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Blogging Guidelines :: Social Media for PR Classes

Image Credit: "Rojo," by Kaleenxian

For my Social Media for PR Classes (COMM 4633 & SPC 4350):

Since our course is called Social Media for PR, it’s only natural that writing and maintaining your own blog is a vital part of the course; your blog will be 30% of your grade in the class. You will add content to your blog weekly throughout the semester. Feel free to continue to use an existing blog of yours, unless you feel compelled to start fresh with a new blog for this course.

To make it easier for your readers to find what they are seeking at your blog, it’s important to  use Categories. Please add a category for each type (listed below), and make sure each post is categorized appropriately. Each post for this class must have the category of “COMM 4633” or “SPC 4350” along with at least one additional category.

1. TOW: Topic of the Week – Each week this semester, we will have a specific topic that all students will blog about. You should have at least 13 of these before the end of the semester. At times, you will watch a video, listen to a podcast, or read a specific blog post, and provide your thoughtful reactions. These posts must be a minimum of 300 words. We’ll keep our running list of TOWs for your Social Media for PR class here at my blog.

2. PR Connections – Provide commentary, reflections and opinions about PR issues/examples that were not addressed in class. These can be responses to other PR blogs you read, links to interesting posts or articles, embedded YouTube videos, etc. Some students like to choose a theme (such as entertainment or sports PR) and have each PR Connection be related to the theme. Though these don’t have a minimum word length, you will need to adequately discuss your subject in the post. You should write at least 10 of these during the semester.

3. Blog comments – whenever you comment on someone’s PR blog (whether it’s a PR professional or a PR student), add the comment to ONE post that you update throughout the semester so I can assess your online participation. Do this only for PR-related blogs. You should have a minimum of 10 comments by your Blog Checkpoint #2 and at least 25 (total) before the end of the semester. See Tracking Your Blog Comments for Nixon’s Classes for more information.

You may add other categories and sub-categories of your choice. Please keep in mind that when I evaluate your blog I will pay special attention to the categories listed above, but I will not ignore other posts. I will perform a holistic evaluation of your blog, looking for:

  • professionalism: Clear, correct, thoughtful writing
  • frequency: Sufficient posts in categories 1-3, posted throughout the semester. There will be at least four blog checkpoints during the semester, including a graded checkpoint at near mid-semester. (See your syllabus for the specific Blog Checkpoint dates.)
  • linking: Identify other PR blogs (use PR Open Mic or my blogroll in my Diigo bookmarks as starting points) and link to them. Respond to others’ posts. Become a part of the blogosphere. Blogging should not be lonely.
  • readability: brief & concise writing style, use of white space, bold characters, images, bullet points
  • proper credit and use of images in all Topics of the Week and PR Connections. (Use Compfight to find your images; be sure they are licensed for Creative Commons use. I’ll show you how to do this in class.)

SUPER-IMPORTANT: In order for you to get credit for your blog, I need to know where it is. Tell me your blog address by completing this Google Form; do this no later than the end of January.

Questions? Just let me know.

barbara_is_listening

NOTE: Many thanks to Dr. Mihaela Vorvoreanu at Purdue University, who allowed me to use her blogging guidelines from her PRinciples class. They were so well-written that I made just a few tweaks for my own class. Dr. V knows that Blogs Matter.

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Welcome to COMM 4633 :: Social Media for PR & Journalism

Image Credit: "Everyone Welcome COME IN" by Lars Hammar

For my Southeastern University COMM 4633 students

Welcome to our COMM 4633 Social Media for PR & Journalism class. For our first day of class, I’ve created this blog post to make it easier to follow along with all the links I will be sharing.

Today in class . . .

Questions? You know where to find me . . .

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Welcome to SPC 4350

Image Credit: "Welcome" by Joe Shlabotnik

For my Florida Southern College students

Welcome to our SPC 4350 Social Media for PR & Advertising class. For our first day of class, you’ll be meeting briefly with Dr. Fenner, as I am at the three-day workshop A New Curriculum for a New Journalism at the Poynter Institute until Wednesday. We WILL meet on Wednesday at 3:15 p.m.

Before we meet in person on Wednesday, please do the following:

Bring to Class on Wednesday

  • Syllabus
  • List of your social media sites & how you use them
  • Post-It Notes (at least 25) & a Sharpie or other marker
  • An open mind and a willingness to learn

Questions? I’ll be checking my e-mail and Twitter frequently while I am away at the Poynter workshop.

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Arrive, Survive & Thrive in Prof. Nixon’s Spring 2011 Classes

An Open Note to All of Prof. Nixon’s Students :

Image Credit: "Lotus Blossom" by Barbara B. Nixon

We’re almost off and running in our Spring Semester classes at SEU & FSC. You can see all my Spring 2001 Syllabi in my Scribd collection. If a syllabus is updated during the semester, you’ll find out in class, and the current version will aways be available at Scribd.

So that we can make the most of this semester, please (Please, PLEASE) take some time to read through the blog posts I’ve included here. I promise you, it will be well worth your time. (How often do professors let you get inside their heads, letting you know their tips for success and their pet peeves?)

