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Key Learnings for Corporate PR Fall 2008

Bendable Pirate CharactersAs our fall semester is winding down in my Corporate PR class at Georgia Southern University, we had a fun way to wrap up the key learnings.

Each student chose a small character (ninja, pirate or rubber ducky) from a basket and named the character. Then they each came up with a word or phrase that started with each letter in the name. (Full directions to the assignment are at my Becoming Learner Centered blog.)

A few volunteers came to the front of the class and presented their key learnings to us by showing their list and character on the document projector.

You’ll see what the key learnings for my students were as comments to this blog post. By having them create their own mnemonics in class today, I’m hopeful that they’ll remember many of the key points of this class long after it is over.

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Creating Our PRCA 3331 Final Exam

Together, we (the students and I) will create the final exam for the PRCA 3331 class at Georgia Southern. In class on Monday, students will choose which topic areas to write questions about. Each student will write at least five questions total, from at least three different topic areas.

Need some tips on writing multiple choice questions? HINT: Learning how to write good questions is likely to help you become a better test taker, too.

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PRCA 3331 Final Project Presentation

IMG_8398 by JamesEverett.Develop a list of 10 Things We Should Know About _____ (your Fortune 500 company of choice)

  • The list can include anything that you found to be particularly interesting about your company.
  • At least one item on your list should revolve around career opportunities in corporate PR with the company.
  • Feel free to be creative with your title.

Create a PowerPoint presentation.

  • For the title slide, include the company logo and your name.
  • Rather than making bullet points of your things we should know, instead use photos to represent the ideas. (Please use some key words as titles on your slides, to help provide some context.)
  • One of the best places to find photos is in Flickr.
  • If you use photos that are not your own, include a photo credit at the bottom of the slide (like I did on this slide).
  • On the final slide, provide your contact information (name, blog URL, and perhaps your LinkedIn profile URL — please don’t show your phone number or e-mail address)

Embed your PowerPoint presentation in your blog (for 10 pts extra credit)

  • Save your presentation in PowerPoint 2003. (SlideShare does not yet support the newest release of PowerPoint.)
  • Go to SlideShare; join SlideShare if you haven’t already done so.
  • Upload your presentation to SlideShare.
  • Find the embed code at SlideShare, and embed your SlideShare into a blog post.
  • Publish your blog post.
  • NOTE: You should add this blog post to your “table of contents” page for your final project.

Prepare and deliver your 4-6 minute presentation, using these tips.

  • Never let your audience see you navigate to your file. Have the projector’s picture muted until you are ready to show your slides.
  • Speak to your audience, never to the screen or monitor.
  • When you’re not using your presentation, press B to blacken (or W to whiten) the screen. This helps the audience to focus on you, not the screen.
  • Additionally, here are some general tips I share in my public speaking classes.
Public Speaking Tips
View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: presentations speaking)

 

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jameseverett/2533124025/

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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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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