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First, Do No Tweeting (at #NCA09)

notweetingThis week, I am attending the National Communication Association convention in Chicago. In its own words, “NCA is a scholarly society that works to enhance the research, teaching, and service produced by its members on topics of both intellectual and social significance.”

While preparing to attend this convention, I told my students at Georgia Southern University that I would be sharing what I learn, along with random observations about the convention, using Twitter and identifying the NCA-related tweets with the hashtag #NCA09 to make it easy for them to find what I was writing.  NCA itself is also using a Twitter account to share information & answer questions about the convention, as well as maintaining a Twitter list of NCA members attending the convention.

But then something took me aback.

At the first session I attended yesterday, I had my Palm Pre out and was prepared to take my notes on the session on the device and share them via Twitter.  The session chair stood and made his opening remarks about the panel discussion that was about to take place. And then he asked everyone to turn off and put away all electronic devices.

I was taken aback, but I complied (mostly because I was sitting in the front row.) Then I took my notes old-school, with a notebook and paper. (I did notice later that I was taking my notes in 140 characters or fewer. Hmmm.) This must have been an aberration, just the preference of one panel? Over lunch, I did a barrage of tweets with everything I would have tweeted live if I had been permitted to.

Apparently at the Newcomers Welcome Session, NCA participants were specifically asked not to tweet during sessions. (I arrived in Chicago after the welcome session, so I was not there to hear the request myself. This bit of information was shared with me at the #NCAtweetup held at Buddy Guy’s Legends last night, where ~30 or so NCA members who are connected via Twitter gathered to meet in person.)

UPDATE as of 7:27am on 11/13/2009: According to the NCA Twitter account, “Tweet restrictions during sessions are decided by presenters, not NCA. We do not have any policies against tweeting during sessions.”

At a later session, on the use of social media in public relations classes, I asked permission to tweet, and that request was warmly welcomed by all members of that panel. So several of us DID use Twitter during that session, and we even received feedback and questions from others not attending the convention while the session was going on. We shared those tweets with the panel during the Q&A session. And to me, THAT is the power of Twitter.

solis

So here are my questions…

As a speaker, what are your thoughts on people tweeting while you speak?

As a listener, does Twitter enhance or detract from your listening?

As an association, does asking/telling members not to tweet equal a type of censorship?

I welcome your thoughts.

barbara_is_listening

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Working with the GSU Eagle Print Shop :: Fall 2009

[Updated from a post from Fall 2008]

Not long ago, my PRCA 3339 (PR Publications) classes took a field trip to the Eagle Print Shop on the Georgia Southern University campus. Our goal was to learn how students in the PR program could work most effectively with the print shop, especially for their PR Publications, PR Research and PR Campaigns classes. Here are a few of the tips shared by Eagle Print Shop Manager Brenda Aytes:

