As a long-time listener of the Inside PR podcast, I look forward to each episode (seriously!), and I miss listening to new episodes during the summer hiatus. I always find something useful to share with my public relations students from listening to the podcast each Wednesday. But this week . . . what a great show! It’s a must-listen for public relations students.
Martin Waxman, Gini Dietrich and Joe Thornley spent this entire 20-ish minute podcast sharing their thoughts on why and how students who are planning careers in public relations should become involved in social media, along with what to avoid doing.
Go to Twitter. Click Get Started, and sign up. I prefer it if you use some version of your first and last name as your Twitter ID. (Avoid putting numbers in your Twitter ID, or you may appear like a spammer.)
Upload a photo or avatar.
Write a brief (160-character or fewer) bio. It’s good to mention that you’re a PR student. Consider mentioning your university.
Send a tweet saying “I’m a student in @barbaranixon’s #COMM2322 /#COMM4333 / #COMM4363 /#PRCA3330 class”. (Use the correct number for your class.) Be sure to include the #xxx1234 indicator, with no spaces between the hashtag (#), letters and numbers.
Visit your class’ list at TweepML: PRCA 3330, COMM 2322, COMM 4333, COMM 4363 (I will activate these links as soon as I have your class’ Twitter usernames.)
For the purposes of this assignment, you will need to be following at least 40 people.
Using Twitter
Over the course of the next week, send at least twenty tweets (Twitter messages of 140 characters or less). Tip: Rather than tweeting that you’re having ramen for lunch, instead consider what might be of interest to your classmates and followers. Perhaps point others to something interesting or funny you read online. Share a fact you learned in a class. Maybe you could even pose a question that you’d like others to answer. (UPDATE: The tweets cannot all be ones automatically generated from your WordPress blog. The point of this assignment is to engage with others on Twitter, not simply announce.)
In addition to the twenty tweets that you originate, respond to at least five of your classmates’ tweets. To respond, click on the arrow after a tweet. Or you can type the @ symbol followed immediately by a username (such as @barbaranixon).
Additional Information
If you already have a Twitter account that you use primarily for social (not educational or professional) reasons, you may wish to create a fresh, new account for this exercise.
I find using the web interface for Twitter to be clunky. I prefer using TweetDeck, a free Adobe Air app that works great on PCs and Macs. TweetDeck makes it really easy to send URLs via Twitter, as it automatically shortens them for you.
I’ll occasionally post information on Twitter and use the hashtag for your class (#COMM2322, #COMM4333, #COMM4363 or #PRCA3330).By using this hashtag, I’m indicating that I want students in this class to pay special attention to the tweet.
After the week is over, add a 300-word (minimum) post to your blog about the experience and what you got out of it. Include a link to your Twitter profile (here’s mine). Be sure to include at least one way you might find value in continuing your account in Twitter. Your blog post about this experience count as your Topic of the Week for the appropriate week.
Questions? Just send me a DM (direct message) or an @ (reply) in Twitter!
Students in my COMM 4363 (Corporate PR) course at Southeastern University have started blogging. They will be adding to their blogs weekly throughout the Fall semester.
Students in my COMM 2322 (Public Relations Applications) course at Southeastern University have started blogging. They will be adding to their blogs weekly throughout the Fall semester.
NOTE: If you are a student in this class and your name is NOT on the list, please contact me right away.
Students in my COMM 4333 (Public Relations Writing) course at Southeastern University have started blogging. They will be adding to their blogs weekly throughout the Fall semester.
NOTE: If you are a student in this class and your name is NOT on the list, please contact me right away.
The early adopter that I am, I just had to get my hands on the new Samsung Epic 4G when it became available at Sprint on August 31. And I am so glad I did. Though I was a Palm fan for more than a decade, I am definitely an Android convert now. The larger, super-clear screen and slide-out keyboard are fantastic. And the variety and amount of apps available through the Android Market can be overwhelming. Here’s a list of 15 apps I’d recommend for any professor, especially PR profs.
Advanced Task Killer: To be sure that unneeded apps are not running and taking up precious battery power, try Advanced Task Killer. It will show you — at a glance — all the apps that are running, even those behind the scenes, and you can choose which ones to “kill.” You don’t want your Epic battery to die during your day on campus.
doubleTwist: To sync my iTunes library, including music, video, pictures & podcasts, I’ve been using doubleTwist. Sometimes it seems like the podcasts don’t sync, but if I exit dT on my PC and open it again, the sync works well.
Evernote: I listen to a lot of podcasts while take my morning walk every day. When I hear (or come up with) an idea that I need to capture, I use Evernote’s Audio Note feature. (Typing/texting and walking don’t work well for me. But I definitely can talk and walk.) I’ll be exploring more of Evernote’s capabilities in the coming months.