Additionally, here are a few more tips:

  • When communicating with me via e-mail (or Facebook), always put your course number (such as COMM 4333) in the subject line to help me immediately identify who you are and frame your questions or comments. Do your best to write in full sentences, paying attention to standard English grammar and spelling. Always sign your e-mails with your first and last name, as your e-mail address will not make that readily apparent to me.
  • When submiting an assignment in BlackBoard, always put your last name as part of the file name, and also include your name in the document itself. Papers submitted without your last name as part of the file name cannot earn full credit.
  • If an assignment is due in BlackBoard, the only way to get full credit for the assignment is to submit it in BlackBoard. (E-mailing an assignment to me can be risky; I receive 250+ e-mails a day, and there’s a chance I will not even see it in my inbox.)
  • Follow me on Twitter, if you really want to get inside my head. (What’s Twitter?)

Let’s make this a great semester together!

(PS: If you’re one of my students reading this post, please leave a reply to this post so that I can know you have read it. If your reply doesn’t show up immediately, no worries — I may need to approve it before it appears, if you’ve never commented on my blog before.)

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Shhh. Here are Nine Ways to Annoy Prof. Nixon

Image Credit: "can you keep a secret" by Tiffany Taylor

Shhh. Don’t tell anyone, but here’s a list of nine of my pet peeves. Some are big ones; others are minor irritations. You’ll do much better in my classes if you avoid ALL of these behaviors. But it’s a secret, so please don’t share it. Keep it to yourself.

  1. Try to pass off another person’s work as your own. I don’t care whether it’s in a singular blog post or in a major assignment: plagiarism in any form is unacceptable. What should you do instead? When you use the ideas or words of others in your writing, as we all must do at times, let me (and your other readers) know where they come from. Use quotation marks for direct quotes. If it’s in a blog post, always hyperlink to the original source (if the original source is available online). If you are at all in doubt about whether or not to provide attribution, ask me. If you choose to plagiarize, at the least, you will fail the assignment. You may even fail the class. And you will absolutely taint my impression of you. You don’t want this to happen. Trust me.
  2. Ask me “Did we do anything important in class last time we met? I wasn’t here.” See this poem by Tom Wayman on Delaney Kirk’s blog for some sarcastic responses you might get from me if you ask this.
  3. E-mail me without putting your class name & number in the subject line. I have about 100 students this semester, and it’s challenging to recall who is in which class. Also, it really helps me if you put your first and last name in your messages.
  4. Use Facebook or check Twitter/e-mail during class time. Honestly, I don’t care if you choose to daydream or squander your own class time. But when you use the computer (or even your mobile device) to do it, you’re distracting others around you as well. And that bothers me. A lot. (Now there will be times when we are actively using Facebook, Twitter, etc. for class purposes — that’s different.)
  5. Come to class late. Even if you “just slip in,” it’s disruptive to our whole class. If we have a student or guest speaker, it’s even worse.
  6. Ask me a question about something that I’ve recently answered to another student in the same class. This makes me think that you are not paying attention.
  7. Failing to read my blog. I use this blog to share important information with you. Sometimes it’s class assignments. Other times, it’s tips that will help you on assignments or in securing employment after graduation. I often embed links in the posts that will lead you to additional useful information; click and read the links, too.
  8. Ask “what are we doing in class next week?” Now on the surface, that may seem like you are engaged or truly care about what we are doing in class. But toward the end of your syllabus is a weekly schedule of what we’re doing in class. I stick to it.
  9. Don’t share helpful information about the class with others. You see the first paragraph in this blog post? I was being sarcastic. I really DO want you to share this information.

Now, if you’ve been a student of mine in the past, what other helpful tips can you share with students who are having me as a professor for the first time? I’d love to know. Please share your ideas in a comment.

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Keeping Organized by Using Google Calendar

If I was paid a dollar this semester for every time I heard/read a student say this last semester, I’d be rich. Well, at least I’d have enough for daily Starbucks.

It’s so confusing having so many classes! I can’t ever remember when things are due…

Here’s my suggestion.

Create a Google Calendar for yourself. (Here’s how.) Your Google Calendar is available from any computer, and it can automatically synchronize with many popular smart phones (like the iPhone, BlackBerry or Palm Pre) — which means that you’ll have the ability to know when things are due no matter where you are, 24/7.

For my classes, look in on your syllabus and in BlackBoard for deadlines for:

  • Assessments (quizzes, Readiness Assessment Tests AKA RATS, etc.)
  • Assignments

Look here on my blog for blogging guidelines and descriptions of when your blog posts are due. These vary by class. And remember to include your TOWs (Topics of the Week) for those classes that include them as part of the assignment; TOWs are due Saturdays at noon.

Create a calendar entry in your Google Calendar for each item that is due. Set interim deadlines for yourself for larger projects. You can tell Google Calendar to send you a reminder about any deadline you choose.

And that’s all there is to it. At least, except for the “completing the assignments” part.

Hope you found this helpful.

(NOTE: If you have another calendar method you prefer, and it already works well for you, USE IT. No need to switch. But if you’re having trouble staying on top of your classes, try this method. It’s how I keep myself organized.)

