Public Relations Program Planning
To see some of the notes I used for the presentation, visit SlideShare and download the presentation.
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:
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.)
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:
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.)
We’re now about halfway through Spring 2010, and I see some students are still struggling with their blogs.
I promise that this blog assignment was not designed as 21st century version of a medieval torture device for you. Writing (and blogging) is a daily part of a PR practitioner’s life; I am helping you prepare for your careers. And the more you write, the better writer you will become.
Here are some of the frequently asked questions.
How was I supposed to know what to put in my blog? I feel so far behind.
Early in the semester, you were given your blogging guidelines for your class. All the information has been in there for nearly two months now.
Can I work ahead on my Topic of the Week?
I typically share the Topic of the Week for your class on Monday or Tuesday of the week it’s due.
If I am in more than one class with you, can I just do Topic of the Week for one of the classes and have it count for both?
No. The topics are different in each class.
If we didn’t have a reading assignment for a week or two, what should I do for Reading Notes for that week?
If you didn’t have an assignment, you don’t need to create notes.
How long do my Reading Notes have to be? I am spending hours outlining the chapters.
See the blogging guidelines.
How do I know which week we are in? You don’t have specific dates listed on your blog.
See your syllabus. Week One was our first week of class.
Where can I get ideas for my PR Connections?
Read PR blogs. Or subscribe to Ragan’s PR Daily. Or listen to a PR podcast.
What can I do to get more comments on my blog?
Buddy up with students in your class (or one of my other classes), and commit to commenting on each others’ blogs. If you’d like a “blog pal” from another university, let me know, and I can connect you.
Where can I find pictures to add to my blog (without getting into trouble)?
Go to Compfight, then choose “Only” next to Creative Commons. When you search for images that way, only ones that are okay to use will come up.
I’m still confused about how to track my blog comments. Can you go over that one more time?
See Tracking Your Blog Comments for Nixon’s Classes, originally posted on January 13. See Lisa McLaughlin’s blog for a great example of what I am looking for.
How do I make my picture/avatar show up when I leave comments on others’ blogs?
In my PR Applications class, we are discussing basics of public relations research this week. Here are the slides I’ll use:
To see some of the notes I used for the presentation, visit SlideShare and download the presentation.
After reviewing all the first news releases in PRCA 3330, I am generally pleased with what I saw, considering it is the first news release you have written. Many of the news releases were spot-on; they were newsworthy and clearly written. You must have remembered what you learned in your Intro to Journalism class!
Here are some common errors I saw:
And here are two major problems I saw:
To learn how to see my specific feedback for you in GeorgiaVIEW, see this short video below.
Your News Release #2 should be like a final version of News Release #1. Use the same information you turned in already (or should have turned in!), revise it, and submit it as News Release #2. Whereas NR#1 was critiqued, NR#2 will be graded. Be sure to use the feedback that I provided for you when making your revisions. NOTE: I may not have caught every error the first time I critiqued your news release.
Wondering if you are on the right track with what I am expecting from your blogs? Here’s a checklist for you based on what should be at your blog by the end of February. I will be evaluating your blogs again (for a grade) at some point in early March. It’s likely that I will not announce the specific date ahead of time. I will go back and look at previous posts again.
Georgia Southern classes:
Southeastern University classes:
As I’ve reminded you in class frequently, it’s critical to keep up with your blogs. If you haven’t already done so, you may want to create an Editorial Calendar for yourself to help schedule your required posts.
Finally, in some informal checks I’ve done recently, here are a few things that I’ve noticed:
Are you an outstanding Georgia Southern University public relations student? If so, you might want to submit your name (and accompanying documentation) for one of our annual Public Relations Advisory Board awards.
Nominations/applications are being sought in the following areas:
Public Relations Writing: Submit 3-5 short samples. Samples may include, but are not limited to, news, features, brochure copy, newsletter articles, communication plans, and web-based writings. Preference will be given to published works and successfully implemented communication plans.
Public Relations Design: Submit 3-5 samples. Samples may include, but are not limited to, newsletters, brochures, posters, advertisements, web pages, and PSA design elements. Preference will be given to original designs.
Public Relations Planning: Submit program overview and corresponding materials. Provide documentation of your contribution to this program. Indicate if the plan was completed by a group or individual. Describe each component of the plan and each team member’s contribution to the plan.
Public Relations Research: Submit 1-3 research papers and /or projects. Projects may entail academic investigations or applied projects that contribute to our understanding of public relations and communications. Co-authored work will be accepted based on applicant or applicants’ contributions to the project. Preference will be given to original research papers or projects.
Public Relations Student of the Year: Submit resume and portfolio. The portfolio should exhibit success in the following areas: (a) leadership and extra-curricular, (b) professional development, (c) academic works, and (d) academic or professional presentations.
Visit one of the bulletin boards in Veazey Hall for an application or use this PDF form.
NOTE: You must submit your application no later than Wednesday, March 3, at 5 p.m.
The week of February 22, my PR Writing classes are learning about the components of a news release and writing their first news releases. I have recorded this short presentation for them to share “The Anatomy of a News Release :: A Baker’s Dozen.”
NOTE: I lost my voice earlier this week, and my voice is still pretty wimpy in this recording.
In order to benefit from this presentation, it’s best to have a news release from an organization–any organization–handy so that you can see how the 13 elements are used in “real life.” Go out to your favorite organization or company online, search for a section of the website called “News Room” or something similar, and find a news release there. This week, my favorite product is Traditional Medicinals Throat Coat Tea, so here’s a link to TM’s Press & Media section of its site.
About a week ago, I sent out a request on Twitter for ideas for how to back up a WordPress.com blog. You see, all of my students at Georgia Southern University and Southeastern University (about 200 total) are blogging this semester as part of their course engagement and participation requirements. I had a sinking feeling that some of my students might not have the information they are posting at their blogs saved anywhere else, and wondered what would happen if WordPress.com went down or out of business.
This afternoon, WordPress.com was down for a while. And some of the students (and many, many others) began to — in layman’s terms — freak out. As I suspected, they didn’t have their information backed up.
We love having free services available for ourselves and our students. We expect the services to work all the time. And when they don’t? Life is unpleasant. And a little scary.
Because I wanted a little more control over my blog, I chose to self-host it using BlueHost. It costs me about $100 a year, which is a reasonable investment for me. (GoDaddy is less expensive, but I find its ads offensive so I choose to spend my money elsewhere.) Do I force my students to pay to blog? No. Should I recommend it as a good option? I’m thinking that I should now.
That all said, what should students do to be sure they have backup copies of all their blog posts (especially when they will be graded on their blogs)?
Here are a few ideas:
Bottom Line: When you’re working in the cloud, especially on free sites, have a back up plan. (Back up? Get it?)
What other ideas would YOU recommend?