In General

  • Allow enough lead time for the work to get done. For most PR class projects, two to three days are appreciated.
  • Know what you want the output to look like before you go to the Eagle Print Shop. For example, for the PR Pubs brochure, you’ll want to tell them you need “80-lb. glossy paper, 8.5×11, printed duplex in color.”
  • Design your document so it will cost you less. For example, rather than creating one small handbill and centering it in the middle of a page, put four copies of the handbill on one 8.5×11 page. Then the print shop can cut your document into fours.
  • It is possible for the Eagle Print Shop to print your brochure as a bleed, with the print running to the edge of the paper. However, it will cost you a bit more and take a bit longer. You’ll need to ask them to print the brochure on 11×17 paper and trim it to 8.5×11.
  • Photos and other graphic print best when they are a minimum of 300 dpi; 150 may print fairly well, too.
  • If using the Georgia Southern logo, be sure to use the correct logo and be sure you have permission to use it. See the GSU Identity Standards for guidelines. (Note: Only the Athletic Department can use certain logos.)
  • Have your flash drive or CD prepared. Create ONE folder with all the necessary files in it for this specific print job. (Necessary files include the .indd file, .pdf file, fonts and photos.) Name this folder with your name and the contents; for example, “Barbara Nixon, PRCA 3339 Brochure.”)
  • If printing something from InDesign, it’s best to export the file as a PDF and print the PDF. This will ensure that the file looks the way you intended to when it prints (fonts, layout, etc.). Also have the original InDesign file with you, just in case you notice something that needs to be changed at the last minute. You can’t easily edit a PDF.
  • The Eagle Print Shop has InDesign CS3 (the version we have in the Veazey Hall computer labs). If you’ve downloaded the newest trial version of InDesign from Adobe’s website, it will be InDesign CS4 – and the print shop will be unable to work with your file, unless you export the file as InDesign Interchange first.
  • The Eagle Print Shop will give you a price quote after you answer a series of questions detailing exactly what you want. They cannot give you a complete printed price list, however.
  • If you choose to e-mail your project to Eagle Print Shop to printshop@georgiasouthern.edu, be sure to include the following:
    • A clear subject line
    • Your name & phone number
    • Date & time you wish to pick up the printed project
    • Number of copies
    • Exact type of paper you need
    • And the PDF file, of course 🙂

For PR Campaigns or Research Books

  • To save you money and time, when preparing your PR Campaigns book files, make two (no more, no less) files: one for all your color pages and one for all your black/white pages. If you have multiple PDF files, combine them into one file by using Adobe Acrobat Professional’s Insert Pages feature. (Note: The Insert Pages feature is not available in the free Acrobat Reader; it’s only in the Professional version, which is in most of the labs on campus.)
  • If you want tabs or dividers in your books, you’ll need to purchase them elsewhere and bring them in. Be sure that the dividers have square, not rounded, corners – or they cannot be bound into your books.

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Social Media Monitoring Report :: PRCA 4330

For Prof. Nixon’s PRCA 4330 Public Relations Research Class:

This assignment gives you an opportunity to learn how to monitor blog and other social media content in a way that provides similar insight offered by more traditional environmental scanning methods.

Many people will discuss your client or organization and its products/services on their own Web sites or on social media sites, outside of realm traditional media. Just as it is important for you to know what the media and your community are saying about your organization and its products/services, it is important to know what is being said in social media sites like blogs, social networks, and message boards. For this assignment, you will

  1. monitor the online conversation that has occurred about an organization or brand of your choosing since November 1, 2009
  2. create a table for your data
  3. write an analysis of the conversation with suggestions for action.

You might find bloggers who are blogging about your client organization or brand, people who are creating Web sites about it, message board members who are discussing it in forums, Twitter users who are twittering about it, social networking users who are commenting about it, or online video producers who are posting YouTube videos about it.

Let me know by November 15 how you choose to complete the project (individual or in pairs) and which organization you are choosing using this Google spreadsheet. NOTE: The first person (or pair) to “claim” a Fortune 500 company “gets” the company. No duplicates, please.

For details on the report, see below.

Social Media Monitoring Report

Many thanks to Kelli Burns, from University of South Florida, for allowing me to slightly modify a project posted at her Social Researcher blog.

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PRCA 3711/4711 Portfolio Review

Sign up for an appointment for your portfolio review. The times listed in the Google Doc are the ONLY ones that will be available. There are slightly more times than we have students in PRCA 3711/4711. [As of 3:00 on November 4, about half of the spots are already taken.] The review will take about 10 minutes total.

Bring along your professional-looking portfolio with several samples of your best work, along with your resume. Review Portfolios for Public Relations Students for a reminder of how to assemble your portfolio.

Tips

Dress professionally, as you would when you go to a job interview.

Carry only the things you would for a “real” job interview (no backpacks or bulky purses).

Present the team with your business/social card, if you have one.

