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Pix from New Media Academic Summit 2008

The Flickr photostream for items tagged with Summit08 is an interesting conglomeration of photos from several of us who attended Edelman’s New Media Academic Summit. Below are a few of my favorite ones.

Here’s a photo of me with Neville Hobson (blogger and co-host of For Immediate Release), taken by Edelman’s Rick Murray.

Barbara Nixon and Neville Hobsom

Charlene Li, author of Groundswell, posed with me for this one. (I’m the queen of arm’s length self-portraits.)

Charlene Li and Barbara Nixon

At the Avenue Hotel, there was a zebra chair in every room. Not knowing this, I brought my zebra shirt with me. I couldn’t resist another arm’s length self-portrait.

Barbara Nixon in a zebra shirt on a zebra chair

And finally, Clarke Caywood, one of the participants at the conference, carried the Beijing Olympic Torch in China in June. He graciously allowed many of us to pose with it.

Barbara Nixon holding a Beijing Olympic torch

 

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Sound Bites from the New Media Academic Summit 2008

Edelman and PR Week hosted the New Media Academic Summit 08 last month in Chicago. It was a fantastic opportunity for public relations educators from around North America to learn how new media is being applied and measured in companies around the globe. Below are some of my favorite soundbites from the Summit. For an almost-complete transcript of the dozen or so sessions, visit Edelman’s site where the sessions were live-blogged. Edelman has also posted video of all of the sessions.

Richard Edelman, President & CEO, Edelman

Weeklies (weekly newspapers) are in terminal decline.

Obama has surround sound; he is everywhere.

Google never forgets.

Conversational crack [view complete presentation]

Julia Hood, Publishing Director, PR Week

Pitching is broken art in public relations. [view complete presentation]

Alexandra Wheeler, Director of Digital Strategy, Starbucks

It’s not just launch and abandon; it’s also care and feeding.

Anyone with a keyboard has a voice. [view complete presentation]

Jim Kirk, Associate Managing Editor of Financial News, Chicago Tribune

The newspaper industry was in a recession before the recession. [view complete presentation]

Troy Mastin, Media Analyst, William Blair & Co.

You rule out a large portion of your potential audience if you force them to pay for content.

Most people will probably participate in a maximum of three social networks, one personal, one professional and one for their passion. [view complete presentation]

Neville Hobson, Blogger & Co-Host of For Immediate Release podcast

There is an educational need for the older audience in public relations because of the way we now share messages and information; the older generation helps the younger generation learn how the corporations work and communicate, and the younger generation helps with the new way their generation shares ideas and news. [view complete presentation]

Wolfgang Luenenbuerger, Director Europe, Edelman

The Internet is not yet 5000 days old and yet it’s this complex. [view complete presentation]

Marshall Manson, Director of Digital Strategy, Edelman

[There’s] a tension between language and geography in Europe. [view complete presentation]

Mindy Finn, Director of Finn Enterprises

Buzz is nice, but don’t do something for buzz only. [view complete presentation]

Mike Krempansky, Senior Vice President, Online Advocacy, Edelman

It’s happening whether you drive it or not. [view complete presentation]

Mark Monseau, Director of Corporate Communications, Johnson & Johnson

You don’t create communities; communities create themselves. [view complete presentation]

David Rubin, Brand Building Director, Unilever

We sell bottles of shampoo not entertainment.

No one really wants to visit a deodorant website.

The newer the new media gets, the more important it is to get back to communication fundamentals. [view complete presentation]

Marcel LeBrun, CEO, Radian6

The social medium is the message. [view complete presentation]

Charlene Li, co-author of Groundswell

Listening, talking, energizing, supporting and embracing [view complete presentation]

Rick Murray, President, Edelman

Look to others for innovation; look to yourself for innovation in process.

(Regarding current college students) Social media is part of their work and part of their world. [view complete presentation]

 

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Join a Social Network, Get a Job?

Can joining a social network get you a job?

Perhaps, if you’re like Allie Osmar, Edelman‘s newest Social Media Analyst. Watch the short video below to see Robert French, PROpenMic founder, interview Allie at Edelman’s New Media Academic Summit last week.


Find more videos like this on PROpenMic

What is PROpenMic?