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Save Money on Textbooks with Amazon Book Buyback

Image Credit: "I'm Broke" by Barbara B. Nixon

Textbook prices seem to keep soaring, up to four times the rate of inflation.

A college professor, I do my best to choose the best textbooks for each of my classes. But sometimes the cost of the book will make me choose a second (or even third) best, if the book is outrageously priced.

And as a parent of two in college, I gasp — and sometimes even groan — at the cost of my sons’ books, especially for those books I know they will not want or need to keep.

I’ve recently learned about Amazon.com‘s guaranteed Book Buyback program, and I am sharing that information with all my students. For the Public Relations: Strategies and Tactics textbook (for my PR Applications class), a student can purchase a used copy of the book for less than $40, and sell it back to Amazon and receive a $38.09 Amazon giftcard. That makes the net price of the book $1.40. You can’t even get a cup of coffee most places for $1.40.

The savings aren’t quite as dramatic for some of my other classes, but it’s still a smart option to investigate.

Hope this helps,

(NOTE: All Amazon.com links in this post are affiliate links for the International Listening Association.)

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Getting a Jumpstart on Prof. Nixon’s Spring 2011 Classes

If you’re looking to get a jumpstart on my classes this spring, here are the books and other required resources that we 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.

Public Relations Applications (COMM 2322)

Public Relations Writing (COMM 4333)

Introduction to Journalism (COMM 3333)

Social Media for Public Relations (COMM 4633)

Honors Speaking & Writing (COMM 244L)

Questions? As always,

(PS: Syllabi for my classes will be posted in early January.)


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Top Ten Takeaways from #COMM4363 Corporate PR


Photo Credit: 10 by Leo Reynolds

Students in my Corporate Public Relations class at Southeastern University shared the top ten things they learned during the semester. I’ve summarized the highlights of their lists here, in alphabetical order by author. Some discussed the class in general, while others took a more focused approach on presentation skills.

Jen Cicotta

  • “Learn from the world around you – One of the greatest classes often is not in a classroom. Everyday in class we talked about different things that were happening in the world and how it relates to our field of interest. I think by scanning the days news headlines you can really learn from what people are doing in real life situations.”

Whitney Gonzalez

  • “Opportunities Are Everywhere: Connections can be made everywhere you go so it is always important that you be prepared to be professional. Tweets may even connect with a PR practitioners in Sprint who can let you conduct a project with a Sprint phone.”

Gracey Hulbert

  • “Actions that could effectively prevent any harm to a company‘s reputation on Day 1 may be completely ineffective on Days 2, 5, or 10.”

Juliet Jones

  • “Crisis Management – The Ford Fiesta [project] really pushed us to use our “Crisis management” skills. I learned it is always important to have a back up plan and to be prepared for ANYTHING.”

Mikelle Liette

  • “It is great to use PowerPoint to create a visual that your audience can relate to, or take notes from, but be careful! Make sure the PowerPoint doesn’t do your presentation for you. For the presentation simply put key words up that you can expound upon. If you put everything that you are going to say up on the PowerPoint, then you might as well let someone else stand up there and do your presentation for you.”

Josh Massaro

  • “Prepare. Prepare. Prepare. Preparation is something I always have known the importance of, but it seems that it is such a vital aspect in Corporate PR. If you are not on your toes and prepared for anything, then you are only making it harder on yourself and your company.”

Jeni Molitor

  • “Planning a campaign is difficult. We were given the task to put together a mini-campaign and there is a lot more that goes into it than what I originally expected. There is so much more that goes into researching a company and promoting a company. Sometimes you have to do it even if you don’t use the product or care for what they are doing, you still need to do your job to the best of your ability.”

Jessica Nguyen

  • “Be engaged. Connect with your audience. Draw them in. Ask them questions or talk to them as if it were one on one. People appreciate it if you connect with them. It makes them feel special and appreciated, and we do appreciate them because they are our audience.”

Michelle Paulino

  • “You Never Stop Learning After College. Professor Nixon continuously tells us that as PR practitioners we have to keep up-to-date on what is going on in the world of PR and in general. A great way in keeping up-to-date is reading the news, listening to podcasts, reading blogs, and reading books about your related field.”
  • “What You Post Online Will Be There Forever. I have been taught this my whole life, but it was not until Professor Nixon’s class that I fully understand. She showed us a website where you could look-up anything that has been posted online, even if it has been deleted. Made me take more precaution when I am posting things on the Internet.”
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Corporate Public Relations (#COMM4363) :: Our Semester in Review

To wind down our semester in Corporate Public Relations, each student will create a short review of his or her chosen chapter from the book Reputation Management by John Doorley and Fred Garcia.

Create a three- to five-minute interactive overview of your chapter for our class. Be sure to include at least three things that PR students should know about your chapter. Get creative! But remember that you only have five minutes maximum; after that, I will get out my hook and pull you off the stage (metaphorically speaking). We’ll do our review session in class on Tuesday, Dec. 7.

Also, write a blog post that covers the highlights of your chapter. You may want to look back to your Reading Notes that you’ve already prepared and posted on your own blog. When the post is done, reply to this blog post with telling me the hyperlink to the new review post you have written.