TweetDeck: I confess. I am a tweetaholic. I use Twitter, for personal and professional reasons, several times a day. It’s a little tricky installing TweetDeck, since it’s not in the Android Market yet, but it’s worth it. (If you are not up for a beta app, try Seesmic instead.)
Gesture Search: If I need to quickly find something (a contact, an app, a song, etc.) on my Samsung Epic, I like having the ability to search by moving my finger over the screen and not need to be as exact as when I an typing on either of the keyboards.
Desk Home: In the computer lab where I teach, there is not a wall clock, and I haven’t worn a watch in almost four years. I use Desk Home to show a clean and easy-to-read clock. Don’t want to keep the students in class longer than my allotted time, don’t you know. (NOTE: This app may only work on the Samsung Epic. There are other clock apps, but this one is designed for my phone.)
BlackBoard: Though the BlackBoard app doesn’t allow me to do everything that my desktop program will do, I can read discussion items, create announcements, e-mail students, and more.
Kindle: My husband and I share one Kindle. By having the Kindle app on my Samsung Epic, I can read books in our collection even when it’s his “turn” to have the Kindle. And it’s great to show my students how many free classic books are available in the Kindle store.
Barcode Scanner: This little app works with your Android camera. It will scan both barcodes and QR codes. It’s fun to show students what those little square codes are for, and equally fun to show them how to do price comparisons while shopping.
Shazam: When I can quickly refer to songs my students also listen to, it helps me relate to them better. I cheat a little using Shazam. To find out what “that song” is, use Shazam. It will listen to the song and determine title and artist.
Pandora: With Pandora as an Android app or on my computer, I can enter the name of a song I know my students like and create a playlist from it.
Ringdroid: I wanted a ringtone that sounded like <gasp> a phone ringing. The Samsung Epic did not have a ringtone like this. So I found an mp3 that I liked, and used Ringdroid to create a ringtone for me. Please tell me, am I not the only one who despises other ringtones?
Carr Matey: Have you ever forgotten where you parked your car? It’s happened to me before. Carr Matey is a fun little pirate-themed GPS app that will help me find my way back to my car. Backtracking in a parking lot in Florida is not only a little embarrassing, it’s downright hot.
Instant Heart Rate: Ever have a rough class and wonder if your blood is really about to boil? Me either. But this app will still let you check your heart rate using, of all things, the camera. Don’t know how it works, but it does, and it’s cool.
For Immediate Release: As an avid listener of the For Immediate Release: Hobson and Holtz Report for more than three years, I was very happy to see that there was an Android app for the podcast. You can find the app by searching in the Android Market, but I cannot find a link for it elsewhere. UPDATE: Though parts of this app work, I’ve recently learned that others don’t, so I am removing the FIR app from my list. I absolutely will continue listening to the FIR podcast, just not through this app.
So those are my favorite Android apps, based on the one week I’ve had my Samsung Epic 4G. Are there others you’d recommend?
Image Credit: "Alternative Furniture Polish" by Annie B. Bond
As I started reviewing blogs for my Fall 2010 classes, a few things came to mind. Rather than just sharing them with individual students, I’ve chosen to write this post, so even more new bloggers can learn from these tips.
NOTE: Many of these tips apply to blogs in general, not just to blogs for my PR classes.
Every post needs to be categorized. If you have had me for a course before, or if you have me for more than one course this semester, please rename your Fall 2010 blog categories to append your course name. For example, instead of “Reading Notes,” edit the category name to “Reading Notes COMM 4333.” For directions on how to rename your categories, see WordPress Support on Category Management.
If your blog post titles are generic, edit your posts and change the titles to make them more descriptive. For example, instead of “TOW #2,” title the post with the actual topic you are discussing. Better titles will make your blog more reader-friendly. For directions on how to retitle your blog posts, see WordPress Support on Post Title and URL.
Review the directions for Tracking Your Blog Comments. There should be just ONE post, and you will keep editing & adding to this post as the semester progresses. (Once you are done with this class, you’ll have no need to continue tracking your comments — this is simply to make it easier for your professor to read the comments you have written without lots of clicks.)
Make sure that your posts are thorough and “long enough.” Topics of the Week need to be a minimum of 300 words, and Blog Comments need to be 100 words each. Use your discretion on the PR Connections and Reading Notes. See Blogging Guidelines for more details.
Always (ALWAYS) provide a citation of some kind when you are using content from another source. Not doing so is plagiarism, plain and simple. If the source is available online, hyperlink to it.
Buddy up with another student blogger — either at your own university or at another — and proofread each other’s posts. Typos are never acceptable.
