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An Interview with Kneale Mann

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Kneale Mann shared his thoughts with me on social media, solid writing skills, the importance of commenting on others’ blogs and more.

As stated on his blog One Mann’s Opinion,

“Kneale is a twenty-six year marketing and media veteran who provides business, marketing and social media strategy for small to medium sized private sector clients through YouIntegrate.

“He is also a marketing and social media strategistic with the Centre of Excellence for Public Sector Marketing for public sector, not-for-profit and association clients.”

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Social Media Paper :: PRCA 3030

Writing words.. by _StaR_DusT_.Due: April 14 by 11:59pm in GeorgiaVIEW

Worth: 150 points

For those students in Social Media for PR who choose not to complete a “Viral” Video as part of a team, there is another option. You can write a short paper on an aspect of social media in public relations. Topics for your paper could include virtually anything we’ve read about as part of our course; look through A Survival Guide to Social Media and Web 2.0 Optimization: Strategies, Tactics, and Tools for Succeeding in the Social Web or Groundswell: Winning in a world transformed by social technologies for ideas. Consider what’s most interesting to you or what you are most passionate about. Even consider what’s most confusing about social media. You could write a case study or a literature review, if you wish, as your paper.

Please let me know how you plan to complete this assignment (video or paper) by March 29 by using this Google Form. And e-mail me with your potential topic when you have determined what you might like to write about.

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Social Media Resume Assignment :: PRCA 3030

Due: April 28 by 11:59pm in GeorgiaVIEW

Worth: 200 points

Social Media Resume Assignment

One of the ways college grads are helping to market themselves is through creating a social media resume. Dan Schwabel shares some excellent advice on social media resumes in a blog post at Mashable.

Using a free online site like Wix, Weebly, VisualCV, Google Sites or a new WordPress blog, create a social media resume for yourself.

At a minimum, include/embed the following:

  • At least two SlideShare or Prezi presentations you have created (one can be the Trade Book Review you did for this class)
  • One podcast (it can be the one you did for this class)
  • Three work samples (such as PDFs of news releases, brochures, newsletters, ads, etc.) — NOTE: If you have no client work yet, then substitute in at least two items from the Optional list below
  • A hyperlink to your blog
  • Hyperlinks to at least three of your favorite blog posts that you have written (to highlight your writing skills in digital media)
  • A PDF of your traditional resume
  • A hyperlink to your LinkedIn profile

Optional items to enhance your social media resume include:

  • A selection of  photos you have taken, to show your photography skills
  • Links to client work you have produced
  • Links to the social bookmarks you have created
  • Links to Facebook fan pages or groups that you have created and maintain
  • A Wordle of key words that describe you
  • The “Viral” Video you created for this class (if you chose to do one), or another video you have created
  • A social media monitoring report that you have created (to show your social media research skills)
  • A short video in which you introduce yourself to potential employers
  • A link to your Twitter stream (but only if it’s 100% appropriate for a potential employer to view)

NOTE: If you are in my PR Practicum class this semester, this assignment can also serve as your Portfolio.

Here’s a short video that explains this assignment further. NOTE: There may be minor changes/clarifications to this assignment here in this blog post that were not addressed fully in the video.

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Social Bookmarking in Plain English

Our topic this week in Social Media for PR is social bookmarking. Here’s an excellent, and short, explanation of what social bookmarking is, created by Lee and Sachi Lefever from Common Craft.

As the video is no longer available on YouTube, here’s a link to Social Bookmarking in Plain English at the Common Craft site.

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Communication for PR Practitioners

In this week’s Public Relations Applications class, we are discussing communication for PR practitioners. Here are the slides I will use:

Communication for PR Practitioners

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An Interview with Martin Waxman

Martin Waxman, president and co-founder of Palette Public Relations Inc., took 25 minutes out of his hectic pre-SXSW schedule to chat with me this morning about life in a PR agency, the importance of a traditional PR background (along with social media knowledge), and our digital footprints.

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Public Relations Program Planning :: FAQs

In my Public Relations Applications class, we’re discussing public relations program planning this week. Here are the slides I used:

Public Relations Program Planning

To see some of the notes I used for the presentation, visit SlideShare and download the presentation.

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Writing a Personality Profile

For my PRCA 3330 and COMM 4333 classes:

Want to show your publics the human side of your organization?

Write a personality profile.

For this assignment, write a personality profile about someone associated with your client’s organization. It could be about a leader in the organization, a member or maybe even a client. However, it must be about a real person (though not about you).

Chapter 7 in your Public Relations Writing & Media Techniques textbook provides a good overview of a personality profile on pages 173-174. Additionally, see pages 175-179 for more information on writing a feature story in general.

Keep these things in mind:

  • Use letterhead from your client for the personality profile (just like you would for a news release)
  • Include pertinent contact information (just like you would for a news release)
  • Write a catchy headline (just like you would for a news release)
  • Be creative, not mechanical, with your lead (see p. 177 for suggestions)
  • Use AP style and standard English grammar (though you can get away with occasional phrases, rather than complete sentences, for dramatic effect)
  • Your personality profile will be much longer than most news releases. Aim for a story between 750-1000 words.
  • Since you also have an assignment of a photo with caption due when this personality profile is due, why not take a photo of the subject of your personality profile when you are interviewing him or her?
  • Consider posting your personality profile on your blog (not required), after you get your graded assignment back

Check your syllabus for the due date for this assignment.

(NOTE: It’s a good idea to read 8-10 personality profiles from your favorite newspapers and magazines before you write your first one.)

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Creating a Media Advisory

For my PRCA 3330 and COMM 4333 classes:

As a public relations writer, one of the collateral pieces you are likely to be writing is a media advisory. A media advisory (or media alert) is designed to encourage a reporter to come and cover an event.

Chapter 6 in your Public Relations Writing & Media Techniques textbook provides a good overview of the contents of a media advisory. See pages 144-146 for details.

That said, with your client in mind, create a media advisory for an upcoming event. Though it’s ideal if this is for a real event, if your client does not have one planned in the near future, you can use your creativity to write about an imaginary event.

When structuring your media advisory, make it as simple as possible for the reporter to find the details. Keep these things in mind:

  • Use letterhead from your client for the media advisory (just like you would for a news release)
  • Include pertinent contact information (just like you would for a news release)
  • Write a catchy headline (just like you would for a news release)
  • Provide a brief opening paragraph with your story idea
  • Create headings including the 5 W’s:
    • Who
    • What
    • Where
    • When
    • Why (Tip: this one is perhaps the most important. This is where you will use your persuasive writing abilities to convince the reporter that the story is newsworthy.)

Check your syllabus for the due date for this assignment.

(NOTE: You can see many, many sample media advisories online by Googling “media advisory sample” or “media alert sample.” I cannot vouch for the content of all of them, but it would be good for you to see them to get a feel for how they look and read.)