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Becoming Social

As the semester progresses in both PR Publications and Introduction to PR, we’ll be investigating many different forms of social media. I will demo the sites for you in class, and then you will have the opportunity to explore the service providers.

The Conversation Prism, by Brian Solis

 

To get started, sign up for free accounts at the following sites. For quick and concise explanations of each of the services, see Common Craft’s “In Plain English” series.

A couple of notes:

  • If you already have an account at one of the sites, there’s no need to obtain another one just for this class.
  • If possible, use the same username for all the sites. I tend to use my real name as my username; if you are uncomfortable using your real name, feel free to use a professional-sounding username of your choice.
  • Avoid using numbers along with your name for your username; that’s often a tactic that spammers use.

Please be sure to sign up for all the accounts by January 21.

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/briansolis/2735401175/ (Note: A full summary is available on PR 2.0)

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A Cannibal is a “People Person,” Too

Bleeding Hearts!! by Sabby3000.As Spring semester is drawing near, I am preparing to teach Introduction to Public Relations for the first time in several years. One of the things we’ll do during the first week is discuss why the students chose PR as a major.

I ran across this info in a blog post by John King at East Tennessee State University, and I laughed out loud. King has heard his students give these reasons for liking PR:

“I’m a people person.” 
“I like people.” 
“I really like people.” 
“I really, really like people.” 
“I really, really, really like people.”

To these students, King replies:

“Well, so do cannibals!  They like them baked, half-baked, fried, deep-fried, even shishkabobbed and sushied (is that a word?).” 

“But, can you write?  Can you do research?  Can you write a speech?  Can you design a brochure, newsletter, web page or other persuasive publication?  Do you have a nice balance of creativity and analytical skills (right brain and left brain functions)?  Are you persuasive?  Are you willing to learn some management skills?  Are you a team-player?  Can you learn AP style? Can you meet deadlines?  Can you juggle 17 projects at once?  Do you understand media culture?” 

“Oh, and do you like people?”

Well said, Dr. King, well said!

barbara_is_listening

 

 

 

 

 

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/93014914@N00/495608405/

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Getting Ready for Spring 2009 PRCA 2330

A hearty welcome to all my new students who have enrolled in PRCA 2330: Introduction to Public Relations, at Georgia Southern University.

Textbook(s)

Wilcox, D.L., & Cameron, G.T. (2009). Public relations: Strategies and tactics (9th Ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

  • Purchasing the hardcover book is about $90 at Amazon.com, 
  • You can rent the hardcover book for about $50 from Chegg. 
  • Or you can rent an electronic version of the book  from  CourseSmart for about $60.

Recommended but not required: Li, C., & Bernoff, J. (2008). Groundswell: Winning in a world transformed by social technologies. Boston, MA: Forrester Research, Inc.

Social Media

Be prepared to immerse yourself in social media as part of Intro to PR. 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

  • Pack of multi-color markers (you will need these on the first day)
  • USB drive 
  • Occasional use of a notebook computer in class

Syllabus

And last but not least, here’s a copy of your syllabus for the semester. By the end of the first week of class, you’ll also have our daily schedule of activities. You can view the syllabus online below or download it for easy printing atprca-2330-spring-2009.

PRCA 2330 Spring 2009 Syllabus          

View SlideShare document or Upload your own. (tags: relations public)
Questions?
barbara_is_listening
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Pleasantries on Twitter?

In my (almost) year using Twitter, I’ve noticed that some people greet people with a “good morning” as they start their days, and others end their days with some version of “good night.” That led me to wonder how often–if at all–you exchange these types of pleasantries as you start and end your days on Twitter. Please take a moment and take this quick and unscientific poll.

I also welcome your comments on why you do or do not say “good morning” or “good night.”

 

 

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Choosing Whom to Follow on Twitter: My Strategy

twitt-twitt1When I first started using Twitter about a year ago, I would follow anyone who first followed me. As Twitter has grown, I have realized that I need to be more discerning so that I don’t get overwhelmed. Here’s a brief description of my thought process.

I tend to automatically follow:

  • people I’ve met in real life
  • students of mine at Georgia Southern University
  • PR students & faculty from other universities
  • people who live in the Savannah or Statesboro (GA) areas

I’ll visit my Followers page and hover my mouse over a name. If there’s no real name or any bio at all, I usually don’t look further. I’ll read a bio if it’s there. If in your bio you’re promising me things that I’d hear in a late-night infomercial, it’s unlikely I’ll follow you. Things in a bio that may intrigue me include:

  • public relations or social media
  • photography
  • Auburn University
  • Presbyterian
  • NASCAR
  • autism or Asperger’s syndrome

Though it’s not hypercritical, I prefer engaging in conversations on Twitter with people who use their real photos. It’s nice to have a name and a face together.

If I make it as far as looking at your most recent tweets:

  • Is there a mix of original comments, @replies,  retweets and links? (If all the tweets are of one type, I usually don’t follow.)
  • Do I see @replies to people I know?
  • Do I think I’ll learn something from you?
  • Are many of your tweets of a positive nature (not whiny)?
  • Do you make me laugh?

If I haven’t followed you, and you would like me to, it’s generally a good idea to send me an @barbaranixon so that I know you’re interested in engaging in conversation with me. And if it seems like I’ve been talking in a foreign language here, take a look at A Twitter Lexicon.

So, what’s your strategy? How do you decide whom to follow?

barbara_is_listening

 

 

 

 

 

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nereski/2889953926/

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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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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 :: Last Minute Reminders

For your final project in PRCA 3331, you are analyzing a Fortune 500 company. The project is due by midnight on Tuesday, December 2.

Here are some important last minute reminders:

  • Review the grading rubric to ensure that you’re doing everything you need to for the project. (And I’ll even provide 10 bonus points if you print and complete the rubric by circling how you’d grade yourself in each area and bring it to class on Monday, Dec. 1. You can assess the project based on its current, not final, state.)

If you are doing the blog version:

  • Respond to this blog post with a comment that includes the name of your Fortune 500 company and the URL to the “table of contents” page for your project. This is the ONLY way I will know where to look for your project.
  • Have a friend using a different computer check all the hyperlinks to be sure they work.
  • If you’ve pasted from Word into WordPress, ensure that no odd code came along with your words.
  • Proofread carefully. Use WordPress’ spell checker, but don’t rely on it exclusively.
  • Tags are required on each post.
  • Photos are a nice addition, but are not required.

If you’re doing the paper:

  • Remember to use APA style, especially for source citation.
  • Submit your paper via WebCT Vista.

Photo  Credit: String Finger Reminder on White, originally uploaded by Mike Dykstra