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So I Signed Up for WordPress. Now What Do I Do?

So, you signed up for an account at WordPress, and you added an About page. Now what’s next?

FIRST: Let me know your blog address by commenting on PRCA 2330 :: Spring 2009 Student Blogs.

NEXT: How do you go about learning more to create a blog that reflects your personality and style?

Fortunately, WordPress offers many FAQ screencasts to help you with the step-by-step instructions. Here are a few of the best ones to help you get started on the right foot:

And though you may have a good handle on the technical aspects of blogging, remember that the technical side is only part of the blogging equation. Corinne Weisgerber, a professor at St. Edward’s University and fellow PROpenMic member, created this presentation for her Social Media for PR class. The emphasis? How blogging can help you create your personal brand online. Take a look. It’s worth the time.

 

Blogging & Managing your Personal Brand     

View more presentations or upload your own. (tags: commenting identity)

 

Photo Credit: “1/365” uploaded to Flickr by PhotoJonny

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A Magazine, All About *You*

Day 240: You! by bookgrl.For my PRCA 3339 Class:

Here’s a fun assignment that you will present in class on Wednesday, January 14. 

Using your choice of software or online service (such as Big Huge Labs at http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/magazine.php), create a magazine cover that depicts you (personality, background, aspirations) to help your class learn more about you.

  • The cover photo must be of you, taken at any point in your life. 
  • Include at least your first name somewhere in the design.
  • Feel free to emulate an existing magazine cover’s look and feel.
  • Save the magazine cover as a JPG, PDF or some other format that can be shown in class.
  • Be prepared to show your magazine cover and discuss it briefly in class (on January 14).
  • This assignment will “count” as part of your participation grade in this class.

Questions?

barbara_is_listening

 

 

 

 

 

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/60849961@N00/1924356470/

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Arrive, Survive & Thrive in Prof. Nixon’s Classes :: Spring 2009

An Open Note to All of Prof. Nixon’s Students at Georgia Southern University:

We’re almost off and running in our Spring Semester classes at GSU. This semester, I’m teaching two classes; the classes, with hyperlinks to the syllabi, are listed below:

So that we can make the most of this semester, 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), please put your course number (such as PRCA 3339) 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 GSU e-mail address will not make that readily apparent to me.
  • When submiting an assignment in GeorgiaVIEW, 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.
  • Follow me on Twitter, if you really want to get inside my head. (What’s Twitter?)

Let’s make this a great semester together!

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Welcome to PRCA 3339 :: PR Publications, Spring 2009

Welcome Sign by davidking.Welcome to all my students who have enrolled in PRCA 3339: PR Publications, at Georgia Southern University.

Textbook(s)

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.

Social Media

Be prepared to immerse yourself in social media as part of this course. If you want to get a jumpstart before classes begin, you might want to do the following:

  • Sign up for an account at Twitter. (What’s Twitter?) Use some variation of your real first and/or last name. (Do not include any numbers with your name, or you may risk appearing like a spammer.) Follow me at Twitter by going to http://twitter.com/barbaranixon .
  • Join PR OpenMic, an online community for public relations students, practitioners and faculty.

Additional Items

  • USB drive 

Syllabus

And last but not least, here’s a copy of your syllabus for the semester including our daily schedule of activities. You can view the syllabus online below or download it for easy printing at prca-3339-spring-2009

PRCA 3339 PR Publications Syllabus 

View SlideShare document or Upload your own. (tags: relations syllabus)

 

Questions?
barbara_is_listening
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PRCA 3339 Newsletters in Review

The final project in PRCA 3339 (PR Publications) was a four-page newsletter for a non-profit organization, accompanied by a paper. The newsletter itself was worth 50% of the grade, with the paper worth the remaining 50%. A rubric was provided so that students could know exactly how the assignment would be graded. Though many students produced stellar newsletters, there were some common errors.

Common Errors in the Paper

  • Not including all the elements required
  • Having one-sentence descriptions for the sections
  • Not including how your newsletter will help the organization achieve its goals
  • Design Principles: When describing the four design principles of Contrast, Repetition, Alignment and Proximity, leaving out one or more of the principles, and often providing no specific example of where I should look in the newsletter for application of the principle.
  • Costs: Not including the vendor. Not including a total for one run of the newsletter.
  • Publication Schedule: Being vague with your descriptions of what it takes to put one newsletter together, complete with dates. This section should contain all the deadlines (internal and external) another person would need to complete a newsletter like this. For example, when do you need to determine what the articles will be? Assign writers? Take photos? You get the picture, right?
  • Editorial Calendar: This is quite different from the publication schedule. In this section, I was expecting to see what the themes are for each issue for a year, along with when the issue will be produced. If the May issue is dedicated to graduation, then when do you need articles/photos on this topic?
  • Distribution Method: Most people did fine in this section.
  • Skills & Knowledge: Not being specific. Saying “I learned how hard it is to put together a newsletter” does not describe what you learned.

Common Errors/Problems in the Newsletter

  • Leaving out required elements (like the pull quote and masthead)
  • Having a mailing panel that does not conform to USPS regulations
  • Not using all available lab time to create the newsletter. When you create the newsletter on your own with the free download trial of Adobe InDesign or use the computers in the library, you don’t have the benefit of having others around you to help troubleshoot when you can’t figure something out.
  • Using too many fonts. Aim for two to four fonts, max. More than that, and it will look like a scrapbook page rather than a newsletter.
  • Headline and body text fonts too close in size.
  • Body text font too large
  • Pixellated photos and clipart
  • Photos and clipart that are stretched or squished (not proportional)
  • Color combinations that were hard to read (for example, red text on a green background)
  • Not using InDesign’s built in feature that allows you to flow text from one text box to another, complete with jumplines and continuation heads.
  • Not using InDesign’s built-in feature that helps you align elements on the page
  • Putting a pull quote or image in the middle of a block of text, then having the text wrap around it. Okay to do if you are using columns, but very hard to read when it’s smack-dab in the center, and text from one line is on the left and right of the image.
  • Not allowing enough white space between text and borders
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Key Learnings in PR Publications Fall 2008

Graduation Rubber DuckiesAs our fall semester is winding down in my Public Relations Publications 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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PRCA 3339 Blog Alternative

As a project for Georgia Southern University’s PRCA 3339, you have two choices. You can create a brochure using InDesign as we originally discussed in the class. OR, you can add several postings to your blog that relate to the content of our PR Publications class. Please let me know your decision about the assignment by Monday, November 10, at midnight. (Comment on this post to let me know.) If I don’t hear from you, I’ll assume that you’re doing the brochure as originally planned.

The Blog Assignment

  • Write & publish at least three postings of 200 words or more between now and the due date of November 21 at midnight.
  • The topics of your postings can range from using InDesign, using typography, choosing the best kind of paper, taking effective photos, storing photos online, pricing the printing of your publication using online sources, or any other topic related to public relations publications.
  • The postings need to be your original work (don’t copy and paste from another website or blog). If you use info from another site, be sure to cite your source. (No APA Style needed for this citation; you can just hyperlink to the original source.)
  • In each posting, offer at least two hyperlinks to relevant sites.
  • Also, comment on at least two of your classmates blogs.
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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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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