Expect some or all following questions:

  1. Tell me a little about yourself.
  2. What are you doing to keep current on public relations trends?
  3. Show me two pieces in your portfolio that you’re most proud of. Tell me about them.
  4. If you’re not yet published, what are your specific plans for getting published?
  5. Think about a time you were a part of a team completing a project. How did it go?
  6. All of us have some pluses and minuses in our performance; what are some of yours?
  7. After our interview today, I am going to look you up online. How do you think my impression of you will change after I do this?
  8. How do you want us to remember you?

Share a few questions that you would want to ASK in a real job interview.

Prepare a “leave-behind” for the review team, with two or three pieces you’re most proud of and a revised version of your resume. Package these items professionally. NOTE: You will NOT leave your entire portfolio with the team. The only time they will see your portfolio is during the brief time that you are together.

Points Breakdown

  • Poise, Professionalism & Confidence: 50 points
  • Portfolio Presentation: 100 points
  • Interview Q&A: 50 points
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The WII-FM Factor for Twitter

The PRSSA (Public Relations Student Society of America) at Georgia Southern University asked me to join them for tonight’s meeting and share with them one of my favorite subjects: Twitter! How could I say no? 

Twitter: WII-FM

To see my notes on the slides, you can download the presentation or view it at SlideShare.

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A Twitter Starter Pack for PR Students

confused twitter birdAre you a public relations student (or recent grad) just getting started using Twitter? It’s usually best to test the waters a bit before you dive in. Try following some (or all) of these people or organizations in my Twitter Starter Pack for PR Students. They all have something in common: they tweet useful or interesting information for people involved in public relations. Read their tweets for a few days before you start tweeting yourself.

You may also want to read these two blog posts I’ve written about Twitter: Choosing Whom to Follow on Twitter: My Strategy and A Twitter Lexicon. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t recommend Prof. Sam Bradley’s College Student’s Guide: Twitter 101.

Questions?

barbara_is_listening

(PS: Suggestions for other good people for PR students to follow? Please let me know with a comment to this post.)

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Help Create a Pixelated Conference :: Social Media 101

Dr. Natalie Tindall, Georgia State University, takes it all in.

In the spring, I’ll be teaching an online course for Georgia Southern called Social Media for PR. One of the things I plan to incorporate into the course is video/audio from respected leaders in PR on the topic of social media — like what the students might experience if they went to a conference. There are many, many videos (and audio recordings) of conference speakers online now, but where to start?

Mitch Joel created something at his blog Six Pixels of Separation called a Pixelated Conference, where he embedded video clips from many different conferences. And that got me thinking . . .

If you were going to create a Pixelated Conference on Social Media for PR students, what would you include? Please offer your suggestions here, and I’ll share a link to what I create for my students when I get it ready.

Some suggestions I’ve heard so far:

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

[Photo Credit: http://ugaconnect2009.wordpress.com/2009/09/19/pr-is-not-social-media-and-more-words-to-tweet-by-from-lauren-fernandez/]

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TED :: Peter Donnelly shows how stats fool juries

In today’s PRCA 4330 (PR Research) class, the instructor PC didn’t seem to have the correct version of Flash to show this video. It’s a fascinating talk where “Oxford mathematician Peter Donnelly reveals the common mistakes humans make in interpreting statistics — and the devastating impact these errors can have on the outcome of criminal trials.”

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How to Lie with Design Research

“Dan Saffer at the sixth annual IIT Design Research Conference, held September 21-22, 2007 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, in Chicago. ABSTRACT: How to Lie with Design Research: Same Data, Different Findings “There are three types of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics.” Thus said Mark Twain. Should we add “Research Findings” to the list? Experience shows that, especially with qualitative research like the type designers often do, two researchers can look at the same set of data and draw dramatically different findings from them. How do we deal with this? If the findings are in conflict, who is correct? Is there a way to make our findings more objective, or is the nature of qualitative research such that subjectivity (what some might call lying) is always necessary?”