Beef up your About page to provide your readers with a robust and professional profile of you, so they can know more about who you are. (Use common sense, though. No need to include e-mail, cell phone, residence address, etc.)
To be sure your blog is easily readable by readers “of a certain age,” ask a professor from another class or another person over 35 to quickly review your blog. Some of the free WordPress themes are really difficult to read, especially the following:
Motion (pixellated white text on medium blue background)
For your final project, you will analyze a Fortune 500 or Inc. 500 company from a public relations perspective. The written portion of your project is due November 11, and your in-class presentation is due during Week 13.
This project is worth a total of 300 points of the 1000 available; 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 your professor know your decision no later than Week Four.
If you choose to do this project as a traditional term paper:
Submit your paper [in the manner your professor requires]
NOTE: Another option is to write a traditional term paper of at least 10 pages, on any topic discussed in our textbook Reputation Management. I will write a separate blog post with more details on this option.
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 the manner your professor requires]
Cite your sources within the posts, and also provide hyperlinks to the original source if it’s available online
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? Provide examples.
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) social media
An overview and 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.
Also, choose two from the following if you are working alone on the project. If you are working in a group, complete five of the following:
For at least one news release, compare how the news release appears in the company’s online newsroom 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 your professor by Week 9
Important Dates
Week 3: Choose a company.
Week 4: Let me know your decision of whether you’ll do a traditional term paper or a series of blog posts.
Week 9: Last date to pitch an idea for a section in your paper to me (if there’s something you would like to write about your company that is not on the list above)
Image Credit: "WordPress Schwag" by Peregrino Will Reign
This post explains the types of content I expect you to write about in your blog for COMM 4363: Corporate Public Relations. (For information on how to start your blog, see Getting Started with WordPress.) This blog counts as a quarter of of your grade in the class, and it does require frequent “care and feeding.” Use your Blog Editorial Calendar, available in BlackBoard, to help keep you on track for which posts are due when.
Please add a category for each type (listed below), and make sure each post is categorized appropriately. Each post for this class must have the category of COMM 4363 along with at least one additional category. (If you do not categorize your posts with the name of the class, it will be much more difficult for me to find them, and you cannot earn full credit.)
1. Reading Notes – Create brief notes or key ideas from the reading assigned for that week’s class. Jot down 3-5 ideas that you believe are the most important & wish to remember. Be very brief, but write enough so someone who can’t read your mind understands what you mean and I am convinced that you actually did the readings. Remember to cite your source(s) when you paraphrase or quote materials from the readings; use a hyperlink to the book (either at the publisher’s site or at a bookseller like Amazon.com). Though these weekly assignments are due Saturday at 11:59pm, many students prefer to do their Reading Notes before they take their weekly RATS (Readiness Assessment Tests), which are due on Mondays.
2. Topic of the Week – You will have a specific topic related to public relations writing to write about. You will have about 15 of these before the end of the semester. See our TOW list for your class. Along with the Reading Notes, the Topics of the Week are due Saturdays by 11:59pm.
3. PR Connections – commentary, reflections and opinions about PR issues/examples that were not addressed in class. These can be responses to other PR blogs you read, links to interesting posts or articles, embedded YouTube videos, etc. Ragan’s PR Daily is a great place to go for inspiration for PR Connections posts. You will write at least ten of these during the semester.
4. Blog comments – whenever you comment on someone’s PR blog (whether it’s a PR professional or a PR student), add the comment to ONE post that you update throughout the semester so I can assess your online participation. You will need 25 comments during summer semester. Do this only for PR-related blogs. See Tracking Your Blog Comments for Nixon’s Classes for more information, including specifics on the formatting.
5. Personal – optional category. Use it for any posts not related to public relations.
You may add other categories and sub-categories of your choice. Please keep in mind that when I evaluate your blog I will pay special attention to the categories listed above, but I will not ignore other posts. I will perform a wholistic evaluation of your blog, looking for:
frequency: Sufficient posts in categories 1-3, posted throughout the semester. There will be at least two blog checkpoints during the semester.
linking: Identify other PR blogs (use PR Open Mic or my blogroll in my Delicious bookmarks as starting points) and link to them. Respond to others’ posts. Become a part of the blogosphere. Blogging should not be lonely.
readability: brief & concise writing style, use of white space, bold characters, images, bullet points
SUPER-IMPORTANT: In order for you to get credit for your blog, I need to know where it is. Tell me your blog address by completing this Google Form; do this no later than the end Week Two of class.
Questions? Just let me know.
NOTE: Many thanks to Dr. Mihaela Vorvoreanu at Purdue University, who allowed me to use her blogging guidelines from her PRinciples class. They were so well-written that I made just a few tweaks for my own class. Dr. V knows that Blogs Matter.
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