company (or one of its subsidiaries)
  • Top challenges facing the company (including the current financial market)
  • Awards and honors the company has garnered in the past 10 years & how the company is using the awards/honors for promotion
  • An analysis of how the company uses and benefits from (or could benefit from) the groundswell
  • A critique of the company’s online newsroom
  • Career opportunities in PR, corporate communication, marketing, etc., within the company
  • Based on your research of this company, are you now MORE or LESS likely to want to work for the company? Why? Provide at least two paragraphs of a rationale for your decision.

Choose two from the following:

  • For at least one news release, compare how the news release was written to how the story appeared when it was published in the media
  • One crisis the company has faced and how it dealt with it
  • Describe how the company is involved in its communities
  • Interview (phone or e-mail) a public relations professional within the company
  • Create your resume and cover letter as though you are applying for an entry-level PR position within the company
  • Another section of your choice, as long as you clear it with me by November 1

Important Dates

  • October 20: Let me know your decision of whether you’ll do a traditional term paper or a series of blog posts.
  • November 1: Last date to pitch an idea for a section in your paper to me
  • November 17 & 19: Presentations in class
  • December 2: Written portion of final project due in WebCT Vista by midnight (if you’re doing the paper) or posted on your blog by midnight

Questions? You know where to find me . . .

Photo Credit: “Stiff Neck Guaranteed” uploaded to Flickr on January 24, 2007 by rpeschetz

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Blog Assignment for PRCA 3331 (Corporate PR Class)

As you saw in your Corporate Public Relations Syllabus and we’ve discussed in class, part of your grade in PRCA 3331 will come from your blog. After setting up your blog, let me know your blog address as a response to a discussion board question in our Facebook group for PRCA 3331. Then, write four blog posts, which are worth 50 points each.

Blog posts can be written informally and in the first person; that is, they don’t need to sound like a term paper. However, there’s still an expectation for proper grammar, spelling and capitalization. If you have questions about how informal is “too informal,” please let me know.

Blog Post #1

Blog Post #2 (Option A)

Blog Post #2 (Option B)

Blog Post #3

Blog Post #4 (NOTE: Details updated 12-1-09)

Questions? You know where to find me . . .

Photo credit: “Typewriter Letters,” uploaded to Flickr on July 8, 2006 by Laineys Repertoire