PROpenMic? A metaphor. Step up and speak your mind. Our goal is to be the social network for PR students, faculty and practitioners worldwide. Already, we have members from over 45+ countries and 130+ universities worldwide. Meetup and share. From future internship & job searches to discussions about class projects and activities … PROpenMic is your network for connections and learning. Ultimately, the network is about you helping others. Our focus is to help students & faculty explore answers to their questions with a perspective from around the world. Enjoy!

So, what are you waiting for? If you’re a public relations student, faculty member or practitioner, join PROpenMic. You’ll be glad you did.

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Word of Mouth Manual II :: Free Download

This morning on Twitter, I received a tweet from Todd Defren (of Social Media News Release fame) with a link to a free e-book: Word of Mouth Manual II, by Dave Balter, founder and CEO of BzzAgent.

Imagine you’re back on the school bus, on the way to your high school.  Towards the back of the bus, the “cool kids” are eagerly poring over a hidden object.  You overhear one of them saying, “It’s really expensive, but I figured out how to get a free one.”

Sharing the e-book this way is word of mouth marketing at its finest. So . . . if you’re interested in the topic of word of mouth marketing, download and read this free e-book. Share your thoughts here.

Photo Credit: Spot Mirror, uploaded to Flickr by daveham

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Ice Cream Social [Media]

Once again, the folks at Common Craft have provided a creative and simple explanation for us . . . this time, Sachi and Lee Lefever use an ice cream factory in the mythical town of Scoopville to demystify social media. Enjoy!

 

Social Media in Plain English from leelefever on Vimeo.

(PS — My current favorite ice cream is Bruster’s butter pecan, filled with tons of salty toasted pecans. What’s yours?)

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If Only I’d Known . . .

Back in the dark ages (two years ago), Todd Defren of SHIFT Communications wrote a pair of blog postings about the state of public relations education for undergrads. He wrote about The Trouble with Undergrad PR Programs and Fixing Undergrad PR Programs. Since I teach public relations at Georgia Southern University, this topic piqued my interest. I wondered if his thoughts and research from two years ago still held true today.

If you are a recent PR graduate (or current intern), I’d be quite interested to learn a few things:

  • What’s something you learned in your PR education that you’re applying on a regular basis at work now?
  • What’s something that you wish you had learned more about?
  • And, what’s something that you didn’t really learn anything about in your classes that you’re expected to do on a (fairly) regular basis in your new career in PR?

Comments from recent grads and those who hire recent grads are quite welcome!

Photo titled “graduates” originally uploaded to Flickr by SuzanneK

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Edelman Digital Bootcamp: Energizing and Exhausting

exhaustedHave you ever felt exhausted at the end of a day? I’m sure we all have, especially when the day is filled with physical activity. But have you ever felt worn out after a day when you spent the day involved in intense listening?

That happened to me just yesterday. Even so, I didn’t even once feel the need to raise my hand, like the student in Gary Larson’s Far Side cartoon, and say, “May I please be excused? My head is full.” If it’s possible, I came away from that day both exhausted and energized . . . so many great ideas were generated and shared on how to make social media an integral part of the public relations strategies.

On Saturday, I had the pleasure of attending the Edelman Digital Bootcamp, hosted by the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism & Mass Communication. This intense one-day workshop was designed for students and educators from throughout the Southeast. In addition to a large contingent from UGA, several other schools were represented: Kennesaw State College, Clemson University, University of West Florida, Georgia Southern University and Auburn University (War Eagle!).

The news release prior to the event described Edelman Digital Bootcamp like this:

Edelman, the world’s leading independent public relations firm, seeks to provide students and educators hands-on skills integration training about the professional use of new media.

Bootcamp participants will break into teams and Edelman practitioners will direct them in a mock campaign. Students will have the opportunity to work one-on-one with Edelman facilitators to research, design and implement a social media solution for the assigned client. This approach will allow students to network with professionals while also gaining hands-on experience.

An additional track will be available to educators, focused more on sharing ideas and encouraging the adoption of new media in more communication curricula throughout the Southeast. Educators will have the opportunity to discuss the practicalities of teaching new media, share lesson plans and more.

Edelman intends to expand its Digital Bootcamp to other college campuses across the nation in what they hope will become an annual event.

As the day progressed, I had my notebook computer out and used del.icio.us to make note of the websites mentioned during several of the presentations. You’ll find that list below; most of the sites are free to use. I’ll share more of my thoughts on the bootcamp later this week, especially on Tweeting and its effect my listening during the day.